The last day--

After the dedication ceremony, Louise posed with Tim, Charlie and all of Team Hancock.

Our Well-Oiled Machine

For a great article about Team Hancock on the Fuller Center for Housing site, see HANCOCK UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST TEAM: A WELL-OILED MACHINE READY TO WORK

Tool time

On the first day, some people got to use the power tools right away. They cut and hoisted. They pounded, ripped and drilled things.

This is my first trip and my first real building project so on my first day they handed me a putty knife.

It was, truly, an important putty knife. Paired up with another first-timer, we wielded our putty knives to fix the walls of a small back room that was riddled with nail holes and cracks caused by Hurricane Sandy. We mixed up joint compound dust with water until it was the consistency of a buttercream cake frosting and then filled the holes and cracks with it while listening to power tools working in a space nearby.  We tried over and over to make our swooshes of this "mud" smoothly fill gouges and feather across rough patches. 

Later the first day we watched the team of professional tapers who came by and mudded several rooms with blinding speed and breathtaking skill.

On Tuesday it finally happened. "You ready to hang some sheetrock?" they asked. I grabbed for an electric drill and didn't let it go. Scott demonstrated how the panels of sheetrock fit into place and how the hanging pipes and existing outlets fit into the slots and cutouts our team had carefully measured and trimmed from the panels. He handed me some screws and showed how to drill them through the sheetrock into the wooden support studs.

(note: It can be helpful to remember to mark where the studs are on the sheetrock panels so that electric power tools can do the job you're asking them to do.)

On Wednesday, I again grabbed the power drill (and a pencil) and again bored holes in panels and hung sheetrock. Once that was finished, my tool of the day was a broom. We swept and re-swept the concrete floors with brooms to prep them for the soupy floor leveling compound that the rooms needed before new vinyl flooring could go on.

On Thursday and Friday I again manned the power drill, this time to power mix more floor leveler and more joint compound mud. And the final tool for the week  was my old friend the putty knife. I brandished it the last afternoon to sling mud into some of the holes we drilled earlier in the week. Other power tools hummed nearby, but the urgency to use them had ebbed; instead I concentrated on filling and smoothing, now with a hint of speed and skill.

Her smile says so much !

Gratitude (saying thank you over and over all week) wonderful sense of humor, so personable, humility, truly a gem - awesome house owner Louise and our incredible job site captains Tim and Charlie at the end of our work week and home dedication. What an incredible week!

What a Week!

I just returned from the closing ceremony of The Fuller Legacy Build here in Atlantic City where I had time to reflect on all that has happened this week. This was a truly inspiring experience. The fellowship amongst our team was something to treasure. Working with our house captains, Tim and Charlie, two genuine, caring, and funny guys, was one of the major highlights of the week. When you learn that these two have traveled the world as volunteers to build decent housing for those in need, life takes on a new perspective.

The most moving part of the week came at this afternoon's dedication ceremony when we passed on a bible and quilt to our homeowner, Louise. Her gratitude for what we had done to begin the restoration process on her family home that goes back three generations had me and the rest of the team in tears. I've been in human services for a long time but seldom has anyone ever told me with such heartfelt affection that we had made them "the happiest homeowner in Atlantic City".

This week has taught me the importance of doing for others simply because that's the right thing to do. None of us were here because we had to be; we were here because we wanted to help those experiencing such terrible losses after a devastating natural disaster. I'm so glad I had the ability and opportunity to make a difference in the life of someone we all became very fond of in a short period of time.

We are here for others, not ourselves

The home owner Louise visits with us, shares lunch with us, tells wonderful stories about growing up in Atlantic City and thanks us over and over again along with hugs. Getting to know her has enriched our lives -

Meeting Louise makes it real

Louise is a hoot! The homeowner comes almost daily to visit with us, shoot the breeze and express her gratitude.  Often this is at lunch where she will grab one of the bag lunches and eat with us on her front steps. We often laugh along with her as she tells stories.  Her parents bought the house in 1938 and she and her sister were raised here.   Except for 4 years, she has spent her entire life at 20 Sovereign, raising her son, Johnny there.. They now share an apartment on the third floor.

Growing up this was a different neighborhood...everyone knew everyone and looked after each other.  If her mother wasn't home when she and her sister came home from school, they would go down the block to a neighbor lady who kept cookies on hand specially for them.  Nowadays many of the houses on her block are owned by absentee landlords.  Tenants come and go.  Not so many people hang out on the front steps and if you overhear conversations, it is just as likely to be Spanish you hear, as English.  But where Louise is wrong is that some of her neighbors really do know her.  The other day Daryl explained to a curious neighbor across the street who we were and what we are doing.  His response in accented English was that "it was good since Louise didn't have anyone."

Getting to Know You

It's Thursday, and for the last few days we have been getting to know Tim and Charlie.  We knew they are from Minnesota, that they have been on a number of these before (Mike and Cheryl have met and worked with them before).  I've spent the first few days working with Tim and today with Charlie.  They are a team.  They probably could finish each others sentences.  Well, if Charlie is listening.  The whole team got to know them a little better tonight.  They are both involved in this wonderful work because we are involved.  They are away from home 13 weeks a year on average.  They so enjoy meeting home-owners and people from all over the country who volunteer.  As we sat eating lunch with Louise today, she told us that she is the happiest home-owner in Atlantic City.  Tim and Charlie's faces both lit up, as did ours.  What a great way to say thank you to us.  Hancock and friends, thank you for your support.  Peace to all.  We'll see you all soon.

Foot steps

Anyone seen Amy? 😊

Day 3 - Over the hump and preparing for a strong finish

Yikes, it's already the end of day 3.  Only two days left, and SO MUCH still to do!!!

On the Fuller Center blog this morning, Team Hancock was cited as be a well oiled machine.  Tonight I think that most of use feel a bit like the "Little Engine That Could" - "I think I can, I think I can!."  It's pretty quiet in the halls of our hotel,  but by the end of the week we're confident that we'll be able to say "We knew we could!"

We finished sheet rock hanging today, and we're desperately hoping that the pros will come to do the taping and jointing (soon).  They make it look effortless, and we know we are no match for them.  Taping in key to making the end of the week as we can't paint 'till its done, and we can't do the trim until we paint, etc.

Next is floor surface prep.  A tedious, dirty and dusty process as we chip away at high spots, broken concrete and remnants of old well worn vinyl tile (at least we HOPE its vinyl).  Despite the work, it was a great chance to get to know Stewart much better as we swept, chipped and filled side by side.   At lunch, I had a fascinating talk with Chris and Tim about their trip to North Korea, as well as a few glimpes into their more than 12 or 13 week a year that they give to the Fuller Center!   And of course, the comradery throughout the day is at least half of why this is such an  enjoyable endevour.

Tomorrow promises to be a day of more variety in assignments.   We'll hang some doors, trim some windows, and maybe base boards, lay some floor (assuming the leveling compound we did at the end of the day has set up properly), and overall make more great progress. 

We think  we can... We think we can...WE KNOW WE CAN! 

The secret door in princess peaches castle

Hello everybody!
So I'm gonna let you all in on the inner workings of my now daily routine. I begin the day with the entire Hancock group at devotions outside of our cars at the hotel. We then all load into the cars and schlep our tools into our build house. I meet up with Tim ( one of our house leaders) to go over what plumbing needs to be done so the projects of the day don't get held up by me. As I proceed to take care of whatever Tim or Charlie (the other house leader) need done I await for the phone call. When my phone rings each morning, Pete is on the other end. "Your ready to go? I'm on my way."

 I load up my tools and jump into Pete's truck. The rest of the day I spend going from one house to another trying to get whatever plumbing done that I can, so that the next step of that particular house can proceed. For a lot of these houses it's basic stub outs for the water lines and drains, for some tho, its a little bit more. In the last two days the biggest projects I've worked on are two full bathroom remodels, new stud walls, water and drainage. ( I have pictures but am having slight problem figuring out how to get them from my camera to an I-product, I'm not as good with technology as I am with pipes so bear with me)

As I roughed in new water and drainage lines in one of these bathrooms I heard someone yell "PLUMBER!" I quickly headed to the room to find that they had securely fastened a piece of drywall to a pipe with a screw accidentally. Now this isn't that big of an issue, quick fix and as good as new... Usually...in this particular case none of us knew where the main shutoff was for the house. As I hurriedly searched for the shutoff I discovered that it was in the front part of the house which had been converted into a garage only accessible thru a garage door. The problem was we discover that this garage door was of course locked. Nobody had a key for it, and the home owner was away! As I frantically grabbed tools to try and turn off the water at the street, the house leader told me " you know we actually are replacing that garage door anyways." Problem solved! We quickly made ourselves a small door ( kicked out a panel in the bottom) and I crawled in and shut off the water. Mission accomplished! After a quick repair everything was good as new. I got extra hot dogs at lunch!

At the end of the day, after heading to a number of other houses, I meet up with the group for a dinner. Then back to the hotel, to get some sleep, dreaming of tomorrow.

A sense of accomplishment along with fellowship

From dark wood studs to all walls (8 rooms, hallways, and bathrooms) enclosed with Sheetrock - what a sense of accomplishment and teamwork and fellowship. 33 large boxes of flooring arrived (about 15 lbs each) and we all (yes all) set up a "bucket brigade" to get the boxes quickly from the delivery truck blocking traffic on the one way street. One person waiting in the traffic hopped out of his truck to help and said "are you all volunteers?" And when we answered "yes from Massachusetts" he said "God bless you all and thank you." The neighbors on the street are fascinated by watching us carry 12 foot Sheetrock panels and going in and out with our tool belts on and clothes that get more dusty and dirty as the day progresses. One of the neighbors commented how they can see how well we work together and bond (his word).

So thankful for this opportunity with Hancock folks and our wonderful crew chiefs Charlie and Tim (both from Minnesota) who have been doing this work for many, many years! They bring a sense of humor, eagerness to teach us when applicable, and are incredibly hard workers and very skilled. We are so fortunate to be teamed with them!! And last task of the day was mixing and spreading floor leveler - while mixing Stewart commented "when do I had the chocolate chips?" as the mixture looks like cake batter. Such joy to get to work together!

We end the day tired and sore yet so grateful to be here!

Tuesday with Tim

The Tuesday workday begins with what sounds like a 1980s heavy metal concert boast: "We're gonna rock today," says our project leader Tim, through his Yosemite Sam-style mustache. Some of us who are new to carpentry and construction don't know what this means, but it sounds at best very entertaining and at least quite interesting. Others on the work crew with building experience know what he's talking about and nod.

"We're gonna rock this room, and that room and that room," Tim continues. "We're gonna rock the whole house." Those of us with limited building experience fight back a standard arena concert response to shout "YEAH dude!" Instead we nod along with the others but in a subtle head-banger rhythm.

"Rocking this house" turns out to mean that we will spend two days measuring, trimming and cutting sheetrock and then using power drills to fasten them onto the bare timber studs. Our team of 15+ workers transforms this long, ground-floor space into eight small rooms with new walls that are ready for trim and painting. Painting with rollers. We rocked and we'll roll. 

Yeah dude.

Satisfaction

Today we finished hanging sheet rock in both apartments. Everyone had a chance to measure, cut, and put up boards. My sense of quiet satisfaction tonight comes from our work together as a team. Yes, we finished a multi-day project, and, yet I will remember the thoughtful problem solving, the generous sharing of skills and the light hearted banter. I am grateful and full of thanks for this time together.
Robin

A sign from the neighborhood

We noticed this sign along the street where we park our cars each day...