The Blogger

It has been my pleasure to be this year's team Blogger. I have never created one or been solely responsible for one before. It has been my joy to bring you tidbits of our trip this year. This picture was taken by Cathy probably about 7am in the morning in Parkway's church library.

I have loved blogging the news of our trip each day and hope you have been able to "travel" along with us. We have felt your prayers throughout each day. We couldn't do it without you. Thank you for wearing your Inspirational bracelets supporting us each day. I have fallen it love with New Orleans. The people and circumstances here truly grab your heart and don't let go. The people are so incredibly appreciative and grateful of every little bit of progress we make in their homes and in their lives. I have said once before that once you go on a Volunteer In Mission trip it leaves you like you never been before.

I can't recommend it enough, to try one of these trips. 19 people really made a difference this week for 2 very needy homeowners. We truly gave them the greatest gift of all--HOPE. It has been an incredibe pleasure to be on this year's team to New Orleans. We had a very hard-working and caring team. I'm sure God is smiling down on all of us. Now that we have physically returned, it will take us a day or two to get our feet back on the ground. But, I do hope we never forget the faces of New Orleans. Here I am Lord...send me.

With love and gratitude and still keeping HOPE alive in New Orleans, barb

The "After"...

Yesterday, I sent a picture of the ladies ready to go out for our celebration dinner. Well, I wanted you to see what we really look like the majority of our time, and here it is.

Bottom: Debby, Rexie, Barb, Aubury, Cathy

Top: Marcia, G'Anna

We have had a truly awesome week. Over the years, we girls have learned new skills and on occasion have become brave enough to question some of the construction solutions that the male members have suggested. The nicest thing is, they are starting to listen. Everyone should take at least one trip!!!

Prayer Shawl Presentation #3

As is the tradition, we leave one of those very wonderful prayer shawls with every homeowner we work with. We explain the prayer shawl ministry to them, and it is so powerful. We thank our prayer shawl ministry for their gift that we share as we go throughout our week. We took 5 prayer shawls with us and never really know where they will find "homes". But amazingly enough they find warm, loving and deserving homes on each trip we take. Kate was really overcome with emotion when Seth presented her with her prayer shawl along with a little over $300 in Target gift cards that our congregation and Curves friends donated for us. You can believe me when I tell you, that your gifts create tremendous HOPE for these people.

The Job is done...

I mentioned to you earlier in this blog, how finding a bathroom can be a real issue when on these VIM trips. Well, I just had to share this picture of Debby with you. She and Fred and Mark all worked on the floor of this bathroom and we were able to leave it functioning with a real door for privacy by Friday. That, in itself, was not only a gift to Kate, but to the teams to come next week and there after. Nice work!!!

Amazing tile work

This Seth and our homeower, Kate, on Friday after her master bathroom tile was completed. Isn't it beautiful? Seth was in charge of the design and the positioning of each tile. Many others mortared, grouted, wash and wash and wash the tile to make it look so beautiful which it truly is. We know Kate will enjoy this for years to come.

Ervin with his Morning Glorys

When we return from our VIM trips we always try to bring the addresses of our homeowners with us so we can stay in touch. Ervin is not exception. The Morning Glorys Circle sends out monthly cards to Ervin. He, in turn, has sent us some of the most beautifully written cards. It is such a pleasure to know him.

Marcia, Barb, Debby, Ervin and Cathy

Reconnecting with Ervin

We invited Ervin to our Friday feast. We worked on Ervin's home last year. I think if he had his way about it, he'd have us come back and finish a few other things. It was truly a joy to see him. One story he told us: He had ordered some bedroom furniture and was told that it would take about 9 months to get it. He said, "Girl, I can't wait that long; I don't even buy green bananas anymore!" Ervin is in his late 70's and has a wit about him that is truly enjoyable. It's always good to check in on old friends in New Orleans.

Enjoying the Feast

Unfortunately during our wonderful Friday Feast, it began to rain. But, it really didn't matter. Kate's food and her generous thoughfulness of our hard work, were all that really mattered.

Friday's Feast

We were truly blessed to have Kate as our one of our homeowners to help this week. Each day she brought us a homemade snack (banana bread, chocolate chip bars, orange marmalade cookies, etc). Well, on Friday, she always fixes lunch for the crew that works on her home that week. So, all 19 of us were invited! What a feast--jambalya, bread, tossed salad, angel food cake with fresh strawberries and key lime pie. What an incredible treat for all of us! We have never had this experience before. And it was all very, very delicious.

Prayer Shawl Presentation #2

Fred presented our 2nd prayer shawl to Phyllis who was our team coordinator from UMCOR. This woman is incredible!!! All day long she runs from site to site to check on materials, problems and progress. She has to authorize any expenditures for the homeowner. She was very good to us as she help secure some funds for 6 doors that Kate needed. She was such a support to us and the homeowners there. Her favorite response to anything was "God is good", and he truly is.

Fire Men to the rescue!!!

When rebuiliding these houses, it is always a problem to find bathrooms to use while on the job site. Kate's bathroom wasn't usable until Friday mid-morning. So, we discovered a fire station about a block and a half down the street from Kate's. They were very kind and let us use their facilities whenever we needed them. Sorry that Rich Yuras wasn't there to meet these guys. They were so kind and generous. We heard many Katrina stories from them, also. Four and a half years later, it's like it just happened yesterday to them.

Pergo Floor Crew

This is one very proud floor crew!!! This picture was taken in Kate's master bedroom at the completion of the 4th area we had Pergoed!!!

With uneven floors and unsquare walls it is indeed a challenge to floor these rooms whether it be tile or Pergo.

Preparing the toilet

We realized mid-morning on Friday, that the tile in bathroom #2 was ready to have the toilet installed. Here G'Anna and Tim clean off the toilet to put it back in. Later on a door would be added to the bathroom.

Back of Kate's house

Kate has been watching a lot of home decorating shows and as a result is trying to create a very nice look in her home. When you enter these French doors, her bedroom is on theleft side. The bathroom that Seth meticuously tiled is to the right. On Friday, when we returned to finish the Pergo in her bedroom, we discovered that rain had leaked in through these doors. G'Anna discovered 3 leaking window pains. Jeff caulked around the top of the doors, so hopefully that will put an end to rain leaking in anymore.

Kate's backyard

This is a view of Kate's backyard from her master bedroom french doors.

Triming out the bathroom window

Dave Black, Cathy and Fred confer over the proper placement of the window trim. Many times the frames of these windows are very uneven due to either previous construction or damage from Katrina.

The Mortar Mixer

Rick learned a new skill on this trip--that of mixing to perfection many bucketfuls of mortar for the tile floors.

Saw Girl

Aubury used to work with Jeff in Maryland at Habitat for Humanity. She has sinced moved to Americus, GA, but still joins us on our trips. Aubury is one of our very skilled team members, and the miter saw is her speciliaty. She cut many, many pieces of trim work for windows and doors for us.

OH, NO! Not again!

Yes, once again some minor car problems. While trying to get on the road to work, Seth discovered his battery had died. It wasn't completely his fault; he had left a drill battery charging in the back of his car and it apparently drained his car battery. Not to worry though. A quick charge and we were on our way!

Kate's kitchen

Cathy, Dave Black and Fred busy laying the tiles. Kate acquired used kitchen cabinets. After many, many discussions, a floor plan was laid out to determine where the cabinets should go and the tile should be put. Over the cabinet on the floor (where the miter saw is) is going to be the dining area.

Lunch Time

This is one of our lunch breaks. I think in this one, we are enjoying the very delicious bar-b-que from The Joint (mentioned earlier).

Notice the white house on the right--this has pretty much been abandoned which poses a huge problem for people who have moved back in to neighborhoods. These two houses weren't more than 6 feet apart, and when you look out of Kate's side windows, this is what you see.

Meet the Neighbors!

This is Asia and her 2 friends, who just happened to be riding around the neighborhood in Asia's very pink cadillac with speakers. Cute kids.

Pergo...

Chip, Barb and Marcia begin laying Pergo in the 3rd bedroom/den. Kate, the homeowner had two different floor types--Pergo which was to be in stalled in 3 bedrooms, 1 very large closet, the living room and dining room. The other was ceramic tile for the 2 bathrooms, and kitchen. We were able to complete all of the flooring except the living and dining rooms.

VIM Ladies

It's a tradition on our VIM trips to go out to dinner on Thursday night to celebrate our week.

The ladies on this year trip are: Rexie, Cathy, Barb, Debby, Aubury, G'Anna and Marcia. Darrell and Jenny Guillory also joined us. They have been friends of our's for the past 4 years. Darrell worked at East Bank Recovery when we first came. He can to our first VIM Golf Tournament to help us raise funds for VIM trips. They are doing very well and send their best to everyone back in Herndon.

Getting started on Thursday morning...

Back at Kate's house on Poland Ave talking about what the day is supposed to be like. Jim Henderson, David Baylor, Fred, Jeff and Marc. We talk alot, plan, and then God steps in and we finally get it done!

Visitng Mildred....

We worked on Mildred's home on year two of our trip here. She is a most delightful lady whom we have remained in contact with since then. On Sunday, Marcia, Cathy, and Debby paid her a visit to check out her finished home. It looks absolutley beautiful. It's very rewarding to see someone returned to and living happily in their home.

Tile Girl

Debby has become quite the tile expert on our trip. This is the second bathroom she has tiled.

You go girl!

An UnFellini pose

What they really look like!!!

Another Fellini pose

Rich, Tim and Jim Henderson checking on a bucket of freshly made grout.

Felli

Prayer Shawl Presentation

We gave our first prayer shawl to Mike and
Neevin to thank them for their dedication to
Keeping Hope Alive in New Orleans through
their creation of a non-profit to train the home-
less, non-violent criminals, and unemployed.
They have currently applied for 2 grants to
see their dream become a reality. We applaud
their efforts and dedication.

Fellini Pose

Don and Fred demonstrate a Fellini pose with Fred wearing his new "Senior" vest. Fellini

was noted for his famous poses which caused people to stop and stare at them. What else can I say. For further info, ask Don.

Freddy's gift.

This is Freddy demonstrating his new bald man's comb. He seemed to like it.

More Freddy...

Here's most of our group, celebrating with party
favors sent to Freddy by his prayer partner,
Joy Reed.

Freddy turns 60!!!

Freddy turned 60 yesterday, so we treated him to a surprise party, which he seemed to like.

...The Joint

Jim and Rexie anxiously waiting...

More Joint Pictures...

Fred, Aubury and Dave Black waiting for lunch to be prepared.

Lunch at The Joint on Wednesday

Seth had seen The Joint on the Food Network show, Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. So, guess what this one is? As luck would have it, this is located right down the street (within walking
distance) of our Poland house. It's rated as a really good bar-b-que place, and indeed it is.
A bunch of the team walked down and brought lunch back on Wednesday. It was absolutley yummy! Interesting name though, huh?

Cartier House

Dave Black and Rexie busy at work framing a window in
Beverly's bedroom. They finished three windows, and put the door in here

More on Cartier St. house

Dave Black, Rexie and Aubury are busy triming a door for a bedroom in Beverly's home.

Aubury teaching Cathy how to use the mitre saw to cut boards for trim work around windows and door frames. The weather has been so nice, we've been able to set up a lot of our tools outside.

More later... time to go to work.

David Baylor triming out greenboard for the bathroom in Beverly's house. Jim Henderson sits comfortably nearby giving directions so everything will be just perfect.

Priming trim boards

Rick, Cathy, and Rexie busy at work priming boards, while Jim Henderson is busy priming Rexie! These boards will be used for finishing off the insides of windows. There are eight windows to be repaired.

Cartier House

This is David Black & Jeff's team. They are: Rexie, Cathy, Jim Henderson, David Baylor, Jim Bickel, Rick, Jeff, Don, Aubury,Dave Black. The house they are working on needs windows framed, doors hung, ceramic tiling, painting, and replacing a bathtub. The water mark from Katrina was up to 4 feet. The house is owned by Beverly. It is a 2 bedroom house. She has a very nice backyard. On one side a neighbor is living in their house, but on the other side, the house is vacant.

Parkway Presbyterian Church

We thought you would like to see the church we are staying at. In our 4 years coming here, we have stayed here 3. They are the most welcoming and warm people. Notice all of the flowers blooming. It's a beautiful time of year here. Tonight we are joining with their congregation for the traditional red beans and rice dinner. The tradition of red beans and rice for dinner started many years ago on Mondays which was "wash day". Because it took all day to wash the clothes by hand, a big pot of beans and rice was started early in the morning to be ready for Monday night's dinner. After our dinner tonight, we'll have communion, which is a Wednesday night tradition we started on our VIM trips here.

Kate's Neighbor

This house is to the left of Kate's. It's a shotgun style house. If you look closely, you can still see a faint sign of the famous "X" that was used as people searched the houses right after Katrina. In the backyard is a refrigerator that probably was removed due to flood damage. The owners of this house only come here on weekends.

Off to breakfast...tomorrow, blogs about Jeff and David's project.

Meet Kate

This is Kate, the proud owner of the Poland Ave home. She is currently living in an apartment while work is being done on her home. When the floods came the water rose to just below the brass door plate on her front door, which from the ground up was about 8 to 9 feet, maybe. Kate warned us that we needed to be out of the neighborhood by 4, as it wasn't safe after that. We had to keep our tools inside and out of sight, etc, etc. She is very determined to once again live back in her home. It was built in 1924. It used to be a duplex, but has been changed into a single home. We are the 7th or 8th team to work on her home.

Poland Ave House

This is the house that Seth & Chip's team will be
working on this week. We will be laying ceramic
tile, Pergo floors, hanging doors, etc, etc. Notice
the plywood covering the windows. Kate, the
homeowner has had 2 tv's stolen from her house
recently, and a new window broken. The house to the right of her's has pretty much been abandoned. It's hard for neighborhoods to return to normalcy when one or two homes on the street are rebuilt, and others are still in the same condition they were 4 years ago.

OUR 2009 TEAM

Top row, left to right: Marcia, Aubury, Jeff, David Black, Barb,Debby, Rexie, Cathy.
Bottom row: Mark, Fred, Don, Jim Henderson, G'Anna, Chip, Tim, and David Baylor
We have two of our team missing from this photo.
Seth was off getting a generator from the supply closet, as we had decided not to bring our's with us. The other team member missing is Rich Yuras, who at the last minute, got a nasty bug and couldn't make our trip. We really miss him, especially since we have a lot of tile to lay and he's sooooo good at it!

Debby and Don posing outside of the church we were got our assignments. By the way, our day was a beautiful, warm weather day--sunny and a warm 75 all day!