Post hurricane clean-up

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Forrest County Agricultural High School students clear debris from Graham's porch. Photo/Demetrica Smith.

Cassie Graham, 58, of 705 Lincoln Avenue, Hattiesburg was raised in this house. She never left and raised her own family in this house. The foundation of the house remained steady throughout the years and withstood the ravishing winds of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 that ripped homes completely from their foundations.

The only evidence left to actually verify that her house experienced such a history making storm is the hole in her roof and the water damaged items that got wet on her porch.

Two years have past and the roof is still covered with a mixture of blue tarp, black plastic and wood boards sectioned strategically to hold the covering firm. The porch is stacked high, from floor to ceiling, with mattresses, clothes and a variety of other items from inside the house that got wet from the hole in the roof and only made it as far as the porch for disposal.

Graham is unable to do the things she used to. Although 58 years young, she has had three bypass surgeries has to remain on oxygen. Despite her illnesses, Graham is all smiles today.
On March 31, 2007, Graham is finally getting those items removed from her porch after almost two years and her yard cleaned and cut.

“Today is a very momentous occasion for me,” said Graham.

A host of volunteers, a majority who are student council members from Forrest County Agricultural High School, came to clear Graham’s porch and clean her yard. The volunteers said there was nothing to gain but a sense of satisfaction from helping someone in need.

“This is the student council’s first try at volunteering,” said student council president, Neil Boone.

Boone said he ran across a flyer while at a camp he was attending that was looking for volunteers. While there, he met a counselor named Christy Harrison, who happens to be the coordinator of a program Boone and his council members would end up volunteering for.

The program is called Share Care Recovery Connection, a project of the Institute for Disability Studies at the University of Southern Mississippi, funded by the Mississippi Council on Developmental Disabilities. Share Care offers assistance to persons 50 years of age or older who have experienced grief or losses due to Hurricane Katrina.

“Share Care offers a service for time through a system called project Share Care bank,” said Harrison.

Project Share Care Bank is not like a bank that holds cash money, but a bank that holds time dollars. Time dollars are earned for exchange of support by helping someone else. For every hour of service a person volunteers gives, they earn one time dollar. These time dollars are then used for services needed by the earner, which would be performed by a volunteer who in turn earns time dollars and vice versa.

“Mississippi is the first state in the south to use this time dollar concept,” said Harrison. She said the concept has been around for 20 years, but mostly in states with large metropolitan cities. However, Harrison said the program has not been used for assisting persons with disabilities or seniors.

“People tend to forget about seniors. This is an opportunity to help seniors get back active in society,” said Harrison.

But the students from FCAHS student council and the other volunteers with them said they are not in it for the time dollars.

“We know about the time share dollars, but were not doing it for the hours or the dollars,” said Boone. “We’re doing it strictly volunteer because we just wanted to help someone.”
After a few hours, Graham’s porch and yard is totally transformed. Although her roof is still in disrepair, Graham is grateful to tackle one obstacle at a time.

“I’m just so happy,” said Graham. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”