Long before "Extreme Home Makeover" came to Chattanooga, a group of volunteers from St. Martin's Episcopal Church started bringing free upgrades to area homes.
The most recent recipient of the hard work of the church's In The Company of Strangers group is now settling comfortably into her "new" home.
Volunteers from St. Martin's Episcopal Church, a group called In the Company of Strangers, perform upgrades and cleanup at various area houses at least once a year."She's struggling to make ends meet and for some time has just watched her house slowly fall apart," volunteer Chris Schutz said of the elderly East Chattanooga resident who welcomed the workers last weekend.
This is the group's third project. The church group typically does a large one in the spring and a smaller one in the fall, according to volunteer James Finley.
"The concept is that we enter as strangers but leave as friends," Schutz said. "This is sort of our contribution to a needy person in the community. The motivating idea we've talked about is the old saying from St. Francis of Assisi: 'Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words,' the sort of notion that you preach the gospel through your actions as well."
The group of about 35 consistent volunteers receives a list from a city inspector of homes near condemnation, Finley said. Members select one willing property owner and work together to make a list of requested upgrades and those needed to bring the building up to code.
"We try to hold it down to the things we can do," said Finley. "We'll do two or three visits before, where we'll go and walk through and [the homeowner] will point out stuff. If they're beyond our capability we will tell [them]. If we're lucky, we'll try to get a professional to come in and help."
Finley said the list typically consists of small things, such as the painting, cleaning, hauling, window repair and roof work they just completed. But even small things, including the new doors and locks they installed for their last project, can make a huge difference. The young pregnant mother and widower with MS living in the house had recently been victims of a home invasion.
A professional landscaper normally donates his time and energy for aesthetics. A roofer once donated a new roof once the crew realized it was too far gone for them to fix.
"It's a world of fun," Finley said. "We don't break anybody's back working. We try to have some people with skills set up; we have a lot of volunteers who scrape, some who paint, others that clean up. Everybody has a good time."
Although Finley said requested donations are usually forthcoming - "I guess because we've got a good reputation" - they are always welcome. He estimates that each project costs between $1,000 and $2,000 in materials.