Brenda Plonis

Doris Gibson wanted to thank the construction crew of volunteers for working so hard to preserve her house – so she did what many Mississippi Mamas do: she fed them.

Doris and her husband, Glennis have lived in their house in East Biloxi for 38 of the 50 years they’ve been married. But unlike many of their neighbors who lived there during Hurricane Camille, they didn’t want to stick around to find out what Katrina would do.

“I was in the house for Hurricane Camille and never wanted to be in the house for another hurricane,” Doris declared.

The Glennis’s evacuated before Hurricane Katrina hit. When they returned to their house, at first it looked like they lost less stuff than other people from the damage.

“But after we started tearing stuff out, we realized how much we lost – everything was full of mold. We can’t sell the house now – we can’t even give it away.”

The Gibson house is now commercial zoned property – technically they can’t even rebuild another house there. Since Katrina left at least the frame of the house, the Gibsons had no choice but to simply repair the damage. And at their ages, that was no easy task to undertake.

The Gibsons began throwing out damaged goods from the house, and as Doris says, “The mold was tearing me up – I would have to come in and work and then go outside and breathe fresh air. I’ve been sick ever since I started working on it.”

Hope Force International Project Coordinator Craig Snow, who had been working on a nearby house, came by and asked if the Gibsons needed help. “He already looked worn out,” Doris said “and I didn’t know who he was or which organization he was with, but we said we could use the help.” While the storm washed away material items, the Gibson house still holds countless memories for them. Doris’ mother died soon after she and Glennis were first married – so they took care of her children as well. Before long, they had nine people total living in their home. Additions were built; and flooring retiled on top of old materials.

“We didn’t have a lot of money,” Doris said, “but we sent all of our kids to college so they would have an education.”

And she laughs as she talks about how she used to tag the children’s socks and towels, so everyone knew who could use what. It’s easy to see she’s still organized – when she fed the crew, there was exactly enough food for everyone.

Doris is hoping though, to use her own kitchen before Christmas.