Beginning of ASB 09

By Rachel Manuel

I'm in Southern Mississippi! Team Leader training started last night and we are gearing up for the UW Alternative Spring Break (ASB) participants to join us on Saturday. There are 12 team leaders, including Tasha, the director of campus programming at Drake University and a group of 5 Drake students will be included in this group, with most of the group being members of our Student United Way. I was a participant last year, while a senior at Drake and a member of Student United Way myself. Here's a video from Think MTV featuring our trip last year:

As with last year, we will be continuing the long term recovery process as South Mississippi was devastated by Hurricane Katrina nearly four years ago. Many residents are still suffering from the long term effects of this disaster. The availability of safe, affordable housing is a major concern along the MS Gulf Coast right now. A number of the projects during ASB '09 will tackle this important issue as volunteers work on repairing badly damaged homes in Biloxi. Another project in this area is to canvas neighborhoods and conduct a needs assesment of local residents. As families are forced to live in uncomfortable and sometimes deplorable conditions, it is important to understand exactly what services they need. This particular survey concerns child development and the needs of local families. Finally, volunteers this year will also work to prepare a new Boys & Girls Club unit for grand opening. Every single Boys & Girls Club unit was destroyed during Katrina. The re-opening of this service in the community is very important to their long term recovery process.
I will be blogging here throughout the week detailing our week's work. Check out the ASB blog here, where Channel DeLeon, a junior at Drake and other participants will also be blogging about their experiences.

P.S. It is a beautiful 70 degrees!