Starting in 2002, the Carpenters Project has helped many families with exterior house projects and even during the pandemic of a century they didn’t take a break this year.
Planning for their work week in July began back in March. With the changing health situations, the plans and needs for this year kept switching. Ultimately, it was decided that this years focus would be on helping homeowners with safety concerns.
“Some of the phone calls that we receive from homeowners are scary,” said Steven Miller, Carpenters Project Director. “People are relying on us to help them get in and out of their house. That’s why we decided to have some carpentry crews help out homeowners with safety concerns.”
Miller took over the position as director back in 2010 after founders Chuck and Marsha Timblin of Calvin Presbyterian Church decided to retire.
Unlike prior years, this group lacked a lot of the crews they normally bring due to health concerns dealing with COVID-19. The project didn’t have any paint crews, power wash crews, brush crews, or demolition crews. This year, there were only 25 people doing the work that have been divided into crews to help 12 families within the two districts.
“A lot of people wanted to volunteer with The Carpenter’s Project this year, and it was heart-breaking for me to call volunteers who signed up to participate and tell them that we would have a small group of volunteers this year,” said Miller. “Everybody understood the unique situation that brought changes to this year’s work week.”
On top of a smaller number of people helping, The Carpenters Project was unable to sit down together and gather for breakfast at Calvin Presbyterian Church, instead opting to deliver prepackaged lunches to the crews at the work sites. Pastors did not deliver morning devotions in person, but posted videos to Facebook each day. Reminders to wash hands and use hand sanitizer became the new stay hydrated and use sunblock catch phrase.
“We look forward to going back to the way things used to be. We want to see 20 crews scattered all over town doing great things for people they never met,” said Miller. “We want to see hundreds of volunteers wearing their Carpenter’s Project shirts. We want to meet again as a “family” and help many people in the community.”
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