By Brianna Stephens
Christian Appalachian Project’s Housing Program in Johnson, Floyd, and Martin Counties has welcomed back its first group of volunteers since COVID-19 restrictions shut down indoor work projects in March 2020.
“Last week was the first week since the effects of COVID-19 began that it really started to feel normal in our program again,” said Bryan Byrd, manager of CAP’s Housing Program.
Ninevah Christian Church in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky has been volunteering with CAP for a decade or more and many of their volunteers are highly skilled. The group of 38 will be the largest to come volunteer with CAP this year, which included four people that helped prepare meals. During their service week, they helped on seven job sites in Housing and Elderly Housing.
In March, CAP’s annual WorkFest event, an alternative spring break, was cancelled during its second week because of rising concerns about the spread of COVID-19. WorkFest is an important time for CAP as a long list of home repairs for participants are lined up for volunteers to complete. The event also serves as a kickoff to CAP’s volunteer group season. Since then several other volunteer groups have cancelled their trips because of the pandemic, leaving projects incomplete or untouched.
In mid-June, the program’s crew leaders and one to two volunteers took on the unfinished projects themselves. Since the beginning of August, four short-term volunteers have also lent a hand on job sites to help make homes safe, warm, dry, and accessible.
“It’s been very slow without the extra help from volunteers,” Byrd noted. “We’ve made good progress but having volunteers from Ninevah Christian Church allowed us to knock out a whole lot of work on those projects that have been waiting for all of this time. It felt good to get close to finishing some of those projects and having the extra help.”
Because of COVID-19, precautions have been put into place for staff and volunteers on job sites. Teams are smaller to help with social distancing. Plus, masks are encouraged, temporary handwashing stations have been added, tools are being disinfected regularly, and contact is limited between teams and participants. Masks are not required for outside work if volunteers and staff are able to socially distance.
Teresa Gullett, manager of Elderly Housing, said participants were thrilled to have the volunteers’ help while improving their homes. Several participants need ramps, which has been a focus of recent jobs. One participant, who had her ramp completed last week, recently had leg surgery with more procedures coming soon and has a daughter with stage four cancer living with her. The ramp will allow the family safe and easy access in and out of their home.
When projects came to a halt in the spring, there were several participants and families who worried about having safe access in and out of their homes without a ramp. “The ramps allow independence and help participants with their physical therapy also, as they can practice walking up and down them,” she added.
Becky Neuenschwander, Missions Group coordinator, said staff at CAP’s Foley Mission Center, where volunteers stay during their service week, greeted the Ninevah Christian Church team with masked smiles and tears of joy. She added, “They were here to help participants and we knew they were going to make a big impact. It almost felt like things were getting back to normal.”
