Yesterday, May 29, 2008, the sounds of kids and adults were heard in the alley behind Esperanza Academy www.esperanzaacademy.org/ and Grace Episcopal Church www.gracechurchlawrence.org/ . The sounds were coming from residents of Biloxi, Mississippi who came to Lawrence for a week to work on the alley. Why work in an alley in Lawrence? But, first, a bit of history on the alleys in Lawrence.

Years ago, kids used the alleys to play “glassies.” The ragman’s horse and wagon clattered down the alley as he called out “Ah-r-raigs.” Residents protected the produce of their backyard vegetable gardens by erecting fences constructed of an eclectic mixture of wooden boards. Utility poles located in the alleys were handy for attaching one end of a laundry line, the other end secured from a back window, allowing cascades of clothes to wave and flap from each level of the triple-deckers. Alleys could also be nuisances, collecting trash and attracting illicit activities. (See Lawrence History News)

So what reason could Mississippians have for being in this alley? Simple. To say Thank you. When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf coast, the Massachusetts Episcopal Diocese sent folks to Biloxi to help out.

This was a way for the Biloxi residents to express their appreciation for all the kindnesses they received. Students, adults and Diocesan people were all hauling trash, grading the soil, adding compost and planting a pocket garden in this small alley nestled behind Esperanza Academy and the Grace Episcopal Church, abutting a multi-family home on Garden Street.

As I spoke with some of the Biloxi visitors, they said over and over, " Why would anybody come to help us out? Why would anyone care?" By their own narrative they said Mississippi is described as one of the poorest, most illiterate states in the Union. Why would anyone want to go and help out there? But people did care and people did go south. So, when their opportunity arose to come north and repay in a small way the gift of good works they had received, they came. The alley is no longer a nuisance. A garden remains. And much more.
The completed alley transformation!