July 2008 Newsletter

Here’s an update on what’s been going on since our May newsletter.
Happenings
SO MUCH work is getting done thanks to our amazing volunteers. Thanks for all your hard work to:

• Mind the Gap (MD/VA/DC)


• Mosaic Christian Church (Fulton, MD)


• Four work teams from Southeast Christian Church (Louisville, KY)


• 50+ teens from UMBC’s Upward Bound program


• 34 teens/adults from a church in Okalona (Louisville area) Kentucky


• individual volunteers (Mike, Becky, Al, Lil Erin, Big Erin, Jon-Jon, the list goes on…)
  
  We got word from the Maryland Historic Trust! The Samaritan Women is able to get a grant for the replacement of our roof – a project that can be started as early as September. Could mean an exciting weekend of Volunteers scaling the roofline and ripping off shingles!!
  We’re excited about the progress from the Home Builders Association of Maryland (HBAM) Remodeler’s Council. Members are responding to issues such as the sprinkler system, kitchen and bathroom design, and donation of much-needed plumbing fixtures!
  
  wow! Bozzuto Homes (a member of the HBAM Remodeler’s Council) offered up several pieces of furniture from one of their new model homes. We’re going to look pretty spiffy now!
  
  In addition to this blog, we also have a Facebook Group for The Samaritan Women. FB’ers – join us!
  
  We’re moving forward with Ephesians Life Ministries to bring together our mutual assets and needs. This fall we’ll be making counseling space available to Ephesians to see clients and exploring ideas for joint programs to educate families, clergy, and youth leaders in issue of adolescent addiction and family counseling.
  
  We presented to the Catonsville Rotary Club and are looking for a date to present to the local Boy Scouts of America. Wheels are starting to turn in how they can support our efforts.
  
  Calendar of Events
  Here are our upcoming Volunteer Work Days. You are always welcome to join us for all/any part of the day.
  Aug 9 – open volunteer day
  Aug 16 - Mind the Gap volunteers
  Aug 30 – open volunteer day
  Sept 13 – open volunteer day
  Sept 27 - open volunteer day
  
  Prayer Requests
  We’re still hoping to hear from several of our grant requests from foundations. Please pray that we will receive news from them to guide us in future planning.
  
  In Gratitude
• Thanks to Tony and Shannon of Metropolitan Sprinkler Company for researching our fire safety needs and coordinating with the Baltimore City Fire Marshal.
• Thanks to Michael Cook of Colleague Consulting for working so hard to keep the weeds and lawn under control!!
• Thank you to board member Lynne King for offering her expertise to manage our bookkeeping and accounting.
• Special thanks to Jim & Brian of Cornerstone Kitchen and Baths for their work on the kitchen and bathroom designs!
• Thanks to Joe & Cindy Loverde of The Loverde Family Community Foundation for all their help in making local connections.
• Thank you to Donald, Nancy and Steve of the Remodelers’ Council for keeping TSW top of mind!
• And THANKS to the McKennas for stealing me away from the project long enough for a nice dinner --gosh, a meal where I'm not drinking out of someone else's water bottle and wiping off plaster dust! How wonderful is that?

Prepping the Kitchen

We're SO excited about the potential with the kitchen! There's ample space to make this truly a "teaching kitchen" where the girls will be taught culinary arts, food handling, catering, etc. Because the kitchen is a later addition to the house, we have a lot more flexibility in the design. The Home Builders Association of Maryland (HBAM) has lined up a kitchen & bath designer to work with us and the volunteers have had a BLAST dismantling the room to prep it for renovation. This summer volunteer teams from Mosaic/Southeast Christian Churches cleaned out all the junk, and began demo of the stucco on the walls. To our delight, they exposed a full granite wall adjacent to the main house--a fabulous architectural element we plan to incorporate into the kitchen design.

"A Force to Be Reckoned With!"

Twenty six people from the Okalona team from Louisville, KY drove up for the weekend to work on The Samaritan Women and support the Mosaic Christian Church planting.

WOW! - This team kicked up some serious dust and totally blew through the To Do List! THANK YOU ALL for your boundless energy and willingness to do any job.

Moments to remember :

The freezer luge (where it took 7 guys and the Kuboda to extricate that gross freezer from the basement)

Tearing down the rest of the kitchen wall - it looks SO good now!

Michelle or Garrett on the tractor.

Kids taking out their issues on the defenseless kitchen cabinet

The endless task of scraping wall cracks - thanks Girls!

Paint-scraper Ben - who never got out of the kitchen!

..and Joey spooning with Daisy!

At the end of the day, happiness is... "good service, good fellowship, good laughs... and a FULL dumpster!" Whoo Hoo.

Mind the Gap is UNSTOPPABLE

What's most amazing about the Mind The Gap group is that they'll do ANYTHING we ask, and not only do they do it with gladness, but they keep coming back for more. You all are remarkable.

De-creeping the Basement

The basement has been the creepiest, filthiest part of the house and it's been a process of "peeling back the layers." We're finally starting to see the full footprint of what we have to work with.

There really is a lot of space. Some of the ideas for the basement include: a laundry facility, surplus storage, a workout room, crafts room, a billiard or ping-pong room. Great ideas!

Mosaic & Southeast Christian Churches GET BUSY!

Clean hearts, dirty hands from the Mosaic Mission Team (and Southeast Christian Church of Louisville, KY). We hauled more bathtubs, ripped out some stucco and drywall, cleaned out the basements and attic alcoves, hauled sticks, painted more of the porch, and made a massive scrap metal mountain! You are awesome! Thank you.

Green Acres

"He thinks my tractor's sexy..."

The two Erins take our newest family member, the Kuboda, out for a tour of the property.

Thanks to Bill and Jim for helping us find a deal on this equipment!