Frustration breeds Action

I am frustrated.

"With what?" you may ask.

Today in general.

I woke up in my giant room of bunkbeds, moaned and groaned my way with the rest of the team to 1)really wake up 2)dress without too much exposure 3)grab breakfast prior to our 8am start time

8:30- I met with a local reporter and was given the scoop on the region and how I could collaborate with her. It was pretty cool, especially because it helped illustrate to me the amazing impact that the media can make in terms of exposing an issue to the public. But the community here and especially the community next door, Moss Point, is...well...struggling. Pascagoula alone has had an increase in violent crime, a 200% increase in suicide, and a 400% increase in attempted suicide. Those numbers really started to make sense later on in my day.
The reporter and I talked about the various community days that this county really could use: clean-ups ranking at the top. She told me that Americorps teams that were in my job previously were essentially responcible for getting the library back functioning order. So our shoes to fill in terms of leaving a mark on the community are pretty large.
Nothing can really change or happen without the media involved. Which increases the responcibility of my role on this project about a thousand percent. And also makes me slightly nervous that I've taken on too much already in terms of what I need to accomplish during these next 5 weeks....

9am- Community Surveying for 100 Homes in 100 days
The Caseworkers (Alex and Sara) and I went out with Jim Yancy (who is helping to organize this project as well as handles emergency calls and a lot of FEMA strings) to recruit and explain the 100 Homes in 100 days project. Basically it's an initiate based out of various non-profits (including Operation TLC, which can provide labor) and our "parent company" Mississippi Home Again, which can help provide supplies, to build/renovate 100 homes in 100 days around a certain section in Jackson County.

It's going to be HUGE. I'm not handling press but look out for info about it around March 26th, when we break ground on it. I'm overwhelmingly thrilled to be working on a project with such zing and drive. (Apparently it's the brainchild of many, including a guy who worked on "Extreme Makeover" which I heart and cry for each episode)

So we start walking out in the neighborhood (hurrah! sunlight! fresh(ish) air!) and everywhere we go, it's drastically different circumstances. I met a woman who was doing the last finishing touches on her home/business but couldn't get any assistance on the property she owns and rents next door. (Most policies and grants only covered primary residences.) A disabled woman is living in a FEMA trailer next to her home, which is too unsafe for her to go back to. And still others, without even FEMA trailers (or they may have been taken away already) are living in mold-infested homes with no place to turn.

It really starts to make me think.

1pm- Caseworking training. Alex, Sara and I sat down with Tammy (one of the kick-butt sponsors and co-founders of the organization) to conduct interviews with clients (always clients, never victims) about their needs and to assess whether we could help them in any way. We met the extremes: A woman who simply needed her molding put on and outlet covers screwed in, and also a disabled single mother of two who was living in a moldy home with medical problems as a result up to the hilt.

So we file.

And we call our resorces and we contact our emergency numbers to pull strings. We offer to drive clients to the mall to file for a grant. We are their advocates. And for the most part, we are their last resorts.

It's quite a lot to ask from 3 girls with 2 days of training. But what better way to learn then to dive right in?