The group of 10 volunteers from St. Joseph, Mantua accomplished a lot for two homeowners June 14-21 through the Housing Repair Program of St. Joseph in Clintwood, Virginia. Half of the group which included George Trares, Jim Schweickert, Dan Fejes, Bill Curtin, and Vince Festa, along with program worker Jeff Mullins, tackled the job of roof repairs to the home of Loretta Cox. The patio roof was replaced due to some water damage and improvements were made with new drip edge, soffet, and ceiling panels. The entire house received new shingles, a ridge vent, and sealing around vent pipes. Later in the week members of this group also power washed the sidewalks and statuary in front of the church & the Dorothy Baker House where participants stay during the week.
Working all week at the nearby home of Karen Flint, Joe & Joey Daczko, Kathi Trares, Sean Fejes, and Nathan Bell along with program workers, Debbie Mullins & Leann Bailey accomplished a lot of projects. Tasks included mowing, weed-wacking & clean-up of the yard, porch repairs, power washing the deck, porch & house, painting the porch, staining & adding railing to the deck, cleaning gutters, replacing window screening & painting trim, repairing underpinning, expanding driveway turn-around & adding gravel, repairing linoleum, painting front door & hallway baseboards, cleaning bedroom & providing clear access to rear exit, toilet & shower repairs, and replacing bathroom & hallway tile. The experience included meeting new people and learning new skills as well as local site-seeing and discussions around Appalachian issues. Parishioner and former coal miner Larry Kennedy came and spoke about the industry past and present on Monday evening. The volunteers enjoyed the traditional Tuesday evening picnic hosted by the parish as well as entertainment from local musician and storyteller Jimmy Mullins & a guest performer. On Wednesday, several people from the group took a scenic drive along the very hilly & windy roads near the Birch Knob Observation Tower area. Thursday evening?s activity was a trip to nearby Coeburn, Virginia to enjoy bluegrass music at Lay?s Hardware Center for the Arts. The week concluded with dinner at a local Mexican restaurant and wrap-up meeting with Sister Jean Korkisch, CSC, coordinator of the program.