Day Seven

Today we worked for Catholic Charities to demolish a building on their grounds that served as a food bank. The building had flooded, the stockpiles of food had molded long ago, and the time had come to create a clean slate. Click below to see the Transformers’ take on the day’s events.



Another French toast morning (we needed to use up our surplus of bread) came along pretty early, as we decided to get a quick start on our day because we knew we faced a huge challenge. We ventured a little west of our usual zone in the Ninth Ward to work on the grounds of St. Raymond Catholic Church and School. This property is also the staging area for volunteers who come from all over the country to be organized and trained to participate in relief work. Our Easter Break crew spent many early mornings in that parking lot as we sought our assignments day by day.

The plan for the day was to get as far as we could in clearing and gutting the building, in hopes of eventually leveling it so that the space could be better occupied by a safer storage/distribution space. They didn’t want to bulldoze the building, as they hoped to salvage lots of items out of it, including the wood siding on the exterior. Our contact at Catholic Charities thought it was unlikely that we would even manage to clear out all of the food and office equipment inside in one day’s time. Of course, knowing that a task seemed impossible made it even more appealing to all of us. We went into the day with an incredible level of determination to succeed.

When we arrived, our Catholic Charities hosts let us know that we might witness some protests in the neighborhood in honor of Martin Luther King Day. St. Raymond is very close to “the projects,” low-income housing that was damaged in the storm and that remains unoccupied 16 months later. Many locals are torn by the competing arguments about how to deal with this issue; some believe that more low-income housing must be made available immediately while others argue that the entire premise of government-sponsored housing should be rethought. The large complex stood empty, though it seemed to be in usable condition; we could see why families who had lived there before might wish to return.

We became even more aware of the desperate needs in the neighborhood when we began to address the rotting pile of surplus food inside the structure we were clearing. We had been asked to save any food that was still consumable, but we had trouble placing any of the food we found in that category. The pile was infested with mice and cockroaches, there was mold growing up the sides of the boxes in the storeroom, and even the canned goods were covered with rust. We consulted with one of the staff who finally made the call: ditch it all. We transferred the food from the storage space into the enormous trash pile that we were creating outside. As we did so, we were surprised to see residents of the neighborhood coming from all directions to see what they could glean from the pile. Where we had been certain that the goods were worthless, others apparently found them to be quite valuable.

Once we had emptied the space, our next job was to prep the house for demolition. We tore out every possible piece of drywall, baseboard, and trim, along with the toilet, plumbing, heating system, and anything else that would take us down to the skeleton of the place. Even before lunch, we had accomplished more than we (or Catholic Charities) thought possible.

After lunch, a crew went onto the roof to try to dismantle it. Justin, Shane, and Jed were in the first wave, while Julie, Aaron, Chris and Tim took up the second shift. By the time that the second shift took the roof, however, we had decided that it was going to take way too long to complete the demolition in this way. We all regrouped and strategized to figure out what to do next. We had three competing options: 1) continue our first strategy and go back onto the roof, 2) find a way to bring the house down by cutting the sides and letting it collapse, and 3) forget the whole idea and leave the skeletal structure for someone else to address.

We went around and around about which option was best, as we all recognized that each of the three options was appealing in its own way. As we began to move in the direction of #2, big black rain clouds rolled in and it began to sprinkle. Once we decided that the next step would have to be delayed – no matter what it was – we committed to returning on another day and finding a way to demolish the entire building once and for all. Depending upon the weather, that day might be tomorrow.

We headed home with a special treat planned for the end of the day: our first collective trip into the French Quarter in honor of our driver Dan’s last day with us (Dan flies out on Tuesday at the same time that our driver from last year, Leo, flies in). We took our time primping and getting our project work organized so that we could go into town without any responsibilities dangling over our heads.

We all started at Café DuMonde so that we could have a beignet or two, and then we split up: some went looking for a real dinner, some went after a bit of entertainment, and some went home to catch up on work or rest. The Transformers stayed home to edit their video for the day. No matter what choice each person made about how to spend the evening, we all got to be transported far away from the land of mold and mice and into the land of laughter and leisure. Our 11:00 curfew kept us from getting into any real trouble. A long but lovely day and a fitting end to our week with our good friend Dan. We welcome Leo’s arrival, but we will definitely miss Dan. Thanks for everything, Dan!

Armed with her hard hat, protective glasses, and face mask, Bree shows off her tough tenacity by saving the siding for another building.



Courtney shows her NOLA pride while dumping a bunch of a old sheet rock.



It’s dark and cloudy, but Justin excitedly prepares for the roof to come down.



Aaron offers Soraya some aspirin to alleviate the pain from her injury. The Oneder works hard, but injuries are just part of the job. Go Soraya!



Justin, Jed, and Shane give directions to the rest of the group from on top of the roof.



Emily Robbins wedges a crowbar between a nail and a stud. Even though it is meticulous, it pays off at the end of a hard day’s work.



Today everybody contributed to our enormous amount of work. We removed all of the trash, moldy food, and eventually the drywall from the entire house.



Tim Huey heaves remnants of sheet rock over a fence and into the dump pile to be hauled away. We salvaged what we could, however most of what we found was beyond saving.



Justin Verrips briefs the crew before strapping up and getting to work.



Although the attempt to take the roof off the house failed, everyone put in 100%. Here, Julie and Jed pull shingles off the roof so the Verrips brothers can saw and hammer out the plywood.



Getting the moldy food out of the house by far the worst job of the trip. You can see that it took everyone as a group to complete the task – you couldn’t imagine how many cockroaches and mice that came crawling out of those boxes.



The most eerie thing we found today was a chalkboard in the elementary school that had still remained untouched - as seen by the date (August 25, 2005) on the board. The irony was added by what else was left written on the board.



Here is a before pic of the storage house in all its glory – if only it knew that the SMC kids were coming for it!



A view from the rooftop of the house, you can see the elementary school to the left and the projects – to the right. Neither has been open since the storm. A protest was anticipated in reaction to the fact that the projects are still closed.



Here is the skeleton of the house that we left behind, it was hard work but we got it done!



After much sweat (and even a little blood) we were successfully able to strip down the entire building. This job could not have been accomplished without a full effort from everyone here!



We placed all of the debris from the building into a pile on the street. All of us were taken aback when local neighbors came by and started collecting the debris and tainted food for personal use.



Megan is hard at work shoveling out the stripped down ceiling.

Day Six

Today we visited St. Bernard Parish for this group’s first day of house gutting at the home of Cindy and David Fernanavitch. Cindy is the daughter of our good friends Connie and Jerry LeRouge, whose house we cleared on our last day of gutting in January 2006. Click below to see The ONEders’ account of their day.



We awoke this morning to a delicious morning of French toast that was made from the leftover bread from last night’s tailgate cookout. We accidentally bought bread twice, which left us with a huge amount for Mannschaft to use in making a special breakfast. Having bread in camp is a rarity and having leftover bread is unbelievable. Also, the lack of actual eggs in our NOLA home is usually another obstacle to making French toast. Thus, the event was so special that we actually bothered to write a whole paragraph about it in this blog entry!

We headed out EARLY for once to get to our job for today. Violet, Louisiana, is in the far reaches of St. Bernard Parish, one of the areas hit hardest by Katrina. The group last year visited Violet on their first day of gutting; it was a very striking experience, as they had not yet seen acres and acres of land covered with rolled-over cars, landlocked boats, and displaced jet-skis. We are happy to report that almost all of the debris that littered the landscape back then is now gone; we are sorry to report that very few families have returned. Even our hosts for the day, Cindy and David, do not intend to return. They are not interested in returning to a neighborhood that has lost of its neighbors, so they have moved closer to the Louisiana/Mississippi border.

Their house was already cleared of much of the debris that it contained after holding 13 feet of water for a month or so. Perhaps the oddest item they found in their house after the storm was a live alligator. After removing the alligator (or at least we assume that they removed it; we didn’t see it), they removed the other normal household goods that had been swirled by the flood and dumped throughout the house. David actually drove a tractor into the front of the house and bulldozed part of the interior himself. Obviously the tractor did not reach all of the rooms, so our job was to use shovels and wheelbarrows to complete the clearing of the house. The drywall on the ceilings was still intact (though ruined), but the drywall on the walls had already been removed. Additionally, we were to clear the backyard and garage area and salvage the contents of the never-flooded attic.

We had borrowed a couple of wheelbarrows and lots of shovels, crowbars and flatbars from Catholic Charities, so everyone grabbed one tool or another and started loading out debris. Different groups took over different zones of the property, but no one necessarily stayed with their designated teams. Some people hit the tops of ladders and started ripping down ceilings, some pulled nails from the studs, some shoveled piles of insulation into wheelbarrows, some cleared an above-ground pool and deck from the backyard, some fought off cockroaches with their gloved hands, and Jed tried to kill a live rat with a shovel (the animal rights activists among us managed to stop him).

When the attic crew finally braved the stairs to check out the scene above, they were quite surprised to find the equivalent of another whole house upstairs. There was no furniture or appliances but there was lots of what David called “Cindy’s junk.” Cindy is a serious Mardi Gras celebrant and her attic provided lots of evidence of her impressive participation in parades over many years. She had beads, beads, and more beads, along with lots of costumes and other decorations. And then she had some beads. And some more beads. Lots of beads. Really. Lots.

Additionally, there were a few random containers that somehow had managed to hold water for (apparently) quite awhile. It wasn’t nearly as awful as the infamous “fridge tea” from last year, but it was still quite nasty, especially if it dropped through the ceiling onto your back unexpectedly. Like it did to Bryan Navarro. Ugh.

Even though readers might think that this all sounds really horrible (debris, rats, cockroaches, alligators, and stinky water), it was a wonderful day. We all worked together in ever-changing configurations and we got to talk to different people than our normal work groups. We learned about alligator hunting from David, who invited us out to their house to eat alligator before we leave at the end of the month. We completed the task we set out to do. We found pictures that were precious to Cindy. We got another surprise lunch of southern fried chicken (this time with Vault energy drink and actual ICE!) And we got to watch a Gulf Coast resident reconnect with parts of the life that she thought had washed away in a storm.

We’re happy we’re here. We’re happy we’re with each other. We’re proud to be part of all that New Orleans will eventually become. Thanks for your support and thanks for listening.

Tommy rests after pulling up the plastic liner of an above ground pool.



While surrounded by her destroyed belongings, Cindy shares with Linzy her children’s toys and pictures.



Juan and Tommy wrestle with dismantling a garage door.



Bree, Rachael, Yessenia, and Linzy were “encouraged” by the usual loading group of guys to pack up the trailer and truck.



Feke shows Cindy’s son’s childhood Mardi Gras costume.



Courtney hauls an overflowing wheelbarrow full of moldy, muddy insulation while Shawny pries nails out of the exposed studs.



Feke, Shane, and Jed scope out the deck that they are about to work on. After this shot they moved all of the garbage pile in the front.



Kate works diligently on the ceiling, a very difficult job to do. As you can see, she is making sure that each nail is removed. Before pulling the nails, Kate and Aaron worked on tearing the drywall from the ceiling. They did an amazing job.



As the sun goes down a beautiful shot is taken by Tommy. Although all the debris is sitting on the sidewalk, it is a great sight for the teams. All of the debris that you see used to be inside the Fernanavich’s home.



It’s amazing what articles are found among the rubble.



Kellie brings down the house…literally.



Shawny and Sherry, the Anderson sisters show us their stuff as they bring down a pesky closet rod.



Despite the homeowners bringing a small bulldozer into the house to clear out the sludge we managed to assemble this impressive pile of debris in front of the house. To recognize the rebirth of her house the home owner, Cindy hung the banner stating “The Party’s Here.”



As the day begins Janeva shares her expertise of taking down walls with Emily.



As we stripped the surface of the Fernanavitch’s walls we were able to see the layers of paint, drywall, insulation, styrofoam, and brick. Although Hurricane Katrina itself only lasted a short time, it took a whole day to clean up the damage created in this home.



Homeowner Cindy sorts through salvageable items found in her attic with Linzy. She was thrilled to find a snowman figurine made for her by her godmother who passed away just before the storm.



We unloaded all the debris from the Fernanovitch home onto the front lawn and sidewalk. The pile was over three feet high and extended the entire width of the house. It was filled with insulation, rotted wood, scrap metal, and all the various contents of the kitchen.



On the porch of the house we placed all the items untouched by the water that were in the attic. There were bags of Mardi Gras decorations, high school yearbooks, tons of children’s toys and books, as well as Christmas gifts Cindy intended to give for 2005.



Cindy poses with a banner found in her attic after the gutting is complete. She is happy that her house is now completed, as she told many stories of the parties she has hosted there.

Day Five

Today is Shane’s birthday! And what a day it was. The Knucklebusters are our video loggers for the day, so click here to see a brief bit of their perspective for the day.



Happy Birthday, Shane! What a way to spend it! He literally raised the roof (more on that later. . . ) And, Saints win! Saints win! Lots to celebrate today! We rolled out REALLY early (wakeup time: 6:15) to make it to the Habitat for Humanity staging area by 7:15 (we were a few minutes late). The area of the Ninth Ward where we’ve been working is really close to the well-publicized Habitat for Humanity project called Musicians Village. We wandered over there to talk to them about what they are doing and ended up getting interested enough to schedule a day with them.

It was rough to get out of bed after our fun night out at the Portside (thanks again for the tip, Lisa!), so we had already agreed to eat granola for breakfast, brush our teeth, then leave. Once we connected with Habitat, we were sent offsite into a project in New Orleans East. One team, the Knucklebusters, decided to return to Sarah’s house to continue working on the Happy House paint job. Justin, Chris, and Aaron all had projects to finish at Don’s house, so they peeled away from their groups to follow up there.

We’re all really comfortable in our little area of the Ninth Ward now, and we know LOTS of people by name. People wave and honk at us all the time (in a friendly way) and we are sometimes able to give directions to people who are wandering by. The Knucklebusters got even more acquainted with our Ninth Ward neighbors today, as they worked outside while neighbors gathered next door to watch the progress on Sarah’s house. Sarah remains really happy, though she has become somewhat convinced to change the color of her trim. Once she decides on a new color, we’ll be glad to change things out. Her neighbors have decided that they will benefit from the main color of the house, as they can now say, “When you see the bright green house, I’m the one next door.”

The Knucklebusters have managed to have some very serious bonding time due to their commitment to Sarah’s house. They have stayed right with that job no matter what the other options might be and they are growing closer and closer as the days and minutes pass. Further, they are really demonstrating our policy of “good enough is not good enough.” They are treating Sarah’s home as if it were their own and their work makes that commitment clear. The coverage is even, the lines are straight and the messes are cleaned up. There is still more to do for Sarah’s paint job, but things are looking close to completion.

As for the main group, we went to a house that will soon be the property of a wonderful woman named Natasha. We met Natasha at the staging area, then she joined us for the day of work at the house. When we arrived, our staff host, Alicia, immediately put us on some pretty specialized jobs. We divided into groups, with The Transformers installing windows, Mannschaft hanging doors, The Fab Five blocking kitchen cabinets, the ONEders chalking out lines for wiring to be installed, and a “special ops” team (Shawny, Courtney, Dan, and Shawny’s sister Sherry, who is visiting from Indiana) moving a window that had been cut in the wrong place. Though few of us felt like we knew what to do when we got our assignments, it was no time at all before we felt like semi-pros. We easily could have committed to stay with our assigned jobs all day, but we were well aware that there were big plans in place for today, involving the expected arrival of roof trusses (pre-made segments to establish the shape, size, and pitch of the roof of the house. Alicia had told us that no matter what, we were going to put everything aside when those trusses arrived. They did.

Most of us stared at the pile of connected 2x4s and could not quite imagine how they all figured into the house. We loaded them off the enormous flatbed that brought them to us and wondered how in the world structures that large were going to find their way onto the roof. We thought maybe a crane was coming, or maybe some complicated pulley system. Because of some prior experience, though, Shane knew just what needed to happen. He, then, was not surprised when Alicia told us how they were really going to get onto the top of the house: by hand, carried up by us. We waited until after lunch to figure out just how this whole process was going to work.

As lunchtime approached, we noticed that Natasha was gone. When she returned, she came bearing gifts for all of us: fabulous southern fried chicken, orange and strawberry drink, and a birthday cake for Shane. She was so amazed that some college kid from California would spend his birthday working for her that she insisted that we had to throw a party (her first in her new home!) for Shane and all of us. We were very moved.

We gathered around in her framed-out house and spilled onto the porch as we ate. Many students said that they had never had such good fried chicken in their lives. Many of us also exclaimed over the greatness of “orange drink,” the existence of which we had kind of forgotten until we tasted it. We talked and laughed with Natasha about her image of her new house (which will eventually be purple, with two purple chairs on the porch) and we told her all about our current bus/home and why we love it.

When lunch was over, we turned all of our attention to the roof. The system worked like this: three of us – the bravest of all – would perch on the tops of the 2x4s of the frame and wait for the rest of us to do our jobs. The first job was for no fewer than six people to pick up a truss and walk it in unison up to the back of the house, where three ladders were standing. From there, everyone on the ground would help to support the piece until the ladder walkers (Bree, Shawny, and Lindsay) had climbed out of their reach. For a few steps, the ladder walkers would carry the trusses alone (while climbing a ladder), until they connected with the roof walkers on the top. Throughout the process, three people supported the ladders from the underside and once the ladder walkers had climbed about four steps, three others would also support the ladders to help stabilize the people who were on them. Once the truss reached the roofline, Shane, at the center of the house, would guide the truss across the entire roof, all the while doing a balance beam routine across 2x4s. He was fearless. We were impressed.

And then we got to raise the roof for Natasha -- literally. We were all so excited about the whole macho undertaking that we practically ignored the unbearable heat and the blazing sun that were beating down on us. The end of the workday arrived and we had not quite finished the job; we’re going back on Tuesday to be sure that we do so.

We left the Habitat site and returned to our old stretch of the upper Ninth to rejoin our other groups. We assessed what jobs needed to be done and everyone, even our tight-rope-walking birthday boy, jumped right in and grabbed paintbrushes and nail guns. Sarah came around, Rosie came out, and Mr. Pitts (another neighbor) chatted with us all. And EVERYone expressed excitement about the Saints playoff game tonight.

We decided to stay in our NOLA homesite and watch the game at our own private tailgate party. We got out a big grill, bought hamburgers, chicken legs, and sausages, and we had a feast. Shawny’s sister Sherry swiped the TV from the house where she is staying and set it up along with the one that Dan carries in the bus. We all hooted and hollered and pleaded for the Saints to win. They did.

We wound up our night with notes from our website and with an unusual treat: individualized notes to each of us from the students in Sherry’s sixth grade class back in Indiana. These notes contained beautiful words of encouragement, admiration, and appreciation, and some even contained drawings or pop-up features. We loved them.

It seems that things clicked together on a whole new level for us today. We were floored. Natasha was roofed. And the Saints won. Oh, lord, we want to be in that number. . .


Come on ride the train. On top of the roof as the trusses were being raised.



TEAMWORK! Bracing the ladder while Lindsay scaled the ladder.



Emily and Janeva of Team Mannschaft are caulking the edges of the wood to create a seal for the window.



Lindsay diligently hammers nails into the window. Team Transformers hung numerous windows in the Habitat house.


The sun comes down as Matt holds the last of the roof framing to be raised up for the day.



Afraid of heights? Not this team! Shawny, Lindsay, Bree, Jed, Soraya, and our birthday boy Shane “raise the roof,” as the rest of the team holds ladders and provides moral support.



Jed pays close attention to detail as he cuts the plywood for the roof framing of Natasha’s new home.



Emily shows her guns as she and her Stanley anchor the roof.



Rachel handles the chisel, Vince saws the roof framing, and Megan hammers away at the newly cut pieces. Great job team!



The group prepares to walk the tress to the ladder where it will be lifted up to the students waiting on the roof.



Even though Alicia, our Habitit leader at the site, assured us the ladders never break she insisted we have someone hold the ladders as the tresses were carried up because knowing someone is there provides mental ease. Tim, Natasha, and Linzy prepare to steady the ladders for the tress carriers.



Our afternoon project at the house consisted of literally “raising the roof.” It took most of our team to perform this task we hope to finish when we return to Habitat on Tuesday. Jed, Shane, and Sariah lifted the tress out of the arms of Shawny, Lindsay, and Bree who lifted it up the latter in synchronized steps.



The homeowner of our Habitat build, Natasha, surprised Shane with a birthday lunch of fried chicken, ice cold drinks, and a delicious cake. Not only was he surpised, but Shane was thrilled to celebrate his birthday in such a unique and heartfelt way.



The Oneder's have included pictures from our previous day of work that they weren't able to post the night before:

Contractor and friend Chris takes a break from hammering nails all day to join in friendly house painting. From this picture it looks like Chris may just have a new night job. Contractor by day painter by night.



Our spectacular bus driver, Dan, is truly a jack of all trades, navigating the high ladders and the streets of New Orleans, all in the same day!



Our bus driver Dan and Feke paint Sarah’s house from tip to toe after having scraped for an entire day. The house has brought smiles to neighbors.



A bucket of bright lime green paint: $10, brushes of all sizes: $3 a piece, a complicated ladder: $25, Mentor and friend Shawny Anderson smiling and viewing from corner as her goals unravel with full of joy: PRICELESS.



There is no I in team especially when building and painting houses of all sizes. Here Soraya spots fellow classmate and friend Matt to step up to paint the top of Sarah’s house.