For the 9th year Good Shepherd participated in Xmas in April -- Prince Georges County. We had 18 volunteers show up on April 28th to work on the same house that we worked on last year. This was a coincidence. We weren't assigned the same house on purpose but it worked out well because we knew the homeowner, the house, and the situation.
The homeowner is a blind woman and the house was (suprise!) in much better shape than last year -- but still needs more work. Over the past year, the Xmas in April staff worked to qualify the homeowner for some major structural work. They put on a new roof, installed a new furnace/ac system, fixed the kitchen floor, and replaced the windows.
The biggest job this year was the yard. We did the usual trimming, weeding, mowing, and cutting back branches. Everything was raked, piled and hauled out the curb. The trash trucks came around to pick up the debris. Some carpentry work was done on the deck to strengthen the railings and steps, and repairs were made to the back door.
There was no painting to be done because the roof leak had done damage to the walls and there was drywall work pending. The homeowner is planning to do some painting herself after the drywall is done.
As usual, we wished we could have done more but the homeowner was very happy with all that we were able to do.
