how far we've come

Twelve short days (and a pretty long drive!) and we'll be in Beaumont.

Outside of Houston, on the Texas gulf coast, Beaumont and Port Arthur were slammed by Hurricane Rita, less than a month after Hurricane Katrina had devastated the gulf coasters a little to the east.

So 'little to the east,' in fact, that this area was a prime location for Katrina evacuees to land ... and then either evacuate or get hit again a short month later. Hard to imagine.

We're not sure yet exactly what our work will be ... some groups are still assisting with demo and tear-out ... but some are moving projects to the rebuild and renewal phase. Either way, there is plenty of work ... I doubt we'll run out of options!

Six months out, most residents have returned (an estimated 10% have not yet) and many businesses have reopened.

I look forward to being back in Texas, and doing what we can to extend help and hope to a resilient community that shouldn't be forgotten.