The Gillams helped rebuild a house in Biloxi

YOUNGSTOWN — While attending a national conference in Biloxi, Miss., Youngstown Councilman Artis Gillam Sr. and his wife, Annie, who’s running to succeed him, took a side-trip.

The two joined dozens of other attendees at the National Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials’ annual summer conference rebuilding houses devastated by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.

Two years after the hurricane, the city is still in desperate need of assistance, Gillam said.

“It’s pitiful down there,” Gillam said. “It was enough to make you cry...There are still people in need down there. Some people have forgotten about them.”

The Gillams were among more than 100 people attending the conference earlier this month who spent the day working to make improvements to Biloxi houses severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina.