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Rebuilding the Lives and Community of Pass Christian, Mississippi

Summary of PASS CHRISTIAN ROTARY’S 9 PROJECTS

 1.      Rotary Rebuilds – Home owners are brought to us by social worker case managers, who have been on our team since its inception.  The Mennonite Disaster Service provides free construction.  Rotary is responsible for providing building supplies, specialty contractors and fees.  These homes are 1,200 square feet with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, kitchen, and living room - dining room area, AC and heat.  Clients are selected according to property ownership in the Pass, low or no annual wage, inability to obtain an SBA loan, they may or not have some help from FEMA and they may or not have some help from insurance. Clients do not have to pay for these homes, but they may if they wish.  After completion we only ask that they help their neighbors.  They are responsible for their taxes and home insurance.  As of the update, we have completed 19 homes; more under construction! Building cost is $46,000-$53,000 per home.

No one on the Gulf Coast is providing such a service to their less fortunate neighbors.  Pass Christian Rotary is the only Rotary club in the United States building homes at no charge for the less fortunate citizens of its community.  We would like and need to raise at least another $4,000,000.00 to complete this extremely important project.

NOTE: All 19 homes were unaffected by Hurricane Gustav.

2.    The Pass Library - Our library temporarily is housed in a double wide trailer.  Rotary and “Friends of the Library” provided all utility hook-ups and ramps.  A California Rotary gift of ten (10) computers was given to us.  Our rotary friends in Pennsylvania are holding shelving and furniture for an 80,000 book library, which will be shipped and used when our permanent library is completed. 

Library Grant #1 – A Reverse International Matching Grant with Hong Kong and San Francisco has been funded by RI for administrative equipment.

Library Grant #2 - A competitive second Reverse International Grant

has been submitted to RI for children’s books and equipment and for a complete handicapped section for both adults and children.  Several Rotary Clubs from Pennsylvania, Northern California, Kansas and New York will be joined by Clubs from India, Taiwan, Brazil and South Africa to fund this grant. 

Library Grant #3 – A third Reverse International Grant has been initiated by a Rotary District in New Hampshire-Vermont and Maine-Quebec-Nunavut, joining a Rotary District in Southern New Zealand.  These efforts are entirely directed towards new books for our library.    

 The estimated cost for rebuilding our library is $1,250,000.  We should have some help from FEMA, the FEDS and our State government.  The city will be responsible for 5-10% of this cost.  Thus far, the direction of our fund raising efforts has been towards replacement of contents.

3.     “Nip” Lang Community Center – A Rotary District in Southern California (5330) gave a double wide trailer for us to use as a community center.  This provides the ONLY building in our town for our church groups, social clubs, business organizations and scouts to use.  We need a second permanent building to complete this community complex.  Estimated cost is $100,000.  This center has been a God send for our city. 

4.      Dump Trucks – Our cities four dump trucks, five excavators, four back hoes and other mechanical equipment were destroyed in Katrina.  Our Rotary friends in Truckee, California have given us our first dump truck.  They drove it here with a load of Douglas Fur in 41 hours.  They asked that a few of these timbers be used in every home that we built, as California’s contribution to the home.  A Reverse International Grant from District 7790 in Maine-Quebec-Nunavut for a second dump has been received.  Because of demand, construction delays and cost overruns this truck was not delivered until mid June, 2008.  We are the only Rotary Club in the United States, if not the World, to have given its community a “fleet” of dump trucks!

5.      Adopt a Sewer – Hurricane Katrina disrupted 20,000 feet of sewer on the South side of our town. At $200/linear foot, the estimated cost for replacement is $4,000,000.  We should get help from FEMA, the FEDS and the State government.  But the city will still be responsible for 5-10% of the cost.  Our rotary project offers an individual the opportunity to adopt ten feet of sewer for $2,000.  The contributor’s name will be permanently placed on bronze plaques at either end of US 90 so that their grandchildren and great grandchildren can see who helped rebuild the cities sewer as they drive through Pass Christian.  Any excess funds raised will be used to provide plumbing supplies for our Rotary Rebuilds project. 

6.     “Potty” in the Park – The rotary has rebuilt the public restroom in our community park which was destroyed by Katrina.  This “Potty” is fully ADA compliant.  There is a significant need for this “Potty”.  It is designed to easily comply with architecture of other buildings proposed for the park.  Our rotary friends in Lexington, South Carolina and those in District 7980 New Haven, Connecticut made a significant contribution for the construction of our “Potty”.  Our children greatly appreciated this.  Wheelchair accessible walkways to the “Potty” were provided. 

7.    The Ultimate Playground