whew!

The heat and humidity of Louisiana has killed my iPod, cell phone, car and for a day or two - me. During the "Beat the Heat Week Blitz", fifty of my closest friends and me ended up with a round of fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Still, in eight days we were able to build most of the fourteen houses we set out to build.







There were over 300 volunteers that showed up to help during the week. They came from all over the country to help us build 10 houses in south Baton Rouge and four houses on the west side of the river. Some volunteers come with groups and some come as individuals. Houses were sponsored by Operation Home Delivery, the people of Saudi Arabia, an insurance company and the NCAA. Four new teams of AmeriCorps NCCC showed up to help the one already with us and quickly became our MVP's. The teams came from Sacramento, Charleston and Washington, D.C. campuses. To me, the most extraordinary volunteer that arrived was one that was on my first debris-removal team in St. Bernard Parish.






Once these houses are completed, we will have achieved half of our 2006 goal - 20 houses. As you can see from the photos, most are very near completion. We surpassed the level of accomplishment we achieved during our Thanksgiving blitz, thanks to some hard work by volunteers, NCCC and staff. We'll spend this week trying to finish as much as we can before we are without our NCCC teams. That means we have some painting, shelves, trim work, cabinets and floors to finish. Our work is cut out for us.





Once again, it's hard to say goodbye to wonderful people. I've really grown to enjoy working with the AmeriCorps NCCC teams. Their hard work, dedication, good-spirit and youth are often inspiring to me personally. Aside from the work I've performed in St. Bernard Parish, one of the most rewarding experiences of this year has been working as their supervisor. I've grown to love my teams and I miss them.