Hammers 4 NOLA: Here we go! Again!

The group & the drywall truck!

St. Gabriel Catholic Church, NJ, with Teresa & Nicole (photo by nicole)

Bishop Guertin High School, NH, - with Nicole (photo by nicole)

The water rose to 20 feet in Teresa's house during Katrina. At the time, it was a one-story home and was completely engulfed. Over the course of the next three weeks, the water level receded to 8 feet. And there the house sat- mud, slosh, water, and the beginnings of mold.

The house was mold-remediated by volunteers in November 2011, and framing crews came soon after to replace & reposition studs throughout the house. Our first crew of volunteers began insulating on February 27, 2012.

Notice the water-line 20ft high on the church

Leading volunteers at Teresa Ross’s house will be much different than at Mary Meyers’ or at Yolanda Julien’s, for a few reasons.

First, I’ll be co-leading. In some ways I’m nervous about this, and in some ways I’m very excited to have a comrade to knock the house out with! I am very lucky – I can’t think of anyone else that I’d rather lead with. I’m not very organized, and Nicole will be able to keep me in check. She is also very detail-oriented; I am not. The few weeks we’ve worked together in the past have been great, as I bring a few things to the table for her to depend on, and improve through, as well. We're a great match!

Second, this is a HUGE house! Two stories! When we first walked into this house, It was hard to count & remember all the rooms. In Mary Meyers’ house, I was constantly trying to find an inch of space for my volunteers to walk…. In this house we could hold a pretty substantial dance party. (ideas?)

Lastly, and the most cool thing - is that Teresa lives in the trailer ON SITE! I was able to see Mary & Yolanda often, but nothing is quite like having the homeowner right there to chat with you over coffee or a coke. And my volunteers will better understand exactly who they’re impacting. Very cool.

So, February 27th, 2012 was Day #1. There is such anxiety on Sunday nights associated with the unknown. Who are the people that I'll be leading Monday? I used to lose sleep over it. Getting started on this new house and having gone through a lull with volunteer interaction - I found myself feeling the same ways I did back in September and October.

Tom & Dennis measure for drywall.

Nicole and I arrived on site to a tool-ridden house. Ladders, saws, hammers, junk, and random supplies were scattered everywhere. And there were about 3 rolls of insulation to install in the whole house. Ummm. We were expecting 16 people. And we needed about 20 rolls. That’s a problem.

Then we see the volunteers walk up to the house. A group of 5 guys (and Carrie!) from St. Gabriel Catholic church in New Jersey. A few of them were contractors. GREAT! But not when you don’t have supplies on site. And then the group is followed by 8 guys (and leaders, Karen & Chris!) from Bishop Guertin High School in New Hampshire, all of which are obviously excited to get started on the house. And immediately they got crankin’.

Mike, Chris, and Josh already finished the ceilings - on to the walls.

We spent a few hours cleaning, and doing odds n’ ends … Nicole & I kept sneaking off into back rooms … “crap! Now what?!” “bricks! They can move bricks!” … we sent a few anxious calls to our project manager, and finally the truck arrived with more than enough insulation to complete the house. Phew, we could tell there was no way of telling these guys to stop or relax., so we needed that insulation ASAP!

The two groups did a great job hanging the insulation in 2 days. Mike, Chris, and Josh hung all the ceilings with drywall, so that all the rest of us had to worry about was hanging the walls. By the end of the week, we had a substantial amount of drywall hung. It looked great, and it was finally really starting to look like a house!

Bishop Guertin guys hanging drywall

Nicole and I both agreed, we couldn’t have gotten a better group. I’d said it before, and I knew I’d probably say it again – but you can’t understand the elation of a site supervisor when he or she stands and looks at the house after a great week with great volunteers. It is such an incredible feeling. Satisfaction. Ah, New Jersey and New Hampshire…and New House! You make us so happy!

Here are a few pictures of the house just before the first crew of volunteers began their work on Feb 27, 2012: