Crisfield, MD – Feb. 4-10, 2024

There was a transition of most long-term leadership positions in Crisfield MD this week. The incoming volunteers are: Steve Bell (Project Director), Ryan Sprunger (Construction Supervisor), Dee Bell (Office Manager), Steve Rhodes (Assistant Cook), and Kathy Rhodes (Head Cook).  Hannah Steffen and Janis Ott (year-long volunteer from Germany) will continue through the first couple of weeks of February serving as Crew Leaders.

Jake Miller and Isack Redekop brought 12 young men and women from Ontario, Canada to volunteer this week.  Six ladies and 3 men returned back to Canada after volunteering this week; and 5 of the young men continued south to Florida for another week of volunteering with another organization.  They were a very positive and hardworking group. We also had the privilege of hosting a photographer, Brian Wasson, from the greater Philadelphia area. He stayed with us for 2 nights and 2 days. He went out to jobsites taking photos for MDS and ended up putting in a few hours of cleaning and painting, too!

Only a few hours of work were done at several places: cleaning and installing a toe-kick at the Shallcross house; at the Bradley House, bifold doors were installed and the base trim was touched up; and basecamp had some rust issues in the restrooms taken care of. We started paint/sealing the concrete bricks on the houses that were MDS New Builds (Bradley, Byrd, Shallcross, Sterling, & Welch). We also signed 4 new job cards for several houses to have steps & ramps either built or repaired.

We have a house elevation jobsite (Hernandez), where the house is currently lifted about 9 feet above the ground.  The teams pumped water out every day and managed to get it dry enough to pass inspection by Wednesday.  Rebar reinforcement was laid, and we got the foundation poured on Thursday. Hopefully we will get some masonry folks next week to install the concrete bricks that the house will be set back down upon.

Repairs on the Morgan home are close being completed. The toilet was installed. Baseboard trim was installed to cover the areas that had the radiator heating vents removed. Plumbing shutoff valves were installed last week, so we fixed faucets. The crew did a variety of finalizing on the interior and there was a major cleanup outside.   The project manager met with the homeowner over the weekend to discuss a punch list of what remains to be done.

The volunteers all seemed to have a great time and are open to working with MDS again. There were a few opportunities for volunteers to speak with homeowners and hear their stories. Several weekly volunteers, along with Janis (long-term volunteer), jumped into the Chesapeake Bay after work on 2 different evenings.  The weekly and long-term volunteers enjoyed many conversations, games, laughter, and great meals together.  What a blessing to find common ground with people serving as the hands and feet of Christ through generous servant hearts and volunteering.

Dee Bell for the MDS Crisfield team