We received some very good news this week from a friend in Joplin, MO. 

When our team was there two months ago, we worked on a home that was on the city inspector's list of potential homes to condemn. In fact, the day we arrived to work at that home was the same day that the inspector was scheduled to make a recommendation as to whether or not the house should be leveled. It just so happened that the inspector showed up while we were working and expressed encouragement that something might be done to save the place. What we didn't know then was that the owner of the home had just about given up.

To make a long story short, the handful of hours that our team spent on that house, along with a very productive conversation with the team from Americorps, was enough to buy this home some time and save it from condemnation.

In the weeks since our visit, other volunteer groups have taken up the work. And today, that home has a new roof, new windows, new interior walls, and new exterior siding. The garage that had been destroyed by the tornado is being rebuilt into a first-floor bedroom. 

Still the owners of that house remember our little team of hard hats. And they have said that had it not been for the work our group did that day, they would have told the city inspector to tear the house down. I guess our presence brought just enough light into their world to give those folks a glimmer of hope. It just doesn't get much better than that!