Finishing Ms. Hazel's House-- Near Done
Ms. Hazel Preparing to Move Back Into Her House
After 18 Months in a FEMA Trailer
JP Group Helps W2W Finish the Rebuilding
February 26 – The Wayland to Waveland (W2W) Hurricane Katrina Relief group, in partnership with a group from Jamaica Plain these last two weeks, put finishing touches on one of the three October Wave projects in Waveland, MS. The result: 89-year-old Miss Hazel Tracey will be sleeping under her own roof very soon.
Ms. Hazel is getting ready to move back into her home after 18 months living in her FEMA trailer. Thanks to the work of a great crew of professional carpenters, electricians, masons and volunteers, work has progressed enough that Ms. Hazel can finally sleep under her own roof.
Dave Karaus, from Jamaica Plain and his crew spent the last 2 weeks installing new bathrooms and fixtures, tiling, painting, installing new kitchen cabinets and a custom countertop, finishing the electrical and plumbing work so that the power could be turned on.
"All that needs to be done now is to give Ms. Hazel a 'Welcome Home' shower, reports Cindy Lombardo of the Wayland to Waveland Steering Committee. "Look shortly for ways you can help Ms. Hazel replenish items for her home," she said. (The committee is meeting twice this week.)
All the work was completed under the 'Waveland to Waveland' banner. Thanks to everyone who has donated to W2W as the work would not be possible without your generosity.
W2W is accelerating plans for another working visit to Waveland (set for April 1-7) to help finish Ms. Melanie's house, a home reconstruction projects also started in October – this one, from the ground up. Skilled laborers and volunteers are welcome to assist Peter Bachman, from Custom Designs as we try to move the rebuilding of Melanie's house along.
Here are the most updated photos I could take. The last three or four days have been amazing. It felt like we were working hard for the first week and a half without results. Then, in the last couple of days we have been seeing enormous amounts of visible progress. The back three bedrooms are completely painted. We got the electricity up and running yesterday, a plumber is coming in tomorrow to hook up all of the sink, toilets, and shower, and we are about to put the custom kitchen counter in. I don’t have very long because Lisa and I are still working and want to get back to the house, but if you have any questions you can call me anytime. Thank you for providing us with this experience and for helping Hazel and Melanie. I’m sure you already know how much they appreciate it, but I appreciate it in a way that I can’t describe in words. Thank you again and I hope everything goes well with the presentation.
-Jeremy-
P.S. Hope we’ll be seeing you down here soon!
P.P.S. I know that things still look rough, but I want to assure you that we are very very close to getting Hazel in.
Ms. Hazel's living room all prepped and ready for painting
View down the hallway with the attic stairs reinstalled.
Kitchen cabinets going in... some with provisions!
Windows securely fastened.
Bedroom view, wall painted.
Electric getting hooked up to the town supply!
Bathroom tilework set... waiting for grout!
Work on the kitchen counters.
More cabinets in, waiting on that counter.
Electric working in the hallway... fresh paint, ready for the second coat.
Bathroom ready ... well, almost... just a small matter of water hookup!