Volunteers and members of St. Anne's Episcopal Church; Bill Newland, president of the St. Anne's Men's Club; Gary Lion and Dan Kuhn decided they wanted to help the Warsaw Community.

The volunteer group is cleaning up and remodeling a house at 751 W. Market St.

"It all started when Bill Newland took over as the new guy at St. Anne's Episcopal Church Men's Club," Dan Kuhn, member and volunteer, said. "We've always done a lot of things for the community and the whole church has always had an emphasis on doing things for the community."

Kuhn said when Newland took over "he ran through a list of the kinds of things that the church has done and the Men's Club has done."

Newland said: "It's time to do something bigger."

So the small group of volunteers "kicked around some ideas, like getting involved with a Habitat (for Humanity) house," Kuhn said.

Ideas were tossed out and from them came "the idea of fixing up a house."

Kuhn said they all sat down and brainstormed about "the kind of money and the kind of time we had and the fact that there are some houses in this neighborhood that need to be fixed up."

Now the volunteer group has a plan. And with a plan is the need for a leader.

"Everybody's stammering around," Kuhn said. "Who wants to be in charge of this?"

He said, "Everybody's staring at the floor and finally as everybody's looking at him, Gary Lion says: 'OK, I'll do it.'"

So Lion is now the leader of the volunteer project.

After more brainstorming, the group decided to look around. This is where Warsaw building inspector Pam Kennedy stepped into the picture.

"We went to see Pam," Kuhn said.

Kennedy said she had "exactly the right place" for them.

Kuhn said Kennedy described the situation of a Warsaw community member, referred to as "Jerry," and they knew it was the task they were looking for.

"He's (Jerry) a man that could use friends and nurturing," Kennedy said. He was in a "situation where he just was unable to do any work on it."

Kennedy told them the house was condemned.

"As condemned houses go," Kuhn said, "the foundation's in good shape and the roof doesn't leak."

But, he said, the house needs siding, new windows, new doors, a porch "and all that plus a whole bunch of small projects that we're able to do in small amounts of time."

Youth groups also have been donating time to fix up Jerry's house, and Lion said ladies from the church are "going to help us with the curtains and the drapes."

"We have to do the ceiling and we hope to get the paint job done and put the bathroom in and clean the carpet for him," Lion said.

Kennedy said she ended up at the house "on a complaint because the front porch was falling in."

Jerry told Kennedy the bathroom was much worse than the front porch.

"Well, the bathroom floor had fallen through and the plumbing wasn't any good," Kennedy said. "So now there's no operable bathroom."

She said Jerry's mother was ill so he was "staying with his mother and we signed him up for owner-occupied rehab."

Jerry didn't qualify for the rehab "because he didn't live in the house."

"But you can't live in a house without a bathroom," Kennedy said. "So he fell through the cracks of the program."

So St. Anne's decided to help Jerry.

The volunteer group consists of approximately 12 to 15 volunteers and they work on Wednesday evenings.

The group works some Saturdays too, Kuhn said.

He also said Wednesday was the third Wednesday and third week they've worked on the house.

Kennedy said when Jerry came to her, she thought "this is perfect because they're close to the church and this is their neighborhood, their church's neighborhood."

She also said this house was Jerry's "biggest asset that he owns and he can't afford to lose it. This is all he has in life."

So the church group and volunteers went to work.

"We hope to have it done by the end of August," Lion said. "We've had some people from the community (help), like the siding and the windows we're getting at cost."

Kennedy said they could use any help.

"Right now they're looking for a place for (Jerry) to store his belongings while they're working on the inside," Kennedy said.

"We do need space or a warehouse for two to three months," Lion said. "We need space and of course we'll accept cash donations.

"I also had a termite inspection done," Lion said. "He does have termites, so we're getting that sprayed."

"This is our first time - first time out of the chute," Lion said.

The house is packed full.

"We're just ready to get the stuff out of here so we can start working on it," Lion said. "We can't even get to the windows. So that's why we need the floor space."

Lion, Kuhn, Newland and other volunteers are "putting in quite a bit of our own money into this."

The money is coming out of the men's club and also out of "our own pockets."

Lion also said they're looking for a plumber to donate time and work. Kennedy said "a licensed plumber is required in the state of Indiana."

Kennedy added that Jerry's mother was very excited about the work being done.

"(She) was so thrilled," Kennedy said. "She said it was an answer from God."

Kennedy explained that Jerry's mother is in her 90s and still "has to worry about her kids. A mother never quits worrying about her kids."

Currently, Kennedy said, Jerry is living with his brother-in-law.

Kennedy said "the city's really happy because this is neighbors helping neighbors. It's how a community grows, more so than true grant money in the end."

Kennedy also said "some people fall through the cracks on grants. They're designed specifically for certain criteria and not everybody can fall into the criteria, so the community still has to help each other."

Those who want to donate time, labor or money can call St. Anne's Episcopal Church at 267-6266 or stop by the house at 751 W. Market St. on Wednesday nights around 6:15 p.m.

A sign labeled: "St. Anne's Men's Club Neighborhood Project" designates the house.

"He's (Jerry) a deserving man," Lion said. "We get quite a lot of satisfaction out of helping somebody." [[In-content Ad]]