It is not very often that all three Housing crews get to work together on one project. Well this past week we were all together on Robert’s (another housing crew leader) jobsite. He needed some help getting things wrapped up at his participant’s house. It is always interesting to see how everyone works together because it is very rare that we do and every crew leader has a different way of doing things. But by the end of the week we had accomplished a lot of work and everyone was still in one piece. We installed four windows, trimmed windows, repaired a few floors, hung some drywall, did lots of mudding, put in a few doors, did lots of painting and all new kitchen cabinets were installed. All and all it was a successful week.

Also this week I had the opportunity to go to Lexington and speak at a donor appreciation dinner. There were about 15 people in attendance and the purpose of the dinner was to discuss the changes going on at CAP with the renovations going on at Camp AJ, the building of the McCreary Volunteer House and the renovations at Mountain Christian Academy which will become a Mission Center for large volunteer groups. All three of these projects are being made possible through a grant from the James Graham Brown Foundation. The dinner was very informative and CAP’s president Guy Adams answered a lot of questions about the projects. My role at the dinner was to be a representative from the volunteer aspect and to share my story and experiences that I have had at CAP. Although there was some bad weather most of the people were able to attend the dinner, even though it took a little longer for everyone to get there. As a result of the weather I was stranded in Lexington for the night since the roads were so terrible. Luckily there was a very nice couple at the dinner (Dave and Josa) that had an extra room at their house in Lexington, so I was able to stay the night there, until the roads were clear in the morning. Dave was also a former CAP volunteer so it was good to chat with him and hear about his CAP volunteer experience. Therefore the dinner was very successful and I was excited that I got to meet some of the people that help make the work at CAP possible. Thank you again to all of our donors and for your generosity.

As for weekend fun, Friday night the Floyd Volunteer House had some people over from both the Magoffin and Johnson Volunteer houses for a game night. It was very successful with lots of food and games.  Then on Saturday I had my first trip to Steak n Shake, a fast food restaurant that specializes in shakes and burgers. It was a very good trip and they had some amazing shakes, I would definitely recommend it. I ended my weekend with church on Sunday and an afternoon/night of football, which I was very disappointed in because the Jets lost and yes I am a Jets fan! So it was a pretty eventful weekend, with very little snow which is always good, because I am definitely ready for warmer weather!

Kate Stefanowicz is a long-term volunteer in CAP’s Housing program. She lives in Floyd Volunteer House.

By Kate Stefanowicz

This past week in housing was a pretty typical week for me. We continued working on siding the house and we’ve almost completed the whole house except for a few little areas. We also got to work in the rain this week, which is always a good time especially when you get to dance in the rain. We ran into a few frustrations this week such as the rain and running out of materials, but they were all just minor bumps in the road. (See a few photos below from this week)

On Friday me and some of my housemates ventured out to Black Barn Produce in Lowmansville, KY. It’s a great little store with lots of homemade jams and jellies and fresh produce. They even had some pretty great Kentucky souvenirs.

Also this week we had a bible study which we have every other week and Chrissy(one of my housemates) facilitates it and each week we talk about a different topic. I personally enjoy these bible studies because it gives me a chance to explore and learn more about my faith as well as get other people’s views on how they interpret bible passages and readings. This past week one of the things we discussed was how God humbles us in many different ways. I know I personally have never had any construction experience whatsoever before coming to CAP, so everything in the home repair program was brand new to me. And others in our group also mentioned how there are days that we feel like we know it all and feel like we are doing really well and then something happens and we have no idea what we are doing. But one of my favorite quotes that I recently discovered is ” God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.” I think this a great quote especially for me because here I was going to volunteer doing something I had no experience with whatsoever and I truly believe God was challenging me to step out of my comfort zone and put my trust in him. And let me tell you this was not an easy thing for me but once I did put my trust in him my eyes were opened to all the amazing things that you can accomplish with God in your life.

“With man this is impossible,but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Kate is a long-term volunteer in CAP’s Housing program. She lives in Floyd Volunteer House.

By Kate Stefanowicz

Over this last week we’ve accomplished a lot on our worksite. We’ve put up new siding on about half the house and it’s starting to look like a whole new house already. We saw our participant a few times this week and she was very pleased with the progress we were making. In addition to new siding her house will be getting a new roof and new floors in three of her rooms. We still have a lot of work to do but we are moving along pretty well.

On Friday myself and three of my housemates (Mark, Kathleen and Tamara), all took a trip out to Harold’s house (our volunteer manager). We had an amazing breakfast that he and his family cooked for us and then we got to see some of his animals which included goats, chickens, pigs, a bunny and a few dogs. While we were there we got to feed the goats and milk one of them, which was pretty cool because I’ve never milked a goat before. Two of the goats also had kids a few weeks ago, so they were really cute and we got to hold them as well. Also we got to run a few tests on the goats to make sure they were all healthy. Therefore  I learned a lot about goats and how you take care of them, especially from Harold’s kids who knew a lot more about goats than I did. It was a lot of fun seeing the animals because I grew up in the suburbs so the only time I saw goats or pigs was when I went to a festival or some kind of petting zoo. In addition to seeing the animals Tamara and I took a ride on the four wheeler which was pretty exciting because I’ve never been on one before. It took us a few times to get the hang of it, but we eventually got it.  So our trip to Harold’s was a great time and it was awesome to get to see all his kids who are all so amazing and very knowledgable about all the animals. I certainly learned a lot from them.

Harold trimming Charlie's nails

Tamara

Kathleen

The Pigs!!!

Charlie

Mark milking the goat

Kate is a long-term volunteer in CAP’s Housing Program. She lives in Floyd Volunteer House.