Thank You for the Rebuilding Together Project 2009!!! Members St. Francis of Assisi participated in the Rebuilding Together national “Day of Rebuilding” on Saturday, April 25th. Rebuilding Together is a national nonprofit organization with the mission of preserving safe and affordable housing by bringing together volunteers, building professionals and donated materials to repair and rehabilitate the homes of low-income, elderly and physically challenged homeowners.  This work is provided at no cost to the homeowners.  Nationwide, an estimated 10,000 homes were renovated in over two hundred locations this year.  In Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, the lives of fourteen homeowners were improved by nearly two hundred volunteers.  Members of Ann Arbor’s St. Francis of Assisi and St. Mary Student Parish and St. John the Baptist and Transfiguration parishes in Ypsilanti participated on various homes that day.  Completed tasks included construction of a wheelchair ramp, exterior door and lockset replacements, roof repairs, electrical repairs, kitchen and bath updates, exterior painting, railing installation and repair, dead tree removal and other yard work. Special thanks to Linda & Jim Wiseman for being our project leaders this year.  And, Thanks to all who contributed to our successful project! Your generosity will be remembered by the receiving family for years to come - Well done!   St. Francis volunteers (& other friends):  Maya Bruer, Thomas DuRussel-Weston, Anya Holodnick, Cherie Holodnick, Justin King, Mary LeMire, Fr. John Linden, Oleg Mihans, Susan Mihans, Erin Norton, Brian O'Neil, Alexander Pietrasiuk, Cathy Pietrasiuk, Max Romero, Reynaldo Ronquillo, Robert Scott, Allison Strassburg, Patricia Strassburg, Randy Strassburg, Russ Strassburg, Kevin Tallio, Jacob Tallio, Jim Wiseman, Linda Wiseman, Joe Wottreng, Mark Wottreng, Jamie Zawistowski, Matthew Zawistowski, & The St. Francis Edge Youth Group.   A Note of thanks from Brian O'Neil on Thu, May 28, 2009:      Regarding the day – it went very well.     We were very blessed with a glorious day, all the more remarkable because it SNOWED on the Tuesday or Wednesday before.    We had a nice mix of new and familiar faces, and we were able to get almost everything completed that Mrs. Noland requested – drywall replacement in a bathroom, a fantastic hand rail on the front porch, a roof repair, a TV cable reroute, and of course tons of landscaping and brush clearing.  And the tree removal was a bonus job – everyone pitched in and got it done quickly – actually, we were ALL done by 4 PM this year, which was nice.    Mrs Noland was very appreciative of all the work, and very relieved that a very dead tree that threatened her home and yard is now gone.    Kudos to Jim for not only pulling all this work together, but for coordinating lunch and breakfast for ALL (fourteen) Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti homes.    Now that I’ve had a few weeks to recover, I plan to stop by Mrs. Noland’s house to see how she’s doing, so I’ll send a note to all of our volunteers.   We also have our county meeting next week so hopefully we’ll have a few dollars left to take care of some very balky windows for Mrs Noland.     Scott, thanks again for coordinating all the volunteers – we couldn’t do this without you.      Mary, thanks for the great photos.     Jim, thanks for EVERYTHING. Brian O'Neil