Caring Becomes Contagious Wednesday Throughout County
Caring Becomes Contagious Wednesday Throughout County
Posted
Daniel Riordan-driordan@timesuniononline.com
Caring Becomes Contagious Wednesday Throughout CountyThey are just small white yard signs with plain blue lettering.
But what those signs stand for can't be encapsulated on a sign.
United Way Day of Caring signs could be spotted throughout the county Wednesday as volunteers from local businesses, charitable organizations and Grace College worked to improve the lives of members of the community.With more than 100 homes being worked on, each person, each family had a compelling story.
But Charlie Johnson-Parker's story may have been the most compelling.
Johnson-Parker's home in Sidney was damaged in a house fire 15 years ago. She said she hadn't had a bedroom in that time.
Wednesday, crews arrived and built a new bedroom for her. But the work on her home has been going on for nearly a month.
Johnson-Parker said that now she has new plumbing and new linoleum floors among other projects.
Johnson-Parker showed up to an event at Grace College's McClain Auditorium Wednesday night to show her appreciation for the students who worked on her house. Not the easiest task considering Johnson-Parker has Alzheimer's.
"When the volunteers left my house today, there was a $50 bill on my table," said Johnson-Parker fighting back tears. "I had three prescriptions alone that needed to be filled and I didn't have the money to pay for them. Even if I did I didn't have the money for gas."
"Now I can go to Zale's and fill my prescription," said Johnson-Parker.
Johnson-Parker said it was impossible to express how grateful she was to those who helped her.
"There is no way to say thank you," said Johnson-Parker.
She said that until she was diagnosed with Alzheimer's she never knew programs like Day of Caring were available. And seeing those volunteers work for her gives her motivation.
"If I ever get better I'm going to be a part of this," she said. "Before I got sick I was always the one helping others. I wasn't the one who got help."
Now when she goes home she has a real place to lay her head.
"I have a real bedroom now," said Johnson-Parker. "I have a bedroom with a window."
During Wednesday night's convocation at Grace College, students, volunteers and homeowners shared their stories from the day.
"It was really rewarding," said Grace sophomore Megan McGarvey, LaPorte, who helped work on homes in Warsaw. "I got to see different people come together and help out."
Melissa Jones, a senior from Otisville, Mich., said she was able to connect with the woman whose house she was working on.
"We had time to talk to her and get to know her," said Jones.
The students, who don't start class until Tuesday, are back early as a part of student leadership activities. Day of Caring is now a yearly event for Grace College students.
One Grace student recalled a story about the house he worked on.
The home belongs to a married couple and the husband, Vaughn, has Multiple Sclerosis and is now wheelchair-bound. This caused Vaughn to suffer depression, according to his wife. She tried to remedy this by getting him a piano, something Vaughn always wanted to learn how to play
Vaughn's wife said he eventually got a piano teacher who lived near them. The piano teacher was suffering from depression as well. Vaughn's wife said the relationship her husband and the teacher formed helped each other get past their depression.
"And now they're like brothers," the Grace student recalled.
Pat Coy, executive director of the United Way, along with Pam Kennedy, executive director of Housing Opportunities of Warsaw, and Monica Wilson, campaign coordinator of the United Way, shared their stories from the day and thanked the volunteers for their help.
In Mentone, John and Londa Lewis's home had been condemned.
Wednesday, crews from Zimmer and Grace College, 23 in all including the Lewises working side by side the volunteers, worked to bring the Lewis' home up to code.
Construction manager Don Laughlin said once the home is fixed, it will become part of Housing Opportunities of Warsaw.
"The Lewises are working very hard to uncondemn their house and have done everything that's been asked of them," said Kennedy.
Kennedy said they are looking for a licensed plumber to put a sink in the house.
Volunteer Bill Curtis, who was managing the site along with Laughlin, said he was impressed by the Grace College students.
"They just jumped right in and got to work on whatever needed to be done," said Curtis.
For Tom McKinstry, Wednesday was a role reversal.
McKinstry had volunteered in the previous days of caring with his church, North Webster United Methodist Church. Wednesday, McKinstry was on the receiving end of help from members of his church along with Grace College students and other volunteers.
McKinstry's home was in desperate need of a new roof. And crews worked diligently to get a new roof on.
Kennedy said it was probably the biggest single-day project since Day of Caring has gone on.
"It means a lot to us," said McKinstry.
"If they couldn't have done this, I'd be liable to be swimming come this spring," said McKinstry with a wry smile.
McKinstry, a widow, is raising his 10-year-old granddaughter.
He tried to get a grant for money to fix his home. McKinstry also decided to sign up for the Day of Caring.
And a couple of weeks ago, he learned that a crew would be at his house to fix the roof.
"We had the old roof off by 11 a.m. and were finished by 3:39 p.m.," said volunteer Mike Wilson looking at his watch. Wilson was one of the volunteers from McKinstry's church.
Kennedy said the quality of repairs on homes needs to be as good as if they were being paid for. She said the cooperation by local businesses has been amazing.
For example, on McKinstry's home, Millwood Roofing and Construction and Knepp and Sons came together to build the roof. Two competitors coming together for one cause. And not only did they fix the roof, but they also paid their employees for a day of work.
