Williamson Uses Trade Skills In Gulf Coast For Third Time

For the third time in three years, a Williamson group used their trade skills to refurbish houses destroyed by Hurricane Katrina in Bay St. Louis, Miss. During the trip, from Jan. 3-11, the group worked on five houses, some requiring major work and some minor.

The group of 30 students and nine alumni, faculty, and staff went, as in the other trips, in cooperation with CityTeam Ministries, of Chester, Pa. CityTeam provided a base camp, meals, transportation to and from work sites, materials, and chose which houses would be worked on.

William B. Strine, secretary of Williamson’s board of trustees and a member of CityTeam’s national board of trustees, was instrumental in raising funds to cover the costs of the trip. Strine said CityTeam has made disaster recovery an official part of its mission and has been in Bay St. Louis since three days after Hurricane Katrina hit, making it one of the few recovery organizations to have remained in the area for three years. Raising the funds by going business to business was easy, Strine said, after providing stories of his first-hand experiences helping in the disaster relief and showing a film of the devastation.

“Williamson’s three trips to the Gulf Coast have been a real blessing and they have made a significant contribution to the area and numerous families,” said Strine.

Ken Nelson, director of construction technology-carpentry, and the leader of all three trips, said “What set this trip apart from the others is that civilization is returning to the area and standards are rising. This means spending more time on each house to make it capable of receiving a certificate of occupancy. In the past, they just wanted a house to be livable; that was good enough.”

There is still massive devastation in the area Nelson said. “Hundreds and hundreds of homes are not acceptable for occupancy.” He added, “Our students, to the man, whether they were working in their trade or helping outside their trade, gave 100 percent in cooperation and attitude. They performed in an excellent manner and represented Williamson well.”

Attending the trip were: