Open Architecture Network

PROJECT DESCRIPTION:
Kathy Everard lives in Waveland, Mississippi. She uses a walker and is living in a small FEMA trailer with her 17-year-old granddaughter, and all their belongings. Their home was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina. She, like many residents, has been fighting with insurance companies and expects it will be a year to 18 months before they can rebuild.

Over Spring Break 2005 students of the University of Minnesota made life a little bit more livable for Kathy and her daughter by building a laundry room addition to their FEMA trailer. There were no working laundry facilities in the area. The addition also doubled as a storage area relieving the Everard's cramped space inside the trailer.

In February, members of the New York City Fire Department with New York Says Thank You came to Waveland to volunteer their time in an effort to say "thank you" to all those who came to their aid after 9/11.