The Gulf Coast of Mississippi and New Orleans - Summer 2007

It was over 100 degrees when we hit the tarmac at Louis Armstrong International Airport in
New Orleans on Sunday, June 3rd. I had felt weather like this only once before, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.
This was no resort vacation however. Shane and I managed to retrieve our bags and find our way to the
rental car. With our trusty Map Quest directions in hand, we hit the I-10 east along the Gulf Coast towards
Mississippi. The natural scenery was beautiful, palm trees lined the highway as it wound its way outside of
the city. The city still had a great deal of damage and many scars. Entire condominium complexes were
still roofless and garbage and debris lined the pot-hole laden streets. Commercial signs and lampposts
had been torn from the ground and lay horizontal like fallen soldiers all along the roads, more frequently as
we got out of the downtown area. After thirty minutes of driving we found ourselves in a rural area with not
many other cars on the road - literally the middle of nowhere. We passed over bayous and many bay bridges along the coast. An hour later we
pulled into Waveland, MS. A small town complete with the classic southern water-tower, Waveland was
home to approximately 15,000 people. After A short stop at the Rona to pick up our boots and gloves we
made our way to Camp Katrina headquarters at the Christian Life Center. The director of the group met us
there and welcomed us. After meeting our fellow workers for the next week who had also arrived
that day from New Jersey, Shane and I were free to explore the town. We drove through neighborhoods that
had been completely destroyed, gutted, and then abandoned after Katrina. Many families were living in
trailers on the property that their homes had once stood on. Seashells could be found scattered up to 5 miles
inland after the flooding. It was truly a heart-breaking scene. One bonus was that the beaches along the Waveland Coast were incredible. After taking our first swim in the Gulf of Mexico, throwing the pigskin around, and taking in the beautiful white-sand
shoreline along Waveland, we headed back to camp for a good nights sleep.

Our work began early Monday morning. We loaded the work truck with supplies and headed off to
our first assignment. We spent the next four days rebuilding a home that belonged to a family with five
young children who had been living in a small FEMA trailer for the last two years after Katrina put their
home seventeen feet under-water. The tree lines had been completely destroyed throughout the area from the
water levels and wind and many of the streets were washed out. The area that we were working in was quite
rural and many of the street signs and landmarks were swept away, leaving the area quite inhospitable to
strangers and even residents who had found it hard to find their property after the storm. By Thursday, we
had reframed and sided the entire house and restored the roof. The family was extremely grateful and often
chatted with us over our lunch breaks telling us their stories and getting to know us. We left the home in
good hands, as there would be another team coming down the following week to complete the dry walling
and painting of the house. It was a great feeling helping this family get back into their home. To many
Americans the home we built would be quite humble and small, but to this family it was like the Taj Mahal.

The remainder of that week was spent dry walling a family home owned by a local contractor
who had been so busy the last two years helping out other residents he hadn’t even taken the time to
complete the rebuild of his home. The organization we were working with explained that they
loved to find people like this (including local builders, firemen, and health workers) in the area who had
sacrificed their own time to help their neighbors and those in greater need. Again we found the family
extremely grateful and warm to us, and spent some time listening to their story and getting to know them.

During the weeks in Waveland, Shane and I would head down to a local watering hole called the Rusty Rail, which was actually a double-wide trailer on stilts. All the volunteers working in the town are given a bracelet to identify them to the locals. The owner of the pub spotted us right away and always treated us well. He even surrendered the TV to us a couple of nights so that Lenny and I could watch the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

After the first long week of work, Shane and I left camp for a weekend in Gulfport and Biloxi. We discovered that Biloxi is somewhat of a mini Las Vegas with large casinos all along the coast line. On Friday night we partied at the Beau Rivage Casino in Biloxi and chatted up a few southern divas. We spent all day Saturday and Sunday on the beach and had a great time. It was sad to see that outside of the few miles of coast that had been cleared for the public beaches, the Gulf shores were still lined with garbage washed up from Katrina two years later. On Sunday afternoon a storm warning came in over all public radios. I have never seen a beach clear out faster. Shane and I drove back to our hotel and arrived just as the thunder and lightning show started - it was wild. We went out Saturday night to Michael's in Gulfport - great dance floor Lenny.

After the weekend break in Gulfport and Biloxi, Shane and I returned to Waveland for our second week of work.
We worked as a two man unit, insulating and dry walling the entire rebuilt home of a young man with a wife
and small child whose home had also suffered extreme flood and wind damage. On the Thursday of that
second week, as we wrapped up our work for the day in the late afternoon, a thunder-storm moved into the
area as is quite common. As we were loading the work truck in the driveway, we turned around to see
lightning strike no more than 30 feet from us, taking out the tree in the front yard across the street and
setting it ablaze. I have never seen lightning so close in my life, it was a truly scary and magnificent spectacle.

For our second weekend, Shane and I headed to the Big Easy, New Orleans. We booked a hotel a block from the corner of Canal and Bourbon. We took in all the sights including the waterfront marketplace, the casinos on Canal, and Jackson Square. We enjoyed a great dinner at Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse and then headed out for a night on Bourbon Street. What a strip! Mile after mile of bars, clubs, drink shacks, restaurants, and music. We partied hard that night. The local drink is the Hand Grenade and I have to say it gets the job done. Of the memories that I have preserved from that night, the hi lights include a Journey cover band, a mechanical bull and some Coyote Ugly divas, as well as a youth group praying for me and giving me a bottle of water while Lenny got carried off to a shady strip joint. Thankfully we both made it back to the hotel room for a few hours of sleep before heading out the next morning.


As I reflect back on our journey to the Gulf Coast I feel like it was me who received the help. The
experiences Shane and I shared will stick with me the rest of my life, along with the warmth, kindness and
tragedy of the families we met and helped in Mississippi. These people lost everything to Hurricane Katrina,
yet there willingness to fight through such tragedy and the warmth and strength of their character truly
touched my life. I am thankful for those people and hope to return again to the area to see the results of such
a huge recovery effort. I think every American should experience a visit to the Gulf Coast, and witness the

natural beauty of the area and the simple beauty of its people.