wfn.org | Building on The Cornerstone

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

16-July-1997 
97268 
 
                  "Building on The Cornerstone" 
 
                         by Barbara Hogan 
                    "The Tallahassee Democrat" 
                    Reprinted with permission 
 
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.--In a small wood bungalow on Frenchtown's California 
Street, Cecile Thomas, 91, sits in her favorite living room chair dressed 
in her pink-and-blue housecoat.  She watches television to pass the time, 
and usually doesn't get around much because of her weak heart, arthritis 
and gout. 
 
     Thomas does have a walker, but her feet are usually too sore to use 
it.  A wheelchair sits nearby in another room.  She also has friends 
watching out for her who bring her food and take her to doctor's 
appointments. 
 
     But sometimes her thoughts have turned dark.  "What if this house 
caught on fire?" she has wondered.  "I couldn't get out." 
 
     She doesn't have to worry anymore.  Early on June 18, a crew built a 
ramp with bannisters up to her front door.  "Thank you, Jesus!" sighed 
Thomas, watching the ramp take shape. 
 
     Outside, doing the Lord's work for Thomas, were half a dozen volunteer 
workers from "Building on the Cornerstone," a weeklong mission of the seven 
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Churches in Tallahassee plus 17 members of 
three Covington, Va., Presbyterian churches. 
 
     Tallahassee churches included First Presbyterian Church, Faith 
Presbyterian Church, Christ Presbyterian Church, Fellowship Presbyterian 
Church, Trinity United Presbyterian Church, Lafayette Presbyterian Church 
and Covenant Presbyterian Church.  Participating Covington churches 
included Falling Spring Presbyterian Church, First Presbyterian Church and 
Low Moor Presbyterian Church. 
 
     This time last year, the Tallahassee group was in Covington helping 
[the Covington churches] with a similar project.  The mission's aim is to 
make free home repairs and improvements for low- income, elderly and 
disabled citizens. 
 
     Korey Lowry, director of Christian education at First Presbyterian 
Church of Tallahassee, along with Florida State University professor Dennis 
Cradit, an elder at First Church, were co-directors for the project. 
 
     They began their work by asking the Center for Independent Living of 
North Florida and Elder Care Services for the names of their clients who 
needed small home repairs in the neighborhood of $300.  Then, six months 
ago, they asked the seven churches for money, volunteers and materials. 
 
     Cradit says the mission is similar to Habitat for Humanity, so the 
majority of people have no appreciable building skills.  "What we do is put 
a skilled crew chief in charge of each team," he explained. 
 
     The project attracted around 30 volunteers each day, including 
professionals.  Stan Tozer, a physicist at FSU's Magnet Lab, and Barbara 
Black, an assistant professor at Florida A&M University, were two.  Dr. Jim 
Balliro, a vascular surgeon, took a day off to help, and he turned out to 
be a skilled carpenter. 
 
     "This has really been a godsend for us," said social worker Fay 
Pridgeon of Elder Care Services. "We've had no appropriate places we could 
report these needs for repair and the needs have been apparent for a long 
time."  Pridgeon referred 16 clients to the Presbyterian group. 
 
     Louise McCart, assistant director of The Center for Independent 
Living, which gives support and advocacy to people with disabilities, says 
she, too, gets more requests than she can fill.  She wants the 
Presbyterians to know how much she appreciates the help. 
 
     So does Junius Jones, 79, who lives in the Bond community.  Jones 
suffers from severe arthritis, walks with a stick and had a handicap ramp, 
but it was rotting away.  "They're building this ramp different and a whole 
lot better than the other," Jones declared.  "It looks good!" 
 
     Workers sometimes went beyond what they started out to do.  While 
fixing the back steps and the railing for Eleanor Cohen in Frenchtown, they 
saw that the entire foundation had given way.  So they poured concrete for 
a new one, then built the steps and railings. 
 
     Cohen experienced a stroke last year and knew she teetered on the 
brink of disaster each time she used the rickety steps to hang her clothes 
on a backyard line.  "They're out there doing wonderful and needful work," 
she said.  "You don't know how glad I am for those people." 
 
     Those people are not out there trying to work their way into heaven. 
Lowry wants that made plain -- even if they did base the mission's name on 
1 Peter 2:6 ("I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and 
precious ..."). 
 
     Presbyterians believe that their salvation is assured and good works 
won't cut it.  But they don't believe life on Earth should seem like that 
other place, either.  Not if they can help it. 
 
 

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