Love in Every Nail
Grace Robertson is single-handedly raising more than a dozen children and grandchildren in Franklinton, Louisiana. Until last month, the Robertson family was still struggling to recover from losing their cramped mobile home to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Thanks to the ongoing reconstruction efforts of the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee, which dedicated $11 million in response to Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast, as well as 59 volunteers from Orland Park Christian Reformed Church in Orland, Park, Ill., Grace’s family of 14 is now living large.
On January 26, 2009, weekly work groups of 12 to 14 volunteers from Orland Park CRC, through CRWRC Disaster Response Services (DRS), laid the foundation for the 2,700 square foot, six-bedroom, three-bath house that Grace and her family began to call home in late February.
In just 23 days, 59 skilled volunteers from Orland Park built a house for the Robertson family that holds love in every nail.
“This is the third year in a row that Orland Park CRC has come down and built homes,” says CRWRC-DRS construction coordinator Arnie Gustafson. “They come as real servants, they are willing to do anything, and they always provide a knowledgeable, professional crew. They come to do God’s work.” Gustafson, who oversees reconstruction projects in the Gulf region, says that most of the homes the organization builds hold about 900 square feet of living area. Though he was initially concerned about the scope of the Robertson project and difficulties involved in gaining clear title to the land, he is thankful that everything has fallen into place.
According to Don Waterlander of the Orland Park CRC Adult Serve Committee, their congregation is blessed with an abundance of skilled construction professionals. During the winter when work is slow in the Chicago area – and particularly in a faltering economy -- they find joy in putting their time and talent to work for those who are less fortunate.
“We’re blessed to have a lot of gifted folks who love to serve other people,” Waterlander says. “We looked at a lot of opportunities and decided to concentrate on CRWRC-DRS.”
Filmmaker Chad Kremer was on the scene during the construction process to film the home’s progress. “For me, it was awe inspiring to see people to come together for one common purpose. I was totally amazed by astounding teamwork on everybody’s part,” Kremer says.
Robertson’s new home is scheduled as a feature in an expected documentary film presenting an overview of the larger work completed in the Franklinton area by CRWRC since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast region in 2005.
CRWRC-DRS responds to disasters in the US and across North America, providing emergency relief, needs assessment, rehabilitation, and reconstruction assistance to disaster survivors who are elderly, disabled, without insurance, or otherwise unable to recover without assistance.
At the Robertson house, local churches and response organizations are continuing to support the family as they adjust to their new, ample living space by staining kitchen cabinets and making cloth runners for the family’s twelve-foot long dining room table that was custom-built and donated by local Franklinton craftsmen.
Grace Robertson is continuing to work hard to support her family at a restaurant job where her home-made biscuits are the eatery’s main attraction. But now, at the end of the day, she will return to her own home, and dinner with her whole family.
For more information about volunteering with CRWRC-DRS, go to http://www.crwrc.org/pages/crwrc.cfm and click on Disaster Response Services from the Program menu.
For more information about CRWRC-DRS, call 1-800-848-5818. For more information on CRWRC, call 1-800-55-CRWRC.
CRWRC is a non-profit organization of the Christian Reformed Church in North America, ministering in development, relief, and justice education to people in need around the world.
Christian Reformed World Relief Committee
