This past summer in July, a group of over 100 volunteers from the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette joined with RTA to work on 15 homes in a single week. Their group was mostly high-school students on summer vacation, with some adult leaders, who came out to volunteer with us through a faith-based service program called RISE (Rising in Service to Everyone), an annual week of service sponsored by the Catholic Church. They spent a week building handicap ramps, painting houses, and making much needed repairs to homes in Lafayette, Iberia, Acadia, and Vermilion parishes.
One team built a handicap accessible ramp for one Ms. Juanetta in Crowley. “It’s a blessing,” she told us when we asked her about the experience. “Thank them and thank God for everything. They worked very hard.”
Two teams worked at Ms. Cecelia’s house in New Iberia, where they patched a leak in her roof, repaired water damage in her ceiling, painted the exterior, and installed new countertops in her kitchen. her daughter, Nora, was with them during the week and was happy to work alongside them.
“I appreciate everything that they did,” said Nora. “They did a wonderful job. If I could pay them back I would.”
Nora even told us she’s interested in volunteering with us on future projects to show her appreciation and help others whose lives have not been as fortunate as hers.
A team in Lafayette made substantial repairs to Ms. Linda’s house. The sub-floor in her utility room was collapsing and a thin sheet of plywood laid over top was all that made it stable enough for Ms. Linda to do her laundry. There was real danger in this situation that the floor would finally give way and take the washing-machine and water-heater with it. If the water-heater fell, the gas line could have broke and caused a gas-leak.
“Somebody would have went through that floor,” Ms. Linda said. “Probably me, or someone who came over to use my laundry room. I didn’t want to have an accident, so that I really appreciate.”
“I enjoyed spending time with the kids,” she added, referring to the volunteers. “I think that I’m gonna be telling more people about Rebuilding Together, because you all do a good job. Especially those kids.”
By the end of the week, the RISE group had built six ramps, made structural repairs to five houses, built a porch with steps for a mobile home near Delcambre, installed handicap-accessible bathroom pieces in several homes, and removed the remnants of a house in Crowley that was damaged beyond repair by a fire.
Mary-Anne in New Iberia needed stairs and a porch to qualify for homeowner’s insurance. For volunteers to complete such a project was no small feat—her mobile home less than ten miles from Vermilion Bay, and is raised nine feet off the ground to protect it from flood waters.
She was perhaps the most grateful of any of our homeowners that week.
“Those people did an awesome job,” she told us. “I was in tears when they left.”
She was also moved that the RISE volunteers came out to serve in connection with their faith.
“They really touched my heart.”
