39 Williamson Carpenters Help With Katrina Relief 

(6/06) 39 Williamson Carpenters teamed up with CitiTeam Ministries and put their skills to use doing, in the words of one local resident, “three months worth of work in ten days.” The group, including instructors Ken Nelson, Russ Smith and former instructor Robert Antonelli 8W1, was there from March 16-26. They even gave up part of their spring break to make the trip.

Nelson said, “A lot of people have gone down to the Gulf Coast to help with good intentions and little else. We went down as a group of skilled carpenters who know how to build and that’s what they need down there. There are many people who have been living in temporary FEMA trailers for six months because their homes are unliveable and there is practically no one there helping them rebuild. There is so much work to be done and no one doing it.”

When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, many people at Williamson wanted to go down and help with the rebuilding effort, but finding the means to do so was not easy. President Paul Reid and Dennis Dragich, director of plans and operations, met with two organizations with the hope of arranging for Williamson students to get involved in the relief effort. Neither worked out.

Then, William B. Strine, who serves on the boards of Williamson and CitiTeam Ministries, an organization that helps homeless people and those fighting alcohol and drug addiction, came up with the idea of Williamson carpenters hooking up with CitiTeam. CityTeam, with a local office in Chester, already had people in the Gulf Coast providing such aid as counseling, food, and clothing. They were able to provide logistical support to Williamson, such as transportation, living quarters, food, and that sort of thing. What they needed were skilled carpenters. It was a perfect fit.

With the group breaking up into small teams, they worked on 12 houses, a church, and a 4-story nursing home. Nelson said, “Our goal was to get people out of the temporary trailers they are living in and back into their homes.When you actually see the devastation down there in person you can’t believe it. It is so massive and covers such a large area. I spent 13 months in Viet Nam and never saw anything this bad over there.”

The group did such things as framing and insulating; put up drywall; did structure repair; hung doors; put in windows; installed kitchen cabinets, counter tops, and sinks; put in flooring; put in fiberglass tubs; built exterior steps; shingled roofs; repaired decks; put up a new ceiling in the church; and other things to make structures useable again. They lived in 8-man tents, had little hot water for washing, used portable toilets, and endured 30 degree nights and 80 degree days, and were visited while they slept by insects. They also worked very hard 10- and 12-hour days.

John Thomas 0W7 said, “We didn’t mind working 10-hour days, sleeping on cots, putting up with the cold. It was worth it. I wouldn’t think twice about going back down. There’s still alot of work to be done. The people are not being taken care of. There is alot of work to be done in our own country.”

Every carpenter who went down said without hesitation he would go back.

You Can Help

Anyone wishing to provide financial support for Williamson’s Hurricane Katrina relief effort in the Gulf Coast, can do so by sending a check (made payable to “CitiTeam Ministries”) to Williamson’s Office of Institutional Advancement, noting in the memo section of the check that it is a gift for “Williamson’s Katrina Support.” Checks will be forwarded to CitiTeam and donors will receive a note of thanks from the Williamson School.

Send your check to: The Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades, Office of Institutional Advancement, 106 S. New Middletown Road, Media, PA 19063-5299.