We Made It!

Yesterday, we embarked on our 16th trip to Mississippi. Myself, Geneseo students, Geneseo community members, and even a student from the University of Delaware took various flights - making it out despite the looming blizzard in New York - to New Orleans, LA. There, we packed into four vans and traveled a little under two hours to Ocean Springs, MS (with a much anticipated stop at Sonic along the way).

Camp Victor, located in Ocean Springs, MS, has met my expectations and then some. We have bunk style dormitories - with brand new, comfortable mattresses. It is quieter than I expected, especially since there are so many groups said to be here (though the noise level doesn't indicate this.)

Today was our first work day. My group consists of myself - AmeriCorps VISTA at SUNY Geneseo - two community members, and four students. After a short orientation at Hope Community Development Agency (they connect us to work sites) we headed off. First we went to a "warehouse," which was previously a cat food factory, to pick up tools. When we arrived at our site, Seth (from Hope CDA) informed us that the house we would be working on was one of the first to be rebuilt after the storm, but the foundation was not put down properly and needed to be redone. We were to pull up the floor in a small bedroom - this is what Seth thought we would have time for - by the end of the day we were able to pull up that floor, the living room floor, and the kitchen floor.

At lunch we met with homeowners of homes Livingston CARES has worked on in the past. It was a really good opportunity to hear stories straight from those that we helped. Gladys (one of the homeowners) told me her story - how she stayed in the storm because she had "stayed through all the others," her life living on her couch for three months before she finally got a FEMA trailer, and how she really learned how blessed she now is - because of how she had to live after the storm.