Halloween!

The team is currently getting ready to go out together for Halloween. Kate is dressing as a yellow footed rock walby, Stacy is going as a dinosaur, Katie as Zorro, Sam as Indiana Jones, Paige as a princess, Andy as an old man, Mallory as a zebra, and I am going as a tomb raider.

Camp Hope is a buzz with everyone getting dressed. Our dinner crew here dressed up for dinner and got a few laughs. This is our last weekend out here in New Orleans because we leave on Thursday. As the time comes to an end we are becoming a little more sentimental about spending time together. I can’t wait to spend this night out with my team and make the more memories.

~ Amanda

Done with Drywall!

Last week I finished dry walling my house! Hooray! My volunteers finished in one week which is pretty stellar.

This week I’ve been working with Amanda and Katie mudding their houses. I am becoming an excellent mudder.

I’m really excited about going back to Denver to see everyone again and to say goodbye. We'll be graduating from the program on November 19. I’ve loved my AmeriCorps experience but I’m ready to go home and spend time with my family.
~Maria B.

Video: October 25th

Video: Katie's House

Video: Sam's House

Warehouse Assistant Manger

The St. Bernard Project has been a really great experience so far and the whole team has been enjoying it. My role with this project is the Warehouse Assistant Manger position. I keep the warehouse looking clean and organized so I know where everything goes. I also stock the shelves when new supplies comes in, help volunteers along with site supervisors find the tools they are looking for, and put kits together that go out to the different houses. My position helps the workers get the supplies they need to get a house done, sending a message to the homeowners that the organization cares. I occasionally help answer phones or help with random projects such as spray painting hammers pink for women’s build. There are days when I am all caught up with my work in the warehouse when I help the runners deliver the supplies or go to a work site and learn how to put up sheet rock. My job can a little stressful and hectic sometimes, since I am busy running around trying to get so many tasks done at once. Overall, I really like my role with this project for I have learned a lot, including getting to see to see the business side of a non-profit organization, which is really neat. I can not wait to see what is ahead for the last two and a half weeks that we are here; I know its going to be fun!

Now for Earth One team news, for the last two and half weeks of our fourth round project we are getting a new teammate from Water One, which is another team from the Denver campus. Earth one excitedly welcomes Andy to the team, so “Welcome to Earth One Andy!” So stay tuned to see how the last two and half weeks ago with another member.

~ Paige

The Teacher Becomes the Student

As my teammates have mentioned in previous entries, we are reaching the end of our service in AmeriCorps. I can't even begin to express the emotions that I am facing regarding this wrap up. We are currently about three weeks into our fourth (and final) project, the St. Bernard Project...and I am hooked. I can't seem to get enough of working with volunteers and contributing to the rebuilding of homes here in Louisiana.

This past week is an excellent example of why I am so continuously excited about this project: Every year, the St. Bernard Project organizes an event called Women's Rebuild. Women (and sometimes men!) from all over the United States visit the St. Bernard Parish and volunteer with the St. Bernard Project for however long they'd like to stay. I think it's safe to say that I received some of the strongest and most beautiful women out of the group as my volunteers for the week. My job, as a site supervisor, was to train them in all three stages of drywall mudding for a house I have been working on these past couple of weeks. I am pretty certain that I ended up learning more from them than they did from me.

What they taught me was the fact that compassion and love is still very much alive in this world. They came into this house and immediately treated it as their own. They surrounded me with their bright personalities and eagerness to work as hard as they could every day. Sadly, today was my last day of working with these amazing women. But, because of them, I will walk into that house with the compassion they showed me, and I will give more of myself in making this house into a wonderful home... a home that belongs to a young and grateful family.

The contributions that these volunteers have given to this project have not only given hope to the residents of the St. Bernard Parish, but also to me... a twenty-four year old woman who will never forget the strength and care that was encountered during her past week of work. I hope they read this entry. I hope they know how wonderful of a role they have played in my life. I can't thank them enough.

~Mallory