Help is needed in Mississippi now!!!
George and Margaret Ladner lost everything in Hurricane Katrina. Their son and daughter did as well. Lifetime residents of Pearlington, Mississippi they never thought they'd face completely rebuilding their life in the twilight of their years. George is 74 and Margaret is 75. They live in a FEMA trailer adjacent to a home that they are working with a relief group to finish. Margaret has fallen ill as of late and might not live to see the completion of the home. Their grandson, Justin Ladner, has served in Iraq and was in Iraq at the time of the storm. He didn't know the outcome until days later. His father, Eddie, had to tell his son that their home and all belongings were gone. Worse than that he also had to tell him of Margaret's brother and sister who perished in the storm....
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Today is July 27th 2006. It is 6:24 P.M. as I type this and time is of the essence.
My name is Warren Tidwell and I need your help to help someone in need. This is a real and urgent call to action. An elderly couple in Mississippi lost everything in Katrina and they need us and soon. This isn’t a hoax or a joke. My wife and I have been working helping to rebuild their home with a group known as The Bricklayers of Pearlington. The are a group of ordinary people who have attempted an extraordianry thing. They are trying to help George and Margaret rebuild their home. The story is on http://www.pearlingtnms.com The town of Pearlington has become known as the "forgotten town of Katrina." The story of George and Margaret is tragic but it isn't finished. You can help us make it have a happy ending.
We need skilled laborers now. We need either donated or affordable materials, or you can donate to the cause financially. After reading their story and you'd like to help please see the information at the bottom of this post. If anything please pass this on.
Don't think someone else is taking care of everything on the coast because they aren't. I've posted this everywhere and have gotten ZERO responses. My wife and I have spent much of our own money and countless hours on this, but we'd do ten times that much if we could. Now it's up to you. We're doing the best we can with what we have but even the helpers need help sometimes. I'm with the groups in Pearlington, Mississippi who are rebuilding. We know of relief groups and their volunteers. They have all they can handle already.This message is for the people out there who don't know or realize they are needed. Let’s show people the power of the blogosphere and the desire to help someone in need. Think of it as the opposite of the email campaign to add 911 victim’s names to bombs.
*******************************************************************
This is a lot to read but please take the time because it is SO important. If you love watching Extreme Home Makeover then you're needed to take part in a real life one. This is the story of George and Margaret Ladner.
September 29th 2005
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20050929/NEWS/109290027&SearchID=73251961164008
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Editor's note: In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, valley residents and governments decided last week to devote most of their relief resources directly to the community of Pearlington, Miss., an unincorporated community on the Gulf Coast that took the full force of the storm. This week, The Aspen Times sent reporter Scott Condon and photographer Paul Conrad to Pearlington to find out what's left, how residents are coping and what needs to be done to help them rebuild their lives and their community.
PEARLINGTON, Miss. - Margaret Ladner sat outside the mangled shell of her house Wednesday and calmly recounted how Hurricane Katrina killed her sister, nearly drowned her and her husband, and destroyed the homes of two of her children. She paused in the middle of the incredible story to ask a visitor if he wanted a cold bottle of water from her cooler. Few people on the Gulf Coast lost as much as Ladner in the hurricane, yet she remains willing to share what she owns.
That seems to be the approach among the few people remaining in Pearlington, a working-class town of 1,700 people in the extreme southwest corner of Mississippi. It's the town on the Louisiana border that Carbondale "adopted" in an effort to give direct aid to a place in need. The governments of Aspen, Basalt, Snowmass Village and Pitkin County have also vowed to help Pearlington directly in its recovery rather than offer assistance through an organization like the Red Cross. The town took a direct hit from the eastern wall of the eye of Katrina, where winds and storm surge were at their worst. One month later, the level of destruction remains hard to fathom. Nearly every building was either leveled by ravaging winds and swirling waters, or covered with layers of thick mud that have dried and cracked in the hot sun.
All the lawns are covered with a thin layer of crusty mud that breaks through to underlying glop when any pressure is applied. Stagnant, briny water lines the ditches. The buildings reek with the musty smell of stale water and mud. The structures that are still standing bear a high-water mark like the line in a bathtub after a dirty kid hops out. Many structures have collapsed. The post office disappeared; its cement foundation sits alone and wiped clean. St. Joseph's Catholic Church was washed out into the main drag, Route 604. Its belfry is still intact in the front yard of the partially collapsed house across the road. Waterlogged wood, twisted metal and copious amounts of debris, such as mattresses and household appliances, are scattered everywhere. A handful of property owners have tried to pile the debris on the curb, and here and there backhoes pick away at the strewn garbage.
Margaret, 73, and George, 74, have lived at a site on the main drag of Pearlington since 1954. Wind tore siding and shingles off the house. Water gutted it. Next door, the one-two punch of wind and rain collapsed the house of their daughter, Andrea Coote. In the same block, the hurricane destroyed the home of their son, George "Eddie" Ladner, who had bought the place from Margaret's parents. The Ladners are old-time residents of Pearlington, but they don't know yet if they will rebuild.
March 3rd, 2006
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20060303/NEWS/103030034&SearchID=73251962532465
Editor's note: Six months after Hurricane Katrina, Aspen Times reporter Scott Condon and photographer Paul Conrad are visiting Pearlington, Miss., to bring readers up to date on the recovery of this small community that Roaring Fork Valley residents have made the focus of their hurricane-relief efforts.
PEARLINGTON, Miss. - George and Margaret Ladner watched a big part of their lives get pulverized and swept into the ditch last month when their home of 40 years was demolished. It was one more painful step in recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
"It's something you saved for all your life. I wish we could have repaired it, but it had to come down," George said. "It's another step in healing."
For about six months, their devastated house had been an inescapable reminder of the horrors of the hurricane. The Ladners received a small trailer house from the Federal Emergency Management Agency last fall.
********************************************
Today July 27th 2006 and it is 8:53 PM Eastern as I type this.
George and Margaret were able to begin rebuilding with the help of a volunteer group from Huntsville, Alabama. Led by Jennifer Johnson, a woman who knew nothing of building a home yet set out on faith to build one because she knew she was needed. After meeting George and Margaret she, along with a group of friends, decided to help them rebuild. They had to. There was no other option. You cannot meet George and Margaret and not come away feeling as if you've met a very special couple. They are as precious a couple as you could hope to meet. After losing so much they never ever complained because they were in the same boat as the rest of the community. They are a joy to be around and their gratitude is overwhelming.
They paid to have the lot raised and slab poured. While the relief group has gotten the home framed, windows installed, roofed, wired, plumbed, and sheathed it has been agonizingly slow. They've been playing it by ear and dependent on outside sources for advice on what to do next. They set out on faith and it has worked out so far. Every part of this home has been built because people have stepped up when materials and labor have been needed. Much has been donated saving the Ladners the worry of stretching their meager savings.
Now another roadblock has been reached, but this time it's different. Compounding the fact work on the home has stalled, Margaret Ladner is, as I type this, back in the hospital in Slidell and has been in and out over the last week. The prognosis isn't good. Work has ceased because we are lacking volunteers skilled enough to install the HardiPlank lap siding and finish sheetrock. There are other needs such as carpeting and cabinetry but this is the one holding us up. I’d love to be able to furnish the home for them, but that’s a moot point until the home is finished.
I visited with Margaret after she was brought home from her first trip to the hospital. Recently a metal storage type building was put up allowing the Ladners to sleep in a real bed for the first time since the storm. The bed was surrounded by an assortment of belongings being stored there. The floor is a concrete slab. There is no furniture other than plastic and metal chairs that looked as if they were salvaged from the storm. She struggled to get up to greet me with a hug and I had to stop her. Her voice was as weak as she was but she still managed to sit up and talk. She's as tough as they come but I could see it was a struggle.
I had planned on visiting with them last weekend to see what they had come up with in the way of siding the house. However, I called them on the way down to let them know I was coming and found out she had been rushed to the hospital. She was diagnosed as having had an adverse reaction to her medication, and after they stabilized her she was sent home- home being a FEMA trailer connected to two outbuildings built from the scraps of their previous shed. Thankfully she was ok and I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn't stomach the thought of her leaving us before the home is finished.
We realize George and Margaret have little time left with us. That's the entire reason we want to finish this home. We want to give them a nice place to live out their final days and let them know that even though they lost everything in the storm that they mean everything to us. We must finish this home and as soon as humanly possible for we cannot allow George or Margaret to have spent their last days in a 180 square foot travel trailer amongst the remnants of their shattered lives. They deserve better. They have done nothing but help people their entire lives and now they can’t even help themselves. You never know when you’ll be in the same boat.
I refuse to let that happen. I love them as if they were my own grandparents. I've tried to ask for help with this in the past by telling the story and asking for help based on the fact the tragic events speak for themselves. Well not now. If this is allowed to happen to a man like George Ladner in the USA in 2006, then you might as well hang it up. George Ladner, a man whos Grandson is currently serving our country in Iraq, never used a sick day in all his years of work. He worked hard and built a good and decent life for his family- the American dream you might say. He never imagined it would become a nightmare in his mid-seventies.
Every penny saved is money you are saving them. I believe we can finish this house and also furnish it for them. They’ve lost family members, their home, and the ability to do this by themselves. Let’s do this for them so they can know comfort in their remaining years.
If you can help in any way to make this happen you are needed. Don’t think someone else will. You never know if you are the only option we have. This couple deserves nothing less than our finest effort. We need skilled laborers to side the house, install the carpeting and cabinetry, and paint the home. Help with purchasing the siding would be great because it is coming out of the pockets of George and Margaret. As for materials needed to finish this house we need B/C plywood, 1x6 Redwood for the fascia, paint for the interior/exterior, carpet, linoleum and cabinetry. If you can’t help, but know someone who might, let them know. GET THIS INFORMATION OUT PLEASE. Cut and paste it and email everyone you know. If a name can be added to a bomb going to Iraq with an email campaign, we can do this.
There’s still a good bit left to do. They’ve seen the worst life has to offer- let’s help them see the best. Thank you in advance.
Email me at warrentidwell@tmail.com or wardamneagle78@yahoo.com if you can help and I’ll give you all the details.
Essential links:
http://pearlington.blogspot.com
http://www.pearlingtonms.com
*****************************************************************
Today is July 27th 2006. It is 6:24 P.M. as I type this and time is of the essence.
My name is Warren Tidwell and I need your help to help someone in need. This is a real and urgent call to action. An elderly couple in Mississippi lost everything in Katrina and they need us and soon. This isn’t a hoax or a joke. My wife and I have been working helping to rebuild their home with a group known as The Bricklayers of Pearlington. The are a group of ordinary people who have attempted an extraordianry thing. They are trying to help George and Margaret rebuild their home. The story is on http://www.pearlingtnms.com The town of Pearlington has become known as the "forgotten town of Katrina." The story of George and Margaret is tragic but it isn't finished. You can help us make it have a happy ending.
We need skilled laborers now. We need either donated or affordable materials, or you can donate to the cause financially. After reading their story and you'd like to help please see the information at the bottom of this post. If anything please pass this on.
Don't think someone else is taking care of everything on the coast because they aren't. I've posted this everywhere and have gotten ZERO responses. My wife and I have spent much of our own money and countless hours on this, but we'd do ten times that much if we could. Now it's up to you. We're doing the best we can with what we have but even the helpers need help sometimes. I'm with the groups in Pearlington, Mississippi who are rebuilding. We know of relief groups and their volunteers. They have all they can handle already.This message is for the people out there who don't know or realize they are needed. Let’s show people the power of the blogosphere and the desire to help someone in need. Think of it as the opposite of the email campaign to add 911 victim’s names to bombs.
*******************************************************************
This is a lot to read but please take the time because it is SO important. If you love watching Extreme Home Makeover then you're needed to take part in a real life one. This is the story of George and Margaret Ladner.
September 29th 2005
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20050929/NEWS/109290027&SearchID=73251961164008
REGISTRATION REQUIRED
Editor's note: In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, valley residents and governments decided last week to devote most of their relief resources directly to the community of Pearlington, Miss., an unincorporated community on the Gulf Coast that took the full force of the storm. This week, The Aspen Times sent reporter Scott Condon and photographer Paul Conrad to Pearlington to find out what's left, how residents are coping and what needs to be done to help them rebuild their lives and their community.
PEARLINGTON, Miss. - Margaret Ladner sat outside the mangled shell of her house Wednesday and calmly recounted how Hurricane Katrina killed her sister, nearly drowned her and her husband, and destroyed the homes of two of her children. She paused in the middle of the incredible story to ask a visitor if he wanted a cold bottle of water from her cooler. Few people on the Gulf Coast lost as much as Ladner in the hurricane, yet she remains willing to share what she owns.
That seems to be the approach among the few people remaining in Pearlington, a working-class town of 1,700 people in the extreme southwest corner of Mississippi. It's the town on the Louisiana border that Carbondale "adopted" in an effort to give direct aid to a place in need. The governments of Aspen, Basalt, Snowmass Village and Pitkin County have also vowed to help Pearlington directly in its recovery rather than offer assistance through an organization like the Red Cross. The town took a direct hit from the eastern wall of the eye of Katrina, where winds and storm surge were at their worst. One month later, the level of destruction remains hard to fathom. Nearly every building was either leveled by ravaging winds and swirling waters, or covered with layers of thick mud that have dried and cracked in the hot sun.
All the lawns are covered with a thin layer of crusty mud that breaks through to underlying glop when any pressure is applied. Stagnant, briny water lines the ditches. The buildings reek with the musty smell of stale water and mud. The structures that are still standing bear a high-water mark like the line in a bathtub after a dirty kid hops out. Many structures have collapsed. The post office disappeared; its cement foundation sits alone and wiped clean. St. Joseph's Catholic Church was washed out into the main drag, Route 604. Its belfry is still intact in the front yard of the partially collapsed house across the road. Waterlogged wood, twisted metal and copious amounts of debris, such as mattresses and household appliances, are scattered everywhere. A handful of property owners have tried to pile the debris on the curb, and here and there backhoes pick away at the strewn garbage.
Margaret, 73, and George, 74, have lived at a site on the main drag of Pearlington since 1954. Wind tore siding and shingles off the house. Water gutted it. Next door, the one-two punch of wind and rain collapsed the house of their daughter, Andrea Coote. In the same block, the hurricane destroyed the home of their son, George "Eddie" Ladner, who had bought the place from Margaret's parents. The Ladners are old-time residents of Pearlington, but they don't know yet if they will rebuild.
March 3rd, 2006
http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20060303/NEWS/103030034&SearchID=73251962532465
Editor's note: Six months after Hurricane Katrina, Aspen Times reporter Scott Condon and photographer Paul Conrad are visiting Pearlington, Miss., to bring readers up to date on the recovery of this small community that Roaring Fork Valley residents have made the focus of their hurricane-relief efforts.
PEARLINGTON, Miss. - George and Margaret Ladner watched a big part of their lives get pulverized and swept into the ditch last month when their home of 40 years was demolished. It was one more painful step in recovery from Hurricane Katrina.
"It's something you saved for all your life. I wish we could have repaired it, but it had to come down," George said. "It's another step in healing."
For about six months, their devastated house had been an inescapable reminder of the horrors of the hurricane. The Ladners received a small trailer house from the Federal Emergency Management Agency last fall.
********************************************
Today July 27th 2006 and it is 8:53 PM Eastern as I type this.
George and Margaret were able to begin rebuilding with the help of a volunteer group from Huntsville, Alabama. Led by Jennifer Johnson, a woman who knew nothing of building a home yet set out on faith to build one because she knew she was needed. After meeting George and Margaret she, along with a group of friends, decided to help them rebuild. They had to. There was no other option. You cannot meet George and Margaret and not come away feeling as if you've met a very special couple. They are as precious a couple as you could hope to meet. After losing so much they never ever complained because they were in the same boat as the rest of the community. They are a joy to be around and their gratitude is overwhelming.
They paid to have the lot raised and slab poured. While the relief group has gotten the home framed, windows installed, roofed, wired, plumbed, and sheathed it has been agonizingly slow. They've been playing it by ear and dependent on outside sources for advice on what to do next. They set out on faith and it has worked out so far. Every part of this home has been built because people have stepped up when materials and labor have been needed. Much has been donated saving the Ladners the worry of stretching their meager savings.
Now another roadblock has been reached, but this time it's different. Compounding the fact work on the home has stalled, Margaret Ladner is, as I type this, back in the hospital in Slidell and has been in and out over the last week. The prognosis isn't good. Work has ceased because we are lacking volunteers skilled enough to install the HardiPlank lap siding and finish sheetrock. There are other needs such as carpeting and cabinetry but this is the one holding us up. I’d love to be able to furnish the home for them, but that’s a moot point until the home is finished.
I visited with Margaret after she was brought home from her first trip to the hospital. Recently a metal storage type building was put up allowing the Ladners to sleep in a real bed for the first time since the storm. The bed was surrounded by an assortment of belongings being stored there. The floor is a concrete slab. There is no furniture other than plastic and metal chairs that looked as if they were salvaged from the storm. She struggled to get up to greet me with a hug and I had to stop her. Her voice was as weak as she was but she still managed to sit up and talk. She's as tough as they come but I could see it was a struggle.
I had planned on visiting with them last weekend to see what they had come up with in the way of siding the house. However, I called them on the way down to let them know I was coming and found out she had been rushed to the hospital. She was diagnosed as having had an adverse reaction to her medication, and after they stabilized her she was sent home- home being a FEMA trailer connected to two outbuildings built from the scraps of their previous shed. Thankfully she was ok and I breathed a sigh of relief. I couldn't stomach the thought of her leaving us before the home is finished.
We realize George and Margaret have little time left with us. That's the entire reason we want to finish this home. We want to give them a nice place to live out their final days and let them know that even though they lost everything in the storm that they mean everything to us. We must finish this home and as soon as humanly possible for we cannot allow George or Margaret to have spent their last days in a 180 square foot travel trailer amongst the remnants of their shattered lives. They deserve better. They have done nothing but help people their entire lives and now they can’t even help themselves. You never know when you’ll be in the same boat.
I refuse to let that happen. I love them as if they were my own grandparents. I've tried to ask for help with this in the past by telling the story and asking for help based on the fact the tragic events speak for themselves. Well not now. If this is allowed to happen to a man like George Ladner in the USA in 2006, then you might as well hang it up. George Ladner, a man whos Grandson is currently serving our country in Iraq, never used a sick day in all his years of work. He worked hard and built a good and decent life for his family- the American dream you might say. He never imagined it would become a nightmare in his mid-seventies.
Every penny saved is money you are saving them. I believe we can finish this house and also furnish it for them. They’ve lost family members, their home, and the ability to do this by themselves. Let’s do this for them so they can know comfort in their remaining years.
If you can help in any way to make this happen you are needed. Don’t think someone else will. You never know if you are the only option we have. This couple deserves nothing less than our finest effort. We need skilled laborers to side the house, install the carpeting and cabinetry, and paint the home. Help with purchasing the siding would be great because it is coming out of the pockets of George and Margaret. As for materials needed to finish this house we need B/C plywood, 1x6 Redwood for the fascia, paint for the interior/exterior, carpet, linoleum and cabinetry. If you can’t help, but know someone who might, let them know. GET THIS INFORMATION OUT PLEASE. Cut and paste it and email everyone you know. If a name can be added to a bomb going to Iraq with an email campaign, we can do this.
There’s still a good bit left to do. They’ve seen the worst life has to offer- let’s help them see the best. Thank you in advance.
Email me at warrentidwell@tmail.com or wardamneagle78@yahoo.com if you can help and I’ll give you all the details.
Essential links:
http://pearlington.blogspot.com
http://www.pearlingtonms.com
posted by W.T. at 9:25 AM
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