04/19/2024
Phase 1 of the plan successfully completed! Making preparations for Phase 2!
Hi Everyone!
A core group of six volunteers converged on Redford for the entire week of March 24th and many other volunteers helped out throughout the week!
This was a wildly successful clean-up of Enrique's and Ruby's house - it surpassed all expectations! All of Enrique's and Ruby's personal belongings and family collections in the home are safe and secured from further damage.
We also cleaned the house across the street, replaced broken window panes in that home, and did major cleanup of the yard. We also had a full evaluation of the electrical and plumbing systems in both homes. We are ready for Phase 2!
A core group of six volunteers converged on Redford for the entire week of March 24th and many other volunteers helped out throughout the week!
This was a wildly successful clean-up of Enrique's and Ruby's house - it surpassed all expectations! All of Enrique's and Ruby's personal belongings and family collections in the home are safe and secured from further damage.
We also cleaned the house across the street, replaced broken window panes in that home, and did major cleanup of the yard. We also had a full evaluation of the electrical and plumbing systems in both homes. We are ready for Phase 2!
I want to thank the following people:
- My colleague and friend, Joie Le, who came all the way to Redford during her much needed spring break to help out - she was a critical player in tackling some of the most challenging rooms in the house.
- Greg Knipe, for his consistent hard work and great storytelling!
- My son, Kai, and his two friends, Bodan and Eli - they were terrific hard working teens who invested a lot of time and energy in making the week a success. And they tackled some pretty nasty jobs!
- Brian Young for helping ensure our personal safety by making sure we were prepared in case of snake or critter encounters.
- Arty Rothery, for organizing the VOBS student group to clean up the outside of the house before we even got there. Arty also organized a small group of VOBS staff who worked for a few hours tackling the cupboards and floor in the kitchen. And they did this after spending days packing up the VOBS base.
- Calvin Croll for stopping by on Thursday to do an expert electrician's check of the electrical systems in both houses.
- Patrick Kelley, friend of Diane Wintzer, who stopped by for most of a day and completed all of our small construction projects - boarding up openings in doors, windows, torn screens, and replacing broken windows in E&R's house! He was the one who actually secured the home from easy entry!
- Mario Pando, for the use of his large dump truck and hauling four very full loads of garbage to the dump.
- Pancho Hernandez, for helping find a working front loader in Redford and helping load the dump truck. He also took a load of appliances and separated metals to the dump with his truck and flatbed trailer. Pancho is also the person who has been feeding E&R's cats since last June!
- Chuy, for coming to help with his front loader for the final dump load.
- Steve Mesa, for connecting me to Mario Pando (thanks for answering your phone despite the unknown 303 area code!)
- County Commissioners Brenda Bentley and Margarito Hernandez for allowing us to use the community center in Redford for the week, and Hector and Rosa Morales, for making sure the community center was cleaned and loaning us the key to the facility for the week.
- AND ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE OFFERED SUPPORTING WORDS AND DONATIONS!!!!
With the immediate need of securing the home completed, we have two "next steps":
- Move forward with making a livable, updated space for Enrique and Ruby so they can visit.
- Remove, clean, catalogue and archive the various books and collections in the home. Margo Tamez will be leading that effort starting this summer.
In the meantime, KEEP THE DONATIONS COMING! Thank you!
Edited 03/15/2024
03/15/2024
Phase 1 of the plan to support Enrique and Ruby starts in a week!
Thank you everyone for your donations to the Enrique and Ruby Fundraiser! It has been wonderfully successful as we push for an ambitious goal. We are already planning to take the essential step of securing Enrique's and Ruby's house and its contents from further damage. A small team of us will be in Redford, Texas from March 24-30 tackling this massive project. A 30 yard dumpster will be put behind the home next Thursday in time for a Voyageur Outward Bound group to help clean up the outside of the house. Thank you VOBS!! While we are there, we hope to get a full assessment of the updates and improvements needed on the house across the street so Enrique and Ruby can finally return to Redford for short visits.
None of this would be possible without your generosity! Thank you!!