Woman gets needed assistance during clean-up week
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Messenger photo by Kim Lunsford
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Bill Ogsburger of the Reynoldsburg United Methodist Church men's group inspects damaged fascia boards during part of the Reynoldsburg Clean Up, Fix Up, Spruce Up week activities.
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Odd jobs around the house are ones that are often taken for granted.
Things like trimming bushes, mending fences, power washing the home and even doing some simple roof repair are not always the easiest tasks.
When homeowner Marilyn Sutton read in the newspaper about the 2001 “Reynoldsburg Clean-up, Fix-up, Spruce-up” activities and saw the opportunity to get the help she needed around her house, she said she went to city hall to do just that -ask for help.
“I’ve never had help, except for my neighbors,” Sutton said. “I just can’t afford to pay for it.”
Sutton isn’t alone in her need for assistance. After finding out last year that she needed an operation on her leg, she was left unable to work and unable to get around very well.
According to Rick Keys with the Reynoldsburg Code Enforcement Office, 11 seniors applied to take part in Reynoldsburg’s Fix Up Assistance Program. The program is for those individuals, seniors and those with disabilities who are unable to help themselves, Keys said.
“The only criteria is that they must articulate why they need help and why they cannot pay for it,” Keys said. “We have never had to turn anyone down for an overall project.”
The process after application included visits from Keys to create a check sheet for volunteers helping out so they knew what needed to be accomplished at each location.
After only a few short weeks of planning, the volunteers gathered June 4 for the official clean-up day to tidy up garages, pick weeds, clean windows, paint areas and help out wherever needed.
The crew at Sutton’s home was a unique group of men who have seen their share of homes in need of help. The members of the Reynoldsburg United Methodist Church men’s group included Bill Ogsburger, Tom Day, Jerry Thompson and self-proclaimed junior member Dick Biggs.
The group has built houses for Habitat for Humanity as well. Sutton’s home, along with another project for this year, were ones that the city specifically sent to the Reynoldsburg UMC group because of the need for carpentry skills city officials knew the men were able to perform.
As the men gathered around the home inspecting the bushes and trees needing trimmed, along with the gutters and fascia board coming away from the roof, they made a plan to get working in the high heat and humidity to get the necessary work complete.
“This is our thing to help people,” Ogsburger said. “That’s what Jesus wants us to do.”
Sutton said she never thought she would get help.
“Prayers are answered,” she said. “I was glad of that.”