Off to Texas

Well, my stay in Gulfport is now over. I really enjoyed my time there. I met a lot of wonderful people, did some hard work and felt good about it. I liked how CRWRC was working in one neighbourhood, trying to improve it. Not just by fixing home, but by working with other organizations to better the community. Recently there has been a Community Development Corporation which is suppose to continue the new construction once DRS leaves in May. CDC also set up a construction school to train men from the community in the construction trade.
It was an interesting place to work because the 3 week DRSers were just a part of it all. Along with us were one week church groups which come down to work on the new homes which are being constructed through a partnership of DRS and the CDC. We had dessert socials on Wednesday evenings with the one week groups working in the neighbourhood, but also with church groups which were working around Gulfport, some in Biloxi and some in Ocean Springs. We had close to 70 people at some of our dessert socials. It was quite neat to see everyone come together, all united by the same purpose and working for the same Boss.
It is quite early into my stay in Port Arthur. It seems to be a very industrial town, with a lot of oil refineries around. Our accommodations are quite nice. We occupy a building which is a former daycare center run by St Johns Lutheran Church. Before the storm there were 200 children, post Rita, less than 40. They couldnt keep it up. So they were happy to have us come and occupy the building. Our bedrooms are former classrooms, so there is plenty of space. The dining room is very spacious as well. A little more room for group gatherings than in Gulfport.