St. B. Volunteers Spruce up an Episcopal Retirement Home

by John Nolan

Many thanks to all our parishioners who joined in a Habitat for Humanity project to do cleanup and repairs at the Episcopal Retirement Services' Thomaston Woods retirement home in Clermont County.

Habitat's Cincinnati staff organized the effort as part of the Rock the Block service projects Habitat sponsors several times a year across various communities in our region.

Thanks to St. Barnabas, we made a significant positive impact during our work day Saturday at the site near the village of Amelia.

Our volunteers cleaned out and refreshed flower beds, pressure-washed building exteriors, and cleaned and repaired gutters. We also rebuilt and replaced gates and rotted boards in a wooden enclosure surrounding trash bins, and replaced part of a chain-link fence that had been flattened by a falling tree at the property's edge.

The total effect was to reinvigorate the Thomaston Woods site, which needed a facelift.

It also provided an opportunity for our parishioners to interact with each other in a way that has been missing during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Here is a follow-up event to keep on your calendars: Habitat for Humanity is already planning more Rock the Block service events to coincide with a national day of service on September 11 this year, in memory of the victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks 20 years ago on that date.

Thanks for your support of Habitat and its mission to build affordable housing for families.