Am I Making A Difference? (Jeremy)

As we sat around the fire tonight, as we have done and will do every night, we were all talking about the projects we had done today. The group splits up everyday and goes to various projects around the city, some that we arrange and some arranged by the United Saints group we are staying with. As I heard the other members of the group discussing their days, going to places that handed out food and clothing to the needy and other things along those lines, it got me thinking about whether my day had just been yard work, or if we had impacted the city just as much as the others.

My group went to the home of a man that could not maintain it himself due to health and financial problems. The city was going to take his house because the lawn was too long and the house was too unkempt. We came in full force, and had the yard looking presentable in around two hours, a job that they thought was going to take all day. I got to hack things loose with a machete, (HI MOM!) and just clear debris out of the lawn. The real work started after lunch. One of the rooms in the house that was infected with black mold, something that is highly dangerous and can cause cancer. The filthy flood water that had filled the house had left this deadly moss behind and it was our job to get rid of it. My group and I spent all afternoon ripping up the walls and demolishing the dry wall, shoveling it out, and piling it in the back yard. It was long, hard work as we had to wear respirators and goggles in a room with little to no ventilation that was infested with dust.

As I sat staring into the fire, I realized that we did make a difference, one that matters just as much as the work done by my peers today. I just needed to look in from the bigger picture, zoom in from the relief effort as a whole, and zero in on that one house, that one family. We made it so that this family will be able to move back into there home and not have to worry about that mold. We made it so that the city will not seize the house. We made it so that that family can have a home again, so that those kids can play with the toys in the front room once again. Rather than impacting the whole city, we impacted one family today and for many many years to come. With that epiphany I realized exactly what the work we do here is all about, about rebuilding homes and lives, and I managed to do both in one day. For once in my life I feel like I have a real purpose, and like I am working for someone other than myself. I am truly discovering what it means to lose yourself, and find yourself, in the service of others.