RemodelingGuy
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Registered: 03/02/01
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Loc: Houston, Texas
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Jackson volunteer returns from devastation, sees little progress being made
By Mary Kay Quinn
Beacon Journal staff writer
JACKSON TWP. - Not much has changed in New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina hit eight months ago, a local volunteer says.
While water has receded from streets and homes, mold has taken its place.
``It's not just black mold, it's black, blue, yellow, green, brown... unknown mold,'' says Jay Jesse of Jackson Township. ``It's everywhere and on every thing.''
A lieutenant in the Green Fire Department, Jesse has visited the New Orleans area in February and April as a church volunteer. He plans two more visits this year.
What keeps him coming back is the obvious need.
Pictures from his February trip show trash piled high in the streets -- as residents returned to their homes, they found that little could be salvaged and tossed out their ruined belongings.
The many houses knocked off their slab foundations by flooding are still askew. In one photo, a house came to rest, arched like an accordion, over a car.
In his recent visit, he found things much the same.
Jesse rushed to action after finding that a nonprofit group working in the city's Lower Ninth Ward -- an area with no city water service -- had run out of bottled water.
He gave Common Ground Collective his two cases of water, then purchased 25 more cases at local stores.
He and his wife, Brenda, with donations from family, the Lutheran camp and two bottled-water companies, eventually got 400 cases of water delivered to Common Ground.
The weather at that time, about mid-April, was in the low 90s, with high humidity.
During Jesse's stay, authorities recovered two bodies in formerly flooded areas.
With 458 people still considered missing just in Louisiana, Jesse predicts many more corpses will be found.
``I'm glad they're finding them to give the families some closure,'' he said.
While in Louisiana, Jesse stayed with the Lutheran Disaster Response camp, which is set up at Atonement Lutheran Church's soccer field in Metairie.
About 100 volunteers a week are based there, helping local homeowners with cleanup.
On his last visit, Jesse cooked and cleaned at the camp and assisted Common Ground, in days that began at 5 a.m. and ended at 11:30 p.m.
The Common Ground volunteers work in one of New Orleans' poorest areas, helping people who cannot afford to rebuild their homes.
When five volunteers go to a house and gut it in a week, that saves homeowners $10,000, according to Common Ground. The first step to making a house livable is to rip out moldy drywall, often taking the interior down to its studs, Jesse said.
He made his first trip this year with his dad, Ed Jesse of Bolivar, and expects that they will go together again in June and September. Both are members of Shepherd of the Valley Evangelical Lutheran Church in Sandyville, south of Canton.
Lutheran Disaster Response, which has several teams working in the Gulf Coast, is committed to helping residents for 10 years, or however long it takes, said the Rev. Kevin Massey, assistant director of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Domestic Disaster Response in Chicago.
People interested in volunteering should try any one of the religious organizations working in the area, including the Salvation Army, Jesse said. He also suggested contacting Common Ground and the Hands On Network.
Life is not back to normal in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, Jesse said.
``It's far from that,'' he said.
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Mary Kay Quinn can be reached at 330-996-3778 or mkquinn@thebeaconjournal.com.
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Jimmy McDonald http://www.StartRemodeling.comJimmy@StartRemodeling.com http://www.ToxicMoldUSA.comMcMoldMan@ToxicMoldUSA.com Jimmy McDonald ( RemodelingGuy) specifically assumes no legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information or process disclosed. The above further expressly advises that any use of or reliance upon the information and or opinion disclosed is at your risk .
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