Man with the (evacuation) Plan

It looks like if and when Hurricane Gustav approaches the Lousiana coastline, I will be heading east to Atlanta. Myself, as well as many of the other volunteers in the program, will be staying back to help assist with the evacuation by getting residents on trains and buses. That is all I really know about it at this point but will know more in the next day or so, exactly what I will be doing to help with the evacuation. About 12-18 hours before Gustav is set to hit Lousiana, we will be taking off towards Atlanta where I guess we have free housing and food set for us. I’ve never been to Atlanta and think it could be fun to bum around the city for a couple of days. At this point, everything is unknown because the path of Gustav may change over the next couple of days. It seems nobody really knows where it is going to hit but I have been hearing on the news that it may land in Houston as opposed to Lousiana. Keep watching the news for information. Today is actually the third anniversary of Katrina (and the 32nd anniversary of Allen and Barbara’s holy union – woo woo) which is crazy because there is still so much left to be done here and now there’s another hurricane fast approaching. From what I’m hearing, it seems like the city, as well as FEMA, is much more prepared this time around as evacuation plans are set and food and water are ready to be brought in. Anyways, I just wanted to give an update of what was going on with the hurricane and my evacuation. I’m pretty tired right now after a long week of painting, chopping wood, moving heavy doors and windows, cleaning our warehouse, etc., so it’s a short post today. I’m going to take a little nap right now before figuring out what to do tonight. I’ll make another post before/if I head to Atlanta.

No Mucho Gustav

Well, after only five days down in the Big Easy, it seems life over the next few days is going to be anything but that. Hurricane Gustav, which is currently over Haiti right now is headed towards the Gulf Coast. The hurricane is expected to hit the U.S. somewhere between the Florida panhandle and south Texas on Sunday afternoon. My program has set up an evacuation plan for us where we can either drive out ourselves or take a train towards Memphis on Saturday morning. As of now, if we have to evacuate, I’m planning on parking my car at the train station and heading towards Memphis with other people in the program. The chance of the Hurricane hitting New Orleans is still unknown. I’m not really that concerned for my own safety at this point as it seems that Rebuilding Together has a pretty good plan ready for us. Also, it seems like the city is fully prepared and ready to handle an evacuation that could begin as early as tomorrow night. I am worried about how this Hurricane could affect the city of New Orleans. Many people who left New Orleans after Katrina still haven’t come back and another hurricane would mean even less people would probably return. The city is in bad enough shape already that another hurricane would be devestating. Also, I fear that a major hurricane (they are predicting a possible Category 3 or 4) would greatly impact my opportunity with Rebuilding Together. I have just gotten started and don’t know what would happen with the program if we are not allowed to return to New Orleans for an extended period of time. Right now, it’s too early to tell but I should no more by tomorrow or Friday.

My first few days on the job have been a great learning experience. My last post discussed my first day which included an orientation. On Tuesday, I got down and dirty and went to a home that I will be working on for the next couple of weeks. The house is a 4 room, shotgun house (meaning you have to walk through one room to get to the next room) and I spent a lot of time applying primer to the walls and painting. We also had to move a lot of different things to clear space and get the rooms ready to be painted. I probably would have had to walk to and from the copier about 5,000 times at Ernst & Young to equal the physical labor of one day with Rebuilding Together. It felt good to get out there and sweat from 8 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon. If this doesn’t get me into shape, I don’t know what will. Today, I had First Aid training in the morning which was at the Trinity Christian Community (TCC) Center. As soon as I walked in, I saw a picture that said “Jesus will save you,” so I knew I was in the right place. Many of the other volunteers applied through the TCC and the TCC is paying their living stipend and in charge of their progress. At the First Aid training, I was there with 7 other people, all who applied through the TCC. It was one of the first times in my life I really felt different than everyone else. At home, almost all of my friends and all of the people I associate with are similar to me. It was a very strange feeling to be, in a sense, the minority. I’m not Christian or Catholic and I didn’t just graduate college like many of the other volunteers. I feel a little self-conscious because of it also makes me feel good to be different because I know that many of the others haven’t met too many people like me. I have a lot to learn from them but feel that I can offer a lot to them. Anyways, the First Aid Training was very informative. I’m well on my way to being a doctor (harris), kidding. We did learn basic CPR and how to treat injuries and I feel better suited to handle an injury or emergency. With volunteers counting on us, it is important for us to be able to respond to situations that arise. The end of the day had me moving and organizing broken window frames and front doors in our scrapyard, and paint in our warehouse. It has certainly been an interesting first few days and I hope the experience can continue uninterrupted. I will keep you posted and hopefully Gustav stays away.

First Day at Work

Today, I woke up early (6:15 a.m. is early for a guy who hasn’t had to get up in the past two weeks, which was nice by the way) and got to work by 7:45 where I was met by the other volunteers and a large semi-truck filled with packages of insulation. I said hello to my supervisor and asked her where the gloves were and spent the next hour helping the others move the insulation into the warehouse. At 9:00, I was told I had to go over to our offices with another one of the volunteers since we both missed some of the presentations that were given last week. The first presentation was done by the director of the Rebuilding Together Program. Just to give a little background, Rebuilding Together New Orleanse is a program within the Preservation Resource Center (PRC). Rebuilding Together is comprised of staff members on salary, AmeriCorps Vistas who mainly work in the office working with homeowners, sponsors, obtaining grants, etc. I am an AmeriCorps Direct who will be a House Captain. My role, at least what I know of it so far, is to lead the volunteers that come down to New Orleans so that they know where they need to go and what they need to be doing. I’ll get into more detail about my job once I figure it out myself. The Director of Rebuilding Together, Kristen, gave us a brief introduction to the architecture of the city. Houses in New Orleans were built based on who was occupying them and where it was located. For instance, many houses built in the French Quarter and occupied by the French were Victorian cottages. It was pretty interesting to learn about the architecture since I have no real background in it. I tried to remember as much as I could but I’m still learning. I think once I begin working on houses, I’ll start to have a better idea. Kristen also talked a lot about Hurricane Katrina and the affect that it’s had on this city. I didn’t realize how bad things were down here at the time of the hurricane and how slowly things are moving. She talked about how long it took FEMA to get down here and how there was complete failure at every level of our government. In the efforts to restore the city, Rebuilding Together and the PRC are making it their mission to restore neighborhoods and the communities in New Orleans. They are very specific in working to bring back the people who already lived in New Orleans before the hurricane. The city has lost approximately 35% of its population since the hurricane and the program is doing what it can to bring back those who resided here. Rebuilding Together works with low-income elderly, disabled, and first responders to get them back in the house that they lived in before the hurricane, which is the main difference between Habitat for Humanity, which completely rebuilds houses (not necessarily for low-income homeowners). There are so many problems down here, I can’t even begin to tell you. Kristen was telling us that people are very passionate about living in the houses the way they used to be. Her presentation was very informative and gave me a greater sense about exactly what is going on in the city. I feel like I could go on for a little while so maybe I will in future posts. I have attached a couple links that provide more information on Hurricane Katrina if anybody is interested. Also, I have included some interesting New Orleans facts.

http://neworleans-hurricanekatrina.com/

Hey Everyone

So I have finally made it to the Big Easy and am writing this post from my room in my new house. I left last Thursday night and drove down here with my dad. We drove for about five hours and then stopped in Carbondale, IL to get some sleep and break up the trip. We hit the road Friday morning and about 10 hours later we were in New Orleans. The only delays on the way down here came from me getting on the wrong highway for a few miles and a car on fire on the side of the road. We finally got to my new house around 6 pm on Friday. The address of the house is 5836 Willow, New Orleans, LA, 70115 for anyone interested. The house is a nice, small place which I will be sharing with two girls who are seniors at Tulane. I've only met one so far for a few minutes and she seems nice but I've barely run into her at all yet. My room is a little smaller than the one I had at my old apartment but I have my own bathroom which is nice (for obvious reasons). I dropped my Dad off at the airport at around 12:30 yesterday and was officially on my own. I'm not going to lie, I am a little freaked out about this whole thing but am keeping positive and know that this experience will be life changing. Shortly after dropping off my Dad, I went to a BBQ that AmeriCorps had for all of the new volunteers. The training for my program actually started last Monday (August 18th) so most of the other volunteers have been down here for a week or two. The BBQ was a good time and I was able to meet a lot of the people. A group of 5 of the other volunteers live in a house (which is definitely nicer than mine, ha...which I'm jealous about) so I went over there last night before going out. Cabs are pretty expensive in this city so it seems like someone is going to need to drive most nights which sucks but I'll have to make do. I went to two bars on Magazine Street, which is a pretty big street down here, with 3 of the other volunteers. We went to The Bulldog which was a pretty laid back place. The main beer down here is Abita and there are all different types (similar to what Goose Island is in Chicago). After The Bulldog, we walked down Magazine Street for a bit, and it was surprisingly pretty dead. I guess most places and restaurants don't stay open late, even on Saturday, I'm not really sure. At Ms. Mae's we watched the first half of the USA Basketball Gold Medal game, stopped at McDonalds since we hadn't eaten in 12 hours, and then headed home. Overall, a good first day. Today, I have to get some groceries since I have no food and get ready for my first day tomorrow, which I'm very excited about. It doesn't seem like I missed too much the first week and will hopefully catch up quickly. Well, that's it for the first post. I'll post again in the next couple of days with an update on what exactly I'll be doing down here and how my first couple days on the job went.