Today we had a couple new projects from All Hands Volunteers so we had to swap the groups around a little. Reid, Rory, Kelsey, and I headed up to East Rockaway to spend the day in a basement working on, you guessed it, mold remediation. I think we all were thinking it would be a nice change from ripping up floorboards and tearing down ceilings. Although it wasn't quite as physically demanding, it certainly wasn't more glamorous.
Our house belonged to a woman named Diane, who quite excitedly told us of how the water came up to shoulder height in the basement and "it just poured in like Niagra FALLS, just like NIAGRA FALLS!!" (subsequently exposing Kelsey to her first Long Island accent... one of the MANY hysterical conversations we had today!) But she also how her husband didn't think the storm would be that bad. That Hurricane Irene had the same warnings and nothing that bad happened. That they should park their cars in the bank parking lot a few blocks away because it was at a higher elevation... only about three feet higher. They ended up losing both cars and whatever was in the basement. How the insurance adjusters, who were flown in from some midwest corporate headquarters, overlooked so many details as they rushed from claim to claim. Thousands and thousands of them... Diane and her husband were just one. This was why they needed help from All Hands Volunteers. Understandably they were upset about their loss, but I couldn't help but think about the house we were working in yesterday, how there was nothing left to it really, and how we stripping it completely so they could rebuild. Diane's house seemed, well, lovely... other than the mold issue in the basement. There is such a range of nightmarish stories from Superstorm Sandy (and Hurricane Katrina, and Irene, and all the others). They are all so personal and so real and so incredibly important to each person affected. This was Diane's story and her home... and we were there to help her.
We spent the first half of the day prepping the basement for the treatment. This consisted of removing every nail and staple from the exposed wall studs and beams, vacuuming everything up, and wrapping anything that needed protection with plastic and duct tape... electrical outlets, the fuse box, furnace, washer/dryer, etc... After lunch we started the actual mold remediation which entailed spraying a foam soap to clean and somehow stops the mold and mildew, then physically scrubbing every square inch of floor, walls, beams, studs, joists to make sure it is all gone for good. Follow this with a power wash, a commercial grade wet-vac, and five industrial sized fans and you are pretty much done. It was all pretty wet and sloppy stuff... and the scrubbing got kind of messy, but all in all the day went by quickly and we could see our efforts paying off. Diane was especially thrilled and appreciative. I think the four of us were every bit as thrilled and appreciative when we got to take off our Tyvek suits!
Tonight, after we all regrouped and cleaned up at the hotel, we went to a restaurant about ten minutes away. All of us were stretched around one long table sharing stories from the day as we ate... and laughed... and laughed some more. When I looked down the table, I couldn't help be impressed with each one of these students.
We live in a pretty mixed-up world, but no matter how crazy it seems, even on a week that began with such tragedy and heartbreak in Boston, I can't get discouraged when I see these kids together working, playing, laughing, giving, making a difference... These kids are fantastic!!
Rest easy folks, we are in good hands!
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