Labor of love: LDS ward, neighbors pitch in to aid widows
"I thought, 'We can't do one when we have nine,' " Wellman said.
The work now being done on the nine homes varies greatly — some were just given a thorough cleaning, others were basically gutted and remodeled — and the task has developed into a three-week backbreaking labor of love that Wellman said has united an entire neighborhood.
But beyond the obvious vestments of LDS society, the concerned bishop, the Relief Society sisters bringing dinner and the primary kids roaming the work site with drinks and cookies, the project has blurred religious lines as members of various faiths have come together to help their neighbors.
"This is not just the Mormons," Wellman said. "You'll find every person in this neighborhood has participated, from all religious organizations. This is really about a neighborhood coming together."
The nexus of the project has centered around the three homes receiving massive overhauls. In those three homes, workers have laid new tile, painted, torn out and redone the kitchens, installed new appliances, built new driveways, and even rebuilt a deck at one home. Extensive landscaping duty was donated to each home as well.
"Honestly, I felt guilty," Connie Turkington said when she first heard what her neighbors wanted to do for her. "All these people are busy. They all have families, they all have their own homes and kids and things to take care of, so I did feel a little bit guilty that first of all, people were going to be taking a lot of time out for me, plus all the money and resources, and I had to get over that, honestly. Sometimes it's hard to accept help from others."
Turkington's neighbor, Sandra Fyffe, said she also had a hard time accepting the neighborhood's help.
"I was surprised at what (the bishop) said," Fyffe said. "It's very hard to receive. I was overwhelmed, I pondered it and I thanked him. He asked me to make a list and I could never make it. But when I finally did, my son and I, the list was very, very long."
Fyffe has been living for years in the home left unfinished when her husband passed away but said all she really hoped for was a new driveway.
She got that, but volunteers didn't stop there. She also has new tile, a new kitchen, and a beautifully landscaped back yard now.
"It is overwhelmingly wonderful," Fyffe said. "It's something that you dream of, and here it has happened."
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