Upcoming Trips

2009 Promises more opportunity to make a difference in New Orleans and beyond.
If you are interested in volunteering check out the Schools Count Corp blog at http://schoolscountcorp.blogspot.com

February 14-16 - I will be aiding Schools Count Corp and the Galveston Independent School District, Galveston Texas

March 29-April 4 - Working with St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian and Schools Count Corp

August 7-12 - Schools Count Corp will be delivering to over 20 schools in New Orleans.

Trouble the Water

An important new movie just hit the big screen, and I wanted to make sure you knew about it. Three years ago, Hurricane Katrina exposed the reality of poverty and racism in this country, and the repeated failures of the Bush Administration.

Trouble the Water, winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, tells the story of an aspiring rap artist and her husband trapped in New Orleans by the hurricane and its deadly floods.

Find a screening near you:http://troublethewaterfilm.com/theaters

I personally attended a screening this past Saturday evening and I can assure you it is riveting.

Dawn

Thanks!

A big thanks to all of you who contributed to the uniform drive for Murray Henderson, they received 80 uniforms for students as a result of your generosity. We were able to purchase the uniforms in New Orleans, thus helping the economy as well as the kids.

Today and tomorrow Schools Count Corp will be collecting canned food and water to send down to Baton Rouge, LA. Requests have come in from several contacts there requesting assistance. See http://schoolscountcorp.blogspot.com for more info on the collection.

The past 4 days...

Amazing is all I can say. We left at 4:30AM on Sunday from my house. Dick and Joe in the Penske truck loaded up and my new friends, Anna, John, and Megan loaded in with me. We drove about 14 hours down to New Orleans. We checked into our hotel and then took a quick walk to the Quarter where we enjoyed dinner and had to make a side trip to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and coffee. I am always elated to arrive in such an amazing city. I think it is the spirit of the people there that energizes me, in fact I know it is.

Monday morning we picked up 2 more trucks, I drove a 16' and Dick drove a 26', then Joe took over the original 16' and we headed to the RSD warehouse where the great staff there loaded up both trucks in about 1/2 hour. We delivered an unimaginable amount of school supplies to 9 schools, by 3PM.

At the first school, Lafayette Elementary, the staff was waiting to help us unload, an amazing group of people who just formed a line and began handing the items over, about 1000 binders, 1300 folders, 1000 notebooks, loose leaf paper, pencils, pens, teacher supplies, color pencils, glue, markers and crayons, and paint sets. When we were done, we headed in for cool drinks, a little snack, and some wonderful gift baskets for each volunteer.

I have to mention we received some help from additional volunteers while we were there, through our connections with SCAPC Narah and Virginia joined us as well as others through some of Dick's connections. These amazing volunteers were invaluable as we struggled to find schools, and unload so many supplies.

As we went through the trip the appreciation of so many was evident. Also evident was the continued struggle these schools face. The facilities are inadequate, the classrooms crowded; one school had 2 classes being held in one room, 1 class sat on the floor on one side of the room and the other class sat in desks on the other side, then they switched position through the day. Another school had sectioned off the end of the hallway to create additional classroom space and many schools are completely housed in "temporary" portable classrooms. The fencing and concrete around them makes me shudder at the thought that these are not all that temporary.

On Monday after we cleaned up a bit, we had a nice wet rain shower mid day, then just hot and humid! We headed over to our friend Joan's, read more below. Then off to dinner at Reginelli's where we ran into some Hinsdale Central Alumni believe it or not! Then to bed, as we had to awaken a little earlier on Tuesday as we had more schools to visit.

Tuesday... we split up, we had reloaded 2 trucks Monday afternoon and sent one truck with Joe, Anna, Megan and volunteer Derin to the other side of the river to deliver to 3 schools there. Our volunteer from Monday, Narah met them there and they proceeded to deliver schools supplies, instruments, and school uniforms to those schools. They had to make a trip back to the warehouse and rendezvous with the other 2 trucks before finishing their day with delivery of some much needed pens and pencils and even a piano!

Kristen, Dick and I as well as several volunteers we met along the way, visited 9 schools. We delivered supplies, viewed their classrooms, and made some new friends.

At the end of the day tired and dirty, we returned our rental trucks and went out to dinner with the new director of the RHINO program Kate. We are excited at the prospect of working with the program again in the future.

As we headed home amidst a rain storm early on Wednesday, sadness set in, I feel such loss leaving the area when I know there is so much to be done. Even today as I write this I am working to continue to help the children served by the schools in New Orleans (see Murray Henderson Elementary note).

To those of you who have supported this effort with prayer, words of kindness, monetary and physical donations, as well as support, THANK YOU. These past four days are what propels me to continue on they give me strength and purpose, and for your support I am forever in your debt.

Dawn

Joan's House

To all of you who volunteered last June, I am placing a new slideshow here, it includes pictures of Joan's house when we worked on it then and pictures from this week when we were fortunate to visit with her. She is so very grateful of all she has received and her neighbor Will, who lost his leg as a result of Katrina, now resides with her as they try to fix his home up.

4 Packed Days Coming Up!

Seven volunteers from the Chicagoland area will be heading to New Orleans this Sunday. We will be taking down a 22' truck loaded with more supplies, as well as driving my vehicle down. On Monday we will stop at 9 schools and deliver school supplies, as well as visit with our friend Joan. We worked on her house on our work trip last year. On Tuesday we will deliver to 14 schools and likely collapse at the end of the day before driving 14 hours home on Wednesday. Believe it or not, I can't wait!

I continue to be touched by your encouraging words and generosity. Thank you for supporting a cause I believe so much in.

Dawn

What a fabulous week, we got the previously frustrating uniforms sorted and boxed and labeled and a huge amount of school supplies loaded on the truck and delivered to a warehouse awaiting distibution in NOLA in August!

Frustration...Success...

Okay, I have been diligently working to secure a donation that was originally $7,000 toward school uniforms. That was upped to $10,000 HOORAY! I can't explain how much this means to have a donation in this amount that helps get uniforms for kids so they can go to school.

Anyway, I had been working with Sears/Land End for almost 2 weeks now, the order had been written up and quoted, the purchase was going to be made by bringing in a check from Schools Count and then buying gift cards for Lands End, then calling lands end and using the gift cards. I even had the associate call the manager for approval prior to me getting the check.

I get there today with the check, and they won't accept it. So we are going back and forth with Lands End online and Sears. It was crazy, I spent 2 +hours there! I was ready to walk out and just run to 20 different stores if I had to to get uniform pieces. Anyway, finally we had to put it on a credit card, then they mention there are items on back order, and then that to have the pants hemmed it will take 2 extra days!

I couldn't believe it, we need to load these on the truck next Thursday! So we nixed the hemming, the kids will have to have them hemmed to fit them by the schools or at home. We also had to swap out a coupld of sizes for a different style. I will be a Fleshers to sort the boxes when they arrive on Wednesday so that we can pallet and load them Thursday!

UGH! Okay, I vented I feel better, good thing I am a firm believer in this cause, because this was a very frustrating process today!

Join us!

Okay, here is my shout out for volunteers to help us shrink wrap school supplies to be delivered to NOLA in August. I was working this morning, helping Dick pick up school supplies from Downers Grove South, we had 3 vehicle loads full, over 50 boxes! It is amazing to see everything he has collected and is sorting meticulously!

So, we are still collecting school supplies until the end of July and we are loading them on semi's on July 24th, so if anyone is interested, join us! Email me or call!

Thanks!
Dawn

More on NOLA

I am currently in Milwaukee at the AAFCS convention and I am talking a lot about NOLA and what remains to be done there, and there is SO much! So I wanted to drop a quick line here, to let you know of a couple opportunities to help, this a copy of some information from my dear friend Dick Flesher, the amazing man behind Schools Count Corp. www.schoolscountcorp.org

In a few short weeks we'll be heading back to New Orleans with supplies for the students. Preparations are moving forward at an brisk pace as we get set to help the kids. The focus of our efforts this spring and summer has been directed at collecting daily supplies which will enable the students to open the school year with the tools that will enable them to get off to a positive start.

Many of you have aided our various efforts in the past as well as helping us get ready to deliver to in excess of 25 schools this coming August. On this note I would like to offer you the opportunity to load truck(s) and/or to deliver the supplies to the various schools in New Orleans on International Youth Day, August 12th. Here are the two times I need help in the upcoming weeks.

Thursday, July 24th: We will pallet, shrink wrap, and load onto the truck(s) on this day. We will need 12-15 people to do this. We'll do this in Willowbrook, Illinois. We'll load in the morning though I'm not sure of the time as the truck(s) have to first go to Walmart. I'll get back with you on the time. We will work rain or shine as the truck is on a tight schedule to get to the warehouse in NOLA by Sat., July 26th.

Sunday, Aug. 10 - Wed., Aug. 13: On Sunday we'll travel to New Orleans via air or ground (your choice). Airfare is around $300 round trip. You would be responsible for this cost. I can pick you up at the airport in New Orleans. On Monday, Aug. 11th we'll pick up smaller trucks in NOLA and load them at the warehouse. On Tuesday, Aug. 12th we'll deliver to the various schools throughout the city. Our plan is to come home on Wed., Aug. 13th. I will need around 12-16 people for this part of our initiative. I will cover you hotel cost (2-3 per room) for the three nights. If people don't want to fly down perhaps a few of us can drive down. I am certain we can work out transportation as we go forward.

Please let me know if you can help on either of these occasions. Also, let me know if you have questions or need more information. I am appreciative of your consideration of this volunteer opportunity and would be most grateful for your help. I can assure you that everyone associated with the schools in New Orleans would be grateful for your assistance.

Thanks!
Dick

So on that note, if you would like to help, please email me or if you know me, give me a call! I would love to arrange for some help! I would also love to share the New Orleans experience with you... Dawn

Saturday

This morning we finished cleaning up at the Land House and Brad, Perry and Nancy headed out to the Gulf Coast before driving home. Diane, Jon, Amanda, Danielle, and I headed to the famous historical Lafayette Cemetery. We had a tour directed by the Save Our Cemeteries group. Very interesting, we even found out how they can pretty much place an infinite number of bodies in the above ground tombs.

We then ate lunch on Magazine Street at Joey K's and stopped at my favorite Fleur de Lis stationary shop, Scriptura. We then took Diane to the airport for her flight home and we continued down to the French Quarter. We ended up walking almost 10 miles this day!

Danielle and I enjoyed Creole Fried Green Tomatoes at the Creole Tomato Festival, of course that was after I got some new ink:)

We made it to Tomatillo's for some good Mexican food and margaritas before heading back to our hotel around 10:30.

Friday

Today we split into grounds crew and 2nd floor crew. On the 2nd floor Seth, Katy (Habitat volunteer, with a tool belt I envy), Jon, Amanda, Peartini and I worked to build and erect 2nd floor walls, we got the back wall up before lunch and built the side wall in two parts after lunch and literally amidst an afternoon storm. We didn't want to stop and were hoping to get the side walls up, but didn't happen.

The ground crew, Diane, Nancy, Brad, and Danielle who worked both crews, built components and cut pieces we needed up above. We leared about King Jacks, Partitions, and Criples as we built the walls.

We finished up the work week with an after the rain shower picture in front of Ferry Place.

Once cleaned up a few of us went to see Marcell and Marva Scott, a couple we had worked with in 2 of our previous trips. They have been in their home since Christmas and it is FABULOUS! Tears came to my eyes as I saw the difference. How amazing to see them finally in their home, 2 1/2 years after Katrina tore it from them.


We ended the week with a fabulous visit to the world famous Commander's Palace restaurant in the Garden District. An amazing dining experience that I think we all enjoyed!

Thursday

Today we learned about Hurricane Straps and how to install them. We used mostly 12" ones and tapped over the ends, Danielle said it was different than what she did the last time she worked with Habitat, but we did a lot to help secure the homes against the winds. We nailed the straps to every other stud on the side walls, left 3" over top that was then bent down and nailed in as well. We got to use a new tool, a hand impact wrench, very cool!

We then worked on cutting and laying subflooring on the 2nd level, it was tongue and groove and untreated, so when we got huge rain showers, we had to stop and hide under the house! After the shower, a few of us sat on the 2nd floor and let the shoes and socks dry. Also a lot of standing water, which wasn't good, but it did steam off quickly! we nailed it in and glued it down, Peartini and I have the identical blisters to prove how much hammering we did!

Must have been a successful day, because Jon said when we come back next year, he wants muscle shirts with our names on the back and "The Mighty Midwesterners" as our team name on the front!

After cleaning up we were delighted to dine with Patricia Livingston, a SCAPC member who was a fabulous cook and hostess. She welcomed us to her home for dinner and fabulous conversation and information about the area. Thank you!

Wednesday

We, I in particular, were having trouble remembering which day it was, so Perry in an effort to help me out, wore his "It's Wednesday" shirt, thanks Perry! He became Mr. Wednesday today. Sorry, only Pic I have that shows the words!


The day began at Ferry Place, we were hauling beams up to the 2nd floor. Turns out poor Hank fell and hit his elbow on a support, he said nothing until we were done hauling the beams up, then admitted he needed to go to the hospital. He appeared to be in a lot of pain. I took him to Ochsner. Then I went back to help at the site. While on site, I worked on nailing around windows and pulling nails that went through the plywood. Hopefully some on the others will comment here on what they did while I was gone, as I left again to pick Hank up from the hospital where he was diagnosed as having a sprained and bruised elbow.


We came back to the work site, ate lunch, delivered by the refrigerated Loaves and Fishes lunch truck, not sure which church funds this, but they are amazing! Delivered cold water and sandwiches.


Kate and I drove Hank back to his place to rest, then we went back to the site. We were working on toenailing, installing nails at an angle, we were placing small boards up over the seams in the plywood, to help prevent wind from tearing through. This is not something we do here in the Midwest. It is tedious work. The boards are placed between studs at all intersections of plywood and we installed braces for kitchen cabinetry.


It finally rained later in the day and we checked out of the site a little early. Cleaned up and went to the library to check emails, then back to the church for Pork Loin and all the accompaniments courtesy of Jim's great cooking again. Habitat workers and church members joined us for dinner as well.


After we helped clean up the kitchen, I think Jon and Amanda went to Cafe Du Monde for more beignets, and the rest of us went to Magazine street for a few drinks. Which is where we learned about Perry's personal favorite the PEARTINI. Which then became his name for the rest of the trip.

Tuesday

We began at 7:45 Tuesday morning, arriving at Ferry Place, this is a block that did not flood, but was vacated many decades earlier. At one time a lively neighborhood, it had become vacant except for one house on each end of the one way street. SCAPC (www.scapc.org) working in cooperation with NOAHH (New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity, http://www.habitat-nola.org/index.php)

When we arrived we met Seth (Habitat Site Manager) and Hank, an Americorps member. We were given the safety rundown and the lay of the premises. 2 houses are complete, except for sewer and water hookups ( the city cannot locate the sewer lines and thus the process has halted until they do), however, they were out there 2 days working on it. There were 3 other houses very close to completion as well, some interior finishing needed to be completed. Then there were the 2 we worked on in the framing stage.

Seth told us that homeowners must put in 350 hours of sweat equity, not necessarily on their own homes, but on those of others as well. Materials for the homes cost roughly $75,000 in '07 but are at $85,000 in '08 due to rising materials costs. NOAHH has roughly 150 homes under construction in the greater New Orleans area right now.

Once we got started, we began installing a balloon wall, it is the 2 story wall that runs along the stairs, it is the only framing that runs both stories. It took all of us to lift and fasten the wall in place. Then we worked on cutting and nailing up plywood and building a balloon wall for the 2nd house, which we messed up twice and had to redo.

Amidst all the work we consumed 10 gallons of water and enjoyed fabulous PoBoys that Jim made for us the day before! YUMMY! This was followed by a SCAPC church member who dropped off a cooler full of Popsicles, I cannot tell you how good those were in that heat! I think I had 3 of them and we all laughed at the jokes on the Popsicle sticks! We prayed for a rain shower to relieve a little but of the hear, heard thunder, but the rain never came. If you look at the pictures, the one of me in the white and black striped tank, is after this first day of work, Jon said I looked like ROADKILL! Thanks bro!

Again we headed over to the church and Jim made us another great dinner, including boiled Crawfish and gelatinous head cheese, which Perry was excited to try! He actually liked it! Then back to the Land house to relax and prepare for the next day.

Monday

I picked up Danielle at the airport and took her back to the house to rest. Then I joined the others who were working with a local Community organization to clear a lot that they hope one day will become a community center. It was in the Carrollton neighborhood, we were led by an AmeriCorps volunteer.

We got to use a really cool brush hog type mower, we also found several biting ant hills, YUCK! The weather was hot and we were glad it was only a half day.

I left around 11:30 to go pickup Diane another friend from church, I made a stop on the way at Wagner's Meats on airline, an ongoing joke from past trips:) But I highly recommend you visit!

Back at the house we all cleaned up and had lunch, Diane, Perry, Nancy, Brad, and Kate (the next director of RHINO) were taken on a 3 hour tour of the city by a volunteer church member. Jon, Amanda, Danielle and I went to Banneker Elementary to deliver several microscopes that were donated and driven down by Brad and Nancy. We have worked with Banneker several times in the past few years and are always happy to help them out.

We then made our first trip to the city, we visited New Orleans Glassworks, http://www.neworleansglassworks.org/ They let you see the workshop and were conducting summer camps for kids. Really neat items! I highly recommend you visit!

Then we went for Beignets, Jon's favorite! Amanda's first visit to Cafe Du Monde.

Back at the house, we all went over to the church were Jim Hobden is nice enough to feed us! Mondays are my favorite, Red Beans and Rice night, story is that women did the laundry on Mondays and they could put the beans on to cook all day while they were working. Either way, Jim's are awesome!

June 2008

On June 8 at 4:45AM, me, my brother Jon, and Amanda began our journey to New Orleans. For me this was my 3rd work trip and 4th trip in two years. For Jon it was his 2nd trip, the first work trip and this was Amanda's first extended visit to NOLA (New Orleans, Louisiana).

We drove about 14 hours from the Chicagoland area to New Orleans. We arrived in there around 7PM. As in the past, we stay in the Land Building at St. Charles Avenue Presbyterian Church (www.scapc.org). We work with their RHINO program (Rebuilding Hope in New Orleans). Once we arrived, we met up with Nancy, Brad, and Perry (members of my church and their son).

Sarah who is in charge of the RHINO program met up with us and gave us the rundown for the week. Danielle, my sister was supposed to fly in from Minnesota on Sunday night, but her flight was cancelled due to weather, and so she spent the night in the St. Louis airport. After orientation, we went out for dinner to a local favorite on Magazine street, Reginelli's. Then back to the Land house and our bunks for the night.