17 to 18

17 to 18

Thursday, June 2, 2016

Porter: Day 4

Today was my first time working at the house on Porter. We started out by sanding the bathroom ceiling which was very difficult but I had a lot of fun doing it with everyone. Next we put sliding doors on the closest in the bedroom which took a while but turned out great once it was completed. We all felt so accomplished. The people who we were building for were extremely kind and made us mango lemonade. It was delicious and refreshing! After that we started to paint and put boarders on the bathroom walls. That was probably my favorite part of the day and we all got really messy with the paint. It was so much fun! I am really enjoying my time in Biloxi. The people are absolutely fabulous and i am constantly surrounded by a indescribable atmosphere. Hopefully I will see this place again! I am sad this week is almost over but I can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store. :) -Shortcake

Wednesday Baptist Service

After a long day of hard work at many different locations, the Back Bay Crew gathered together to eat a huge dinner, consisting of shrimp, crayfish, corn, potatoes, and watermelon. After everyone was full, we piled into cars and headed to a Baptist Service at a church down the road. This was a really unique experience for all of the rookies, and something we won't forget anytime soon. We found the faith of the people of the church inspiring. The positive attitude they bring to each church service is so unique and we loved their hospitality. We continued the night by singing with our new friends and hearing about how we should be whoever God made us to be. We hung around with our new friends for a little while longer before we climbed into the cars again, off on another adventure. We took a drive down Beach Road and grabbed some McDonald's along the way. When we were close to the beach, someone started shooting off fireworks! So (of course) we stopped to watch the display. We concluded the night with singing and dancing back at the mission. The day taught us the importance of teamwork, as well as how to be confident with ourselves and use the talents to our best ability. ~Battle Rancher

Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Homeport 2: Tuesday

After working at the house on Nichols Street until lunch, five volunteers headed to Walmart to gather home supplies for a homeless veteran household called Homeport 2. Homeport is an apartment complex used to house homeless veterans so that they can move out of poverty. All of the apartments contain a washer/dryer, refrigerator, water utilities, electricity, and other basic commodities for living. We learned that there is a large population of homeless veterans in Biloxi. The apartment that we are furnishing has a German roach infestation which is currently being handled. We were given a budget of $175 to purchase a wide variety of items including towels, a bath rug, a shower curtain, pots and pans, and bedding, to name a few. We also purchased flowers, a balloon, a candle, and supplies to make a poster to make the house feel more welcome for the veteran. We plan to return tomorrow to clean out the house and set up all of our purchases before the veteran moves in. It is our hope that he feels welcomed in his new home. Breakin' Glass and Guerriere

271 Nichols: Day 2

Today was our second day serving at the Nichols household. We finished taking down the paneling on the sides of the house, and we began to put up plywood boards as a start to our new paneling. We had to work together to hold up and nail in the plywood. Measuring each board and nail placement was a tedious task, but we felt a sense of accomplishment when we were able to nail the boards into place. Learning to use the nail gun was another fun and challenging task because many of the girls on our team have never seen or used this tool before. The son living in the household helped us with the demolition and paneling, and we were able to talk to him and his mother throughout the day. After our lunch break, we regrouped and continued working. Moving the scaffolding to the front of the house, we continued to put up plywood on the sides of the roof. We learned to use circular saws to cut pieces to fit into smaller and differently shaped spaces on the walls. This was a challenge because none of the new volunteers had used this tool before; however, we had fun working together and learning this new skill. Today was another fun and productive day, and we hope to continue our hard work in the days to come. Breakin' Glass and Guerriere

Monday, May 30, 2016

344 Porter

This is Yea! B! (Tessa) and Small Boat (Liza). We had an awesome day today, filled with many new, great experiences. We started the day off with a construction meeting and then went straight to work. We both got to work on a very nice and welcoming couple's house. It was so great seeing how appreciative the couple was and how happy they were to have people there to help them out. We were able to completely fill in a hole that used to be used for heating before they got a central air system. We also got to put dry wall up on a ceiling in one of their bathrooms. Although there were some challenges throughout the day, we really enjoyed getting to have such a fun experience that truly impacted these peoples' lives. The couple told us their story and how they have suffered through many different obstacles, such as Hurricane Katrina, but ultimately fought hard to work through these things together. It was really inspirational to hear how this couple was able to fight through these situations, and we were really happy to be able to make their lives a little easier by helping out around their house. They were so grateful that they even offered us lots of food, such as hard boiled eggs and potato salad. The lady talked a lot about how she truly believes that the Lord has been watching over her and believes this is the reason they have survived through such tough times. It was really inspirational hearing her say this, and really encouraged us to work as hard as possible throughout the day. In the end, we were able to cover the hole and get most of the dry wall up in the bathroom. We are very excited to continue this process in their house to be able to see the final result. We are very proud of what we accomplished today and can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store for us.

271 Nichols: Day 1

The day started at 6:30 AM with a safety talk and ended at 5:00 PM, by which time we had gained so many new experiences. By 5, we had done much more hands-on construction than I had ever thought I was capable of. The entire group was split into teams. The team I went with was at a house where we took down damaged siding to be replaced with newer supplies. We used scaffolding to get to different parts of the house, and I was not expecting to conquer my fear of heights when using the scaffolds. We built the scaffolds up layer by layer in order to get to the higher parts of the house, and it was scary yet rewarding to have so much trust and responsibility placed on me. The son who lived in the house came out and started helping us remove siding, and it was awesome to see him get involved. It also helped us gain a better perspective about our work, because we finally saw and interacted with someone who we were helping. At the end of the day while we were cleaning up, the juniors performed their Junior Ring dance that we had learned and performed at our school, Cor Jesu, which was super fun. To say the very least, it was a productive day, and although my arms ache from tearing off stubborn siding, I am so excited to get back out there tomorrow and continue our mission. Ah Sure! and Someday Somewhere

340 Haize

Hello this is Mad skillz (Gabby) and 5 speed (Kamryn). Today was a great day in Biloxi! Our group had the opportunity to renovate a porch and bathroom of a women who's house was damaged from Katrina. Together we scrapped old paint, applied new paint, and even hung up and porch swing. By coming together, we quickly exicuted our newly acquired skills and left our mark on both the house and the women inside. This first day got us excited for the rest of the week showing how we can use our talents to make an impact on an important cause.

Saturday, May 28, 2016

Day 1

Today was a great day filled with lots of smiles and laughter! We watched some great movies, made some awesome new friends, took some stellar naps, ate some rad Mexican food, and had a pleasant time at Chick-fil-a. We had a great sending off ceremony this morning and want to say thanks to all of you who came out to support us. We stopped at Chick-fil-a for lunch, and even though it was a little hectic, we still had a good time getting to bond together over some great food. We then continued out journey on to the hotel, and got settled in. We had a party in 312 and it was pretty cool. We then went to our Mexican dinner and had an awesome time attempting to speak to the waiter in Spanish and eating some good ole' Mexican food. now we are just hanging out in the hotel, watching some fun movies. We are very excited to finish our trip to Biloxi tomorrow and can't wait to get to work. Everyone is looking forward to the rest of the week and pumped to get started. We know it's going to be a week to remember. :) -yea! b! & bulldog

Friday, May 27, 2016

Moving Together as One

It is always interesting to see how strangers greet each other and how those friendships often grown. Last night, we had almost the entire group of 35 together and it looks like a very promising year. This will be my 11th year on this trip, and it is always interesting to see good people become friends. Who would have every thought Mary Grace Barry and Molly Milford would become besties? Or Darcy Neier developing a real mentor in Mary Grace Graf. These friendships are real because they get forged through the sweat of sanding a wall for the 4th time or watching with our new the tragedy of poverty when it is right over the porch railing. It is these friendships where we really are two sides of the same coin that give us the experience to learn how to talk and to listen when we meet people who at first seem much different than us. This is where Father Boyle talks about the Theology of the Feet. Too often we pat ourselves on the back because we feel sorry and have sympathy for those that struggle. This is our heart. We might even join in a conversation to think about and find ways to help those that need our help. We might send money or a check or buy cookies at a bake sale. These are all good, this is our head. But starting tomorrow, we will move not only with our hearts and our heads, but our feet. Our feet will be in the Micah Center talking and listening to the stories of those that are hungry and homeless. Our feet will be in a house, building up walls and attaching door knobs for a young mother who wants to turn this house into a home for family. If we do this right, people will see that we are standing with those that have been endlessly excluded. We will be standing with the disposable, so maybe it will be just a little harder to throw people away. In the middle of the communities of the Gulf Coast of Mississippi we will stand no matter what the result. We will give our best and stride over the obstacles in our way. We hope to lean into the intractable problems of the poor with our shoulders strong and push that boulder up the hill. We hope to do this with the tenderest heart we can find and just be a little part of the big picture that always is the slow work of God. And through this week we will, "seek the BOUNDLESS compassion to stand in awe of the burdens the poor have to carry, and NOT in judgment of how they carry them. Check back each night for more stories from your daughters.