Team Leader: Gene Wahl
Team Members: Stuart and Nancy Balch, John Jackson, Betsy Wahl, Mary Ann Riker
Team Leader: Mort Gridley, Jr.
Team Members: Mort Gridley, Sr., Erica Hepworth, Sandy Hall, Cathy Everett, Kim Dungey
(Editor’s note: These two teams worked together today.)
Today we worked on a cement block home in Moss Point. It is very small with 4 rooms. We were told we would be putting up furring strips to install dry wall. Guess what! When we arrived most of the rooms already had dry wall! So we mudded, primed and cleaned. We even cleaned the purple bathtub. Allen came in, all smiles! (Written by Betsy Wahl)
Mort Gridley, Sr. demonstrates painting
techniques to John and Mary Ann.
Photo by Sandy Hall
Team Leader: Roy McCarthy
Team Members: Bill Hall, Lorraine Daws, Colleen Saxton, Judy Bezon
Kitchen installation was our primary goal today,
led by Mr. Kitchen himself – Roy McCarthy. We were able to install all the kitchen cabinets for a grateful lady (Valerie) who had two teen age daughters and a grandson living with her. She is still cooking in her FEMA trailer. The ladies on the team used a power miter saw (wow!) and learned to miter corners for baseboards, which they tacked in place with a power nailer. (wow again) Bill did kitchen cabinets with Roy and went to Lowes for things we needed. (Written by Colleen Saxton)
The team conferres with Valerie, the owner of the home we were working on.
Photo by Judy Bezon
Some of the cabinets we installed. Don't examine this picture too closely! Photo by Colleen Saxton
Team Leader: Brian Theil
Team Members: Al and Diane Walker, Dylan Theil, Marie DeWispelaere, Marcia Peters
Team Leader: Brad Hinman
Team Members: Frank Mosh, Patti Gridley, Ashley Dann, Jeff Sergeant, Terri Persons
(Editor’s note: These two teams worked together today)
Our day began on a positive note. We gathered and loaded our tools and off to the work site we go. The team was pumped and ready to work. We arrived to find no one at home nor doors unlocked. It was like the old saying “hurry up and wait.”
Made phone calls to get a new assignment. We were welcomed with a grateful smile by a gentleman named Wesley.
Assessed the work to be done and make a trip to Lowe’s. Unfortunately the women and Dylan felt left out because it was electrical issues that needed to be done first. So Brad, Brian, Al and Frank were working while the rest of us got to hear Wesley’s story.
Wesley of Pascagoula. Brian and Dylan move a stove into his kitchen.
Team Members: Al and Diane Walker, Dylan Theil, Marie DeWispelaere, Marcia Peters
Team Leader: Brad Hinman
Team Members: Frank Mosh, Patti Gridley, Ashley Dann, Jeff Sergeant, Terri Persons
(Editor’s note: These two teams worked together today)
Our day began on a positive note. We gathered and loaded our tools and off to the work site we go. The team was pumped and ready to work. We arrived to find no one at home nor doors unlocked. It was like the old saying “hurry up and wait.”
Made phone calls to get a new assignment. We were welcomed with a grateful smile by a gentleman named Wesley.
Assessed the work to be done and make a trip to Lowe’s. Unfortunately the women and Dylan felt left out because it was electrical issues that needed to be done first. So Brad, Brian, Al and Frank were working while the rest of us got to hear Wesley’s story.
Wesley of Pascagoula. Brian and Dylan move a stove into his kitchen.
Photo by Diane Walker
Wes is probably in his 50’s and lives alone. When Katrina hit he had 5 feet of water in his home. He stayed on a chair on his stove for 12 hours when his son retrieved him. While on the stove a water moccasin swam in a broken window and wanted to share Wesley’s high ground. Wesley whacked the snake to kill it.
After the water receded, Wes lived in a tent in the back yard for a month. Then he got a FEMA trailer. Tonight he plans to sleep in his house for the first time since Katrina. Wesley has attended Wesley Chapel UMC all his life and that is why his name is Wesley.
He was so grateful and couldn’t help but smile as he saw this dream coming true. We met his 4 year old grandson, Ladevon. I think we will always remember the smile on Wesley’s face.
The outlets and switches were wired up and the rest of the team got to do some work putting on the cover plates. When all is done and powered up .... a big problem surfaces. Some of the outlets and switches won’t work.
Ashley and Marie worked on Wes’s bedroom to get it ready for his first night in his home since Katrina hit town. Ashley was almost as excited for Wes to be in his new bedroom as he was.
During the electrical glitch we decided to say a prayer. God answered in a matter of minutes. One of the team members needed to use the bathroom and found an outlet that went unnoticed until then. That solved part of the problem.
We were able to get Wes’s home to a place where he is in his home, but we will return to finish up tomorrow. (Written by Patti Gridley and Terri Persons)
Wes is probably in his 50’s and lives alone. When Katrina hit he had 5 feet of water in his home. He stayed on a chair on his stove for 12 hours when his son retrieved him. While on the stove a water moccasin swam in a broken window and wanted to share Wesley’s high ground. Wesley whacked the snake to kill it.
After the water receded, Wes lived in a tent in the back yard for a month. Then he got a FEMA trailer. Tonight he plans to sleep in his house for the first time since Katrina. Wesley has attended Wesley Chapel UMC all his life and that is why his name is Wesley.
He was so grateful and couldn’t help but smile as he saw this dream coming true. We met his 4 year old grandson, Ladevon. I think we will always remember the smile on Wesley’s face.
The outlets and switches were wired up and the rest of the team got to do some work putting on the cover plates. When all is done and powered up .... a big problem surfaces. Some of the outlets and switches won’t work.
Ashley and Marie worked on Wes’s bedroom to get it ready for his first night in his home since Katrina hit town. Ashley was almost as excited for Wes to be in his new bedroom as he was.
During the electrical glitch we decided to say a prayer. God answered in a matter of minutes. One of the team members needed to use the bathroom and found an outlet that went unnoticed until then. That solved part of the problem.
We were able to get Wes’s home to a place where he is in his home, but we will return to finish up tomorrow. (Written by Patti Gridley and Terri Persons)
Team Leader: Paul Riker
Team Members: Pete Jimmerson, Kate Hall, Jane Fisher, Bill Miller (adopted volunteer from Raleigh, North Carolina)
We went to the Hamilton home thinking we would be installing ceramic tile in a bathroom. There was not enough tile on site and the floor was in no condition to accept the mastic. We decided underlayment and self stick vinyl would work better. There was a wall in a bedroom that needed repair. We wound up
buying paneling, underlayment, vinyl tile and some plumbing supplies so we could do what needed to be done.
The day was full of aborted attempts to do things we didn’t have the materials to do which made the job entirely different than what was assigned. (written by Paul Riker)
Team Members: Pete Jimmerson, Kate Hall, Jane Fisher, Bill Miller (adopted volunteer from Raleigh, North Carolina)
We went to the Hamilton home thinking we would be installing ceramic tile in a bathroom. There was not enough tile on site and the floor was in no condition to accept the mastic. We decided underlayment and self stick vinyl would work better. There was a wall in a bedroom that needed repair. We wound up
The day was full of aborted attempts to do things we didn’t have the materials to do which made the job entirely different than what was assigned. (written by Paul Riker)
Pete and Paul working on the damaged wall.
(Unknown photographer)
