Jose's turn

Thanks to Jack and his team this week it became Jose' and Blanca's turn to receive blessings. Jack and part of his team arrived for orientation this morning, once again during some nasty rain. A little water didn't stop them. Each day there will be more team members arriving, sort of like a revolving door this week. Sounds great to us!

The task before this team is to build and rebuild a deck and handicapped ramp for Jose' and Blanca. You can see by the photos that their mobile home is quite a ways off the ground thanks to the new flood elevations that any new buildings must meet. They had another mobile home on their property but the hurricane took care of removing it for them. They very wisely decided to use their FEMA funds and purchase another mobile home. They met the proper elevations and then had to find a way in and out of their home. They are both handicapped and need wheelchairs. Blanca is also blind. For the past year they have been struggling to enter and leave their home with a homemade ramp sort of thing that made my own knees shake when I walked on it, let alone go up and down in a wheelchair!

Jack and his team are dismantling the ramp, using what parts and pieces they can combined with new and will completely rebuild the ramp and redesign the deck and utilize the existing steps. It's not an easy task by any means. It took us all quite some time to come up with a plan that would even work. But once that plan was set they went to work and had it taken apart in hours.

And then the rains set in -- once again lasting the rest of the day. Yards and fields around here look like lakes -- water is everywhere!

So plan B went into effect. The church that is housing the team called and needed some help in preparing some new rooms for incoming volunteers. We provided them with primer, paint and all the supplies to get the job done. So the team headed back to the church after a late lunch and were going to get to work on those rooms.

Tomorrow is in the hands of the weather and we won't know until morning if the team will return to Jose's or finish up at the church. After tomorrow the weather is supposed to be good for the rest of the week. Let's hope the weatherman is right?

Our afternoon had us planning for a couple more roof estimates that will be done tomorrow. We also had to head out and get more Methodist Disaster Recovery yard signs. Each home we are working in has a yard sign posted so the teams know where to go to work if we cannot directly escort them and it's to also bring hope to the neighbors that they might be next. We now have alot more and will be ready as more new homes come our way.

Now if we can just get the rains to stop . . .

Monty and I want to send out a very Happy Birthday to his sister, Shelley today! Sorry we can't be there to tell you in person but glad you are doing so well and enjoying your new granddaughter! Love you!

Until next time . . . be blessed and bless someone else. Susan and Monty