Pauline St. Site
Kathy, Giles, Mary, Bob, Glenda, Lyn, Carla, Nancy, Emma
We said good morning as we were leaving for our site to the first arrivals of the movie crew. They were surprised at how early we were heading out to work (8:30am). We are all at the Pauline St. site this morning because the Wickfield site needs supplies delivered. We made a quick stop at Home Depot for sandpaper and rags then headed over.
Carla hung our California Republic flag for the first time at this site.
It is not often the California flag makes a person well up with pride. But it did today. After all, I AM CALIFORNIAN.
Tameka, granddaughter of our homeowner, replenished us with supplies. She will be living in the home and caring for her grandfather. She was very pleased with the progress we had made. She was especially happy to see the things we had fixed to give the rooms a more finished look.
We have noticed that building assignments are given based more on willingness than experience. We are fortunate to have Giles as our Construction Lead. Bob has been working with Habitat for Humanity for years. Kathy and Mary have several years of SSP trips worth of experience. Glenda and I have done our own home repairs. Carla and Emma are happy to take instruction and learn how to complete the tasks correctly.
Our other site required professional plumbers today. There wasn’t much hand on work to do while the plumbers worked. The supplies hadn’t been delivered, so Kathy and Lyn purchased the required correct size bi-fold doors and took them over to that site. Those will be installed tomorrow or Saturday. They also got the tools we needed from the Relief Center for the Pauline St. site. We were able to get the windowsills and trim work cut and stained. Tomorrow we will polyurethane those pieces. We were able to get the polyurethane on the already installed windowsills, window trim and door frames as well as get one side of one door stained. Tomorrow……. more staining and polyurethane-ing as well as installation of the window trim work and baseboards. At least that’s the hope!
While we were waiting for our supplies to be delivered, I took a walk around the neighborhood. Clearly, some of these houses cannot be rebuilt. They have been neglected for far too long. The mold is inside and outside. Holes in the roof have let subsequent storms in again. Windows have been broken that allow both weather and critters inside. They list to one side…or to both sides… sagging under the weight of a water sodden roof and ceiling with only water sodden wood framework to hold it up. Some houses were removed from the planet by tornadoes. A few others have been razed. I could see the remains of flooring on the slab…. where the kitchen and living rooms were. Where the bathroom was.
Construction is happening. Some starting completely over but most just fixing what The Storm left behind. But there is a lot of construction is not happening. As we were leaving the Wendy’s where we had lunch an AT&T employee stopped us. He stopped us to thank us for doing the work. He gave us some lay of the land… we are in the 9th Ward, but the Lower 9th Ward is what we hear about all the time on news. We are working in the Pontchartrain Park section of Gentily. He had evacuated right before the storm and had not been able to move two of their trucks to “safe ground”. These were the only trucks that survived The Storm. The “safe ground” was not so safe after all…. it flooded the trucks completely. He told us he only had nine inches of water in his house and was only out of his house for six weeks while repairs were made. They were able to get in and cut out the wet sheetrock and pull out the wet flooring before the mold set in. He also told us this area was the first “middle class black” area in the city back in the day. My assessment of the economic status of this neighborhood had been correct after all. They were just working folk, raising families like millions of others after the war. They worked hard, raised children that in turn worked hard and raised their own families. Our homeowner recently celebrated his 85th birthday and these family bonds were strong enough to bring his family together from all over the country. His son in California was there. His granddaughter from Baltimore is moving back to care for him.
I hear so many decry how these folks are just looking for a handout. And maybe some are. But many just want to move back home. Some of them are too old to do the work themselves and can’t afford to hire anyone. Then, when people are hired, the work may not be done very well. There are so many who are just looking to make a quick buck and will do a job for cheap, on the cheap. We happened to talk to a man walking down the street who told us how they had to worry about looters still. What would a looter do with an air conditioner? Sell it to another homeowner as brand new.
We rail against all the rules and regulations that California businesses must endure to do business in California. But I see how much I take those things for granted. I know that unlicensed contractors are regularly ‘stung’ by the Contractor’s Licensing Board. I know they are out in force making sure, to the best of their ability, that the scammers don’t take advantage after a wildfire or flood or earthquake. Even this film crew would have been required to have more bathroom facilities available than the single women’s toilet and single men’s toilet that we are sharing with them. (ick)
Speaking of which…….
Back at Rampart Center ------ the move is supposed to be in their last day and night of filming. We inadvertently walked through their set when we got back. Fortunately, for all concerned, they were at lunch. Filming is going on in both the main courtyard (where we walk in) and in the sanctuary today. Tonight, it is in the gym upstairs and the courtyard. I am sitting in the hallway outside our room where the sound crew has set up shop. It is all mighty interesting. Inconvenient, but interesting! It will also be interesting to go see this movie. I’ve watched a scene go through rehearsal several times with several takes of filming. Plus, I’ve been up there on the set before and after the crew has been here. Remember… the showers are up there!
Today’s Volunteer Labor Debt Reduction:
7 hours x 9 people x $18 = $1134
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