"Keep on Keepin' On"

This just in from Michael Hebert.

All the best to the volunteers and the NOLA residents who keep the heart of this work alive.





Hello All!



HERE IS THE LATEST NEWS ABOUT THE HURRICANE RELIEF AND SOCIAL JUSTICE PROJECT, THE UCBR WEEKEND WARRIORS, AND OUR PLANS FOR THE TWO UPCOMING SATURDAY WORKDAYS, 12/08 & 12/15/07. PLEASE REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO PARTICIPATE!


In case you haven't heard, the Disaster Response Team at the UCBR is shutting down, and replaced with a new set of directors, Diana Dorroh, myself, and another person we voted on last Sunday, who escapes my memory. Chere Coen is leaving the director position for the Hurricane Relief and Social Justice Project, which is also being shut down. the remaining $2,000 funds, is being redirected to the UCBR Weekend Warriors to continue to support their work, adn to provide seed money for any new efforts. So the good news is that even though HRSJP is shutting down, the UCBR UUs will "keep on keepin' on", as long as you volunteers show an interest in helping.



AS OF DECEMBER 15TH, IT WILL HAVE BEEN ALMOST EXACTLY TWO YEARS SINCE UCBR WWs STARTED WORKING IN S.E. LA. IN THAT TIME, 52 UCBR MEMBERS &FRIENDS HAVE WORKED ANYWHERE FROM ONE TO OVER THIRTY TRIPS, WORKING AT AT 35 LOCATIONS IN ARABI, BATON ROUGE, KENNER, METAIRIE, NEW OREANS, & SLIDELL, LA. WE HAVE PROVIDED OVER 1,400 HOURS OF VOLUNTEER LABOR, AND A TOTAL OF OVER 2,000 HOURS IF TOTAL TRAVEL TIME IS INCLUDED.

Most of our volunteers have been unskilled folks, although we do have a few folks who are skilled with tools. We've mucked and/or, gutted and boarded up about 4 houses, cleaned up debris and dead vegetation, installed new fencing, bucked up and moved fallen trees and debris to the curb for pickup, performed small repairs, moved donated food, supplies, donated appliances, furniture and belongings, put up new sheet rock, painted inside and outside, installed electrical outlets and switches, and helped with yard maintenance.



WE NEED TO CELEBRATE!



PLANS FOR THIS SATURDAY:



Our UCBR WW members had a productive Sat. last weekend. Jim Casper got some electrical work done at Augusta's and new WWs Janet and Robin Moulder and I helped an elderly disabled couple move from their FEMA trailer in Baton Rouge to a rent house in Metairie.



Here is a status report, prepared by Jim Casper, and path forward for completion of the work at Augusta's house in Violet, LA:



A. Status:



1.
Kitchen, Living/Dining area, Master bedroom are all ready for primer/drywall mud mix paint.
2.
Bathroom, Laundry room and Bedroom #2 need first coat of float sanded and a second coat of float applied.
3.
Hall way and #3 bedroom needs a first coat of float finished (some of each area has first coat on.
4.
Bathroom vent in attic needs to be connected. I did not bring the correct tools to do this today. Part of the attic floor has to be cut away to get access to the vent blower. I will bring the correct tools next week.
5.
Continue to install electrical outlets and switches.



Path Forward:



When the above jobs are finished, including putting second coat of float, sanding and prime painting the areas that now only have one coat on.



1. install kitchen cabinets



2. Install bathroom sink and tile around the bathtub.



3. Put on finish coat of paint.



4. Install sink, dishwasher, range and refrigerator in kitchen.



5. Install light fixtures, A/C duct covers in all rooms.



6. Install flooring in all rooms. (Kitchen, Bath and Master Bedroom first)



7. Move Augusta into here house from the FEMA trailer.



While we may not be able to get Augusta moved in by Christmas, we are making good progress!



Plans for this coming Saturday are to work on the items under status - if you have experience in any of those areas, and want to volunteer to come and help, please let me know ASAP. We will meet at the UCBR church parking lot between 7 & 7:30 am, leaving at 7:30 am to carpool down to Augusta's house to work there all day. Jeff Flynn is bringing a fan to help ventilate the house while we paint.



Weather for this coming Sat. is predicted to be:



Scattered Showers, High 80°F
Precip - 30%
Wind: SE 9 mph
Max. Humidity: 82%
UV Index: 4 Moderate
Sunrise: 6:44 AM CT
Sunset: 5:01 PM CT

Great progress at Augusta's :D

I haven't been able to return since September to visit Augusta and the team working on her house, but I have been receiving photos and updates of the fantastic progress being made.

For now here are two sets of photos taken by Jim Casper of their work. (I have to get volunteer names in). Be sure to key in on Augusta driving the last screw into the final piece of drywall. Yes, the final piece. The interior frame is completely covered. Gooooooooooo Warriors!

Please don't forget that they're aiming to help Augusta get out of her trailer by Christmas, so the more power volunteer hands pitching in the better.


10/27



11/17





From Michael's email updates and call for volunteers:

10/29
Hello all, Capri Landrineau, Karen Girardot, Jim Casper, Nancy Gilbert, Vicki Smith and myself had the pleasure of working at Agusta B.'s house in Violet, LA, Saturday, for about 6-7 hours, putting up more drywall and taping and floating the kitchen drywall. Augusta's house "passe inspection", and her electric meter and power hookup were installed the day before. Jim hauled down enough green drwyall to finish the bathroom and washroom. All the drywall installation in all the rooms except the 2nd bedroom, the hallways and living room are completed. The cool, sunny weather was fantastic! Capri & Karen worked on the kitchen taping abd floating, while Vicki, Jim and Nancy worked on the finishing the drywall installation in the bathroom and washroom. I took measurements of the kitchen and gave them to Augusta to bring to the hardware store to shop for cabinetry, and Jim, Mike, Vicki and Augusta worked on drywall installation in the living room as well. Augusta also applied drywall "mud" to the recessed screw holes in the master bedroom. Jim's Roto-tool helped speed up the task of cutting out holes for the outlets and vents. Jim and Mike picked up recycle at the FUUNO church. We got a lot done! Major tool we need to bring next time is a CD player!

11/02
...since 12/2005, by my estimate, about 50 UCBR members, family & friends
have made anywhwere from one to over twenty work trips, contributing approx. 1,300 total hours of service,
not including drive time and lunch breaks (another 636 hours), during over 36 worktrips to 34 sites in New Orleans,
Kenner, Metairie, Algiers, Gretna, Slidell & Baton Rouge.


11/09
Thanks to David Earle & his grandsonCody for helping with taping & floatind drywall last weekend! Augusta says that Jeff Flynn went down mid-week, but I haven't heard what he accomplished.

11/09, forward from Jeff Flynn
Mike
We got the last of the sheetrock on the ceiling installed - no more attic views- and laid some mud in the bedroom, bath and washroom. Still lot's of mud games needed. Augusta's cordless was weak as was mine but had a couple of plug in drills and thankfully an outlet to pull from. Don't think I can make this or mext weekend.

Jeff


11/25
"We had a great workday the Saturday before Thanksgiving, with 12 workers at Augusta's. Thanks to Jim Casper, Nancy Gilbert, Karen Girardot, Mark Gilbert, John McCorquodale from the Bay Area UUC in Houston, TX, Capi & Vicki Smith, the two guys from Massachuscetts who are working at the furniture bank in the 9th ward, and Darlene & Jerry Reaves"

Great Weekend Warrior News and a return to NOLA Volunteer Work - 9/15/07

There's great news from the Weekend Warrior team. They've committed themselves to completing Augusta's house in Violet and having her in by Christmas. This was shared in one of Michael's Sept. 5 email's:

"Please also note that Jim, Nancy & Karen have asked us all to commit to working toward getting Augusta B. out of her FEMA trailer and into her house in Violet, LA by Christmas. She has received her electrical inspection permit to close up her walls, and was working this last weekend to insulate the walls. I'm guessing that she'll at least need help installing and floating drywall, painting, as well as installing appliances and cabinets."


I believe that this decision was made at the August 25 UU Katrina remembrance dinner, and there was no delay in the team getting in there to do the work soon thereafter. :D


Here's an update from Michael's Sept.10 email about the progress:

"Hello all! - David E., Todd R., Jim Casper and I had a great weekend working at Augusta Butler's house. With the help of "Reese", the ceiling drywall lift that Reese Brewer loaned us, we were able to install ceiling drywall in three rooms. Jim's plan is to have the at least the rest of the kitchen and maybe the bathroom done next weekend, so that cabinet work can be started in those rooms. We got to drive around the neighborhood, and Augusta was real pleased that her neighborhood is really coming back."


All of this came on the tails of the Sacred Space church service in which I was so moved to request a special "pregnant Warrior" assignment from Michael. He took me up on that and included this in his Sept.10 email:

"Recruitment Inducement: Irene Kato is interested in tagging along to help, take pictures and give massages!!!!" Lots of laughs. I'm not sure if it's a good idea to use the word inducement with a pregnant Warrior, but his listing is so much appreciated. I've felt off the past 6 months not heading in for the work that continued, and the extra encouragement kept me planning on a return.



The Return



Saturday, Sept.15 I drove in with my daughter to visit Augusta and the team at the house. It was SO great to see Jeannie, Karen, and Nancy working with Augusta, and just to be in the space again.

We entered the house to see the floors completely stripped and clean, the insulation in, new windows installed, and the ceilings in the living room, dining and kitchen areas. Even the feel outside was improved as the yard is much more tame without debris and the overgrown weeds. There was even a new wooden fence lining the back yard installed by the neighbors after Karen and Nancy put in the posts. I noticed too that the recovered wind chimes were still up on the side trellis from six months ago. :) Take a look back at 6 and 7 months ago for a comparison and see the progress.

New Orleans 7

New Orleans 8

The team took a lunch break with us soon after our arrival giving us a bit of rebonding time. We shared food and chatted it up, and of course laughed too. That power crew is so friendly and open that it's tough not to feel at 'home again' with them. Even though I wasn't there to get my hands dirty, I felt the connection once again to Augusta and the work being done to get her back into the house.


Following lunch they kicked right back into the work on installing the dry wall in the kitchen area. I was very impressed by their team work of measuring, cutting, and attaching the pieces to the wall frame giving the open area definition. Grace got to help out too by handing over screws when needed and picking up the cut pieces of dry wall. They worked so well with her when she wanted to get involved and I greatly appreciate that. She really felt part of things, and even reported her work done when we arrived home. :)

The grand finale of our visit came when the final piece of one of the kitchen walls was installed. We stopped to document the historical moment as it was the first completed wall in the house.


Hopefully these images share the determination, commitment, accomplishments, and togetherness shared by the team that afternoon. I really applaud Jeannie, Karen, Nancy and Augusta for all of the work done, and all of the previous work accomplished by the Weekend Warrior teams to keep things moving. As usual, the visit left its mark on me, and I do plan on returning to record the continued progress and cheer them on. Actually, it's better to say that Augusta's positive spirit and the team make a lasting impression to continue.


The goal of completing the house by Christmas so Augusta can be out of her trailer is a big one, but it is very, very doable. When I shared an update of the work in church on Sunday as well as the images on my laptop, a number of people wanted to know what they could do to get involved and help. Some feel they aren't able to contribute to the work now, but are ready to pick up a paintbrush or help with the floors when the time comes. Thank you for this, and I'll do my best to keep others informed about what they can do.