We are traveling to East St. Louis, Illinois, the home of Miles Davis,
Katherine Dunham and Jackie Joyner Kersee, to serve.
The theme is "Got God?", playing off the popular "Got Milk?" but
continuiing to draw from many references, including the Gospel of John,
the teachings of St. Francis Assisi, and contemporary writers with
a clear focus on spiritual growth. The image for this theme has
been created by the youth. It is the outcome of conversations by
members of the CREW youth leadership discussing their expectations
of this trip. It is printed on the Mission T-shirts worn by the
participants during the trip.
Sunday July 9, 2006
Travel and ArrivalAfter 9:00 Mass, CREW 06 was packed and on board the bus by 10:20 AM. WIth only a 3 hour drive ahead ( and a scheduled lunch break in Springfield), there wasn't even time for a debate over what DVD to play. CREW arrived at our Lady of the Snows without incident with plenty of time for recreation. After dinner, the live praise band was a nice addition to evening study & worship.
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Monday July 10, 2006
First Workday
After breakfast, CREW '06 split up into work groups with one-third heading to one site and the remaining two-thirds to the other. Everyone arrived at the projects sites before 9 AM and after a brief orientation were right to work. Most of the day was overcast ...keeping temperatures very tolerable.
The first day went smoothly with both sites putting in a full and productive day.
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Tuesday July 11, 2006
The day began with heavy rain. Groups were re-distributed on the 2 sites to allow all to work on indoor projects. Most of CREW spent the morning hanging, taping, mudding and sanding drywall. By lunchtime the rain had stopped and the cloud cover broke. After lunch, one team was shifted from "mudding" back to roof repairs. Tomorrow everyone will return to their original assignments (the forecast calls for clearing skies and HOT temperatures!)
This evening CREW ventured onto the Metro-Link for a trip to Union Station for dinner, shopping and people-watching. The big attractions were the bungi trampolines and the singing fudge maker at the Fudgery.
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Wednesday July 12, 2006
Hump Day
CREW Mission has passed the half way mark of the week with only one full
day of work remaining. Despite painting between the rain drops and
roof repairs in the rain, the Team at Sanders Developmental Group Homeood
made good progress. This was in part due to blessings that came with
two discoveries: the roof did not require a tear off but only spot repair
and the water damage to the ceiling plaster in a bedroom was only surface
and did not require demolition and new sheetrock. The extra room in
the dumpster was quickly filled with debris from an adjoining lot with the
aid of a neighbor and his Bobcat.
The CREW team was visited by members of the Opal's House Board... who were
very impressed by the work. And the work is endless... taping,
mudding and sanding. The Team is working hard to have the two front
rooms painted before leaving ESL. At the end of the day teh CREW was
treated to ice cream at Purtles (the Jarlings of East St. Louis!).
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Thursday July 13, 2006
Mission Accomplished
The final work day for CREW '06. So eager to complete the room Opal's House, the team left the Shrine early this morning. It paid off and the front bedroom was primed and painted. But one room doesn't tell the complete story. This team hung 300 sq.ft. of sheet rock, patched another 300 sq.ft. of plaster (including ceilings), installed 360 lineal ft. of corner bead, applied over 400 lineal ft. of joint tape and spread 23 gallons of joint compound... then sanded until their shoulders burned ( a task that seemed to never end!) Every CREW member signed the wall in the completed room and Essie promised it would never be painted (although bookshelves will likely cover the names once the shelter is occupied).
The CREW team at Sanders Developmental Center also "dug" in to the work.
They were aided by Father Joe late in the morning... who after brief
introductions, picked up a paint brush and got to work. By the time
the whistle blew at 3:30 this afternoon, both houses were painted, two roofs
repaired, a ceiling repaired and painted, paneling installed, ceiling fans
hung, a washer repaired, 53 lineal feet of deep shelving built, 2 store rooms
re-organized and a side yard cleared. About quitting time the bus arrived
bring the children home from school and Audrey wheeled them around to show
them the completed work.
Not bad for four days work.
By the time tools were returned to the ESALRP storage shed, rental
vehicles fueled up and returned many CREW members didn't have time
for showers before dinner. After dinner, CREW participated in
a reconcilliation service followed by Mass. Father Joe asked the youth
to meet him in the church parking lot where he sent them on a scavenger hunt
that concluded with a very civil baloon toss that erupted into a brief but
agressive water baloon fight! (but all in good fun).
The evening ended with pizza and conversation in the lounge. By 10:00 CREW members began drifting back to their rooms to pack and prepare for tomorrow's departure... some just to get some sleep.
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