Paradise, CA – Jan. 8-14, 2023

The Paradise, CA project has now reopened following the break for the holidays.  Leadership volunteers arriving from Ohio were Dave and Patti Hughes as Project Director and Office Manager.  Our crew leader, Paul Jutzi, is from Pennsylvania as are Leon Martin, the construction Supervisor, and his wife, Marlene, our Assistant Cook.  Dorothy Miller, who lives in Illinois, will be our Head Cook.  Our first group of weekly volunteers for this year is a group of six men and eight women from New York.

The weather was certainly a factor in our operations this week.  We received repeated alerts warning of flooding and heavy snows that made national headlines.  Fortunately for us, the flooding took place in the valleys below, and the snowfall was at the higher elevations. At about 1800 feet, Paradise simply had wind and plenty of rain.

At the home of Lorraine Dechter on Scottwood Road, volunteers painted interior doors and trim and touched up a few areas that needed attention.  This house still needs work done by some contractors but is nearing completion.

On Newland Road, we went to the home of Lori Moreno to do some cleaning and a bit of grading around the porch.  This house is also nearing completion.

Insulation was put in the walls at Robert Ream’s house on Bille Road.  Then it was time to hang drywall on walls and ceilings. We made some corrections to a few window flashings, but the home will need an inspection before we can proceed with the drywall finishing.

Volunteers did some painting and a few small details at the Tahoe Road address of the Randy Loomis home. Contractors have work to do here before we can continue.

Keeping an eye on the weather forecast, we anticipated some clear weather on Thursday this week and ordered cement to be poured for the stem wall at the home of Gloria Reyes on Merrill Road.  Honestly, after all the wet days we were pretty excited to see the sun shining! Mrs. Reyes’ sister came by and took a picture to show her the progress.

We have a new client signed on: Bill Kellogg on Scottwood. The only thing we were able to do at that address was to begin clearing some of his belongings from the lot. The building permit was issued on Friday, so when the septic has been installed we will be able to have the excavation done in preparation for MDS volunteers to begin work.

There was a lot of lively game-playing action in the evenings this week, and a large jigsaw to work on.  On the only evening without rain, Leon took us on a drive over to another ridge to see some scenery and visit Cherylee Harell at the house MDS constructed for her last year.  Previous volunteers will be glad to know she is doing well and enjoying her house.

–Patti Hughes and the Paradise MDS team.