Three homes helped by 'Rebuilding'

Monday, May 7, 2007

CLOVERDALE -- Every-thing went according to plan Saturday, Pastor Tom Woodley said.

The Grace Lutheran Church Pastor and 35 others helped renovate three area homes Saturday through Rebuilding Together, a national non-profit organization.

The organization set out to help three area home owners make renovations Saturday, including Jim and Sandy Borer, Cloverdale, Gloria Bergstrom, Cloverdale and Dorothy Burres, Poland.

"Everything went fabulous," Woodley said Monday. "I would say we got 98 percent (of the renovations) done. We really made a difference on some of the homes."

Woodley said nearly 35 volunteers -- including 10 DePauw University students and three students from Indiana University -- showed up at the church Saturday morning before dispersing to the three homes.

"It's what was expected, but wasn't what I hoped for," Woodley said of the total number. "But it was enough to get the work done."

Plans were set to construct a sidewalk to the front door of the Borer home in addition to adding hand rails on a ramp, replacing the bath with a shower and adding a little ramp from the kitchen to the dining room.

For the Bergstrom home, plans were set to place gutters on her home in addition to constructing a trench that would allow water to drain into a ravine behind her home.

For the Burres home, plans were set to fix her roof in addition to adding a handicap ramp to the home. According to Burres, she has not stepped out of her home in nearly five years.

Woodley said plans are already in the works for Rebuilding Together to repair two homes in Greencastle.

He said Rebuilding Together's eight-person board was expected to have a decision on the two homes by mid-June in order to begin preparation to repair the homes, scheduled for July. He added the rebuilding of the two Greencastle homes was in conjunction with Greencastle Christian Church.

"We're looking for candidate homes as we speak," Woodley said.

Woodley added that fundraising for next year's repair day would begin as soon as possible and that the organization would be receiving more nominations for repair into February 2008.

Rebuilding Together has 12 chapters in Indiana. The volunteer group typically will work on rebuilding homes on the last Saturday in April. Its main office is located in Washington, D.C. The program began in midland, Texas, in 1973.

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