06.23 Build day in Mobile, AB

Today we helped out at a Habitat site in Mobile, AB. Needless to say, we were all exhausted from our 8 days of cycling (with that century thrown in there) so today was a bit rough. We got to the site around 8am and Meredith, the volunteer coordinator, told us that the area wasn’t hit too badly by Katrina, but a lot of people moved to Mobile who were displaced from Louisiana and Mississippi. Because of the influx of people, rent and land prices have sky rocketed and many people cannot afford their housing anymore. So the Habitat neighborhood we worked in was occupied by some Katrina victims and some people from Mobile who are experiencing the ripple effects of the storm.

Thankfully we didn’t have to be on the roof or anything today since we were all so tired. But we had to landscape and lay sod all day which was not exciting to say the least. But it was cool to see a house get finished and transformed with a sudden lawn. We raked and laid about 3 lawns and then ran through the sprinklers at the end. :-) We got to work some homeowners which was cool too.

After our affordable housing group meeting (where we give presentations to each other on the topics we’ve researched), some of us went out to dinner at the Bluegill on the water in Mobile. It was really nice have real food and be at a restaurant, especially with live music. I have fried flounder and crab legs, yummmm!