Crews of Amish and Mennonite volunteers will be in Ringgold for about the next six months helping repair and rebuild homes destroyed by a tornado that struck April 27, 2011.
Photo by Mike O'NealIn the 21 weeks since waves of severe weather swept across the Southeast, including one tornado that buzz-sawed a path through parts of Ringgold, local residents have gotten used to the sight of demolition and construction crews.
But something last week attracted gawkers and well-wishers alike to Sparks Street, where "plain people" were on a job site.
The arrival of these Mennonites and Amish had been eagerly anticipated by members of Catoosa Acting In Disaster.
COAD was formed within days of the storm's passing to assist those who need help putting their lives back together and a roof over their heads. By providing the material and volunteer laborers necessary to construct modest homes, equal or better than what was lost, COAD is able to build two-bedroom homes for about $42,000 and a three-bedroom home for roughly $46,000.
Such rock-bottom prices are possible in part because suppliers, such as Home Depot, offer substantial discounts on hardware.
But perhaps even more critical is having workers willing to volunteer their time and talents to help uninsured and underinsured home owners recover, repair and rebuild.
That is why the arrival of the first of many Disaster Response Service teams from Christian Aid Ministries was - and is - so welcome, according to Jeanne Abdy, a caseworker and advisor to the COAD board.
Christian Aid Ministries was organized in the 1980s to serve Third World countries, according to Cheryl Troyer, a secretary with CAM who is coordinating the group's local efforts.
She described operations in Ringgold as "fairly typical" for this group comprised of Mennonite, Amish and other conservative Anabaptist volunteers.
In the early 1990s, Disaster Response Services was developed to coordinate volunteer efforts to clean up, repair and rebuild in the aftermath of natural disasters, she said. Tornado or hurricane, wildfire or flood, earthquake or tsunami, it makes no difference; wherever there is a need, CAM teams are willing to lend a hand.
"We try to share God's love, to show there is hope after disaster," Troyer said. "This is a service we offer at no charge. It's a way that we can help homeowners."
This group of 23 volunteers, 10 staff and 13 laborers, had two houses on Sparks Street framed and under roof within three days of their arrival.
"We cater to people that can't hire labor," said Eli Miller as he watched as crews of plainly dressed workers use nail guns and post hole-diggers at the site.
A former dairy farmer, Miller said he left his Wisconsin home to serve as a spiritual advisor to this group of young men who hail from Kentucky, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
"We do this as a service to the Lord, not to make a name for ourselves," he said.
Miller said that many of this current group are craftsmen who have taken leave from paying jobs to volunteer their skills. Though familiar with the building trades, they have never before worked together.
"I'm amazed that these boys came together to work so harmoniously," he said. "There's not a shirker among them."
While workers alternated focus on the job at hand and on a dark sky that threatened rain, passersby slowed when driving to and from the nearby high school campus that still shows its tornado-inflicted wounds.
After having come by several times, one car with Catoosa license plates slowed and came to a stop. Its passenger door opened, a woman got out, walked to Miller, extended her hand, said, "I just want to thank you for what you're doing," returned to the maroon compact car and drove away.
"We represent Jesus - he was a carpenter - and are his hands and feet," Miller said. "We are just doing what he asks of us to help our fellow man."