Once In A Lifetime Opportunity

About four years ago I agreed to be mobilized from Atlanta to the Gulf of Mississippi to support a disaster housing project related to the Katrina Disaster that devastated the Coast. I had never been to Mississippi before. Katrina was still a vivid memory when I arrived and it's Citizens were reeling from loss of life, jobs, homes and possessions. Over the three years I worked on the project I watched as people began to deal with their losses. I learned more about the people of Mississippi at garage sales and flea markets than I could have at a town meeting. People were open and sharing about their experiences - reliving the disaster and relating to the articles that they were, at that moment, ready to let go of and move on. I loved, and miss, the people on the Gulf Coast.

Setting up a project office in a town short on roof space and developing a project from the ground up was a tremendous challenge. I created this memory box as a parting gift for the dedicated project manager who left the project a year and a half after getting it up and operating (her picture is in the upper left hand corner).

Supplies: 16" square Memory Box purchased from Michaels (sanded) /hinged on the side, closes with magnets. Photo "firsts", paper, glue, found and flea market items.

The 1/2" scale guy in a bathing suit in front of the oyster shell in the corner cracks me up!







At the bottom of the box is a slat of siding. Underneath that hangs a vintage, metal, Kodak canister. Glued on top of the canister lid is a picture of Hurricane Katrina with 1/8" people twirling around. The lid comes off and inside are various project photos.