Lend A Hand

Instead of celebrating the many accomplishments of this past week, the Lend A Hand work teams are hard at work tonight, committed to moving our families as close as possible to returning to their homes.

I received a call from Denny at 5:40 this evening to let me know that everyone was still hard at work and committed to going past sundown, with all the work teams converged upon Royden’s and Lina’s place since 4pm. 

Kevin and his crew of Skip and Gerry have successfully completed all three heating/cooling installations that were ambitiously targeted for this week.  As of tonight, Royden & Lina, Yolanda, and Cliff and Nieta have fully functioning air conditioning and heating systems in their respective homes.  Three years for the talent and dedication of this amazing young man!  He is looking forward to sleeping all the way back to Cleveland on the plane home.

The teams were out and about beginning at 6am this morning: Paige and Kevin were at Yolanda’s at that early hour; Skip was out in the markets picking up supplies; and Barrie and John were at Lowes. 

At Yolanda’s house, the floors are all down, the AC outdoor unit is fully secured and operationa, the bathroom is tiled, the toilet is re-seated, and much trim work is in place.  There is work for the next work teams to complete, but we are hopeful that the remaining work will be manageable for most teams coming in after us.  At 4pm, that team moved over to Royden & Lina’s to help complete as much as possible over there.  Yolanda came over to thank the teams this evening, and we are looking forward to her Chicago visit in December.

Some of our team members are hard at work cleaning up the construction debris to get the houses presentable after a hard day of work.  Our goal was to get Yolanda, and Royden and Lina, as close as possible to earning their certificate of habitability.  That certificate is what the families need to be able to move in.

Because the teams are still completing projects over at Lina & Royden’s, the update on what was accomplished will need to wait until tomorrow.  I’m looking forward to the update, especially since I participated in laying much of the wood flooring in their house, and like everyone who has met Royden and Lina, are very attached to this charming young family.  We’ll have to wait until this morning to hear about how close to habitability we came this week.

Each member of this rebuilding trip has performed above and beyond the call of duty.  New skills were mastered; new relationships were forged; powerful experiences created transformative memories.  Everyone is working because they are driven powerfully to answer the call to help these displaced homeowners.

God bless the good people of New Orleans, and the people who are answering the call to action.  All of us who have been there will tell you that the blessings we receive greatly exceed the sacrifices we make.  In the coming weeks we hope to continue to share our memories and experiences from the trip with you; and we hope that you will be inspired to hear and respond to your own call from God.  Thank you for sharing this incredible experience with us.