Category: Places We’re Kinecting

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The Lot

One of the volunteer opportunities that we felt a connection with while we were in Tuscaloosa was helping out with the lunch services and the distribution center at the Church of Christ in Forest Lake.  Despite the church being taken out of commission by the tornado, the church was able to use its resources and get a tent up to get people the house hold necessities required to keep moving forward with their lives as well as a mobile home that was built with a large kitchen in order to assist in disaster relief. Through this kitchen, we served residence and volunteers breakfast and lunches so we knew that people were getting fed.  In our span of assisting the church with their efforts, we served about 8,000 lunches.  

The main reason we kept going back to this particular spot to volunteer was because of the people that were helping out and it was the best possible way to get a one-on-one with the residence to hear what they truly needed.  Those are the moments that we heard the stories that aren’t told in the “success stories” that tell us that Tuscaloosa is alright.  These are the bold reminders that the residence need much more help still and that this can happen anywhere in our large community called the United States.

The other volunteers that we met while we were on the lot were from all over.  Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, Texas, Florida, Georgia and so many other states.  The two men running the show were Mike and D.D.  D.D. became our friend instantly and ventured out with us every time we went out to explore Tuscaloosa.  Mike was the director of this particular motor home from the Church of Christ disaster assistance.  If you are interested to find out where he is headed next, you can email him at disasterassistance@gmail.com to get on his email list.

We also had a great chance to meet some of the congregation from the church.  Joe, Debbie and Claudia were our three continuous favorites and now that Alyssa will be down there for a while with her new job, she will be in contact with them.

These pictures are a montage of the people and work we were doing while volunteering at the lot.  This opportunity had such an enormous impact in our journey and we are so thankful for everyone we met while we were there.

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A Closer Look at Hurricane Creek

Remember Russell, who we met when we first arrived into Tuscaloosa? Well he invited us to come help out and clean up Hurricane Creek. I had a chance to walk around and get some footage of just a sample of what the clean up was really in looking like for the Creek Keepers in Hurricane Creek. This video doesn’t literally get into the creek yet, but that video will be coming.  We spend a lot of time thinking about the damage that the city has but we also have to think about how do we clean up the recreational and educational centers that got torn apart.  Hurricane Creek is a big part of the culture of Tuscaloosa and in the next video I will show you some of the wonderful contributions that this area supplies to the city.

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Cherrywood Worksite

Our first day on an actual clean up site was Cherrywood.  It is the most overwhelming thing to get to an area that has been completely demolished and asked to “clean it up”.  In almost 100 degree heat, in the sun, we raked, shoveled and wheel barreled our way through two house lots.  It is the only way to do it; with basic tools to give the people who live there and their insurance companies the ability to assess the damage. 

We met more volunteers from all over on this assignment too.  There was James Brown, and his group from his church in Florida, Chris from Mississippi, a couple from Georgia and some from West Virginia.  They had been here a week and still were shocked at what they saw.  They had great presence though and were extremely upbeat about the difficult job that we were doing. 

In these lots, there were boats everywhere.  We aren’t completely sure where they came from.  Some tell us that there was a boat sales/repair shop close by and some said that they could have come from the lake in town.  Either way, it is incredible to see these boats somewhere clearly that they did not start off at. 

Toward the end of our work day, the gentlemen who owned the lot where we were cleaning was there with his blueprints ready to build better than the original house.  In this area that often had no hope in it, we could still see people beginning their lives again. Like the man who was rebuilding on the lot we were cleaning, there were already other houses on their way up as well as homes where the damage was fixable, it was getting done.  People are intrepid and it was definitely visible in this hot June day.

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Alyssa and Gregg Venture to Tuscaloosa

 

For three weeks in June, Alyssa and Gregg will be in Tuscaloosa to help with tornado relief and clean up from the devastating storms that ravaged the Tuscaloosa area in April.  This is an extremely lofty project and we will need a lot of assistance in the short time we have to get down there by June 5th.

 We will be having a fundraiser/ school supplies and first aid drive later this month in Wisconsin Dells, WI.  Our focus is the schools of Tuscaloosa so we really want to focus on those donations to bring down there with us.  The date for the drive will be announced in the next few days.  

Here is a list of tools that we will be working on to accomplish our goal.  If you are able to help with any of this or have any suggestions, please email me at gregg@projectkinect.com.

     
  • Gas Cards and or Gas sponsorship

 

  •  A donated car/truck/van for one month

  

  • School supplies/first aid supplies for schools 

 

  •  Post Cards/Information Cards/Banner donation for drive

 

Thank you to David Black and your fantastic video. 
 
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Rockford, IL Weed & Seed: The Kishwaukee Corridor

I had the amazing opportunity to ride around with Dana, the director of the Kishwaukee Corridor part of Rockford.  This area of Rockford happens to be the largest Weed and Seed Site in the country and also happens to be the historical center of Rockford.  Thank you so much Dana for an amazing and impactful experience.  What you are doing for your community is unbelievably remarkable and selfless beyond all levels.

For more information on the Weed and Seed Program, check out these links:

National Weed and Seed

Kishwaukee Corridor Names Leader

Picked for National Program

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Stopping Pedestrian Accidents

Saint Petersburg, how very beautiful it is, happens to be struggling with some of the hardest obstacles in the country. It has the highest murder rate in the country, the largest number of pedestrian hit by vehicle incidents and like many other places in the country, the housing market has completely bottomed out. There are things that are being done though in order to raise the safety levels for the residence.
One program, Bicycle/Pedestrians Advocates (BPA) is fighting to get more bike lanes in as well as creating pedestrian trails throughout Sarasota. Much of that they have been doing is focused around Sarasota and Manatee, but can easily be used and help the Saint Petersburg/Tampa Area.
In Tampa, the community of Largo is adding enforcement to help to bring down the number of pedestrian fatalities. They have given plenty of warnings and a large amount of tickets to traffic violators and have seen a decline in the number of pedestrian. Unfortunately, the problem still will still take due diligence in the community and just time for the locals to really get conscious of the problem.
Despite the level of severity that these problems are at, people continue to come here to live and vacation and these pictures show why. These problems, with the effort of all the communities involved, are on their way to becoming less of an issue but until then, we just need to continue to raise awareness. Hopefully other communities that are having similar issues can look at Saint Petersburg and Tampa for leadership and ideas at what to do to help them solve the problem before large numbers of people start losing their lives. Communities working together to better each other: That is Project Kinect.

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Dauphin Island and Southern Alabama

Dauphin Island was a three hour unexpected surprise. When we got onto the island, we really had no idea what it was that we were looking for.  We drove around, looked for any signage but didn’t see anything that was significant to Project Kinect.  Then, once we were in line for the fairy, we found something of interest.  The ferry pick up spot was also the location for the Saw Grass Point Marsh Shoreline and Habitat Restoration.  Not only are they attempting to make precautions to save the shoreline, but they are also setting up cement barriers to slow down waves as well as help prevent and destruction from possible oil spills in the future.

These pictures are of the Shoreline and Habitat Restoration as well as Dauphin Island and the surrounding area.  As you see, all the houses are on stilts in attempts to battle any future hurricanes.  While we were driving through the area, we couldn’t help to notice how many homes were up for sale.  In the last several years, this area has been hit by many hard storms as well as suffering from last year’s oil spill.  With that and the economy, it makes for a bad equation.  The residents that have been around for many years though are diehards and have no plans of moving anytime soon.

**All three links are different and have additional information to what is happening in this area.  Please check them all out if you’re interested.

To get off of the island and get back on track of our journey toward Saint Petersburg, we took the Dauphin Ferry across to the eastern shoreline of Alabama.  It really looks like an untouched part of the country that I’m afraid, because of the low cost of real-estate, will soon be developed and the natural beauty will be history.  The final pictures are of this shoreline.  I absolutely fell in love with this part of the country.  I look forward to getting back there at some point soon after my journey.

 

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Gram’s Place Hostel

Gram’s Place hostel was a great experience for my first official American hostel experience.  Hostel and America aren’t necessarily two words that go together.  The word hostel tends to be more associated with backpacking in Europe or the phrase “While I was in the Peace Corps”.  Believe it or not, there are plenty of amazing places to stay here in the U.S. that fall under the category of hostel. 

I was displaced for a night in Tampa so I went and checked out Gram’s Place.  While I was there, I got to see how eclectic an American hostel can get and how it really takes the shape of the people who are currently staying there as well as every other person who has stayed there before them.   It was only a night, but I got a chance to meet some great people.  Two of them, Jo and Valoree, you’ve now met.  I also got to meet a British man who just got done traveling much or northern South America who I may see here in New York this week.  

I also had a great conversation with the live in/ work exchange woman from Rhode Island.  She was a free spirit who seemed to have lived everywhere at some point and definitely loved having that freedom in her life. If I would have stayed one more night, I definitely would have got more details in her story.  I can only imagine.

The owner took it over after his brother, Mark Holland, passed away.  Mark named the hostel after Gram Parsons.  If you’re unfamiliar with Gram Parsons, he was an extremely influential musician who created the Byrds and was quite involved with Emmylou Harris.  Being that the hostel is named after him, it is not unexpected that there is commonly live music being played at the hostel.

Here are a few pictures that I took while I was there.  I didn’t get many, but these still display the greatness of this location.  When travelling our country and you’re looking for something adventurous and inexpensive, don’t disregard our hostels; You may find that it fills a void you didn’t know was there.

 

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Valoree at the Hostel

On my last morning at Gram’s Place hostel, I got a chance to meet Valoree.  She is about to embark on this phenomenal research project and I got a moment with her to share it for us.  She was gracious to share a lot of her knowledge with me so for that I am thankful.  Valoree, please keep us updated when you get back from South America.

If you want to learn more about this project check out their link.

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Lunch in Baton Rouge

In between Beaumont and New Orleans, we took a moment to have some true Cajun food in Baton Rouge.  Well, when we got to downtown Baton Rouge, we were a little shocked that the whole of downtown had become a ghost town.  It seems that after three in the afternoon, there is no reason for business’ to stay open.  Thankfully, as we wondered around for a moment, we found Poor Boy Lloyd’s.  There him and his staff took amazing care of us and shared a little of the history of Baton Rouge and its relationship with the Mississippi River.  For the four of us sitting there, the river’s journey was slightly comparable to ours because all of us came from the north where much of that water came from. I have only a few pictures from downtown Baton Rouge but it’s something.

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