Alice Eldridge drives her charcoal Nissan each week to paint.

Alice Eldridge drives her charcoal Nissan each week to paint, play bridge and socialize with friends.

Unlike others who are patching their houses or tearing down drywall, Eldridge works onward rebuilding her social circle. And because she has lived forward the Coast since she was a teen Eldridge knows fortunes of people.

"We are just trying to lead normal lives now," says the 72-year-old.

After graduating high academy at 16, Eldridge attended USM for couple years. She then moved to Japan to work for the Army, returning to the Coast to marry and raise her four children.

The Sunday following Hurricane Katrina, she originate many of her friends at ecclesiastical authority "It was where I was suppos to be that day," she says, adding that it was the first time the community had really been able to congregate.

Since then, she has made it her mission to strengthen those social