Biloxi, MS

I came to Biloxi having only spent one night in Mississippi during AmeriCorps last year. I've heard a lot about Biloxi from friends who had projects here last year. Many places closest to the ocean were hit hard and completely wiped out. But I was also surprised at how much activity there was. Ask anyone who lives there, though, and you'll hear that you can't really tell how bad it is unless you had seen it before the storm.

The city will not be same, partly because of the storm and partly because a huge portion of the recovery plan involves the development of casinos. To aid recovery, they have permitted onshore casinos instead of just offshore and there are more than 10 casinos planned along a strip of East Biloxi. In ten years or so we may speak of Biloxi as the new Las Vegas.

The day biking in was fairly easy. It was hot, but the ride was only 60 miles or so. We crossed our second state line in as many days of riding and it was strange to know that after spending 8 days riding across Florida, three days of riding from Milton to New Orleans would cover three new states. The Mississippi state sign was far more prominent than the Alabama one, which I missed entirely. We stopped and took pictures which I'll have to get from someone else, because at this point I couldn't find my camera. (It turned out to be in van.) The last 20 miles of riding, or so, were made slower by a big head wind, but my group still arrived with plenty of time.

We worked with Hands On Gulf Coast, which is doing a variety of projects in Biloxi, including rebuilding. They didn't have very many rebuilding projects available, so the group split up into various projects. Mine was helping at a camp for Spanish-speaking kids across the street. They ranged in age from about 6 to 12 and our job was to try to interact with them in English as much as possible. Despite some disorganization, I had a lot of fun, and was reminded how rewarded I feel when I work with kids who just need a little individual attention and encouragement to succeed. I emailed a friend at Sherman Lake YMCA, where I worked in Michigan to inquire if/when they might have a spot for me when I'm done with this crazy adventure. Who knows where I'll end up next, but I'd love to work with kids. So despite not being directly involved in an affordable housing cause during this day, I definitely got something out of it.

I ended up staying up late, trying to get things done and get organized before driving the van into New Orleans the next day.