These last few days in eastern Kentucky have been sweltering. I never knew how hard it was to work outside in 95 degree weather with humidity making it feel like 110 degrees. It’s been hard to get myself motivated in this weather because I feel like the sun just drains me of all energy. Luckily I’ve been able to push through and keep reminding myself of why I’m here and lots of water helps as well. This past week we went back to one of WorkFest jobs to try and wrap that up because it is very close to being finished. And this week we also have a group from Michigan and they are all very skilled and quick learners which is making the work go a lot faster. So far all we have left is some painting, trim work and a few minor repairs in the floor and ceiling. It will be great to see the project finally finished but I will also miss the company of our participant and her daughter. They are a great family and are very appreciative of the work that CAP is doing on their trailer. One of our major projects this week was to get an air conditioner in their trailer and we finally got it in by the end of today, so they were delighted.

As for life outside of Housing, the volunteer houses are going through lots of changes with many volunteers leaving and many new ones coming in. This is all very exciting and sad all at the same time because most of the people that are leaving now have been here since I got here almost a year ago, so I’ve definitely gotten to know them pretty well. So as a going away trip before one of my housemates leaves in a couple of weeks, we took a trip down to Cumberland Falls to see the moonbow. Cumberland Falls is down in McCreary County and the moonbow only happens when there is a full moon out. Unfortunately the night we went was a little hazy so it was hard to see the moonbow, but we did see a little bit of it. It was also a great drive down to McCreary because everything is so green and in bloom and it’s just a really nice area. Below are some pictures I took at the Falls.

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

Well this last week I spent traveling around Kentucky and Tennessee. My family flew into Lexington on Sunday and I met up with them and we got to spend the whole week together seeing different things in Kentucky as well as spending a few days in Nashville, Tennessee. It was really great to spend time with my family since I havent seen them since I was home for Christmas. One of the benefits of being a long-term volunteer with CAP is that they do give you 10 vacation days to take if you sign up for 9 months or longer of service. So I was able to take time away from my program and spend a week with my family and also have a little vacation as well.

On Thursday my family came back with me to Martin, Kentucky, which is where my volunteer house is located and they were able to meet my housemates and see where I’ve been living for the past 7 months. In addition to meeting my housemates they were able to see some of the sights in eastern Kentucky such as Jenny Wiley State Park, Black Barn Produce and of course some of the local restaurants. We also had a cook out on Friday at Floyd House which was really nice because my family finally got to meet some of my CAP family. We then finished up the visit with a trip to Pikeville, Kentucky, for Hillbilly Days (a local festival) which was a lot of fun. There was tons of food, games, rides and even a parade which was fun to watch.

And then Sunday was spent catching up on things and helping my housemates get our garden going, but I didn’t last very long with that since gardening is not really my thing. But this past week was a great week and I’m looking forward to getting back to our housing projects which we are still finishing up from WorkFest.

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

I have to admit this past week has been crazy, awesome, incredible, and amazingness all packed into one week. As I mentioned in last week’s blog we had volunteer orientation at our house all last week. Therefore Floyd House had the opportunity to eat many meals with the new volunteers, most of whom we knew already but quite a few that we didn’t. It was great to get to know one another and we had some great conversations throughout the week as well. Having the orientation at our house also helped when we had two snow days because it just meant we had more people to hang out with while we were all stuck at home.  So since we got more snow a few people did go out and build a snowman and made snow angels. It was also only the second time one of my housemates (Hannah) had seen snow, so she was very excited to participate in all these activities.  So on Thursday we were finally ungrounded and were able to go into the shop and do some work. Right now our crew is working on building bird houses and feeders for WorkFest. We are going to give them to our participants at the end of WorkFest. So we’ve almost completed all of them and they look great.

To conclude orientation this week there was a commissioning ceremony on Thursday night at Mountain Community Fellowship. It was great to officially welcome all the new volunteers into CAP.

On Friday night myself and some of the other volunteers got to experience some Kentucky culture. We went to the Hometown Jamboree, which happens every Friday night in Paintsville, KY. They have a bluegrass band that plays for about 2 and a half hours and there is lots of dancing. It was a great time and the people that were there were thrilled to have us there and they welcomed us with open arms. It was really great to experience some of the culture. On Saturday I went with Rachel (my housemate) and her family to visit a participant’s house that we worked on in the fall. It was really great to see them again and to be able to catch up with them because we haven’t seen them since Christmas. And to finish up this great week a bunch of volunteers went to see Father Beiting say Mass in Paintsville. It was really great to meet him and listen to his experiences and what he is doing now that he has started his own mission in Lousia. But he is a very busy man and has lots of plans for his mission that he has started and it was also great to hear him talk about the early days of CAP and how he started the organization.

“Let’s get excited about our faith!”- Father Beiting

Kate Stefanowicz 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.