63 and Sunny

Posted on January 7, 2015

Condolences to all our friends and family suffering the icy blast of Old Man Winter in Connecticut. Today was a lovely day in Biloxi. At the worksite, scaffolding went up under Steve’s direction, so exterior painting could continue. Inside, crews were measuring, cutting and installing baseboards, framing windows and doors, and painting. First-timers and veterans alike were picking up new skills under the direction of more experienced team members. Jim, as crew leader, quickly figured out how to deploy everyone, and kept up a brisk pace.

Our youngest, Pat, has become an ace at the saw, with John lending expert advice.

A highlight at the house today was meeting homeowner Zanetta and four of her five children, all thrilled with the work being done and anxious to move into their home after waiting four years.

Karen and Lee did a morning shift at the Micah Center, BBM’s day facility where homeless people can collect their mail, do laundry, and use the internet to apply for jobs. Ron and his crew spent a long day finishing off the cleanup at Homeport, a job that turned out to be much bigger than originally expected.

We’ve developed a warm relationship with the Newtown folks, two twenty-something women (Jen and Kate), two young men in their twenties (Matt and Andy), and their surrogate dads, Jerry and Larry (not a comedy team, but sometimes it seems as though they are). Jerry and Larry bring different groups to Biloxi three times a year, and all of these people have done extensive mission work here and elsewhere. They have a deep commitment to mission, for sure.

At the end of the workday we assembled at the mission house for a meeting with Dr. Alice Graham, the new Executive Director (as of yesterday), replacing Rev. Sherry Prestemon, who left in fall 2013. Kenny, director of development, reminded us that “Every day we have an opportunity to be somebody to somebody.” A fitting description of the work we do here.

Karen, John and Melissa took kitchen duty tonight, preparing a knockout chili accompanied by corn pudding à la Joyce Young. We’re celebrating four birthdays this week: Lori, Earl, Hal and Jerry, so they blew out the candles on Rita’s chocolate cake.

These photos were taken by a few of our number during a sunset stroll on the beach….

And We’re Out of the Gate!

Posted on January 6, 2015

After the usual Monday morning briefing from the BBM staff, we caravanned to Homeport II, the Mission’s housing project for homeless veterans. Two years ago we participated in the ribbon-cutting for the first two units, a duplex; now there are six more very attractive completed units on the adjacent lot. One immediate chore is for a small team to do the final cleaning so the units can be occupied, so Dr. Ron rounded up four others to tackle that job later this morning.

Craig let us know this morning that, sadly, the Mission has lost funding for its other veteran support efforts, despite having successfully served 200 families last year. On the upside, they are looking for property on which to build Homeport III, capitalizing on the success of the first eight units.

Then it’s off to Gulfport and our major undertaking, a large home for a family of seven that was extensively damaged by Hurricane Katrina — 10 years ago in August, can you believe it? The renovation was started some years ago, then was suspended for three years when both homeowners lost their jobs. Our friends from Newtown began working on the house last summer. Work for this week will include exterior and interior painting; baseboard, door and window trim cutting and painting; flooring installation, including bathroom tile if we have time; and installing light fixtures. The family is living in a rickety two-bedroom house next door while their home is being readied. Craig briefed us on the work to be done, while everyone walked through the rooms scoping out the project.

Meanwhile, Rita, Lori and Diana organized lunch for later and did a major food shopping for the next couple of days. What looks like food for an army when it’s in the grocery cart is quickly dispatched by this hungry crowd. Work was well underway by the time we returned with lunch, served al fresco on a flatbed truck. Back at the Mission, Karen and Lee had stayed behind to fill an urgent need at the food pantry, spending the whole morning getting it organized for clients who would come in the afternoon. Jill, who runs the pantry, had told us about their innovative “self-selected shopping” process: instead of the staff filling bags with food, eligible people are now able to shop their preferences, almost like we do in a regular grocery store.

While our teammates were toiling at their respective locations, the kitchen crew began prepping for dinner. We’ve learned over the years that it’s not the actual cooking that’s time-consuming, but rather the prep; washing and drying greens and veggies for salad, peeling endless pounds of potatoes, leeks and onions for potatoes au gratin; cutting up broccoli and peppers to roast; and mixing up a glaze for the ham. All three were fully occupied till the galloping hordes returned at 4:30. Nine women-hours of prep — food gone in less than thirty minutes!

We have a signup system for after-breakfast and -dinner cleanup to spread the fun around (and ensure that the cooks don’t also end up cleaning), so Jim and Nagy and assorted additional volunteers left the kitchen spotless.

Karen and Lee, our song leaders, along with musicians Chase, Patrick and Andy (Newtown), led us in rehearsing three hymns so we could pick our two best to take to church on Wednesday. The reward for being in fine voice? Make-your-own ice cream sundaes!

We used to call this Patience Monday, because there’s a lot of waiting around, but I’d say there was nobody just hanging today!

Patience Sunday

Posted on January 5, 2015

We seem to be on a roll…or maybe in a rut. Our trip down yesterday was fraught: the dreaded “wintry mix” at 3 a.m. when we headed to the airport…an hour’s delay after boarding our plane while we waited to be de-iced…then six hours in the Atlanta airport, with three or four gate changes and a nearly three-hour flight delay….and finally the tedious process of completing paperwork for our rental vans. Trivia was the diversion of choice, at least among the Clair family.