Monday Afternoon

Last night we went to bed right after the evening orientation. Sunday is the day that new groups arrive so they go over procedures and what to expect. Eric and I had headaches (allergies), so we just went to bed around 9:30pm. I have included some pics of the room we are sleeping in. There are 7 of us in there, so it is snug. Eric & I have a mattress, Carol & Allison have a mattress, Eunice & Parker are on the 3rd mattress, and Jake was on an simple pool float in between. I think that Eric may go sleep in the sanctuary tonight.

We were up by about 6:30am. We were surprised to find out that no new groups arrived during the night. "Camp Biloxi" which consists of the sleeping arrangements at Bethel and the Tent City is not as full as they expected this week. After breakfast we headed to the "Green House" which is the office for work crew assignments. Carol & Allison decided to stay behind and work at Bethel. That house is on the Good Shephard property, which is where the Tent City (TC) is. I stayed in TC when I was here in December. We signed up for a work assignment and then preceeded to wait and wait. We finally went back to Bethel to pick up an area map, on that drive we took a short detour down along the gulf. I am amazed by how much clean up that has been done since the end of December. The casino that floated across the highway and landed on the Holiday Inn has been completely removed. They have also done a lot of work cleaning up the beach area, although it is still off limits to the public.

We headed back to the TC property to find out if they had work for us yet. After waiting a while longer we decided to check out some basic tools and take off. They told us they would call us with a work assignment, but they were having troubles finding things for unskilled workers. All the college students that are here this week are pretty much considered unskilled workers too. We drove east along Hwy 90 and saw all the destruction that way. We went all the way down the the point in Biloxi and followed that through the neighborhood. Many residents are in FEMA trailers and we even saw several tents. This point had water come in from the gulf and the bay. Things are in really bad shape.


We then headed over the Hwy 110 bridge and went to visit the Seymours whom we helped out in December. They have a new trailer on their property which is A LOT bigger! They also have a new vehicle. It was great to see Maggie, John (Milton) and Vinne again. They were very happy to see us. Things seem to be going the same with them. The flowers that we planted look good and Maggie has added more to the property. We will go back and visit with them more this week.

We ate lunch nearby and after hanging out for a bit we headed back to TC. Still no work for us. So we got back and found work to do around the TC property. Eric helped take out a huge tree and general help around the tool shed, Jake, Parker, & I helped clean up yard waste from around the site, and Eunice worked in the distribution center folding and sorting things. As of now we have not been called for a work assignment. We are about to head back to Bethel cause we are signed up for showers at 4:45pm. I will upload this then. CLICK HERE for pics from today!