Church donates tools for low-income home repair

Collins Keenum of Memphis, pictured at left, and Bob Fritchey, director of community services for the Reelfoot Rural Ministry, unload tools donated for rural home-repair projects in a four-county area of Northwest Tennessee. [Click to enlarge]

Members of Crossroads United Methodist Church in Memphis have spent almost two decades repairing homes for low-income families in Northwest Tennessee and know the frustration that comes with lacking proper tools on a job site.

To cure that problem for future volunteers with the work-camp program of Reelfoot Rural Ministries, located near Obion, the church spent thousands of dollars to purchase specialized construction tools that include miter saws, portable air compressors and air-powered nailers.

"Some of the construction teams come from distant states and it is difficult for them to bring all the right tools with them," said Collins Keenum, a member of the church who has repaired low-income rural homes for RRM since 1986. "I knew there would be a big advantage to having tools and supplies stored at the ministry."

According to Bob Fritchey, who is the director of community services for RRM, volunteers annually come from states across the country but especially from the Midwest to join Tennessee workers in home repair. Work groups, largely drawn from churches within the United Methodist denomination that founded RRM, have ranged in size from a dozen to more than 80.

"Often projects can get complicated," Fritchey asserted. "Lack of the right tools has been a problem in the past."

The projects include wheelchair ramps for the elderly, reconstruction of dilapidated porches, repairing roofs and floors, rebuilding bathrooms and painting. Keenum said he could remember working on a rural home where the pipes had frozen and burst during the winter leaving the place without running water until his crew arrived in June. The owner simply lacked the financial resources to effect the repairs.

"Just about everything that can be done to a home we have done, to the thankfulness of the client and a feeling of fulfillment in the volunteers for doing God's work," Fritchey said. He also pointed out that while volunteers are often housed in a dormitory on the RRM site, they pay for their food and transportation, bring their own tools and even purchase the building materials that will be used on a project.

"We are continually trying to expand our work-camp program," Fritchey said. "From the traditional summer term in June and July we are now actively booking spring and fall dates. Most participants find a work-camp experience to be one of the most rewarding of their lives."