A Vanceburg View
An Update From the Director of Glenmary's Volunteer Office

Spring 2005
'Calling the Catholics'

As the weather has warmed up in Lewis County, the Farm has been receiving an increasing number of requests for help from local residents. Bill is a good example.

While I was at my office last week (I did occasionally manage to get into the office during our weeks of "Madness"), I received a phone call about Bill, who has had surgery for cancer three times. His sister, Madeline, told me that Bill's house needed repair but, because of his cancer surgeries, he's not able to do much work on his house anymore.

Although most of the home repair work that we do at the Farm is through People's Self-Help Housing, a non-profit housing corporation in Lewis County, occasionally we receive calls from people who know of the work we do with volunteers at the Farm. I said I'd see what we could do.

I called Bill for directions to his house, which I Iearned was 18 miles from the Farm. Then I called Farm manager Valerie McDaniel and asked her to come and look at the house with me.

If you've driven in Lewis County, you know what I mean when I say that the 18-mile drive seemed like a 50-mile trip. (I thought I was lost at least twice!) When we finally arrived, we found the house in need of much repair.

Not only was the tin roof rusting, but the house was starting to sink into the ground. Like many other places in Lewis County, Bill's house is situated close to the creek. When it was built years ago, flooding was no problem. But in the last few years, there has been a lot of logging in Bill's area of the county. A paper company outside of Lewis County, that owns most of the holler where Bill lives, logs the hillside near the creek adjacent to Bill's house. He told us as soon as the paper company started to log the holler, the little creek started to flood regularly.

Now every time the water comes up, Bill's house sinks into the ground. His house does not have a concrete foundation; it is built on a pile of stones intended to level the structure. With every incidence of high water, Bill has to jack his house up and then level it out--a lot of work for a man who has had three cancer surgeries and cannot raise his arms over his head without pain.

Bill asked us to paint his tin roof so it won't leak and to fix his porch, which has rotted as the result of the flooding. Val and I set a date for the roof work, and we will see about redoing his porch in the future, probably after the spring rains. Bill will be able to provide the materials, and Farm volunteers will provide the needed labor.

During the winter months, the managers and I try to get around to as many local churches we can to let them know that we're expecting a lot of volunteers during the spring. We ask them to call us if they need help of any kind. Most of calls ask for yard work and cleanup. We might tackle a project like Bill's porch, if we have the skills. But if we're not able to take on a project, I refer folks to the Licking Valley Community Action Program.

I'm glad that the Farm has the reputation in Lewis County that it is the place that folks can call when they need help.

We're looking forward to a busy summer with school and family groups. If you're interested in volunteer work at the Farm, contact me at 606-796-3421, jgrosek@glenmary.org or snail mail at P.O. Box 7, Vanceburg, KY 41179.

And if you missed previous Vanceburg Views, check them out.

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