Local Rotarians Local Rotarians, from left, Skip Kreahling, Foster Strump and Vic Taylor joined the Rebuilding Together effort to rebuild 1,000 homes in the Gulf region of Mississippi and Louisiana.

Rebuilding Together (RT), the nationally-known organization, is committed to rebuilding 1,000 homes, from the Gulf Coast of Mississippi to southeast Texas, that were damaged by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

RT has set up weeklong work visits to these areas since the winter of 2006. Criteria for the repair of these homes includes, but is not limited to: the home received less than 60 percent damage; the repair services benefit low-income homeowners or homeowners whose income has been jeopardized by the storms; the work required would not be covered by the homeowner's insurance and the homeowner does not have flood insurance.

During the designated construction week of October 21, three Boothbay Rotarians joined 87 other individuals from the New England states - primarily Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, in Waveland and Bay St. Louis, Miss.

Foster Stroup, Vic Taylor and Skip Kreahling, also members of the Boothbay/Lincoln County Rebuilding Together, left for MS on Sunday, October 21 to begin work at 7 a.m. the following morning.

RT had arranged transport from the airport, but at the last minute, the lodging plans had been altered. All volunteers were supposed to stay at a compound that also had a mess hall for all meals, but they ended up staying in a motel - one that technically had not yet reopened.

"They managed to get 46 rooms ready for 90 people in short order," said Kreahling. "What proved to be difficult was finding a restaurant that could seat and feed 90 people at a time.

A group meeting at a casino that had been rebuilt was held the night of the 21 st . Volunteers received work assignments, went over jobs to be done and had time to get acquainted over dinner.

The six homes targeted on this trip called for interior work. Since Katrina, church groups, residents and other local organizations have been working on getting homes in shape for the rebuilding work to begin the homes that bore the signs of water damage; the force of the hurricanes left four to five feet of water indoors.

Ironically, because Waveland and Bay St. Louis are 25 feet above sea level, homeowners were not permitted to buy flood insurance for their properties. But, before Katrina, it was not an issue.

At this stage of rebuilding skilled volunteers are in great demand.

While traveling with the other volunteers by van to work sites, Kreahling noted that the homes were all modest in size; around 1,100 square feet in the shotgun style, and many were listed on the historic register.

Typically, a shotgun-style home is narrow and rectangular, no hallways - one room leads into the next - with an entry and exit. The style is believed to have African and Haitian roots.

Crews of 22 men and women worked until 4:30 for four days and a half-day on Friday, October 26.

The number of skilled and unskilled volunteers was carefully balanced at each of the six projects.

Stroup, Taylor and Kreahling's house captain, Chris Fogarty, was a member of the larger Boston contingent and owned a construction company there. It was his third trip.

"A great camaraderie grew among our crew," said Kraaling.

"The professionals in the crew were so patient and so adept at explaining how to do some of these jobs," said Stroup, a newly knowledgeable sheet rocker. "Because, like me, a lot of people didn't have professional level skills like Vic and Skip."

The Boothbay crew all worked on the home of "Miss Lydia," a 67-year-old woman who lived on Hancock Street in Bay St. Louis. three blocks from the Gulf. Prior to the hurricanes, she shared her home with her daughter, son-in-law, grandson and granddaughter.

(Stroup explained that women were addressed by their first names preceded by "Miss." Men were addressed by their surnames, Mr. Kreahling.)

When the crew arrived at Miss Lydia's, the house had already been cleaned up and gutted and rooms reframed. Their job was to construct the interior walls, paint walls and repaired ceilings, install insulation, reglaze windows and repair sills where needed.

The latter led to a larger project in the enclosed porch - rotted sills and walls. Stroup, Taylor and Kreahling all worked on the walls and installation of the bead board.

Miss Lydia's granddaughter came over every day and helped with some of the hammering and painting.

There was a shortage of tools when the jobs began, Kreahling said that it would be extremely difficult to have the right amount of hammers, screwdrivers, pry bars, nails, etc. at each site.

To ensure needed materials could be acquired, there was a designated "runner" on each job that would take a cargo van to Lowe's (one of the chain home building companies donating materials to the rebuild 1,000 project) and truck on back.

Miss Lydia and family lost the contents of the home due to five feet of standing water and sludge left behind by Katrina and sections of the roof were non-existent.

In the aftermath, her insurance company, like those of so many others, denied her claim because of - flood damage.

The family stayed in a tent on the property for a while and stayed with other family members until a FEMA trailer was obtained.

This grandmother recalled her then four-year-old grandson, Brandon, standing in front of the tent, asking everyone who would pass by if they would "Please fix my house."

Stroup said all of the volunteers knew the very friendly, equally eager Brandon. Kreahling said that every day at 3:30 he would run from the school bus to the site saying, "where's my tools, where's my belt, what can I do?"

Brandon settled for "horsing" around with the crew - his 20 instant friends - who would often be seen playing tag, hide and seek and other games with him after the workday.

Although there was no time for sightseeing, volunteers did get to meet neighborhood residents.

"No one was walking around saying `woe is us,'" said Khrealing.

"All we heard was, `it's so fantastic that you are here,' and `thank you for being here,'" agreed Stroup.

Stroup said they had spied 250-gallon plastic tanks on some of the front lawns in the neighborhood.

"When we asked why the tanks were there, they (homeowners) said their septic was pumped into them and then every few days a truck from the sewage treatment plant would come by, pump out the tanks, and return to the plant," said Stroup.

"There were signs on property that said `Do not demolish,' recalled Stroup. "We saw another house that had signs on the front lawn warning passersby of a contractor who had boondoggled them.

Lowe's sells two and three bedroom "Katrina Cottages" and the trio saw several of them.

"They were actually very attractive," said Stroup. "People in the neighborhood lived in FEMA trailers, the cottages or were back in their houses."

Kreahling recalled one dwelling that impressed him:

"It was in the east wing and it looked like a palace, it was the smallest little thing - like a trailer, but it had these columns in front and then several yards away there was a garage."

Stroup added that all of the places were immaculately cared for.

Stroup was given a 45-minute tour of the now barren coastline, after her arrival in the Magnolia state by the ground transport from the airport to Waveland.

"I saw mile after mile of where there used to be homes and are no homes, the debris from piers that were not rebuilt, the footprints of where the coastal mansions used to be," Stroup said. "But, then you also saw these towering monstrosities (two-storied mansions) being rebuilt on 20-foot stilts…

"The disparity between seeing those and seeing the FEMA trailers and Katrina cottages was just so overwhelming."

"We saw a lot of empty, overgrown lots, dead trees, a lot of dead trees that still have to be removed… for over two years these people have been living in limbo," said Stroup.

"They finally get a FEMA trailer, but, it is so small that they create more room by building a large tent next to the trailer to store their bureaus and clothes - like Miss Lydia's family did.

"And every day you have to pour through your remaining things, it makes you stop and think about how draining it must be."

Despite these non-stop obstacles, Waveland/Bay St. Louis area still has 60 percent of its pre-Katrina population.

And, despite all the remaining dead trees, overgrown lots, infrastructure work to be completed, and list of families waiting to move back into their homes, Mississippians stay on their home turf.

It is possible that someday, thanks to the dedication, generosity, concern and compassion of groups like Rebuilding Together, and countless volunteers from organizations to individual's nationwide and worldwide life will return to normal.