3 posts from December 2006

Thursday, November 10, 2006

New Orleans, Louisiana

Well, I made it to New Orleans! Our hosts, HandsOn New Orleans (a partner organization of Boston Cares), are great. They have energy and they are practical. After we arrived, we received a great orientation and safety lecture, since as you can imagine, there is mold and stuff to be concerned about as well as falling debris.

I found my team leader for the day, whose name was Jess. She's a part of the AmeriCorps group that is traveling and doing community service. After they leave next week, her group will continue onto , where they will help with the Katrina rebuilding there. I got my Tyvek, which is that suit that you usually see haz-mat workers wear only this one is white. I also got my respirator mask and goggles and gloves. Then it was decided since we were doing a "last gut" which required primarily nail removal, that carpenter's face would be fine and so I returned my respirator.

A "last gut" is the finally stage of gutting a house. Once this is done, rebuilding work can begin. The people whose homes are receiving this work from HandsOn New Orleans volunteers contacted the office and requested the help. Usually once the request is received, volunteers go to the property and scout it out. If it poses too much of a risk (unstable floors for example) , then they cannot work on the house and refer them to someone who can.

The house that we went to was on . We proceeded to remove nails, nails and more nails with hammers. I don't think I have ever interacted with that many nails in my whole life. After the nails were removed, we swept up the nails and other debris that was left in the house. The debris was left on the curb side grass by the side of the house. Jess informed us that debris removal is a part of the garbage pickup around here. They come by and pick it up daily.

Jess was a great team leader and guide. She was informative and had energy. She clearly loved the fact that she was helping people in the best way that she could. She drove us around the neighborhood where we completed our morning's work and showed us the houses, some of which had extensive damage. One enduring sight for the day was the FEMA trailers. They were in the yards of people's houses or in FEMA trailer parks.

As we made our way to the now infamous Ninth Ward, we saw that the houses had spray paint on them. We were told that these markings, which have words and/or numbers in either a cross or an "X" represented the teams that swept the properties after the disaster. The upper left quadrant represented the team that went in to do the sweep. The lower left represented the number of dead that they found. The lower right represented the number that were found alive. The upper right represented where they were found. After receiving this information, the markings took on a whole new grim meaning for me since we had prior to her explanation, passed a number of places where I saw totals of anywhere between 1-4 in that lower left quadrant that tallies the dead bodies found. The number dead will also include pets, which are also noted in spray paint. The MSPCA did quite a few sweeps. We were also told that earlier in the summer, a HandsOn team was doing a "first gut"-taking down the wall and ceiling-and they found an older woman under her sink that the sweep teams clearly did not find. There are so many houses to check, but so few resources at hand.

We drove into the Ninth Ward. It was very quiet, except for some green industry crews doing branch removal and some traffic. There is no electricity here so no one in their right mind (or left mind for that matter) comes here at night. In fact, where there would usually be stop lights, there are stop signs and people are trusted to remember the rules of the road. There are also no gas stations so if you are going over there and you don't plan ahead, you are out of luck. As we drove around, it was sobering to see that where what looked like plots of open land were places where houses once stood. The Ninth Ward was densely populated-this you can tell from how the remaining structures and traces of the structures are situated. Jess showed us the now repaired levees and indicated about where they broke. We then took a tour of the more affluent parts of the city that suffered more hurricane damage than flooding. All around you could see contractors working, but if you visited these areas only you would have never known Katrina had taken place.

~Emma Lathan, Boston Cares member since 1998

Back Bay/South End

Have you ever gone to a place and realized that it just feels right? That something in the atmosphere makes you feel good? That is the feeling that I get whenever I volunteer at the Boston Living Center. The BLC is exactly what its name claims - a center for living.

The BLC is near Back Bay station, but it is tucked away, almost hidden on a side street so that a passerby might not even notice that it's there. The BLC stands to serve the HIV/AIDS community. AIDS has now been in the United States for more than a 25 years. The disease is still widespread within our country, and much more so internationally, affecting people from all walks of life. With advancements in drug therapies people are living longer and healthier lives as HIV positive individuals. But what about their quality of life? There is a lot of focus on drug therapy, and of course, proper medication is what allows for people inflicted with the disease to live. Treatment for the quality of life is not typically a part of Western medicine. The disease is something that the individuals have, but it is not who they are, and treatment is all the more powerful and comprehensive when it involves the the individual beyond the disease.

That is why places like the BLC are so important. They are here for the treatment and well-being of the people, not just for the treatment of the disease. The mission of the BLC is to create a community where people with HIV/AIDS can feel safe and welcome, where they can receive nutritious meals, a haircut, a massage, counseling, job training, computer education, and medication. It is a place to make friends, to hang out, and to be yourself. How can you not feel good when you go to the BLC? The positive ways that the Living Center affects its members is clear when you visit, and it is contagious. If you have not been there, please read the comments below written by BLC members (from the BLC website):

• Coming to the Boston Living Center and seeing the strength, courage and happiness that so many of the members here exude helps me to find the strength, courage and happiness within myself."

• "The Boston Living Center has proven to be a great source of comfort and strength to me. It is one of the few places I can go where I know I will not be judged, where I know that I am appreciated and welcomed for simply being a fellow human being.
  
  
• "My life has never been better or more productive and I owe a lot to the Boston Living Center for their help in my process"

To help support the BLC's efforts, Boston Cares has recently posted the lunch time meal service opportunities on the calendar. Volunteer work is critical for the success of the BLC. Without volunteers, the meals program costs substantially more money to run, and money is a critical resource for every nonprofit. If you have not yet served at the Living Center - I highly recommend that you do. There is a lot of living going on behind their doors, and everyone is welcome to be a part of it.

(Top Picture: BLC Pharmacy; Bottom Picture: Volunteers serving lunch)

Dorchester

An hour before the party began, presents were still being wrapped, a crowd was gathering outside, and Santa was MIA. A sense of excitement and anticipation permeated the building.

The Boston Cares volunteers moved around like busy bees as the party began—ensuring that the present room was stocked and ready to go, passing out snacks to all the children as they watched a holiday movie, popping popcorn fervently when it was discovered the popcorn machine did not work.

When the presents came out, Boston Cares was ready. In a quick decision, one volunteer suggested bringing all the presents upstairs, and announced the childrens’ names on a microphone, while other volunteers passed out gifts, and ensured each child received a present.

One eight-year old girl decided she wanted to help the Boston Cares volunteers clean-up while she waited to receive her gift. Asking for a broom, she scampered around on the floor, picking up popcorn remnants and juice boxes with an energy that was contagious.

The Boston Cares volunteers, with their positive attitudes and flexibility, helped make this event a success.

~Lynn Weisel, Boston Cares staff member