Good Works, Inc. is a Christian home repair ministry located in Coatesville, Pennsylvania formed to assist economically disadvantaged homeowners in Chester County. By helping to make their homes warmer, safer and drier, hopelessness is replaced with the hope found in Jesus Christ. Services are provided at no cost to the homeowner, with volunteers - including a growing number of St. Peter's parishioners - doing most of the on-site work. This is St. Peter's report for December 11, 2004.

A Good Works Report for December 2004
by Roger Thorne

It was as if they had already read the draft of the Father John's sermon which  he would deliver the next day, and made up their minds that Christmas is really about giving yourself. Twenty St. Peter's volunteers (almost a Good Works record) were at the Coatesville warehouse early on Saturday morning, December 11th to serve the needs of three separate homeowners in different parts of the city. St. Peter’s has never opened its arms wider so as to simultaneously take on such a Good Works responsibility.

Assignment One was at the home of Mrs. Catherine Robinson’s in east Coatesville, where the team would remove all eight remaining window assemblies, each ancient and drafty, and install new, insulated replacement windows (our previous record for a workday was three windows). The team, led by Work Crew Leader Hugh McLennan, consisted of first-timers Elaine Thomas and Ben McElroy, and veterans Mark Carkhuff, Chip Colvin, Karen Joyce, and Carl Weir. We are particularly grateful to the technical leadership of John Russell, a general contractor and long-time Good Works advisor, who, along with our own Jason Hacker, made the job “almost” easy. The team accomplished the ENTIRE installation, and no one is more please than Mrs. Robinson, who observed how wonderful it is to now be able to sit in her living room without drafts coming through the cracks, and several electric heaters required to overcome the cold entering the house.

The second assignment was at Mrs. Esther Johnson’s home in west Coatesville. A team has been working for several months building a rather complex handicapped ramp of some 50’ in length connecting her house with the street. Most foundations, decking and supports had already been completed, but before the ramp can be safely used a concrete slab at street level needed to be laid, along with the installation of vertical lattice panels along both sides of the ramp. This team, led by Work Crew Leader Brian Curtis, comprised veterans Ken Fleischer, Will Gallagher, Terry Paynter, and Sergio Vaisman. Under the excellent technical coordination of Tom Brehm, they poured over a half-ton of concrete and installed almost 300 sq. ft. of protective siding. Mrs. Johnson will have the gift of her new ramp for Christmas.

Even with all this, St. Peter’s still had more to give. Three day before the December workday I received a call from Good Works “Second Saturday Director” Bob Beggs, with an urgent request. A large volunteer group from another organization had just notified Bob that they would be unable to participate in Saturday’s workday. With all that St. Peter’s already has “on its plate”, could we stretch even further with volunteers for a third home repair project. Because of the giving spirit of St. Peter’s parishioners, I could say “YES” St. Peter's parishioners John and Penny Stanger, and the entire Dickinson family (Bob & Susan, and sons Mark and Greg), joined with three other Good Works volunteers from other area churches to spend the day at a home in central Coatesville where they mounted wallboard throughout a living room, painted a porch, and installed a new toilet. Each an important job, and all gratefully received by the homeowner.

To each who volunteered, thank you! St. Peter’s has always been a generous parish, and I have witnessed no finer example of that generosity than this December workday. Merry Christmas.

Our next work day will be Saturday, January 8th. We hope to have another large volunteer team that can accomplish many of the interior jobs that have been deferred during the fall. If you are interested in learning more about this ministry, click here. If you are willing to participate, contact our recruiter Mark Carkhuff or call 610-935-1623. For driving directions to the Good Works warehouse in Coatesville, where we meet at 8:45 a.m. on the second Saturday of EVERY month, click here. You really are welcome to join us, with or without technical skill, in this important ministry to our neighbors.