Trip Report by Beth O.
"Transforming
neighborhoods block by block" is the motto that inspired our group of twelve
volunteers from four churches to work for a week to rebuild homes that were
damaged by the flood waters of the Cedar River in Iowa.
Under the direction of an organization called Mathew 25, our mission
was to try and give hope to the small neighborhood called Time Check.
On
June 13, 2008, floodwaters on the Cedar River were predicted to crest at 21
feet (flood stage is 12 feet) – a historical flood, since the all-time
previous crest reached 20 feet in 1929.
The flood waters came and didn’t stop until the river rose to 32
feet, filling the basements and half of the first floor of the turn of the
century homes in Time Check, and many of the City buildings in Cedar Rapids.
In the end, the flood covered 9.2 square miles, and caused 25,000
people to be evacuated from their homes.FEMA is the first responder in these emergency situations. They give $28,000 to each household to make it “Safe, Secure, and Sanitary”. However, there is still much work to be done in order to make the home liveable. And even as some of the homes in Iowa were stabilized, many owners were reluctant to return since their neighbors were gone. This is where the bold vision of Mathew 25 and the Block by Block program come into play. Its philosophy of holistic community development rebuilds whole neighborhoods (rather than individual homes), a block at a time. Mathew 25 is concerned with the moral and spirit of Time Check. It’s director summed it up when she said, “The City brought in the clip boards, and we brought in the cookies”.
. . . And so our
team came to work. We tiled, grouted, hammered, chiseled, scraped, and
built:
"Most of my time was spent installing
ceramic floor tiles and applying grout. I had not done tiling before, but
as with other skills I've picked up on VIM trips, that did not matter.
Others on the team are always willing to show me how to do a new task. I
am so very grateful for their guidance, patience, and help; we were blessed
with a wonderful team!
Living Water UMC were very gracious hosts. Several of the members came to
visit us at dinner throughout the week, and it was a pleasure to talk with
them.
