Work Day 1

Hey all!  Lily Schafer again!
Today we woke up at 5:30 in the morning, loaded the bus, and drove to the headquarters of St. Barnard, an organization founded after the storm that has helped restore almost 500 homes since then.  The organization also has partnerships in Joplin (where we went last year), New England (Sandy), and are working on setting up a partnership in Oklahoma following the tornado.
We then went to the work sites.  We were split into three groups, with my group (A) going to the home of Gwen M., a multiple hurricane survivor (Ike and Katrina) who was shot in a drive by and had to have her leg amputated.  She lost her job, and her home, brand new extensions and all, was bare.  Most of the outside work was done, so we started flooring the main hallway in the upstairs and one of the larger rooms on the first floor.  Henry, Paul, Erica and I worked on the second floor, with Paul and Erica sawing and Henry and I doing the flooring.  While appearing easy, it was really frustrating, because the pieces were so hard to make fit together well, and a lot of the pieces of wood had to be adjusted so they could fit around doors that lined the hallways.  We only got about three rows completely done, but it was a good start to a fantastic week.  I'm really excited to keep working with all of these guys.
We then took a break, filled with Bananagrams (which I apparently suck at.  Thanks Simon.), chilling with Paul, chatting, and playing trumpet with Xaver.  We then ate some dinner, and took another tour of the Katrina damage.  It was different then the first, in that Avery (not King) described the infastructure of New Orleans and how it changed due to the storm.
Overall, it was a great day.  My shirt fell of the balcony.  It was a struggle.  I'm excited to keep working tomorrow on the floors, and to keep hanging out with the group.
See y'all later!
Love,
     Lily Schafer