Why We're Here

My Knight Foundation colleagues and I had an action-packed day touring Biloxi, Gulfport, and East Biloxi together. We saw for ourselves the progress these communities have made, and how much more needs to be done to restore homes, office buildings, and businesses. Some folks just cannot afford to rebuild - insurance costs are so much greater than they were before Hurricane Katrina. Some are restoring slowly. Some seem to be just getting by.

One of the bright spots was seeing the homes in East Biloxi, where the rebuilding started before the storm. They look bright and cheerful, the way kids look on the first day of school showing off their new clothes and high hopes. A boy skated by on roller skates, perhaps practicing to get a job at Sonic. Another boy rode a bicycle. People sitting on a porch waved to us. The whole community isn't this bright and shiny - you still see buildings with broken glass and sagging walls - but there's a lot to be happy about.

One of the highlights of the day was when all the Habitat volunteers converged for dinner, music, and motivation. The Mississippi Mass Choir sang a song whose refrain was "I'm Not Tired Yet." And then Garth Brooks and Tricia Yearwood, who are helping build a home this week, introduced Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter.

But most meaningful to me were the testimonies from people who helped build a Habitat home and are now living in it. We saw videotaped presentations about the hurricane damage, the cleanup, and rebuilding. One of the images showed a hand-painted sign that read "If you lose hope, you've lost everything." Having a clean, new home to move into after losing nearly everything made all the difference to these survivors.

And that's why we're here.