Camp Noah Kids Come Ashore!

Today 24 active and fun-loving kids affected by the flood of 2008 decended upon First Lutheran. They started the day doing puzzles, singing, and playing games such as drawing their full-body outline on paper. Cool! They will be here from 9AM-3PM all week. There is still room to join in Tuesday. The cost is $10. Scholarships are available.

If you'd like to help out, we could use people to serve and clean up after lunch this Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Please call the church office at 365-1494 and ask for Barb or Craig.

Gruhn's Home Reaches "Tipping Point"

It was another monumental day of flood recovery in the life of First Lutheran Church. Today 20 people showed up to lend their hands and open their hearts to their fellow church members in need. Together we reached the "tipping point" of the influence our volunteer efforts inside the family's home. We can help a little here and there in the weeks ahead, but largely we turn it over to the skilled craftsmen. "Your volunteers have helped us out a great deal, more than any other house we've ever done," Contractor Pat Freilinger said. "Volunteers can help more and more each week up through putting up drywall and painting. Then there comes a point where finish carpentry kicks in and we kind of take over." According to Freilinger, we're at that point.

Karolyn Smith, Ira Way, Tanya Rosenkranz, Mary VanHauten, Sue Vittetoe, and Karen Shaw finished up all the trim paint inside the house and then took on the wheelchair ramp and front porch posts in the front. It looks beautiful. Mike Sinnott applied the house numbers and Scott Gerhold attached the mailbox. Jim Kanke & Mark Scheumann wrapped all the duct work in plastic so the basement ceiling is ready to be sprayed with prime this week. Then Lou & Julie Banker joined Jim & Mark in sanding down the basement walls so they are ready for texture and hopefully prime this week. If this gets done, our painters could roll the basement walls on Saturday.

Meanwhile, outside John Shaw put up new gutters on the house with the help of Jim, Lou, Scott, and others. Tom Olmstead fixed up the broken swing which Robert is joyously enjoying in the picture above. (For more pictures, check out the slideshow "faith in action" in the upper right). Scott and Ira built a new flowerbed off the deck. Dixie and Sarah Olmstead did an amazing job cleaning up the back deck. Tina and Pat McCollough brought some delicious treats and Pastor Dan and Nova Kolander stopped by to encourage the troops.

This week the contractor's guys will concentrate on getting the kitchen floor in this week so we can help him hang cabinets this coming Saturday. Depending on what materials arrive this week, we might hang doors, put up cedar wood in the closets, trim the windows, carpet Kia's room, and/or start in on siding the garage.

Searching for a Positive Voice Out There

KCRG-TV9's Justin Foss just called me in regards to my blog post about the city being over halfway rebuilt! I told him we found when we walked the neighborhoods to do the survey, it really hits you in the face how far we've come! You get a positive impression when you walk the streets, knock on doors, and talk to people, a very different one than you get in some of the media reports. We found many people back in their homes watching TV! It's encouraging!!

Justin said there are still pessimists who point out, yes, we are 51% rebuilt, but that is still 49% not yet built. What say you? What are your impressions from walking through? I think Justin is looking into a news story tomorrow, but I won't be around to talk to him on camera. Would one of you like to offer a :08 second sound bite on what you saw?

**EDIT - Justin's story ran. Check it out here: http://www.kcrg.com/news/coverage/50896772.html

Crown Him With Many Crowns!

I met with the contractor today at the Gruhn's house for a walk through of all the work we've done so far. He is very impressed! We came up with a list of work we can do next which starts at the top with crown molding (see sample picture). We will prime and paint the molding Saturday so it's ready to be put up next week. We can also put up cedar wood in three closets, sand and paint another closet, trim paint to the top of all walls, finish wrapping the duct work in plastic downstairs, and hang gutters outside. The contractor's men will concentrate on the floors next, so we can be ready to help install the kitchen cabinets possibly next Saturday. We are also looking into the financial viability of siding the garage. The contractor thinks our original, fairly aggressive schedule to get Kia back in before school starts in 5 weeks is very doable. Woot!

**JOB COMPLETED - THANK YOU!!!****
What: We need painters, carpenters, people to hang gutters, and unskilled folks (like me!) to clean and prep areas for the next phase.

When: 8 AM-12 PM, Saturday, June 18

Where: 1642 8th St NW

What should I bring?: Yourself, a friend, a paint brush, hammer, and/or cordless drill. See you there!

Cedar Rapids is Over Halfway Home!!!

According to a new Americore report coming out this Thursday, 51.1% of flood affected homes in Cedar Rapids have completely rebuilt! That's just over half of all flood damaged residences. Way to go!! We are on the downhill slope! According to their report, they visited 5093 homes in the flood plain. They break down like this:

569 Homes "Untouched" or Unknown (10.4%)

210 Homes Demolished (4.1%)

919 Homes in the "Muck and Gut" phase (18%)

832 Homes Rebuilding (16.3%)

2603 Homes REBUILT! (51.1%)

To see the complete report, click here: http://www.vistacorridorrecovery.org/

Paint Party Pt. 2

From L- Karolyn Smith, Matt Sinnott, Mike Sinnott, Ira Way, and Terry Strait (not pictured Tanya Rosenkranz) showed up on a moment's notice to finish painting the 2nd coat of color today at the Gruhn's

It is done! The paint that is. All rooms of the main floor have two coats of paint (three in the kitchen). When I pulled up in my pickup at 8 AM I was greeted by two volunteers and they just kept coming and coming! We had it all done well before noon. Your generosity continues to overwhelm my heart, and I know it does the Gruhn family too. Our eager and near professional painters- wow, were they good! -made short work of the hallway, living room, kitchen, and both bedrooms.

The homeowner, Robert Gruhn, finished off the bathroom and Saturday's crew knocked out Kia's purple room upstairs. The basement ceiling and walls are sealed off and ready for the contractor to spray on primer. The kitchen cabinets are in boxes in the house and ready to be hung. I am meeting with the contractor for a walk-through tomorrow; he and I will figure out what we need to do this Saturday and lay out the schedule for the rest of the project! Exciting stuff!

Paint Party Pumps up Flood Family

Have you ever walked into a house that has been freshly painted? The smell of a new beginning is undeniable in the air. You know instantly when you walk in that something fresh and new has been created. It's a house that is improving, it's on the uptick, and it's ready for a new occupant.
That's what's happening now with the Gruhn family. Thanks to the hard work of Deb Hartung, Tanya Rsenkranz, Ira Way, Scott Gerhold, Kris Cleveland, Tina McCullough, Greg Young, Catharine Cashner, Terry Shie, Jim Jahnke, Judy Johnson, Marv Quass, Stacie Johnson, Brian, Lindsey, and Pastor Dan, the Gruhn home now smells fresh and new. The crew worked from 8 AM until past noon on Saturday rolling and brushing paint, building a new chain link fence, and enjoying treats and fellowship.

The goal was to prime the entire main floor, but once again, the Holy Spirit soared above and beyond our human plans. Our crew was able not only to finish the prime on Saturday, but put on the first coat of colors as well! If we can get the 2nd coat of paint on in the kitchen in the next few days, the contractor can hang the kitchen cabinets yet this week. (I have to touch base with the contractor's hired man first thing Monday morning to see where we are, because I think he may have done some work after we left Saturday at noon). If you want to help us out, I will open up the house at 8 AM Monday morning for people to start coming in and working whenever they can, for as long as they can. Please let me know when you can help.