Yvonne waits for another car to pass so she can hold up her sign.Another sunny day - another day out and about knocking on trailer doors and handing out flyers.
We are finding that it's much harder to run into people at home in the middle of the day - in the middle of the week -- especially when it's so warm outside -- but we did get a chance to talk to some people including three families who really made an impression on me today.
The first was an elderly couple whose home is only a couple of blocks from ours. It should come as no surprise that their home is gutted and empty. They told us that they found an apartment in Vancleave, MS where they are staying until they can fix their house -- but of course they are living out of boxes and it's such a long drive back to their home in Pascagoula. We asked them what they needed and the lady's reply was a familiar one: "Everything." And we all laughed. She said that she thinks she has saved some of her dishes... but there have been so many things that she thought survived the flood water that have since broken or simply fallen apart.
It made me think of what we like to tell people is our miraculous refrigerator which has somehow continued to run and keep food cold since the day the power came back on in spite of the flood water. We try not to question it -- but we're just waiting for the day it gurgles and chugs its last.
Mom telling some folks about Operation Vanessa.
They said their daughter lived just next door in the two story house and lost everything on her bottom floor. They promised to give her our number as well.
We then drove across town to a new neighborhood and I spent most of my time snapping pictures since the majority of the houses there were marked 'condemned' and there were very few signs of life. Mom and I recalled that the majority of this part of town had been made up of rental property -- another reminder of the housing crunch we're experiencing here now.
No 'condemned' notice on this one. Lucky, huh?
We finally ran into a young lady in this area who said at first, "No - no we're okay. We really don't need anything." Mom asked if maybe she could use a blanket and she sort of melted a bit and said, "Well, yes - that would be great actually." She picked a quilt from the few we had in the car and fell in love with it -- we showed her the tag from the quilting circle and she beamed. Then she started telling us her story. She has three kids - her brother, she said pointing in the direction of wherever he is, also has three kids - and her sister, she said now pointing in the opposite direction has three kids. They all lost everything. So I asked again, "Can you tell us what you need?" She said, "Everything." And she laughed too. One of her little boys came out and claimed a nice plaid fleece blanket and we found a jacket and a few toys for the kids in the car as well. She promised to call and to give the number to her brother and sister -- but she wanted to ask us if we ever meet any of 'the people in Minnesota who did this' if we could please give them a hug for her. Consider yourselves hugged, Minnesota.
More driving followed and we stumbled -- quite confused -- upon an area of town that we had never seen before. For a few minutes we thought we must be on the beachfront before we realized we were actually much further back. We rode in silence except for the occasional "My God - what happened here?"
Two condemned houses raised to a new and ridiculous elevation.
It seems futile considering that even at this height they would have likely been destroyed.
We are finding that it's much harder to run into people at home in the middle of the day - in the middle of the week -- especially when it's so warm outside -- but we did get a chance to talk to some people including three families who really made an impression on me today.
The first was an elderly couple whose home is only a couple of blocks from ours. It should come as no surprise that their home is gutted and empty. They told us that they found an apartment in Vancleave, MS where they are staying until they can fix their house -- but of course they are living out of boxes and it's such a long drive back to their home in Pascagoula. We asked them what they needed and the lady's reply was a familiar one: "Everything." And we all laughed. She said that she thinks she has saved some of her dishes... but there have been so many things that she thought survived the flood water that have since broken or simply fallen apart.
It made me think of what we like to tell people is our miraculous refrigerator which has somehow continued to run and keep food cold since the day the power came back on in spite of the flood water. We try not to question it -- but we're just waiting for the day it gurgles and chugs its last.
Mom telling some folks about Operation Vanessa.We then drove across town to a new neighborhood and I spent most of my time snapping pictures since the majority of the houses there were marked 'condemned' and there were very few signs of life. Mom and I recalled that the majority of this part of town had been made up of rental property -- another reminder of the housing crunch we're experiencing here now.
No 'condemned' notice on this one. Lucky, huh?
We finally ran into a young lady in this area who said at first, "No - no we're okay. We really don't need anything." Mom asked if maybe she could use a blanket and she sort of melted a bit and said, "Well, yes - that would be great actually." She picked a quilt from the few we had in the car and fell in love with it -- we showed her the tag from the quilting circle and she beamed. Then she started telling us her story. She has three kids - her brother, she said pointing in the direction of wherever he is, also has three kids - and her sister, she said now pointing in the opposite direction has three kids. They all lost everything. So I asked again, "Can you tell us what you need?" She said, "Everything." And she laughed too. One of her little boys came out and claimed a nice plaid fleece blanket and we found a jacket and a few toys for the kids in the car as well. She promised to call and to give the number to her brother and sister -- but she wanted to ask us if we ever meet any of 'the people in Minnesota who did this' if we could please give them a hug for her. Consider yourselves hugged, Minnesota.
More driving followed and we stumbled -- quite confused -- upon an area of town that we had never seen before. For a few minutes we thought we must be on the beachfront before we realized we were actually much further back. We rode in silence except for the occasional "My God - what happened here?"
Two condemned houses raised to a new and ridiculous elevation.It seems futile considering that even at this height they would have likely been destroyed.
This one broke our hearts.
We finally decided to drive to the east a little from the houses we visited yesterday. There we met an entire young family who were living in the backyard. Now I have heard a lot of stories about families in tents... and I have to admit that I haven't actually seen one of those in a couple of months (although there were PLENTY for the first several weeks following Katrina) -- until today. At the back of the house there was a FEMA trailer and three tents - one larger tent and two child-sized ones. The young man there explained that the FEMA trailer belonged to his mother who was just inside. We didn't need to ask -- they needed everything. We were happy to have jackets with us that fit a couple of the children and one brand-new adult-sized jacket that the lady said either she or her husband could wear. The young woman told us that although it was warm today - she had not forgotten just how cold it can get and was very grateful for the blankets. We divided the toys among all the children and explained that there were plenty of children's clothes left if they could make a list of needed sizes for us. They thought it was really 'neat' that people in Minnesota were thinking about us down here... and said that they really needed the help. We honestly can't wait for their phone call because we are pretty sure that most of the donated clothes that we have left will be in their childrens' sizes and it's always fantastic to be able to bring people what they've asked for.
We were pretty quiet on our way home today -- at least more so than usual. Speaking for myself, I was deep in thought. We all feel that we have come such a long way since August 29th -- but every now and then it hits us just how far we still have to go. Most of the people I talk to now are telling me they are pretty much set as far as emergency supplies and clothing and such due to the enormous efforts and generosity of organizations such as Minnesota Helpers. But as they begin to emerge from the tents and cars and borrowed living rooms they have been staying in for the last several months and find themselves trying to start living again -- the needs are still there.. only they have changed. Requests for bed sheets, linens, pillows, kitchen utensils, pots & pans, small appliances, and even construction materials abound. There is an aching need for skilled craftsmen in all trades and an even greater need for advice on what to do next and how to go about doing it. What now?
Oddly enough, I find these days that some of the best advice around can be found hastily spray-painted on garage doors.
We were pretty quiet on our way home today -- at least more so than usual. Speaking for myself, I was deep in thought. We all feel that we have come such a long way since August 29th -- but every now and then it hits us just how far we still have to go. Most of the people I talk to now are telling me they are pretty much set as far as emergency supplies and clothing and such due to the enormous efforts and generosity of organizations such as Minnesota Helpers. But as they begin to emerge from the tents and cars and borrowed living rooms they have been staying in for the last several months and find themselves trying to start living again -- the needs are still there.. only they have changed. Requests for bed sheets, linens, pillows, kitchen utensils, pots & pans, small appliances, and even construction materials abound. There is an aching need for skilled craftsmen in all trades and an even greater need for advice on what to do next and how to go about doing it. What now?
Oddly enough, I find these days that some of the best advice around can be found hastily spray-painted on garage doors.
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