Done with Drywall!

Last week I finished dry walling my house! Hooray! My volunteers finished in one week which is pretty stellar.

This week I’ve been working with Amanda and Katie mudding their houses. I am becoming an excellent mudder.

I’m really excited about going back to Denver to see everyone again and to say goodbye. We'll be graduating from the program on November 19. I’ve loved my AmeriCorps experience but I’m ready to go home and spend time with my family.
~Maria B.

Warehouse Assistant Manger

The St. Bernard Project has been a really great experience so far and the whole team has been enjoying it. My role with this project is the Warehouse Assistant Manger position. I keep the warehouse looking clean and organized so I know where everything goes. I also stock the shelves when new supplies comes in, help volunteers along with site supervisors find the tools they are looking for, and put kits together that go out to the different houses. My position helps the workers get the supplies they need to get a house done, sending a message to the homeowners that the organization cares. I occasionally help answer phones or help with random projects such as spray painting hammers pink for women’s build. There are days when I am all caught up with my work in the warehouse when I help the runners deliver the supplies or go to a work site and learn how to put up sheet rock. My job can a little stressful and hectic sometimes, since I am busy running around trying to get so many tasks done at once. Overall, I really like my role with this project for I have learned a lot, including getting to see to see the business side of a non-profit organization, which is really neat. I can not wait to see what is ahead for the last two and a half weeks that we are here; I know its going to be fun!

Now for Earth One team news, for the last two and half weeks of our fourth round project we are getting a new teammate from Water One, which is another team from the Denver campus. Earth one excitedly welcomes Andy to the team, so “Welcome to Earth One Andy!” So stay tuned to see how the last two and half weeks ago with another member.

~ Paige

The Teacher Becomes the Student

As my teammates have mentioned in previous entries, we are reaching the end of our service in AmeriCorps. I can't even begin to express the emotions that I am facing regarding this wrap up. We are currently about three weeks into our fourth (and final) project, the St. Bernard Project...and I am hooked. I can't seem to get enough of working with volunteers and contributing to the rebuilding of homes here in Louisiana.

This past week is an excellent example of why I am so continuously excited about this project: Every year, the St. Bernard Project organizes an event called Women's Rebuild. Women (and sometimes men!) from all over the United States visit the St. Bernard Parish and volunteer with the St. Bernard Project for however long they'd like to stay. I think it's safe to say that I received some of the strongest and most beautiful women out of the group as my volunteers for the week. My job, as a site supervisor, was to train them in all three stages of drywall mudding for a house I have been working on these past couple of weeks. I am pretty certain that I ended up learning more from them than they did from me.

What they taught me was the fact that compassion and love is still very much alive in this world. They came into this house and immediately treated it as their own. They surrounded me with their bright personalities and eagerness to work as hard as they could every day. Sadly, today was my last day of working with these amazing women. But, because of them, I will walk into that house with the compassion they showed me, and I will give more of myself in making this house into a wonderful home... a home that belongs to a young and grateful family.

The contributions that these volunteers have given to this project have not only given hope to the residents of the St. Bernard Parish, but also to me... a twenty-four year old woman who will never forget the strength and care that was encountered during her past week of work. I hope they read this entry. I hope they know how wonderful of a role they have played in my life. I can't thank them enough.

~Mallory

The Week at a Glance

Our days with AmeriCorps are almost over! It's about that time that nobody can call home anymore without parents asking "So when are you gonna get a real job?" Well, most nights we have got teammates browsing colleges, filling out job applications, and studying for the GREs. I'm sure that in our own ways of measuring success, we'll all be extremely successful after AmeriCorps.

We are all just loving St. Bernard Project! Most of us are supervising volunteers and it's really exciting to be experienced enough in construction to lead others. I met the woman whose house I'm building today and she brought Gatorade for all my volunteers. She's such a nice person that I feel extra inspired to get her house done.

The Church of the Brethren invited us over for tacos on Tuesday and extended the invitation to every Tuesday we're in town. The culture and atmosphere there was so welcoming and relaxing - we had a great time.

Kate, Katie, and I run on "Bayou Rd." We're always guaranteed plenty of wildlife - snakes, armadillos, egrets and turtles. Dogs are also plentiful around here. Katie also claims to see all kinds of nutria just everywhere, but I'm starting to doubt her.

Kate, Katie, Amanda and Maria went on a swamp tour Sunday. They fed alligators marshmallows and said it was a lot of fun.

You might not believe it but it's starting to cool down a little in Louisiana.

~Stacy

Round Four Begins

Fourth Round. I continue to ask myself where the time has gone…. Wasn’t it just yesterday that we were in the mountains of Tennessee building trails or hammering away at rotted wood in the upper Ninth Ward? First, second, third, and fourth round… that’s what this year has become; defined into quarters, breaks, and natural disasters. In just one month, we’ve had a week long break, witnessed two major hurricanes, and started our last project. Reflecting back on all these experiences has made me realize that in just two short months, we’ll all be saying our goodbyes to people who have become so close to be considered family, who have shared and witnessed both good and bad times together, and who have been there every waking and sleeping moment. It’s incredible.

So what is Earth One doing for fourth round anyway? We are working with St. Bernard Project in St. Bernard, Louisiana, about 30 minutes away from downtown. We are living at Camp Hope, volunteer housing in what was previously a middle school. With St. Bernard Project, we are able to serve as site supervisors, electricians, starters, and runners. For the first time, we are working alongside another AmeriCorps NCCC team, Raven 2 from the Perry Point, Maryland, campus. I am working as a runner, which is basically the person who delivers materials and tools to the worksites, makes frequent trips to Home Depot, and gets to learn the streets in St. Bernard parish really well. As Sam mentioned in the last post, St. Bernard Project was started by two ambitious individuals, Zack and Liz. From just an idea to help families rebuild their homes, they built an organization that has rebuilt at least 70 homes in St. Bernard Parish in this past year alone. With help from over 3,500 volunteers from all over the country, families are able to move back into their flood damaged homes, finally, after over three years of living in FEMA trailers, with other family members, or even in different states.

As I was driving through these neighborhoods today, I was disturbed at the number of homes still in major disrepair. Our efforts during the next six weeks will surely help some families be closer to moving back into their homes; I just wish progress was faster and that every family could have the lives they had pre-Katrina. Sadly, as I look around as the dilapidated store fronts, piles of rubble, and abandoned homes, I’m not sure that will ever happen. Thankfully, there are individuals from all over the country who continue to volunteer to help the rebuilding efforts. Thankfully, my team and I are part of those efforts.

-Maria C.

St. Bernard Project

We had our orientation today. We saw some of the houses we'll be working on, we met the people that we'll be working with and we learned the story behind the St. Bernard Project. We also met one of the homeowners. It's pretty amazing. The people here are full of love and hope. They work hard and they have done amazing things.

St. Bernard Project was started by a couple from Boston, Zach and Liz. They first came to Louisiana about 6 months after the storm. They thought they would help rebuild. They thought that they would put up new walls, pound nails or cut wood. But the city wasn't even cleaned up yet. There was still half a foot of mud in most houses and trash in the streets.

When they went back home they decided to continue to help. They set up a tool lending program. It quickly grew into much more. St Bernard Project now gets thousands of volunteers every year and they have completed more than 140 homes.

But 3 years later there is still a lot of work to do. It's humbling and inspiring. I'm excited to start.
~Sam