Housing Development Alliance

Let Your Feet Do the Talking!

2011-09-01T10:19:00.004-04:00

The Housing Development Alliance, Inc. is very excited to be a part of the Community Foundation of Hazard and Perry County's Run for the Hills Charity Challenge. This event is a unique opportunity to show your generosity by supporting local non-profit organizations in our area. The goal of the Housing Development Alliance is to raise $10,000.00. The funds donated will be matched and the matching funds will be used to establish a permanent endowment to help support our mission to provide safe and affordable housing to those in need. On October 1st 2011, runners and walkers will take part in a fun 5k walk/run to be held at the Triangle Park on Main Street in Hazard. The day will also include entertainment, food and informational booths and lots of activities for families and children.

The Housing Development Alliance is looking for walkers and runners to join our Executive Director, Scott McReynolds, on the 5k run/walk. We are also offering the opportunity for you to go the extra mile by joining our"Home team". Team members will help the Housing Development Alliance meet our challenge goal of $10,000.00 by agreeing to solicit $50.00 in donations designatedfor the Housing Development Alliance. All "Home Team" members will receive a "Home Team" participation T-Shirt.

Those walkers and runners who do not wish to become "Home Team" members may still support the Housing Development Alliance by checking our box on the official entry form. Please make all checks payable to the Community Foundation of Hazard and Perry County (CFHPC) Charity Challenge, P.O. Box 310, Chavies, KY 41727. Please be sure to write Housing Development Alliance in the memo section of your check to insure we receive your support. For more information please contact janie@housingdevelopmentalliance.org or call the Housing Development Alliance at 606-436-0497.
There is a $25 entry fee for the 5k charity run /walk.

Dog Days of Summer

2011-08-16T11:45:00.002-04:00

Hello everyone! So, here at the end of the summer I am finally getting to post my first blog about my work here. My name is Leah Catherine Turner, and I was hired for the summer as the Assistant Volunteer Coordinator. The job opportunity was very unexpected, but I am happy to say I have been extremely pleased with how this summer has panned out. It was hectic at first, but the work is very rewarding. Recently we hosted groups from South Elkhorn Church and Temple University. It's so crazy to think that these were our last groups of the summer! Both groups worked on a new home site, one framing and the other roofing/shingling. Temple University also worked at the First Presbyterian Church's mission cottage (which houses volunteers affiliated with the HDA when they come), pouring footers for a new home, staining ramps at two sites that were built by previous groups, and laying down floor/painting walls of a new home at another location. Each and all of these jobs were crucial to the completion of those homes, and the work contributed by the volunteers was absolutely invaluable. We have enjoyed meeting and hosting all of our volunteers this summer; each one has brought incredible work ethic and good spirits to the work sites. I speak for all of us at the staff of HDA when I say that this summer was amazing, many great things were accomplished, so thank you!!! Unfortunately, John Rasche and myself are returning to school now, so we will not be able to update for a while. Well, a year to be exact. We will both miss the staff of HDA and everyone we have had the pleasure of talking with this summer.

Also, on a side note, have any of you heard the new radio ad that Rasche and myself recorded? It is broadcasting on local radio (97.9 & 101.1 FM) now until September 2, so make sure you tune in and let us know what you think!

We hope to see all our groups again next summer as well as have the opportunity to meet any newcomers that may be interested in volunteering with the HDA. See you all next year! Peace!

New Office!

2011-08-01T14:28:00.002-04:00

Hey, everyone. We're sorry about the absence of blogs these past few weeks. We just moved into our new office and everything has been a little hectic. We've had boxes to unpack, furniture to settle, appliances to install. The HDA staff is finally beginning to settle into the new building. We have 11 offices and a rather large parking lot. If you haven't visited the new office yet, you really should. It's a beautiful building and we are all very proud of it. We are located at 2871 N. Main Street, right across from the Mother Goose House.

Because of our move, we haven't had much time to discuss the great accomplishments of our volunteers. In June, St. Bartholomew's volunteers helped the community by removing a couple's inadequate bathroom and installing a brand new one. They also helped frame a new house as well as some roof repair. we've had back-to-back groups of volunteers. First Presbyterian Church of Kissimmee, FL spent a week rebuilding a porch and painting interior walls. Beaumont Presbyterian painted, built a ramp, and laid concrete blocks. St. John's Westminster Union Church also helped the community by laying foundation, concreting, roofing, and replacing a porch. (We've had a lot of porch projects this summer.)Pullen Memorial Baptist Church returned to Hazard in July for its fifth consecutive summer! They did everything from framing to painting to flooring. The members even cleared the obtrusive overgrowth surrounding the new office. Crescent Hills Presbyterian framed a new house and replaced an old porch. I saw the porch project from its beginning stages and let me just tell ya, it is such an improvement from the old one. St. Francis de Sales spent the entire week framing a new home. The work looked exhausting (especially in this heat!) but the labor really paid off! The place looks great.

Phew! Is everyone still there? That was quite a dense, albeit incredibly abstract, paragaph. I hate to have had to condense all of our volunteers like that, but like I said, it has been a very busy few weeks for everyone here at HDA. My little shout-outs to all of our volunteer groups, however, does not express our gratitude enough. Every volunteer has done such a great job with this summer's projects. Never before have I seen such a general positive attitude to the, sometimes grueling, work. Southeast Kentucky (as well as a great portion of the country) has had some awfully hot summer days but we haven't received any complaints. In fact, in all my summers working for HDA never have I heard such an overwhelming amount of praise for our carpenters. Great job, everyone!

South Elkhorn Christian Church will be arriving tomorrow and I'll try my hardest to keep you all posted on their progress!

For those of you who would like more information about our previous volunteer groups, I highly recommend glancing through the photos that have been posted on our Facebook page.

Week 2

2011-06-29T13:24:00.001-04:00

Despite the rainy week, New Wilmington Presbyterian and First Presbyterian of Kissimmee accomplished a lot in the week that they were here. Pictures of their projects are posted on our Facebook.

This week, volunteers from St. Bartholomew's in Cincinnatti have returned to spend yet another summer with us. They volunteered with us two years ago and we are happy for their help again. With five groups spread all over Perry County (and one in Knott), it's hard to keep track of everyone's comings and goings. Rain on Monday and Tuesday diverted groups to different locations. Some were divided amongst two other worksites in Vicco, repairing a homeowner's roof as well as framing a brand new house right next door. Although at times chaotic, all the volunteers appear to have a positive mentality about the hard work. St. Bartholomew refuses to let poor weather get them down.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2011-06-22T10:44:00.002-04:00

Hi, everyone! Summer has started but we've been pretty delayed in blogging about our volunteers! Our first groups, New Wilmington Presbyterian from Pennsylvania and First Presbyterian from Kissimmee, Florida arrived on Sunday. Kissimmee has volunteered with us before and we are happy to have them back. The week began with many diverse projects, but the weather hindered the development of most of them. As some of you may know, Eastern Kentucky (as well as many other states) was bombarded with violent storms. Lightning, thunder, and sheets of rain welcomed the groups just as they arrived at their worksites. All but one site, which consisted of in-door painting, were forced to return to the church/cottage. First Presbyterian of Hazard would like to thank the New Wilmington group for constructively using the "free time" by cleaning it up.

I was amazed at the positive morale of the two churches. Despite the poor weather, no one seemed disheartened or upset about the change of plans. They simply applied twice as much motivation and effort to the second day of work. All of our carpenters were pleasantly surprised at the amount of work each group accomplished yesterday.

We had better luck on Tuesday. New Wilmington was spread out all across Perry County. Two workgroups began ramp construction in Brownsfork and Couch Town. Another group painted the exterior of a home in Bonnyman. Two groups did roof repair in Vicco and Talcum. The last volunteers also went to Vicco for new home construction. First Presbyterian from Kissimmee had roofing and painting projects right here in Hazard.

The groups have decided to take today off but are eager and ready to get back to work tomorrow. There is supposed to be a chance of rain on Thursday so keep your fingers crossed that the volunteers will be able to keep up the good work!

-John Rasche.

P.S. I would like to apologize ahead of time if this blog entry does not reach Facebook until a few days from now. The transfer rate between Blogger and Facebook is occasionally slow.

P.S.S. Everybody at Housing Development Alliance would like to welcome our new Assistant, Leah Catherine Turner. We know she'll do a great job!

Repair Affair 2011

2011-05-27T12:32:00.002-04:00

Saturday May 21st, 2011 volunteers from our community joined together to make a difference in the lives of 8 senior /disabled persons in our community. 80 members of our community took part in the Housing Development Alliance's 12th Annual Repair Affair. The Repair Affair events are designed to help low income, disabled and senior citizens living within our community with minor home repairs. The work done to these homes is completed within a single afternoon, with the work being accomplished by a community volunteer work force.
This years event was kicked off at 8:00 a.m. with a pancake breakfast hosted by the Hazard Village Wendy's. Following the breakfast, the individual work groups were given their assignments and dispersed to their work sites. Some of the repair work done by the volunteers included removing and replacing aged steps and banisters, building porches, repairing entrance ways, painting, staining porches, building wheel chair ramps, minor demolition work and replacing rotting siding.
The 80 volunteers who gave up their Saturday were representative of various business, civic organizations and churches, including 1st Presbyterian Church of Hazard, Mother of Good Council Catholic Community, Applebee's Restaurant, Pepsi Bottling Co., Perry County Drug Court, The Pathfinders, Perry County Central High School JROTC and Skills USA at HCTC. In addition to our volunteers, the Housing Development Alliance would also like to thank our area sponsors. Without the generous support of these community organizations and individuals, many people in our community would never know how it feels to live in a safe and secure home. The Repair Affair is truly a community event and the success of the event is a reflection of the care and compassion that exist in this area.
Visit our Facebook page to view our Repair Affair 2011 photo album.

A Word From Ceal

2011-05-02T08:45:00.002-04:00

Hi, my name is Ceal Maggard and I work in the Accounting Department along with David and Tonya,. Yes, I am on of those numbers people! In June I will have been here a year as a full-time employee. I love working here. I like the way we help make the quality of life better for a whole lot of people in our community. Right now, we are gearing up for our annual Spring Repair Affair where we spend one day doing needed repairs on a number (usually 10) of homes. It is nice doing work that you know is needed and appreciated. It won't be too long before we're in our new office building. Hopefully, we will be moved in a couple of months. Hope you enjoyed this blog. Be sure to check back with us so you can keep up-to-date on what
s going on at the Housing Development Alliance. See ya!

Hello My Cyber Friends

2011-04-20T10:26:00.002-04:00

Hello my Cyber Space friends, it's me again Tonya Perkins. There is not much going on around here at the Housing Development Alliance, Inc. Our new office building is coming along pretty fast. Hopefully we will be in there sometime in June. Then you will see us doing the Happy Dance, YEE HAW!!! Can't wait it has been a long time coming. The finance department, which is the department I work in, will have our own offices. It will be a different at first since we are all bunched up in the little office we are in now. I will miss being right next to everyone, but we will get our own space, which will be so nice. We will be having some volunteers coming in a few days; we are excited to have them as we are to all of the volunteers that come from all around. Well that's all I have for you this time friends, stay tuned in to see what is coming up next here at the Housing Development Alliance.

Hello

2011-04-12T09:08:00.002-04:00

Hello, my name is John Bush, and to quote Janie in an earlier post, I am the Rehabilitation Specialist/Energy Efficiency Auditor of the Housing Development Alliance, Inc (HDA). I think my title is more of a work in progress, as are most of our rehabs. A brief history about myself: I was raised here in Perry County, I graduated from Buckhorn High School, I was an AmeriCorps Volunteer here at the HDA from November 1997 to August 1999, and I went to EKU for a while and then came back to Hazard. Most recently, I worked at Home Lumber Company, a local lumberyard and concrete plant. Since returning to the HDA, I have spent a lot of my time in training. This training focuses on making a home more energy efficient by using the Building Performance Institute, Inc. (BPI) national standards. I have received two certifications from BPI (Building Analyst Professional and Envelope Professional) and I am working on a 3rd certification (Heating Professional). You can find out more about these standards and the certifications offered at http://www.bpi.org/. That is all I have for now, I will keep you updated on how well I use the BPI certifications on our rehabs. Have a good day!

Housing Counselor Update

2011-04-01T14:03:00.003-04:00

Hello, This is Pam, the Housing Counselor at the Housing Development Alliance, I am to let you know what has been going on with the Housing Counselor. Not a lot has happened since my last blog. My time has mostly been spent in the office...taking calls, meeting with client, taking applications and working on some housing counseling. Well that's the update for the Housing Counselor....until next time.

2011-03-24T13:57:00.000-04:00

Hello.
My name is Wm. David Woods. I am the Director of Finance of the Housing Development Alliance, Inc. This is my second blog for the organization. This time, I would like to take a moment to write about our dedicated Staff and devoted Board Members. We have a great Staff and an active Board here at the Housing Development Alliance, Inc. Each member of the Staff and the Board is focused on furthering the vision, mission, and strategic goals of the organization. This is true whether they are working on the front lines building and managing projects, coordinating volunteers, working with potential home owners, or administering our programs and finances. In addition, it is a lot of fun to be associated with the Housing Development Alliance, Inc. We truly enjoy working towards bettering the lives of those whom we serve and assisting the economic development of Perry, Knott, Breathitt and Leslie Counties. Feel free to contact us with any questions that you might have about our services or to offer your assistance. We look forward to hearing from you!

Listen Closely

2011-03-18T08:09:00.000-04:00

If you stop for a second and listen closely, you can hear a faint tapping sound echoing through the mountains of Southeastern Kentucky. It is the sound of the Housing Development Alliance “Hammerin’ in the Hills” spring volunteers. These volunteers are college students who choose to forgo the typical Spring Break to come to Appalachia to help those in need. Our March volunteers have traveled from as far away as Pennsylvania, New Hampshire and Tennessee.
During the month of March, in a mixture of snow, rain and sun, volunteers from St. Joseph University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Belmont College in Nashville, Tennessee and Chester College of New England in Chester, New Hampshire, repaired 3 houses in Breathitt County and 4 houses in Perry County. Under the supervision of the Housing Development Alliance carpenters, these students repaired roofs, dug ditches, worked in crawl spaces to secure beams, removed and replaced porches and built handicap ramps. During the work day the students had opportunities to interact with the home owners and learn a little about our area and its rich culture, acquire new carpentry skills and gain a little insight about themselves and what they can accomplish. These students worked hard and were often exhausted and covered in mud by the end of the day but remained focused on the job they came to do. I spoke with one of the Breathitt County homeowners who expressed amazement that people their age would give up their vacation to come and work for people in Appalachia. She also said that they had given her hope for the future.
The month of March saw a total of 51 volunteers visit our area with more arriving in April. So, if you hear the faint tapping sound of hammers echoing through the mountains, look around - the sound may just be coming from some of our volunteers. You may also want to keep in mind; this is just the prelude to the summer months. When our volunteers begin arriving in June the tapping will grow louder and louder as the mountains are filled with the sounds of people helping people.

The Housing Development Alliance needs your help!

2011-03-09T15:23:00.003-05:00

The Housing Development Alliance needs you. If you believe in the work of the Housing Development Alliance, we need you to let your elected officials know that our work and the federal programs that fund them are important. Currently several program that the Housing Development Alliance utilizes to provide new homes and home repairs are under threats of deep budget cuts (cuts of over 80%!). These programs help the Housing Development Alliance assists nearly 100 families a year and work supports approximately 75 jobs in the community (based on figures from the National Association of Home Builders on the economic impact of constriction within a community).

Here is some information from the Housing Assistance Council – a national housing organization:

Funding for key USDA rural housing programs is in jeopardy for the rest of 2011 and for fiscal year 2012. The Senate may vote on 2011 funds as early as Tuesday, March 8. Senators need to hear from their constituents about the importance of these programs in their states.

Previously HAC reported that the rural housing programs' funding prospects looked much better in the 2011 Continuing Resolution (CR) than in the 2012 Administration budget. That has changed; reports indicate that the Administration has suggested using its 2012 budget proposals as a starting point to reduce 2011 spending. As a result, the Senate bill may include serious cuts to Section 502 direct mortgage loans, the self-help housing program, Section 504 repair loans and grants, and rental preservation.

The Administration's budget would cut Section 502 direct loans to $211.4 million from their FY10 level of $1.121 billion. Section 523 grants for local self-help housing producers would be eliminated. There would be no Section 504 loans for very low-income homeowners to repair their homes, and Section 504 grants for very low-income elderly homeowners would be cut by almost two-thirds, from $31.6 million in FY10 to $11.5 million. The Multifamily Preservation and Revitalization demonstration program and the Preservation Revolving Loan Fund would be defunded. More details are available on HAC's website at
http://www.ruralhome.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=393:fy-2012-budget-and-appropriations&catid=45
and the National Rural Housing Coalition's site at http://ruralhousingcoalition.org/rural-housing-issues/coalition-priorities .

If you believe in our work, please call or email your Senators and ask them to keep USDA rural housing programs at FY10 funding levels for both 2011 and 2012. Tell them that these programs not only meet the affordable housing needs of many low-income and working families, but also create much needed jobs. Your support is greatly appreciated.

A new employee!

2011-02-15T12:33:00.001-05:00

Hey Guys, this is Janie again with some exciting news!

The Housing Development Alliance recently added the position of Rehabilitation Specialist/Energy Efficiency Auditor to the staff roster. Our new employee, John Bush, a former 1990’s AmeriCorps volunteer with the Housing Development Alliance, will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the organization’s Home Rehabilitation Program, including visiting and assessing possible work location, estimating repair coast, obtaining bids for jobs and overseeing staff carpenters and volunteer workers. In addition to the duties as Rehabilitation Specialist, John will also be the Housing Development Alliance Energy Efficiency Auditor. In this position, he will ascertain the energy efficiency of a client’s home, and then design and implement a plan to bring the home to the highest level of energy efficiency possible, insuring the home is both safe and economical.

John is married to a former employee of the Housing Development Alliance. His wife Adrienne Szabo Bush was the Volunteer and Community Coordinator for the organization from 2002-2006. She is now the Director of Planning and Development with the Hazard Perry County Community Ministries. They have one daughter, Dana, a beautiful and VERY energetic 2 year old.

We are really thrilled with the addition to our staff. He brings with him great experience and an enthusiasm to work with the Housing Development Alliance staff, volunteers and clients to bring safe decent and affordable housing to those in need. We are looking forward to a very happy, very rewarding and very productive future with John.

An interesting occurence

2011-02-01T10:41:00.006-05:00

We had set up a “weekly blog rotation” in order to make sure that the staff was posting on a regular basis. Well, we have not been nearly every week and it is not even my turn in the rotation but something interesting happened and I am just getting some of the details on it.

We have stock. One of the Friends of HDA called Scott and asked “Do you accept donations of stock?” and not being one to turn down a donation Scott said sure. So now we own approximately $540 of Target shares. So I thought “That’s great, why not just give us cash?” And I was soon told – “Taxes.” Basically, our kind donor was able to give us the full amount of the stock as a donation. If he had converted it to cash his capital gains would have been taxed, which means his donated amount would have been smaller which means his tax deduction would have been smaller too. So, HDA gets a larger donation AND the donor does not have to pay capital gains on his appreciated stock. It’s a win-win (a confusing one, but a win-win still the same). David found a much better explanation at -

http://www.fool.com/FoolCharityFund/Donating_Stock.htm

So, if anybody has some appreciated stock that is burning a hole in your pocket – the Housing Development Alliance is now able to accept it as a donation. How cool is that?

A Day Visiting Homes

2011-01-25T15:57:00.001-05:00

Good morning. First, let me introduce myself. My name is Pam Short and I am the Housing Counselor at the Housing Development Alliance. I talk to everyone that wants assistance in getting a new home or getting their home repaired, and I figure out which program they are best suited to, and I help them get eligible for that program. Most of my time is spent in the office either on the phone, or filling out paperwork. However, this past Friday was special – I got to visit some homes that we are hopefully going to repair.

John Rudd Caudill, our Construction Coordinator, and I visited three homes in Breathitt County. Normally, clients come to my office to sign all the paperwork, but because of a short timeline – I took the paperwork to them. My construction experience is limited, so it was nice to go to these houses and see how John Rudd estimates the repairs we do. Also, it is good to be reminded of how important these repairs are to the family. For instance, one of the families told me before the visit, that they needed a new front door. When we visited I saw that they were using an interior door for their front door AND it did not fit well. I knew that just by making that one repair, we could make their home much warmer.

That’s all for now. I will keep you updated on these three homes when it’s my turn to do another post!

Happy New Year

2010-12-28T14:20:00.000-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR from the Housing Development Alliance

So far winter, and a few weeks before, has proven to be bitterly cold and snowy here in
Kentucky. The upcoming week is due to be wet and in the 50s, and believe me that is a
A welcome change from the teens and single digits we have been experiencing.

We are a little behind on our blogs or rather I am a little behind on the blog. We will blame it on the weather. But the truth is there is so much to share I just haven’t known where to begin. The month of November was a very exciting time for the Housing Development Alliance. During the first of the two weeks we had a very special House Raising take place. In the first of what we hope will become an annual event, teens from the Hazard Independent School System and teens from the Perry County School System joined forces to dry in a house new house for a local family.

The job took 2 consecutive Saturdays to complete. The first work day was bitterly cold with temperatures in the 20’s .The kids endured chilling rains, sleet and the first snow of the season, but by the end of the day the walls were up and the framing portion of the job was complete. The next Saturday the kids once again began their work on a very cold morning which led to a blistering hot day. The work consisted of roofing and shingling, and the volunteers spent the day on the roof of the house in the hot sun of an 80 degree day. What can I say, that’s Kentucky weather for you!!

The students participating represented Perry County Central High School’s JR. ROTC and Hazard High School’s National Honor Society. They were a wonderful bunch of kids to work with and regardless of the weather conditions there was never a complaint or a lack of enthusiasm for the job. These teens knew they were working to help their community and to help make a family’s dreams come true. I for one am very proud to have these young people in my home town. You can check out our Facebook photos section for pictures of the event.

On November the 19th, the Housing Development Alliance also saw the groundbreaking of our new Center for Affordable Housing. This new building will house the offices of the Housing Development Alliance, taking us out of our current cramped situation and providing a more comfortable atmosphere for our clients. Our new building site is located in the Wabaco section of Hazard. We are directly across from the Mother Goose. For those of our former volunteers who took time to photograph the Goose House we will be located directly across the street. How fun to be able to see the giant goose every day!!
Construction is moving along and the footers have been poured. We can’t wait for the building to be completed. Pictures of this event can also be found in our photo section of the Facebook page

In the meantime we are in our same location and business is as usual. Our carpenters are busy working on home repairs and when the weather permits working at new house sites.
I am personally excited about the upcoming seasons and the return of our volunteer work force. Who knew I would ever miss those blistering hot days of summer. I guess that’s what a little ice and snow will do for you!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and the New Year holds joy and laughter for all! And for those who may currently be enjoying a more tropical vacation….ALOHA!

Janie
Volunteer and Community Coordinator

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2010-11-12T15:41:00.003-05:00

Hazard, KY, November 10, 2010: Microsoft values software donation to the Housing Development Alliance, Inc. at approximately $40,000.00!

My name is Wm. David Woods. I am Director of Finance of the Housing Development Alliance, Inc. I have been employed by the organization in that capacity for nearly two-and-a-half years.

I am privileged to work with individuals who are so dedicated to providing housing to individuals within Perry, Leslie (where I call home), Knott, and Breathitt communities. In addition, I am privileged to be active in the spaces within which a number of the organization’s strategic initiatives are unfolding. It is likely that many of my future blogs will talk about those initiatives. However, since my headline snagged your attention with talks of a rather large software grant from a rather large international corporation, I guess that I should talk more about that right now.

HDA, Inc. is in the process of upgrading its information technology infrastructure. The upgrade process began a few months ago; however, the pace hastened last month with a resolution from our Board of Directors (and veiled threats from my co-workers) to proceed. We hope to have the new information system in place by the end of the first week of December of 2010.

In addition to much faster workstations, flatter and much larger monitors, and a new server, we received a number of significant software grants. Although Microsoft is the largest donor, we also received important grants from Symantec, Staff Manager, Palo Alto Software, and Adobe. I have not yet received donated asset valuation letters from the other companies, but I am sure that the aggregate market valuation of their products will be equally substantial.

The staff at the Housing Development Alliance, Inc. would like to thank our software vendor partners for their contributions to our continued success. It is likely that these software programs will further quicken our expansion, leverage our operational efficiencies, and strengthen our commitments to our communities. It is with great acclaim that I take my hat off to these companies and their efforts to strengthen capacities in the communities that we serve.

David

Sixteen Years Ago . . .

2010-10-29T13:12:00.001-04:00

Sixteen years and one week ago, I started working at the Housing Development Alliance as its first employee. At that time, we had a budget of $35,000 for the year and high hopes. Sixteen years later, thanks to the hard work of the staff, board and volunteers, we have built a 137 new homes, acquired-repaired-sold 16 homes, completed over 275 repairs, and developed 35 rental units. Our budget is now in excess of $3.7 million. To put that in perspective, at our current rate of production we spend twice as much in a week as we did in the entire first year of operation! We have also expanded our service area taking on 3 underserved counties.

While it’s nice to think back on the last 16 years and all we have accomplished, I get even more excited to think about the next 16 years. Assuming a modest 5% per year increase in production, in the next 16 years we can build over 500 homes and repair another 1250! That would go long way towards wiping out substandard housing in our community.

I’ll confess that I find the numbers hard to believe. 500 homes? 1250 repairs? Can we really do all that? Then I remember that sixteen years ago, I could not imagine building 137 houses or completing 275 repairs. Yes, it will be a lot or work, but we have proved that we - our board, staff and volunteers - are not afraid of hard work. So I invite you to join with me for another 16 years hard work and great accomplishments. With so much to do, it’s time to get busy.

Tonya's First Post EVER!

2010-10-20T16:12:00.001-04:00

Hello all you Housing Development Alliance friends out there in cyber space!
Well it is my turn this week to do the blog. My name is Tonya Perkins. I am the Administrative Asst & the Accounting Clerk for the organization. My job is to make sure I have payroll done for the hard working carpenters you all love so well. I also do many other things here. I answer the phone, so if you call it is probably me on the other end! My primary job is to assist the Director of Finance so I work with a lot of numbers.

I really like my work here. It’s not every day you can come to a job you love and enjoy. We get to help so many people either with building a new home or just simple things as repairs, getting a porch put on their house or a ramp to help them get their loved ones in their homes.

We are having a group of 17 volunteers come in this week. They are from Westminster Ohio. That is just one of the many places we have had volunteers from this year. We have enjoyed having all of them here to help with home repairs, or help build new homes. All of our volunteers seemed to have enjoyed themselves this year. I would like to say thanks to all of them for coming and helping in our community & to the carpenters for all the hard work they do for us. Thanks guys you are a fun crew to work with.

Recently Pam Short and I went to work related trainings in Philadelphia. We had a great experience. We had never flown before and it was scary at first, but by the time we came back we had adjusted. We were in “Philly” for a week and found the experience very educational. We got a lot of helpful information to use in our jobs. I also managed to return to Hazard with a head full of sutures but I will save that story for my next blog.

We met a lot of new people at the training that do jobs similar to our own, and learned much about other non-profit work in other areas. It was hard for us to leave our families for the week, but we enjoyed the experience and had a good time. But, there is no place like home and I was happy to get back to my family and friends.

Well my blog is finished. I hope you have enjoyed my story telling time. You can always come see us or call, we would be glad to help you with repairs or get you an affordable home if we can. And if you feel the urge to help lives we will always welcome volunteers. Thank you for checking out on our blog. Ya’ll come back and see us now ya hear!

We are Back!

2010-10-15T08:45:00.004-04:00

Hello, after a few months off, we are back! We want to honor the work done by John Rasche while he was here (oh, how we miss him), and start updating our blog and Facebook account more regularly. We now have a schedule with a different staff member posting each week – and since this was my grand idea, I get to go first.

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Chris Doll and I am the Assistant Director at the Housing Development Alliance. I do many different tasks as part of my work, but my primary job is to get our clients from the point they first contact us to the point that either their new home or repairs begin; which is both easier and tougher than it sounds. I will probably post more on that later, but for now this is what’s been going on recently -

The weather in Perry County turned cold, or at least “chilly”. The leaves are starting to fall and the number of calls from folks needing help has picked up. Every year with the first cold snap HDA gets an increase in calls from folks needing to get repairs completed before winter. This means that my department (mainly Pam, our Housing Counselor) scrambles to try to match people up with funding and get applications through the system as quickly as possible, so it has been an exceptionally busy week.

Last week we were very excited, we sold Claude Neace his house. Some of our summer volunteers worked on his house, and we hope to have some pictures of the finished home posted soon. When Claude first contacted us he was nowhere near being eligible for a home. Through a lot of work on his part he got a good job, became eligible, and was able to buy a new home. As I stated, I do many things as part of my job, and one of them is that I get to be the person that hands our clients the keys to his/her/their new house. Being there to give Claude his keys is one of the reasons that I enjoy what I do, and it reminds me of the importance of our work. It was a wonderful day.

Chris

Goodbye, Everyone!

2010-08-20T10:49:00.002-04:00

Well, it's my last day working for the Housing Development Alliance. At least, for this year. I've really enjoyed this Summer. I met alot of new people and got to know others more. The staff here has become like a sort of family for me, and I really appreciate them taking me under their wing for the Summer. The carpenters have cracked me up, like usual. I'll be able to bring back some pretty funny stories back to school with me. And I'll also be bringing back a renewed sense of confidence that my co-workers have instilled in me.

I want to thank all of our volunteers for helping us and all of you who have become fans on our Facebook. I spent alot of time and effort on the whole viral marketing thing, so it's great to see my work growing and expanding. I'm not sure who is going to take my place on the internet, but I'm leaving it up to you to make sure that it continues. If you notice that the Facebook or blog is slacking, give us a call or shoot us a comment. I'll have my ears and eyes open.

As for the future? I'm not so sure. I'll be graduating college this year (knock on wood), and I'm pretty open to any opportunities that come my way. If I'm destined to come back to the Housing Development Alliance, so be it. I like it here and the staff is awesome. It's a fun place to work. So I guess we'll see.

Try not to miss me too much, ok?

-John Rasche.

The end of Summer!

2010-08-12T15:14:00.003-04:00

Hey, y'all. I'm taking tomorrow off early, so I thought I'd better post a blog now. Temple University has been doing an AMAZING job this week. I've talked to all the volunteers and they have nothing but good things to say.

The Airport group that has been framing a house is shocked at their own progress. When they started, the site was nothing more but some exterior walls. Now, there are inner walls and a roof! They'll be shingling tomorrow. This morning, each volunteer took turns using the shingle-lift to raise the trusses and were each congratulated with a round of high-fives. The other airport group had the tedious task of raking rocks and painting blocks, but they got to enjoy the air conditioned house as well. At lunch, they even caught our Carpenter, Bobby, grooving to the "Fresh Prince" theme song.

The students at Typo have completed the deck, as well as the Lott's Creek crew. The new decks look great compared to the old ones that existed prior. The Lott's Creek kids were even treated to cornbread and ice cream by the generous homeowner. And last, but not least, the Defiance group has finished insulating both homes and painting the blocks. All our carpenters are impressed with not only the efficiency of the groups, but their unceasing enthusiasm to help the community as well.

Temple has been gracious enough to invite me to some of their dinners, giving me an opportunity to communicate with them even more. They're touched by the welcomes they have received while being here. First Presbyterian members have made multiple desserts for the volunteers, and a charitable businessman even paid for half of their dinners when they went to France's Diner. Scott McReynolds, our Executive Director, stopped by last night and talked with the group for a while. Scott's moving words about our cause inspired the workers even more, and really solidified their motivation for volunteering. This morning, I kept hearing how "cool" Scott is, so it was a good thing he stopped by.

I think everyone, myself especially included, will be miss Temple when they leave. They better come back next Summer!

college kids rock!

2010-08-09T16:15:00.003-04:00

32 students from Temple University in Philadelphia are helping us finish up the Summer. That's right. This is the last volunteer group of the Summer and I'll be honest, I'm ready. As much as I loved our volunteer groups this year, I'm ready to go back to college. So can you really blame me?

Temple is divided between 5 groups all over Perry County, but luckily they are all within half an hour of each other. There's a group down Lott's Creek who are replacing an old deck with a new one. It was there that I first discovered "yard darts." Have you ever heard of this? It's pretty cool, actually. There's another group in Typo that is also replacing a deck, accompanied by three of the sweetest dogs I've met. Two groups at the Airport are separated between raking rocks to make way for a lawn and framing a new house. Finally, the group in Defiance has been quickly insulating two of our new homes. From what I've gathered, the carpenters at every worksite have been impressed with their new workers. The kids seem to enjoy it too--I've got some great photos of smiling faces.

And let me just say, I'm super excited to have a volunteer group that entirely consists of college students. Not to disservice our former volunteers (who have been great), but it's wonderful to be able to talk to people my own age. This was the perfect volunteer group for me to end the Summer with, and I hope they feel the same about the week ahead.

2-day retreat

2010-08-06T16:58:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the delay of blogs, everyone! It's been pretty busy these past few days. St. Bartholomew Parish from Cincinnati spent the past 2 days volunteering with us at the Airport and at a worksite way, way deep into Saul. The Airport group not only did the flooring for a new home, but also got all the exterior walls up. All in just two days nonetheless! The group in Saul made a new deck, and, I believe, did some work on the windows. But don't quote me on that. We've had the youth group from St. Bart's last summer, but these are all new adults. They heard good things about Housing Development Alliance and wanted to help out. We hope they had a good time these two days and want to see them again, maybe for a longer period of time.

We also had two volunteers from First Federal State and Loan return to R. Wallen's home to landscape. I even had the pleasure of helping plant the flowers and bushes. Which, I might add, is a task I haven't done in a very long time. This completes Wallen's new home and she simply adores it. Everyone who worked on that house did a great job.

And, finally, we had a big shock today when our Construction Coordinator, John Rudd, had to have an emergency appendectomy. The pain came very suddenly and we were very concerned when he had to be rushed to the hospital. Fortunately, the surgery was successful and John Rudd is alright. For the time being, though, please keep him and his family in your thoughts. We hope to see him alive and kicking soon. (He'll probably kill me for even mentioning him in our blog.)

from the ground floor to the open sky.

2010-07-30T14:21:00.005-04:00

Today is St. Philip's last day. They have finished raking and seeding the ground of the Airport home and have nailed down all the trusses at the house in Defiance. The girls I mentioned before also made a third animal friend. That dog and those two cats are sure going to miss their company.

The group seems to have had a great time volunteering with us in Perry County. They enjoyed working with the carpenters, singing with the First Presbyterian Church, and worshiping at our Mother of Good Counsel Church. They even had time to enjoy the beautiful Buckhorn Lake. By the end of today, they're all going to be pretty exhausted, but I suspect that they loved every minute of it. HDA wants wish St. Philip a safe trip back home to Ohio and (as always) we hope to see them again next Summer. They were great, even the kids--er, the teenagers.

pettin' in the hills

2010-07-27T15:44:00.004-04:00

St. Philip the Apostle Church from Morrow, Ohio is volunteering with us this week. It's a sort of family affair. The three teenagers in the group get to work side-by-side with their parents, which I think is pretty cool. It's nice when a family can work together for a good cause. We placed them in two locations: the Airport and Defiance. At the Airport, four of the volunteers were raking rocks in order to plant grass for a new home. This is usually the most tedious project we have, but there were no complaints. In fact, the two girls at the site made friends with a local's dog. Yesterday, they had made friends with R. Wallens' kitten. They just have a gift with animals, I guess.

When the midday rain poured down, however, the Airport group met up with the Defiance group roofing. One individual was originally frightened of the height, but courageously faced her fear and climbed up. After today, she's going to have many many photos to show friends and family. Tomorrow is their day off, and they sure have earned it. The new house in Defiance is almost ready for shingling and much earth has been raked in efforts to make lawns.

On a more personal note, yesterday was awful. I started off the morning by backing the jeep into a tree. The only noticeable damage was a dent in the trunk, but it still sucks. And of course, most of the carpenters were there to see it take place. I will never live this down. Then Jane Rose and I had used an industrial-strength pipe cleaner in the Mission Cottage--the kind where you need to wear gloves and face masks and all that) and ended up spending half the day surrounded by the aroma of rotten eggs. It made me feel so sick. So, that's why this blog is a day late. Sorry! St. Philip has been a fun group to work with, so everything's all better. That's it for now! Take it easy, y'all!

Free Lunch!

2010-07-23T17:30:00.004-04:00

[No, this is not an offer for a free lunch---gotchya!]

The portion of the First Presbyterian Church from Kissimmee, FL at the Airport has gotten all the exterior walls and most (if not all) the interior walls of the new home. Our carpenters were extremely impressed with how well the girls worked, even in the extreme heat. Our carpenter, Steve, was so proud of his group that he even took them to a free lunch that was being held at the Home Lumber Company in Hazard. The other half in Leatherwood had begun to shingle the roof of S. Caudill (and maybe even safely fell through it once or twice), but the heat was excruciating in the afternoon, and they had to call it quits early. Sai la vie. They were all great sports, and, apparently, had a fantastic time. They're already scheduling another week for next Summer. See you in June, guys! Have a safe trip back to Florida! Enjoy Disney World for me!

Pullen Memorial Baptist Church has been working on G. Hollon's home in Happy, KY. They built her a brand new ramp, dug a small irrigation ditch, and replaced a window with a new door! They also gave the homeowner some much needed company. We're finding that listening to some of our older homeowners is, in itself, a service. They too had to take many breaks due to the heat, but that didn't stop them from working their butts off. When I asked their carpenter, Anthony, how had he liked his volunteer group this week, he said, "Boy, they were great workers. I hope they come back." ...Or something to that extent. Anyway, we hope to see them again next year for their fourth trip to Hazard!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Raise high the roof beams, Carpenters!

2010-07-19T15:30:00.005-04:00

Pullen Memorial Baptist Church from Raleigh, NC is back for their THIRD Summer with us! We're all excited to have them back. They have such a great work ethic and a great sense of humor. Their two work groups are being divided between a site at R. Wallens, which requires clearing irrigation ditches and creating new banisters for the outdoor ramp. The other half is at the Napier home in Happy, KY. They're painting the exterior for next few days.

First Presbyterian Church from Kissimmee, FLORIDA is also here here with 4 adults, 6 teenage girls and one teenage guy. I don't know whether to congratulate the guy or worry for him. They're divided between a shingling site at Defiance and another roof job in Leatherwood. On a humid day like today, that working on the roof is quite the chore. At first, the group leaders were concerned that the girls wouldn't want to get on any roofs, but they don't seem to have any problem with it. Way to impress the adults, ladies! You show 'em!

California, here we come/ right back where we started from

2010-07-15T14:40:00.006-04:00

(yes, that's a reference to the show "The OC." Love it or hate it, the lyrics are pretty relevant, I think.)

On Tuesday, Stone Church and First Christian of Bowling Green DOC switched worksites. The group of kids that worked on J. Miniard's home moved over to Defiance and our Californians moved in. Miniard loved having the ladies to talk to and they sure loved hearing her incredible life stories. The work group that was at the insulating a house at the Airport on Tuesday, began another project at the Perry Park. The kids at Defiance are helping our carpenters with roofing, and all is well with the world. Today was hotter and more humid than the past few days, so it was impressive to see young kids (most of them middle schoolers) climbing up and down the roof like it was nothing.

Both groups took Wednesday off to do their own thing. First Christian went white water rafting in Corbin and the Stone Church went to Cumberland Falls. I'm envious of both. However, almost everyone at Corbin got some pretty bad sunburns... Let this be a lesson to everyone, WEAR SUNSCREEN. Seriously.

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to make it out J. Miniard's home today to check up on Stone Church. The car that I have been driving started having problems and I had to come back. I just have the best luck with our vehicles, I'll tell you what. Last summer I dinged up the new truck (my fault), busted our old van in a irrigation ditch (NOT my fault), and now this (hopefully, not my fault.) That being said, if you ever need someone to drive your new vehicle around, just give me a call. Just kidding.

Everyone seems to be having a great time. The Californians love the experiences they've had in Appalachia and the kids like to observe the scenery. Stone Church has been extremely interested in taking a tour of a coal mine, and it looks like they've planned one early tomorrow morning. That should be really fun! We're glad that they chose to fly all the way across the country to volunteer with us, and we hope to see them again in the future. The same goes for First Christian...just make sure to wear plenty of sunscreen, ok? ;-)

Oh, one more thing, I have been challenged to try and raise 500 fans on Facebook by the end of the Summer. That means I need YOU to help spread word of HDA and our wonderful cause. Pretty please? Housing Development Alliance is also now a recognized as a charity on the search engine, Goodsearch.com. Every time you make a search, a small amount of money goes to our charity. Try it out!

Question: Why did the family of ducks cross the road?

2010-07-12T16:15:00.004-04:00

Answer: To aggravate me.

I swear, those ducks were just sitting in the road to annoy me.

Anyway, it's time for updates! As I said before First Christian Church of Bowling Green DOC and Stone Church of Willow Glen are here with us this week. Although all their worksites are located in Perry County, they're about as spread out as can be. One of the groups from First Christian followed their carpenters to a site 45 minutes away in a deep holler near Buckhorn Lake. Once there, they began to install insulation in a home, while the homeowner, J. Miniard, regaled the kids with funny stories. The other part of the Church was initially sent to Walkertown school to cut the overgrown plants around the playground, but the rain forced them to retreat to other sites. Half went to R. Wallen's to start filling gambion baskets with rocks, which will help prevent mudslides. The other portion met up with the crew from Stone Church at Defiance. Both the churches worked together to prepare the new house for roofing and did a great job. It appears that there might be some groups switching sites, so I'll make sure to keep you all informed.

I'm tired of writing blog titles based off what the weather is like.

2010-07-09T13:30:00.003-04:00

Throughout the course of this week, South Elkhorn Christian Church managed to raise all the exterior and interior walls of the new house in Defiance. It looks awesome and everyone was so chipper the entire time. The excessive heat was a mere obstacle to them. Kind of. The group was so interested in the Hazard area. They went to all of our best restaurants, visited the Perry Park, and generally explored the communities. They even graciously took me out to dinner at one of our Mexican Restaurants! Boo-yah! Thanks for that, guys! It's been raining all day here, and mostly likely Lexington, so we hope that they have a safe drive home.

This next week, we have two groups coming in. First Christian Church from Bowling Green, KY will be arriving on Sunday. But our other group, Stone Church of Willow Glen, is flying in tonight from San Jose, California. CALIFORNIA! That's so sweet! It's neat that churches from across the company are aware of our organization in little ol' Hazard, Kentucky. The word is slowly spreading! Could it be because of our Facebook page? Hmm... Anyway, we'll be here to welcome them as well as First Christian. I'll keep you all updated on how the week goes. See ya later, alligators.

Happy belated 4th of July, y'all!

2010-07-07T09:17:00.002-04:00

Hey everyone, sorry I've been slacking on blogging. I should probably get you caught up on our new group from South Elkhorn Christian Church, huh? They're from Lexington, KY and they were here last summer. They also fell in love with our carpenter, Steve and requested him again for this week's project up in Defiance. The group of seven are doing the project I love most: framing. They arrived yesterday and immediately got to work. They finished the floors and should start building the walls later today. Unfortunately, it has been extremely hot these past few days. Yesterday had a heat index past 100 degrees, and today also has a heat advisory. They outlasted the blazing sun and celebrated by going swimming once they got back. South Elkhorn seems excited for this week and that's exactly what we at HDA like to see.

I hope you all had a great weekend and saw plenty of fireworks! I sure did.

Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho! It's home from work we go!

2010-06-30T16:09:00.003-04:00

American Reformed Church has narrowed down to only three work sites. The Airport gang has been speeding along with the new house. In two and a half days, they have raised the walls, planted the trusses, and will soon be shingling. Our carpenters are honestly impressed. There is a group still at R. Wallen's home and they have been leveling/digging the ground straight, dug a trench for pipes, and they painted the foundation. But the group(s) in Defiance have, probably, the hardest task of the three. For three days now, they have been shoveling and raking the foundation floors of two houses in the beginning stage. Under the hot sun, with practically no shade, the Defiance group trudged on. Despite the tedious work, everyone seemed to be feeling some satisfaction at the end of the day. And we value their hard work and dedication more than anything. There's some definite chemistry between the volunteers and their carpenters. American Reformed Church has one more day of work and then they get to party at King's Island on Friday! Woo!

In other news, First Federal Savings and Loan of Hazard, KY partnered with the Housing Development Alliance, and participated with the Federal Home Loan Bank’s “Affordable Housing Program.” As part of this, they agreed to do some landscaping and labor on a construction day yesterday. They also painted R. Wallen’s home and completed the final cleaning. It was hot, but they did an awesome job! We thank them for their labor and partnership.

are you kidding me?!

2010-06-28T16:13:00.004-04:00

American Reformed Church from De Motte, IN are with us this week. We have 5 work sites: One at the Airport, where the group is framing a new house. One at Defiance, leveling the ground for a new home. One group is helping C. Gross add support to her deck, while the group at L. Miller's home is installing new windows. The last group has been cutting the lawn and clearing the brush for A. Bank's home. This is the second year that American Reformed Church has spent with us, and we sure are glad that they came back. Everyone appears to have had a great first day, with a wide variety of activities to do. And what would a first day be without an intruding rainshower?

This morning, the news predicted a 50% chance of showers for today. Jane Rose automatically dreaded the groups being washed out. I, trying to be optimistic, reminded her that there was also a 50% chance that it would not rain. Guess who was right. The showers began around 2:00pm, not leaving much of a work day left for the groups, so they all eventually returned to the church. Jane--Er, I mean, Janeeeeeeee--and I were on our way to visit Defiance, so I called up one of the carpenters at the worksite.

Me: Hey, Daniel, are you guys still at the site?
Daniel: Where else would we be?
Me: So, you guys haven't been rained out yet?
Daniel: No, it was raining, but it's stopped.
Me: So...you'll still be working when I get there?
Daniel: Yeah, there's a bit of blue sky up here still.
Me: Alright, we'll be right over.
Daniel: See ya then.

And as we made our way to Defiance, the rain began to pour and the lightning began to freak me out. The storm was following us. And who do we see leaving the site just as we pull up? The group. Fantastic. And on the way back to Hazard, the rain stops and the a bit of blue sky returns. It's all a sick joke, I tell ya.

a cool day to end off this hot week.

2010-06-25T14:23:00.004-04:00

Hey everyone! Well, we lucked out today with the weather. All week long (except for a few scattered showers) the temperature and humidity has been out of control! Especially for those work groups that have spent afternoons digging ditches or shingling roof tops. Today was nice, for a change. Cloudy skies and low temps are making these last day jobs easier.

The North Shore groups are just about done with the small buildings they both have been individually working on. One is going to be used as a toolshed, but I'll tell ya something, that's got to be the best looking toolshed I've ever seen. The other group is working on a small home that has a beautiful overlook of the Appalachian Mountains. Both of the North Shore groups worked hard, and were very open to new experiences (Good job getting on the roof, guys! Even if it was just one time. I can know how much heights can suck.) But it seems like everyone is ready for home and I can't blame them. Everyone deserves a nice air-conditioned couch after a week of such hard work. We hope that they have a safe trip home and come back next year!

Ft. Thomas has had a hard week too! They've been all over Perry County, helping paint homes, underpinning new homes, and digging ditches for Walkertown Elementary school. One group even started painting the bathrooms for the new and improved Hazard baseball diamond at the Perry County Park. Despite the wasps and broken cell phones and near-disasters with the heat, HDA is proud to announce that the entire church group has survived! As Jane Rose once said, "They sure are a scrappy bunch, aren't they? They just got in there and did it!" They're tired, but every time I visited their work sites, the kids were always smiling. Especially this little guy:At the beginning of the week, he waited for the vultures to come get him. By today, however, he appears to be having a fun time at the work site. He even made friends with another youngster who lives near the site at the Airport. He should remember his time here for a very long time. Hopefully, everyone will. Our carpenters truly enjoyed working with Ft. Thomas, and we hope that the volunteers recognize the difference that they have made in our community. We'll see you all real soon, right? RIGHT?! Right.

to bee or not to bee.

2010-06-22T15:51:00.003-04:00

Ft. Thomas has had a few problems these first few days. These first two days, one group has continually been attacked by an army of wasps. The group defeated the monsters with the help of six, count 'em SIX, cans of wasp spray. In addition to this obstacle, a young girl lost her cell phone at the work site in Defiance. She had kept her phone on the cinder-block wall in the early morning, when she accidentally knocked it over, and it plummeted down a 2-feet deep gap. No one could reach it with their bare hands. You should've seen the imaginative tools they created to pry the cell phone out. After an hour and a half, our carpenter, Daniel, skillfully rescued the phone. Well, he got it anyway. A bowlful of rice will prove just how successful they were at saving the device. I just wanted to assure everyone that everyone is just fine and working hard.

North Shore has been doing a great job too. Although both groups have been doing different projects, somehow they both will be shingling different roofs by Thursday. Some are more excited than others about being on top of the roofs, but our carpenters will make sure that everyone is safe.

Both groups are taking tomorrow off, so that's all the news I have for you right now. Don't fret, people of the net.

You need a shower. A RAIN shower.

2010-06-21T16:21:00.006-04:00

This week, we have volunteers from both First Presbyterian Church of Ft. Thomas, KY and the North Shore Presbyterian Church from Milwaukee, WI. Ft. Thomas has quite a few projects all over Perry County. The have work groups at the local Walkertown Elementary School digging ditches for water pipes, construction on a new home out in Defiance, painting the outside of G. Christian's home, and the last group is cementing a new driveway in the Airport area.

North Shore has two groups divided between paneling & flooring for the home of E .D. Clemons, and another constructing a deck and out building for H. Campbell. It has been an incredibly hot day and each volunteer is ready to spend the evening relaxing at the Pavilion. In order to get the party started, Mother Nature decided to send some rain our way right at the perfect time--closing time. Enjoy this perfectly-timed thunderstorm, everyone! I best be leaving before our power gets shut off again.

the last day.

2010-06-18T15:22:00.005-04:00

It's Friday and all the groups are finishing up their work. There have been so many projects throughout the week, I'll struggle to remember all of them.

Overbrook Presbyterian only had 5 volunteers, so we were able to put them at one work location on a new airport house. Throughout the week, they completed the roof of the new building and shingled it all. Despite the heat, they assured me that they loved being high up on that roof. I was impressed with their work and hope they come back with more hard-working people!

Little Cedar Presbyterian was separated into 4 different worksites. One "landscaped" for a new home, another did roofing, and the last group painted the exterior of a home. They had a tough time with the hot temperature of Eastern Kentucky, but they worked through it (with a few spare trips for extra water). The kids seemed to have a good time, but they're ready to head back. I can't blame them. This week has been hot and hard, but we really appreciate their dedication.

The last group was Hill-Murray School divided into 4 work crews. They did demolition and construction of a deck, painted various houses, dug ditches for water pipes, and also "landscaped". They were one of the most organized groups that HDA has seen in a long while. Everything scheduled right down to the minute. Despite the two trips to the ER (don't worry, no serious serious injuries occurred), this school worked hard and had a good time. I heard laughter in every site. They've spent summers with us before, and we expect to see them again.

Anyway, this week has been crazy busy and I'm pooped. I'm going to start off this weekend with a long, long nap. Have a good weekend, y'all!

Busy, busy, busy

2010-06-14T16:47:00.002-04:00

First Presbyterian of South Boston, Virginia successfully finished their week. They got the walls and trusses up on the new house at the Airport and made a new deck for the home in Knott County. We hope they had a great time helping our community, and we thank them for all their hard work. We hope to see them again next year!

Now, this week is extremely crazy. We have 3 groups visiting us on the same week: Overbrook Presbyterian Church from Columbus, Ohio, Little Cedar Presbyterian from Little York, Illinois, and Hill-Murray School from Maplewood, Minnesota. Grand total, you ask? A whopping 69 volunteers scattered about in 9 work sites. Insane, right? Needless to say, everyone, and I mean everyone is busy this week maintaining the groups. In light of that fact, my blogs are going to be scarce and extremely abstract this week. There is no way that I can report on each worksite in depth every few days. I won't be posting any photos either, but all of them will be on Facebook by the end of the week. I know you must all be so terribly disappointed.

Anyway, this week started off pretty bumpy. Miscommunication, unfortunate-timed rain storms, an asthma attack, and repeated trips to the paint supply store have left us all (staff and volunteers both) pretty exhausted. Cross your fingers for a smoother rest of the week, people. Cross 'em good!

How Can It Be Raining AND Humid?

2010-06-10T15:23:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, the weather couldn't make up its mind about what it wanted to do. Off-and-on showers all day. While the house-building group out in the airport had to call it quits, the others trudged on in Knott County finishing deck rails and siding the home. First Presbyterian of South Boston, Virginia has faced multiple obstacles this week, but each person had a smile all the way through them. Two of our volunteers had to leave do to illness, but they accomplished plenty for us (Thanks for the new sink, Carl!). Some of you might know already, but HDA has bought another Mission Cottage--this one located on the RIGHT side of the church. This new addition, however, requires a bunch of repairs. The rained-out individuals did us the favor of fixing up as much as they could. They bought the cottage a new microwave, fixed the doors, installed bathroom hooks, and planted flowers for the porch.

First Presbyterian has one more day left. The Knott County group has finished the deck (complete with railing and steps) and are very close to finishing the siding. The Airport group has gotten all the house walls up, and are currently putting in the supporting beams. If all goes according to plan, they'll be working on the roof tomorrow. Let's pray it doesn't rain!

deck the halls

2010-06-08T16:15:00.004-04:00

First Presbyterian Church from Virginia has finally arrived! Although the group is relatively small (7 people), we are dividing them between 2 jobs. One group is framing a house at the airport. Framing has always been my favorite house-raising phase, so I thought I would help out. Sure enough, I bust my thumb 30 minutes later. Wonderful. I was, or was not, acting like a baby about it. Luckily, our volunteers avoided having a similar fate. The house crew sure seemed to be having fun, despite the severe lack of shade. Clear across to Knott County, the other half of First Presbyterian is helping rebuild a woman's deck and replacing the siding on her home. They almost completed the whole deck yesterday, and have built railings for it today. Despite how fast they're moving through the work, jokes are tossed left and right about who hasn't been working hard enough. It's always nice to have a volunteer group that can maintain a humorous atmosphere while still working hard to accomplish something great. That's all I have for now. We will have more photos to post soon. In fact, we will be adding photos to the group's facebook profile throughout their week here. I have been told that friends and family from the Church are eagerly awaiting for facebook photos, so my intentions for creating the page are finally reaching fruition! Sweet!

Awake O Blogger, arise from the dead

2010-06-01T14:14:00.004-04:00

The HDA blog is finally back! I, John, will once again be updating you on the latest news with the Alliance. Glancing through the volunteer groups scheduled to serve the Hazard area, I recognize a few names from last summer. We can't wait to see you again!

Well, where to start? I guess with the basics. Jane Rose is our new Volunteer Coordinator, and she has been busy planning the volunteers for the next few months. She has high goals for the summer, including a week in June where we will be juggling 75 volunteers at the same time! Phew. She's had a fun time working with HDA and is ready for more.

I have completed my junior year in college and have just celebrated my 21st birthday (woooo!). Although I enjoyed my studies immensely, I am so ready to substitute the daily grind of writing papers and taking exams for meeting new people and helping the community. In addition to being Janie's assistant, I am also being used for my social networking skills. I would not say I'm tech-savvy, but I know my way around Facebook--which is just what the Alliance wants. For those of you who follow us on Facebook (which should be ALL of you), I am the cause for the flood of information on your newsfeed. Sorry. My bad. We're just excited for the events to come and to share our accomplishments with everyone else with the hope of inspiring others to help volunteer with us later. If you haven't "liked" us on Facebook yet, you really should.

Next week, First Presbyterian from Virginia will be visiting. They will be my first group in a whole year! Hopefully, I can quickly get back into the swing of things. Until then, I have nothing else to report. Have a good summer everyone!

This blog has moved

2010-04-30T10:29:00.001-04:00

This blog is now located at http://housingdevelopmentalliance.blogspot.com/.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://housingdevelopmentalliance.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello.

2009-08-07T14:13:00.002-04:00

Unfortunately, the time has come for me to leave the Housing Development Alliance. School starts again in a few weeks, and I need to get ready. Charlotte will also be leaving to teach at a new school. This has been a somber week for us, hasn't it? First Kelly, now us.

I would just like to say that this has been an amazing experience for me. Being the Volunteer Coordinator's Assistant has honestly been a summer job I could have only dreamed of. I have met many amazing people, explored new Kentucky territory, learned about construction and public relations. Most of all, however, working for the Housing Development Alliance has made me more optimistic about my home. Before this job, I was a complainer and extremely skeptical of Hazard. I ignored all the flourishing aspects of the community, and focused on the wreckage. I now notice the smiles that surround me, and the friendly gestures granted to me day-in and day-out. I now appreciate the beauty of Appalachia, despite its faults.

"I want to thank everyone."-the typical response of a celebrity who has just won an award, and which sounds so cheesy at the time, but actually has some truth in it. I really do want to thank everyone. From my friendly (and often forgiving) co-workers who taught me the ropes of office work, to the enthusiastic carpenters who taught me "man's work". The homeowners taught me compassion, while the volunteers taught me patience. And responsiblity. Every week, the latest volunteer group leader tells me "We've learned so much!" Just as often, a teary-eyed homeowner would gently hold my hand and say, "You have no idea how much this means to me." The truth is, I have learned more from them, and they have meant more to me. I am a better person because of the people I have met, and the loving mission they strived for. I wish the best of luck to each one of 'em, and I can only hope that they will do the same for me.

Except the Alliance's GM Van. That demon-possessed vehicle can kiss my you-know-what.

Gratefully yours, John Rasche.

The Last Hoorah.

2009-08-07T11:51:00.002-04:00

I may have jumped the gun a little bit with my expectations for the Monticello group. They were beginning to nail down the roof boards this morning. They may not be able to finish the shingles, but they'll hopefully begin to start them. It's their last day, and they are mighty proud of the work they've done. Despite infectious spider bites, blisters, burns, and language barriers (as in difficulty with the Appalachian dialect), they have all had a great time. But I bet their sore muscles will be glad to go back home.

"I'm driving the struggle bus today."

2009-08-06T16:00:00.002-04:00

That hilarious, and extremely odd, statement was made by a disgruntled volunteer who was having a tough time driving a nail into a 2x4. I laughed, but something tells me that perhaps it wasn't the best encouragement. Anyway, the entire Monticello group was able to work together on the same site: Defiance. It was interesting to see how all these various people, with extremely different personalites, were able to construct so effectively. You really should have seen these guys. In the morning, only the foundations were set. By noon, all the exterior walls, and most interior, were already up. By the time I left, a truck load of trusses was arriving. For all I know, they could be installing the cable television as I speak. Not really. But really.

Although it was a really foggy day, we all lucked out. Today, there was a 40% chance of rain, and the slight majority prevailed. If all goes according to plan, the whole group will be nailing the shingles on the roof by the end of tomorrow. Either way, Monticello has had a great week, and I'm sure they will have a memorable last day.

And I just have to say, some of these guys (and girls, if I MUST be politically correct) were wearing some great bright colored t-shirts that contrasted perfectly with the gloomy grey sky. I wanted to take a picture of the full rainbow spectrum of their t-shirts: Red to pink to yellow to green to darker green to blue--but they were just too darn busy. But I think it would've been cool. Real cool.

-John (a.k.a. "New Boy" a.k.a. "Butters" a.k.a. "Stop-Calling-Me-Nicknames")

Hammerin' in the Rain

2009-08-05T08:08:00.004-04:00

The Monticello Christian Church from Indiana is with us this week, and have been busy with various tasks. Half the group spent time constructing the foundations for a home in Defiance, then moved to B. Cornett's in order to paint her bathroom and replace an old cement platform. Cornett is a sweetheart, and the group loved spending time with her. Then, because of a sudden downpour and Flash Flood warnings, the group skidattled to the Pavilion and helped paint the main hall. Now, they're back in Defiance and are eager to do more construction. I swear, one volunteers even yelled "YES!" this morning when he was told the good news. Talk about being a morning person.

The other half of Monticello did some home repair for G. Williams' home. They stained his stairs, and a few other chores, before the vicious storm flew them to Hazard High School. There they cleaned up classrooms, hallways, and basically helped the school get ready for the new herd of students in the Fall.

The weather outside looks pretty ominous, but the forecast predicts that the rainy clouds will pass over by noon. Let's cross our fingers that Mother Nature will allow our volunteers to work uninterrupted. Are you listening, Mother Nature? Let my people work!

-John (seriously, who else would it be?)

big changes.

2009-08-03T13:47:00.003-04:00

Sorry it's been so long without an update everyone. I was on vacation at Lake George, New York for the past week.

So, first thing's first. Kelly Sizemore no longer works with the Housing Development Alliance. She was recently offered a great opportunity in her home state of Indiana, and she accepted. Let me tell you, it was a strange feeling coming back to work without my boss there to update me on what the heck's going on. It's only been a few days, but everyone already misses Kelly. She was a great asset to our organization, but the show must go on.

So, here's what's happened in the past week and a half:

The Pullen Memorial Baptist Church finished working on the Wells' and Maggard' households, and ended their week by repairing an apartment in the Jardigan complex. I was only able to spend a few days with their group, but I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with them. They are all loving, caring people, and I hope they visit Hazard again.

Unfortunately, I was not able to meet the next group from Aspen Hill Christian Church, who tore off and rebuilt G. Williams' roof . It was a hot week, so the group had to constantly cool themselves down--as is evident by the photo. Once they finished the roof, the group went on to clean Jardigan Place,

Eversole Elementary, and the Hazard Pavillion. Kelly and Charlotte took quite a few photos of the group, and I can tell that they all had a lot of fun. Not only that, but they accomplished A LOT. With the start of the new school season just around the corner, it'll be great to have all these "hang out" spots ready to go.

Anyway, that's all for now. Sorry I skimmed over so much, but I feel a shorter blog is more bearable than a longer one. And once again, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me. This is John Rasche. Over-and-out.

The Missing Blogger

2009-07-21T16:30:00.001-04:00

A Message from Tyler Fox, a local volunteer!

2009-07-21T16:12:00.003-04:00

The blog will explode 5 secs after you read It so turn off your screen!Please and whoever reads it first will get a hotdog.I get a hotdog Yea!

Here's Some Pictures of Pullen Memorial from today:

2009-07-21T16:07:00.002-04:00

Pullen Memorial Baptist Church

2009-07-20T13:24:00.002-04:00

Charlotte & I have been looking forward to this group all summer. We just love Pullen and feel very, very blessed to have them in Hazard again this year.

As you may know, our primary lodging partner for this program is First Presbyterian Church of Hazard. Hosting our volunteers is such an integral part of their mission as a church that they are actually renovating their building to be more volunteer-friendly (e.g., more bathrooms and yes, showers!). First Presbyterian includes a short blurb about each volunteer group in their Sunday bulletin. Here's an excerpt from last Sunday's bulletin on Pullen Memorial:

"Pullen Memorial was founded in 1884, just eight years before our own congregation in 1892. The congregation is under the wing of the American Baptist Church and is strongly mission-minded. They have been leaders in Raleigh in issues of racial reconciliation. In 1956, they declared themselves open to all people no matter their race... In 1984, Pullen, an almost all white congregation, established a sister church relationship with Martin Street Baptist Church, an almost all black congregation. They also have a sister church relationship with First Baptist Church in Mantanzas, Cuba. They sponsor Emmaus House, a residence for men who have no homes and are making the transition to financial stability."

As you can imagine, this church produces some passionate leaders. This week, Pullen is working on two home repairs in the county very close to one another, continuing the work of Old Union Christian Church at the Maggard room addition, and the work of South Elkhorn Christian Church at the Wells painting/porches projects. We'll post pictures soon!

--Kelly.

House Raising Challenge: Day Five

2009-07-20T07:33:00.002-04:00

a storm's a-brewin'

2009-07-16T14:52:00.002-04:00

You see those dark clouds out there? Well, no, I guess you can't. But believe me, there are some pretty threatening clouds "out yonder." Hopefully, the groups finish up their projects before they get rained out.
Today, I drove by Maggard's home near Vicco, and helped some of the Old Union Christian Church volunteers paint the outside of her trailer. I missed their first few days, but was glad to see that everyone was having a good time. Even a vicious, and completely uncalled-for, wasp bite couldn't ruin their fun.

As you can see, Maggard lives in a very wooded area. She wanted her trailer painted in natural, organic looking colors so as to blend into the scenery.

The rest of the group was fixing up a new room that has been added to Maggard's home. I didn't spend too much time in there with them, so to be perfectly honest, I'm not quite sure what the were doing. But as you can see, there were wires and switches and drills and it looks like serious business, if you ask me. (don't ask me).

Unfortunately, Old Union will not be able to paint the last coat for the trailer, but they sure have done a lot of work for it. They're going back home to Lexington TONIGHT, so let's hope bad weather doesn't follow them all the way back.

I actually have to go take their group photo right now, so I's best be leavin'. Talk to you later, people of the web.

-John.

House Raising Challenge: Day Four

2009-07-16T14:47:00.002-04:00

House Raising Challenge: Day Three

2009-07-15T16:50:00.004-04:00

"Oh boy, here's another one of John's long blogs..."

2009-07-15T10:22:00.002-04:00

Hey guys! Guess what? I can now add a Jeep to the list of cars I've driven for HDA. Not too shabby.

Anyway, we were delighted to have First Presbyterian Church from Normal, IL and the South Elkhorn Church from Lexington, KY this week.

First Presbyterian helped with the framing of Slusser's new home (a photo which I posted a few blogs ago), backfilled for the Kilburn-Combs lot, and repaired part of Wooten's house. Backfilling can be tough, I know, but it's a good work out. Just look at these guys digging away. And isn't this a great photo? Kudos to Charlotte, my fellow Volunteer assistant, who is apparently more apt to taking artistic photos than I am. But check out this neat picture I got of some of the members setting a fancy new linoleum floor for Wooten: I know what you're thinking, 'But John, how are they lifting a blanket of rocks? Could this be magic?' well, BAM, they're not really rocks. They just look like rocks, silly. I've never seen a rock-styled linoleum floor before. It was a fine choice. Anyway, the First Presbyterian group seemed to have a great time. It seemed a nice break from the city life for them. Hazard certainly isn't Normal. (see what I did there?)

The South Elkhorn Volunteer Group helped out at the Wells' home with some exterior painting, and porch construction. This really is "Hammerin' in the Hills". The group was only with us for three days, but we hope they had a memorable experience. Since they only live 2 hours away, we expect to see them again someday. Especially, since they look soooo good in safety goggles.

But enough about this, how is everyone? Are you, the loyal blog readers, enjoying the blog? If you have any suggestions as to how to make this blog better, feel free to contact me via facebook (I'm the admin for the page). And yes, I know, the photos come out a little screwy and unorganized. Blogger is more complicated than you think, man.

-John.

House Raising Challenge: Day Two

2009-07-14T17:46:00.003-04:00

House Raising Challenge: Day One

2009-07-14T17:34:00.003-04:00

Here's some photos of the days progress!!

Sorry folks, this is gonna be a long one.

2009-07-08T11:09:00.003-04:00

Geez, I have a lot of catching up to do. The past week has been so busy, I haven't had much time to post. Well I do now! So sit back and enjoy. I know you all love reading these so much.

Faith CRC had worksites all over the place. The group working in Defiance underwent the most grueling work, I think. Most of the week they were picking and shoveling and lifting dirt. It was tough, let me tell you. The even guilted me into helping them. Can you believe that? Most of the office couldn't believe their ears when they heard that "New Boy" picked up a mattock. For the record, people, I do work. I'm just more of the...behind-the-scenes kinda guy.

Another group helped rebuild Greene's shed. It was really fun to watch, and I even made a few sorry attempts at helping. By the time we had completed the project, Steve (their goofy carpenter---who claims that his nickname is "Big Daddy"), realized that the group had enough leftover materials to put shelves in the shed. So they did it, and they looked great. But then...(duh-duh-duuuuh)...the homeowner wasn't able to fit in her weight set. So the shelves had to come down. Sorry guys.

Oh! And we can't forget about Angie from Michigan!

Every time I came up to check on things, she was always hard at work. Wearing safety goggles and ear plugs like a pro.

Now, it's First Presbyterian Church (from Normal, IL) and South Elkhorn Church's time to help our community. I visited one of the 1st Pres groups working on a home for Slusher. When they first got to the site, there was nothing but a flat floor overlooking the valley below. In a few days, they've managed to put up both the interior and exterior walls. Things are coming along just fine.

Anyway, I've got to skiddaddle. I'll post more updates on the other groups later. Adios!

Six days until the House Raising Challenge!

2009-07-07T15:29:00.005-04:00

Next week, First Presbyterian Church of Salisbury North Carolina will take on the House Raising Challenge!!

In just one week the group will frame floors, walls, set trusses, shingle the roof, and leave the house ready for plumbing and electrical. Every day will bring new projects with new challenges and lessons for the group-- and their hard work will be very visible as the house raises before their own eyes. Keep your browsers peeled for daily picture updates!

The family of six will be moving out of their two bedroom trailer into the home shortly after the House Raising. We can't wait to welcome them home.

--Kelly.

T.G.Y.T.

2009-07-02T15:48:00.009-04:00

I have already stated, multiple times, how great the Housing Development Alliance volunteer program is. But don't just take my word for it. Here are two interesting testimonials taken from some of our volunteers. You'd probably believe them more than you would me, right?

As Stephanie Visser tirelessly shovels dirt out of the foundations for a new home in the town of Defiance, she stops a second to catch her breath. She casually uses the back of her hand to wipe away the perspiration that has accumulated on her forehead. Stephanie makes a remark on the heat, and turns to look at her fellow Faith CRC volunteers. Their laughs are intermingled with heavy breathing, and they all gaze longingly at the shaded patch of lawn 30 feet away from them. Before picking up her shovel and digging again, Stephanie turns around and stands awe-struck at the natural beauty around her. "I love the scenery here, it's beautiful, you really don't see anything like this in Chicago," she says just as she buries the spade back into the earth.

For many, the scenery alone is worth the hard work. For others, it's about helping people.

Angie VanArnam came all the way down here from Michigan just so that she could help the Hazard community. "I was looking for an opportunity to serve God and people," Angie explains, "[and to] escape from all the stresses we imagine in our daily lives; to help someone in real poverty, and with real problems." Angie came as an individual looking for some volunteer work, but she enjoyed being an addition to Faith CRC. "As part of a team, we got a lot done." Angie had a lot of fun, and we're hoping to see her again really soon.

Well, it's pay-day, and we have the day off tomorrow, so I'm pretty excited. It's been a busy week. I'm going to nap like you've never seen before. Happy 4th of July, patriots!

And yes, I did over-romantacize Stephanie's story, but the statement is all true. Pardon my creative writing.

blogging hard, or hardly blogging?

2009-06-29T16:06:00.003-04:00

Hello again! This week our visiting volunteers are from the Faith Christian Reformed Church in Chicago, Illinois. We also have a guest all the way from Michigan. Her name is Angie and she is really excited to be joining Faith CRC in helping our community.

Part of the group was sent to the Green family's home to tear down an old shed, and replace it with a new one. Their project is a perfect balance between destruction and creation. It's beautiful, really. As you can see, they just went at the cement blocks like angry apes, swinging sledgehammers and crowbars like nobody's business. I originally thought tearing down a big cement structure like that would take all day, but they did it in a few hours. Impressive.

Another division was sent to continue the work on the Patrick family's future home. They spent most of the day nailing siding to the walls, as you can see from the photo. Can you tell the difference between those who were really working, and who were just posing for the camera? If you can't, far be it for me to ruin the surprise.

Well, that's it for me. I'm sure I'll be talking to you again real soon.

North Shore, We Want More!

2009-06-26T10:15:00.004-04:00

This week, the North Shore Presbyterian Church from Wisconsin came to help us with a few projects. They started off the week roofing with the Carpenters on a house up in the backwoods of Perry County, and they loved it! The scenery was amazing, and they all looked great. Of course, being the genius that I am, I completely forgot about taking pictures of the spectacle. So you're just going to have to use your imagination.

However, I do have some photos to show you.

The grouped worked a few days at our Moore St. Duplex here in Hazard. They helped to dig an irrigation ditch for the house, so that it wouldn't get flooded the next time we have a huge thunder storm. The boys never seemed to grow tired of swinging those maddocks, but the girls were smart enough to stay in the shade. After all the work had been done, everyone decided to chillax in the ditch that they had dug. Let me tell you, that work that North Shore did at Moore St. was pretty difficult and strenuous, but they pushed on and did it nonetheless. Hopefully, they feel accomplished. Unfortunately, some of the volunteers became ill on the last day and were unable to finish it off. We hope that everyone is ok, and look forward to having them again.

-John.

2009-06-25T14:08:00.002-04:00

We here at Housing Development have quite an array of staff vehicles. Ranging from an ancient GM Van that smells like a barnyard, to stock-piled Carpenter trucks, to an abandoned Toyota, and finally to our brand new Ford pick-up. Since I started working here, I have contributed a few minor dents to the pick-up, as well as put the van in a coma for a while. As you can all imagine, my driving abilities earned quite the reputation. However, my luck changed yesterday morning, when we found our nearly-forgotten Honda heavily banged up in the parking lot. At first we thought someone might have tried to break in (which got us pretty excited for a little while). Turns out, our secretary, Tonya, moved the car and forgot to put the parking brake on. The car then slid off the pavement into the river below it, causing some pretty hefty damage to the front. When it was finally towed out, the back bumper was demolished too. And thanks to that mishap, my incidents are now old news. Phew.

Anyway, here are some photo updates!

We are currently working on building a new house for a man named Lonnie Maggard, and this is what the project currently looks like. Now, this might come as a surprise to both St. Joseph's and Pilgrim Fellowship who helped to establish the foundation, but were unable to witness its development.Central Presbyterian glady took up where the last groups left off, and helped raised the walls and hang the studs. Second Presbyterian (from Little Rock) were then able to get started on the roof. Now the house looks almost done, and I couldn't be more excited. This is the first house that I've seen constructed all the way through.

Central Christian and Second Presbyterian may cringe when they think back to those long hours spent raking rocks at the Airport community, but we promise that it was time well spent. Without that tedious task, a nice green lawn would not be possible. Although you might not see green right now, North Shore Presbyterian (from Wisconsin!) just finished covering the field with straw and grass seed. It just needs some time to grow. You got time, right?

Anyway, it's been a long day of paper work and typing, so I'm off to take a final group photo of North Shore. Blog you later!

-John.

Wooten update.

2009-06-23T08:34:00.007-04:00

This is the project that we started with Central Christian Church (Lexington, KY). Good news-- the toilet and bathroom floor is now are place. More good news-- her daughter comes home from the hospital today. I know the Wooten family appreciates all the support they received from Central Christian, both at home and in the hospital.

--Kelly

Fletcher update.

2009-06-23T08:23:00.004-04:00

St. Bartholomew started the Fletcher project with us last summer. What a great project that was. If you were here last summer and can't remember which site that was, I have two words for you: sauteed mushroom. (That's what we painted the exterior of the home.)

Before painting the home, it was scraped (by St. Bart's). We also put a new roof on the home, tore down a set of dilapidated steps, built a side porch, installed new drywall ceilings and walls in part of the house, and oh yeah, constructed an indoor bathroom (which they hadn't had the 21 years they lived in the home).

Besides the work, we all loved getting the know the Fletcher family. So we were really excited to take some members from St. Bart's out there last week to visit and catch up with the Fletcher family. The house was beautiful. I love the lime green walls in their new bathroom!

We really enjoyed the visit. Unfortunately, we did find out some bad news. Jackie has been in the hospital for 5 weeks after having a heart attack and stroke. Keep Jackie in your thoughts and prayers as he recovers.

--Kelly

St. Bartholomew Catholic Church is "one" with the rocks

2009-06-23T07:52:00.003-04:00

Around 40 tons of them. Remember the previous post about the CHALLENGE?

This was actually the second step to controlling the slip at the Combs site. Second Presbyterian Church of Little Rock completed the first steps when they stapled curlex into the mountainside and made the french drain. Now the Combs site has a rock basket retaining wall that will keep the mountain from falling into Arnold's backyard.

We were fortunate enough to host St. Bart's last year, too. They have a way of making the best out of whatever they are dealt. Tell them they're raking rocks out of a yard at the airport, or loading rocks into baskets at the Combs site-- Suzanne just chuckles and says "Oh yeah, we're one with the rocks." They're just glad to be put to work, and willing to do whatever we need of them. And that rocks.

When we say we assign volunteer projects based on open projects at the time of your stay, we mean just that. And this past week it just so happened to include lots of moving rocks, and thankfully St. Bart's was up for the challenge.

Of course there were other things St. Bart's was "one" with... like bad weather. But despite that they still accomplished quite a bit during their short week with us. Some other notable worksites included the flood cleanup in Bulan and the framing site for the future Patrick home.

I talked to Dan from Faith Christian Reformed Church (Tinley Park, IL) yesterday-- they will be joining us next week-- and I guess the flash flooding in Bulan made the news up there. St. Bartholomew contributed 81 volunteer hours to cleaning up one person's home affected by the flood. They filled many wheelbarrows with flood sludge from the basement, and cleaned up the mud that had piled up outside the home. On top of that, they even went through everything that had been in the basement, cleaning items and throwing away those things that just couldn't be cleaned.

81 hours. What a huge burden lifted off the homeowner's back.

At the framing site, they framed up the floors and walls. This week's group from North Shore Presbyterian Church (Wisconsin) put half of the roof decking on the home yesterday. David started the day with classic David humor, "Always remember, no matter how high on a roof you are, you're only two feet off the ground."

This will be a great week.

--Kelly

blogging: a new frontier.

2009-06-22T14:15:00.004-04:00

Hi Everyone! My name is John Rasche and I'm working as Kelly's volunteer assistant for the summer. And I love my job. I love interacting with all the different volunteers, carpenters, and homeowners. I feel like I'm paying to socialize with nice people, and I can't think of a better way to spend the summer. Well, except touring with my favorite band. No such luck. Sai la vie.

Wow, I still can't believe that we have an HDA blog! I always thought that blogs were for angsty teenagers and unsuccessful journalists, but I never once considered it a medium for an organization. It's really kinda neat. Of course, I say that before the blog actually begins to take off. Let's see how I feel about it weeks from now, when I have more posting responsibilities. But in either case, I hope our efforts with this blog will be productive in catching the attention of past volunteers and newcomers alike.

I have truly enjoyed working with my first few volunteer groups: Central Presbyterian from LaFayette, Central Christian from Lexington, Second Presbyterian from Little Rock, and St. Bartholomew from Cincinnatti. I'm still learning the ropes of my job, but luckily, each group has been patient with me. Especially the groups from last week, who continually faced changes in their schedule due to the nasty weather. I remember, one day it was raining so heavily that I could barely see the lines in the road. It didn't help that my company vehicle is a shoddy GM van built in 1925. But enough about my car complaints.

For those of you who have previously worked with the Housing Development Alliance, I hope that this blog will help rejuvenate your interest in our cause. For those who have stumbled across our blog by fate (or internet searches), I hope that our entries will inspire you to help our friendly community. Hazard is a really nice place, but it needs a lot of help from noble volunteers like you! If you do decide to join us once again (or for the first time), I am sure you will enjoy it. In fact, to infringe on the Men's Wearhouse slogan, "I guarantee it".

-John "New Boy" Rasche.

A bit of unrelated business....

2009-06-18T15:32:00.005-04:00

My daughter was born on April 13th. She weighed 7 lbs 12 oz and measured 19" long. Lovely, healthy baby!

--Kelly

Second Presbyterian Church of Little Rock, Arkansas

2009-06-18T13:14:00.006-04:00

Second Presbyterian Church of Little Rock spent their week framing a new home in Leslie County and scaling a hillside (er, mountainside) in Flat Gap, Perry County.

Framing projects are always well-loved, but I must say that the volunteers really enjoyed the hillside project, too... could have been the mud, or the dozers... I suspect the real reason why they enjoyed this project so much was the CHALLENGE. The process went something like this:

Get a running start.
Try to keep your balance as you run up the hill with a roll of curlex about twice your size.
You will come to a crawl as the hillside steepens. Keep on going.
At the top of the hill, let the curlex unroll down the hill.
Scale back down the hill, nailing "staples" into the curlex as you go.
Repeat until 4p.m.

I think there are a few reasons why volunteers travel all the way to Hazard to work with us. They want to build relationships with one another and the people in this area, provide meaningful service to people in need, and "broaden their horizons" by being a part of another community for a week. But another benefit of spending a week on our worksites is learning how to work HARD. Our projects give volunteers the opportunity to push themselves to do things they never would have thought they could accomplish, learn to expect more from themselves, and value hard work. At the end of the day, this group was able to look at their workand think, "Wow. I accomplished ALL THAT."

--Kelly

2009-06-18T13:01:00.003-04:00

This was another project I was really glad to have Central Christian contribute to last week. They finished up one site early and came here to paint the porch and wash the exterior of the home. We often forget how difficult these "home maintenance" projects can be for homeowners that are elderly or have disabilities (the homeowner was both, in this case). This project was too much for the homeowner to accomplish, but with a little elbow grease and enthusiasm, this group was able to accomplish it easily.

--Kelly

2009-06-18T12:47:00.007-04:00

This was the site waaay out in Leslie County. It was a favorite of mine-- not only did the volunteers get to learn how to use power tools (pictured here), they got to befriend the homeowner and see the drastic transformation of this home. This homeowner is the one I previously mentioned as having a daughter in a Lexington hospital, whom another Central Christian minister was able to visit throughout the week. They replaced rotting floors in the bathroom and kitchen and installed soffit & fascia outside the house.

--Kelly

What a Week!

2009-06-17T15:49:00.009-04:00

Last week, we hosted a group from Central Christian Church of Lexington, Kentucky.

A couple cool things about this group:

1) They are such hard workers, willing to do whatever we needed them to do. Even when it involves DIRT!

2) They were able to send a minister to visit the daughter of a homeowner in a Lexington hospital while repairing the homeowner's home in Leslie County.

The group put in a total of 864 volunteer hours. They painted the inside of one house, installed soffit and fascia and replaced a rotting floor at another, cleaned out a transitional apartment so a homeless family could have a place of their own, dug trenches, lots of digging and landscaping, painted a porch, and stained porches and steps at a duplex for formerly homeless families in Hazard. I'll include two of my favorite pictures of them in another post.

We are especially grateful to Hazard Christian Church for hosting this group. Thank you for opening your doors so that we can put more volunteers to work!

--Kelly

Mission

2008-10-10T11:41:00.000-04:00

We believe safe, decent, and affordable housing is a basic human right. We develop a variety of housing options for local low-income individuals and families, including shelter for the homeless, transitional housing, affordable rental housing, and new homes. As a community-based nonprofit, we bring together all sectors of the community to help eliminate substandard housing.