House Blessing Scheduled

A local veteran will soon be living in a new home on Bluewater near the Tippecanoe River in Monticello. Six local churches are joining together to build a new home that will replace one badly damaged by the January 2008 flooding.

Carl Reid and his grandson have continued to live in the home on Bluewater, but it was damaged beyond repair and has been razed. The new home shell is being purchased by Disaster Assistance for Northwest Indiana (DANI) through another non-profit organization, New Hope Construction of Tennessee.

“If it weren’t for DANI and these churches, I don’t know what I would have done. God’s been good to me,” said Reid. Reid is a Vietnam era veteran who is mostly confined to a wheelchair.

The six Monticello churches are the Christian, United Methodist, First Baptist, LifeSong, New Hope Lutheran, and First Presbyterian. In three weeks during May, volunteer crews from each congregation will assemble the house, construct and finish the interior, as well as finishing the exterior. The construction crews will be supervised by Jess Vandergraff, construction coordinator for DANI and an employee of Habitat for Humanity of Lafayette.

The partially-assembled package was delivered on May 7 and unloaded by students from the Twin Lakes Building Trades Technology program, under the guidance of teacher Scott Billings. The remainder of the house will be purchased through DANI’s Nehemiah Partners program which allows every local dollar to be matched by three dollars from the Indiana Natural Disaster Fund.

“We welcome other people from the community to join us in this build,” according to Alan Welch, Director for DANI. “People can volunteer to help construct the house, regardless of their skill level, can provide food for the volunteers, and we will always welcome tax-deductible contributions that can be used toward the Nehemiah Partner match.”

A celebration of the completion of the house is planned for June 7 at 2 pm.

Several other flood recovery projects are underway in the area under DANI’s supervision. Potential volunteers can arrange to work by leaving a message at 877-773-0249 (toll-free) or sending email to director@danifloood.org. Donations toward the flood recovery work are also welcome.

Original flood-damaged home

Nearly complete Home on June 3, 2009

Tentative Build Schedule