2008 April Service Trip

Herbert Gettridge is a craftsman. His 47 years in the Plasterer’s Union are evident when you see his home. The structure has weathered several big storms since he built it in 1949. He and his wife of 69 years, Lydia, raised 9 children there. He rebuilt the interior of the home following Hurricane Katrina, but needed help repairing the roof. We knew that our work had to meet his meticulous standards. Luckily, we had an ace roofing crew, led by Dickie Niedospial. He and Petie Sydello ran two crews to get the job done efficiently. The hard working crew included Ted Ferris, John Christeson, Bob Perry, Teri Niedospial, Mary Hason and Anna Albrecht. The view of the Lower 9th Ward from the rooftop gave a new perspective to the scope of the devastation that remains, however, signs of renewal are evident. The only break the crew took was to enjoy a Second Line Parade that wound through the neighborhood. This event is essentially a funeral march, but in true New Orleans style is a celebration of life, complete with a brass band. Mary Hason was so inspired by the beautiful costumes that she joined the parade!

Since one of our projects got pulled at the last minute, we were able to help Mr. Gettridge with a few other important projects. To remain eligible for homeowner’s insurance, Mr. Gettridge was required to replace the railings on his front porch and back steps. Naureen Loftus, John Cox, Julius Sherrill and his wife Ruth salvaged wrought iron gates, which the men repaired, welded and painted. They were able to turn what looked like rusty trash into beautiful, durable goods. It was recycling at it’s best – and saved hundreds of dollars! Mr. Gettridge enjoyed watching fellow craftsmen at work.

Naureen, John, Julius, Ruth and Teri Niedospial then turned their attention to the fence surrounding the property. First they repaired a chain link fence. Then they began the project of replacing damaged pickets on the picket fence. The following morning, Ron and Mary Hason, Lisa Sparagna, Jill Koester, Sue Lenihan and Kathy Gumbel consulted on the project. The fence was completed to perfection by Sue and Kathy, under the watchful eye of Mr. Gettridge.

Our entire Volunteer Group participated in working on this home. Everyone worked hard cleaning up after the roofing crew, hauling supplies in the rickety old truck, carrying shingles and tiles to the roof (ugh!). Many, many thanks to Sammy, Tank, Mike and Attilia of Common Ground for all of their help. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Herbert and Lydia Gettridge expressed their delight at the work done by the Global Hope Volunteers. We were graced by Herbert’s hard-won stamp of approval, “Y’all do good work! Any time y’all are in town, you stop on by, there’s always a place for you here.”

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The Cager house will be completed by the time we put away our supplies today. We now know that 3-4 days down here is not near enough time – but we with our ace team, we were able to finish what the Global Hope January Crew & Permaseal began on the Cager house.

James Cager has been working for over a year on his mother, Dolores’ home. He has put in beautiful kitchen cabinets, tile floors and did a great paint job throughout. The wall color choices of celery, peach, a beautiful light blue and a pink & brown bathroom reflects his mom, Dolores’ lovely taste. The house is almost ready for her to come home to.

This home has special significance in the Lower 9th Ward. Just days after the storm, Mrs. Cager was the first to sign a lease and allow Common Ground to use what was left of her home as an emergency relief center for water, medical supplies and later on as a relief and distribution center.

What a great crew working on the house! Lead Carpenter, Mike Taylor and Crew Leader, Doris Taylor were supported by John Cox, Jenny and Ellie Christeson, John Dede, Ted Ferris, Pat Murphy, Kathy Gumbel, Ron Hason, Mary Hason, Jill Koestner, Sue Lenihan, Bob Lothrop, Jack Lothrop, Kristin Lothrop, Kara Lothrop, Julius Sherrill, Lisa Sparagna with consulation provided by Petie Sydello who have all contributed to this project. We also thank Common Ground volunteers Sam and Tank for their assistance.

We finished the exterior of this home — we built shutters, window boxes and a trellis, trimmed out all the windows, installed a new front door and trim, planted flowers, painted trim and added accent colors to make it homey & cute.

We now know that there is no need for books, cards or other free time supplies. We’ve even had trouble finding time to blog for Global Hope each day. After a long day of work, we can’t wait to shower or sometimes we have dinner first. Then if we can muster up any energy, we find a bar with food music. We last 30 minutes to an hour, and we end each day happy knowing that we have helped someone. We not only build homes, we also have a built a great sense of community – our Global Hope community and our newer community — our friends in the Lower Ninth Ward.

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As our culture becomes more isolated with ipods and phones stuck in our ears, there’s nothing like helping your neighbor to bring us all a little closer. Our ragtag team of volunteers is ready to work on a neighbor’s house 1000 miles from our own homes — what a job!

Our second day on the job began with a prayer but even before the prayer was finished the work began as the supplies showed up and we start to move. The intensity and energy of the crew was incredible as we tear off the roof of Wanda and William’s house. John, Ted, Mary, Ron, Bob, Monica, Mike, Dickie, Teri, Petey swarm over the place, in and out, up and down. Tearing off the old roof, replacing rotting wood, shoring up the structure in hopes that the home stays a home and not a ubiquitous pile of rubbish.

The morning turned to afternoon, the hard work paid off and the house was coming together stronger. The crew continued to swarm … scraping, shoveling, hauling, sawing, nailing and … only one person fell off the roof. Fortunately he was a fireman and knew how to ride a ladder. The morning felt like a full day and when we broke for lunch we felt good about the house. After more fried food and starch for lunch, Wanda brought out a birthday cake as it was William’s birthday and we sang and went back to work.

The house was finally done. As the storms moved in that night I was lying in my bed, I thought of Wanda and William sleeping in their home for the first time since Katrina without rain falling on their heads and hope grew a little stronger and I realized that we all are neighbors and if we work together we can do anything.

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New Orleans is alive with energy – bands at the airport, purple houses alive with color, French Quarter Fest, the V-day Celebration at the Superdome — then we drive over the bridge to the lower 9th Ward and the mood changes and we realize what has happened here.

The devastation is still so evident. However, after two and a half years, nature has begun renew. The old foundations rise up through the new greenery. The old oaks still stand strong. Amongst the open fields, remnants of people’s homes still can be found.

The Global Hope Team meets for an orientation. Reverend Adams shows up to greet us and bless our work just as the truck pulls up to deliver our supplies. WE ARE OFF!

Teams break off in a less than orderly fashion – everyone is excited to dig in and get something done. Within an hour we have a plan and everyone is busy.

First off, we meet with Wanda and William to assess our first roof repair project. Our ace construction team, Dickie Niedospiel, Pat Murphy, Ron Hason, Petie Sydello, Mike Taylor and Ted Ferris were quietly shaking their heads. As we looked up at the sky through the roof, we saw the walls slanted and unstable and not enough roof left to repair. All that was left of this home was a soggy, unstable shell. The inside had been gutted and was dark and dank as a cave. We couldn’t see any way this home was inhabitable. We asked Wanda where they were living and she humbly and reluctantly took us into the back. As she looked at our faces, she pleaded with tears in her eyes and said, “Please don’t look down on us for how we are living”. We entered through the plastic and old blankets hung as a door and saw a 10 x 20 space filled with what was left of their possessions. It looked like something you would see under lower Wacker.

There was a bed, some clothing and supplies and a propane tank with a single burner. There was no sign of plumbing or electric. Wanda shared that they use the neighbor’s bathroom and have a garden hose outside. They also go to Common Ground’s facility for many of their meals.

As we stood in silence with tears at these conditions; we knew we had to help. We were amazed at her courage and strength to survive.

In the meantime, the guys had determined the roof could not be repaired. We were not about to leave without providing some relief. Our optimistic and resourceful crew, came up with a plan to reroof the small back section of the house and make it structurally sound.

We got to work . . .

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