Women Making Change – Monday & Tuesday in Biloxi

Coastal Women for Change (www.cwcbiloxi.org) is a grassroots organization that began after Hurricane Katrina to respond to the need for involvement of women and communities in the rebuilding process in the Biloxi and surrounding areas. The organization was founded by Sharon Hanshaw, a life-time resident of Biloxi. Programming includes support for rebuilding, local and national political advocacy, childcare capacity building, and support and organizing for single mothers and elderly residents. CWC’s members are a multiracial group, including Black, Vietnamese, white and Latina women.

Two other students and I signed up to work with CWC based on the name (it’s catchy, isn’t it?) and a two-line description of the organization. In particular as Monday was our first day of work, I had no idea what I was in for. We drove the 90 minutes over Lake Pontchartrain and the Louisiana/Mississippi state border, past a short stretch on the beach with towering, shimmering new casinos and remains of homes and hotels, to arrive at the CWC office. We walked in with our gloves and peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches, ready to build a house. Ms. Hanshaw warmly greeted us and explained that one woman in the community needed her roof taken off. Unfortunately, three social workers with limited skills in construction were not the right people for the job. This situation appears to be increasingly common in Biloxi: there is an array of well-intentioned volunteers who simply do not have the necessary skills to do the physical work to rebuild people’s homes. Instead, Ms. Hanshaw and the other CWC staff explained, residents need money for supplies, skilled laborers (like a plumber or electrician), and trustworthy contractors. Unfortunately, even the variety of non-profit organizations who have set up offices in Biloxi and offer to provide some of the resources and skilled labor for rebuilding, do so with many stipulations which often do not prioritize the safety and timeliness of rebuilding homes. Contractors’ rates are outrageous and, since many come from out-of-state, they continue to drain the region of its resources. Thus many, many people have been unable to return to Biloxi and, of those who stayed or did return, many continue to live without the stability and safety of a home.

Since what is needed is, in many cases, money, we set to work to support Ms. Hanshaw and her staff to create databases, fundraising letters, and systems for connecting donations to families in the community who need support. By the end of our second day of work, we contributed what we hoped would be a few helpful documents and ideas and, in response, were welcomed into an incredibly beautiful, strong, and resilient community. We were invited to a family barbeque on July 4^th (on the condition that the owner’s home is completed in time), next year’s CWC International Women’s Day Event, and to be members of CWC. After two visits to the local take-out eatery, we were known as the New Yorkers who bought an entire tray of peach cobbler (which the owner made for us upon our request the first day). Sharing the peach cobbler with our new friends, better said role models, seemed like an embarrassingly small gesture of gratitude. So was “thanks.” I was speechless.

(See also the entry and photos “Rebuilding Biloxi” from 3/14/07)