This is the third year that Simone Lunt, a senior who is homeschooled, has traveled to Mississippi with the Catholic Central group to volunteer.
“It’s really sad. I’ve had so much fun. I’m really glad that I got to come this year,” said Lunt. “It’s really cool to come here and help because, first of all, we’re all on the same work site so we all work together and, while we get to know the people we’re working for, we also get to know each other really well. Also, this family is really hospitable and they really give more to us than we give to them. They don’t have very much but they’re giving us all this food and other stuff. I’ve really connected with them. Their children are homeschooled to so we got to exchange some stories.”
Lunt, who is Catholic, plans on attending a community college in the fall where she intends to major in a foreign language.
“I’d really like to go do some mission work after that,” she said. “It’s really something I’ve always wanted to do, but the work we’re doing (in Mississippi) is kind of like the precursor to that… so, when Mr. Tober told me about this, I was really excited and I’ve really enjoyed doing it these past three years.”
For Bridget Salisz, who is a senior at Catholic Central, this trip was her first to Mississippi to volunteer.
“Honestly, coming into Mississippi, I thought there was going to be more destruction than we’ve seen, but I was totally unprepared to see how bad things could still be for people,” she said. “It was really an eye opener to understand that, while things are kind of hidden on the outside, you have to look deeper to understand that people still need help.”
Salisz said the most rewarding part of the experience for her has been the gratitude expressed by the Alexander family.
“It’s just incredible to be able to work with them,” she said. “They appreciate it so much.”
“Words cannot explain how we feel about it,” Ronda Alexander said. “It’s just such a blessing to us. It’s just outstanding. I never knew that groups like this even existed.” Ronda Alexander’s husband, Roger, who will turn 60 in December moved to the Salvador Drive location with his parents when he was eight years-old.
She said a towering Oak tree that now casts shadows over the property was just a switch at the time when the family started building the house.
The home, which had two bedrooms and one bathroom suffered extensive water damage as a result of Katrina, so the family converted a sugar cane shed into living space for the family.
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“We just turned it into a little house,” Ronda Alexander said.
As one group of volunteers went about the task of dismantling the family’s former home, Mark Hansen and his son Gabe, 14, worked on the inside of the family’s current living quarters.
“There are four people living in this little place right here,” Mark Hansen said. “There’s no hot water and no shower facilities. They’ve been doing sponge baths since the storm. We converted a toilet area and now we’re putting in a shower enclosure and sink and we’re installing a hot water heater so they’ll have hot water for showers and for cooking. We’re also putting in a slot sink so they can wash dishes because they’ve had no place to do any of that.”
Roger Alexander is a Holiness preacher and the family conducts Bible study in the home, so, to spruce up the interior, the group laid down throw rugs and hung up curtains. They also replaced the exterior siding, which was rotting.
“We’re trying to give them a decent place to live until they figure out whether they’re going to rebuild or bring in a mobile home,” Mark Hansen said.
For the Hansen family, the annual trip is truly a family affair.