‘More to give’

Men and boys from That Church in Conway got out of their vehicles Saturday morning - some wearing white Live United T-shirts - grabbed hammers and started attacking the dilapidated steps on Paul Wofford’s mobile home.

“We’re going to rebuild the whole stairs,” That Church pastor Wade Radke told volunteers.

Two big projects at Oakwood Village mobile home park, 475 E. Robins St., culminated the United Way of Central Arkansas Week of Action.

Nationally, it’s the United Way Day of Action, held June 21, but Conway had so many volunteers, it stretched into a week starting last year, said Jennifer Bickers, resource development director for the United Way of Central Arkansas.

“We realized people in this community have a lot more to give than one day,” she said.

Steve Rutherford, a member of That Church, said he was there “working for the Lord, loving on some people.”

“I’m not a handyman,” he added, laughing.

In the second project in Oakwood Village, Russell Adams, 44, was getting a new kitchen floor in the mobile home he shares with his father, Jerry. The old linoleum had come apart, and nothing was left but a plywood subfloor.

Volunteers from That Church were putting down new linoleum tiles. Jason Howard, who grinned and said he knew just enough about putting down a floor to make himself dangerous, was leading the project.

Adams said two of his five sons are living with him for the summer. Nichalas, 11, was trying to watch Saturday-morning cartoons, but it was hit and miss with volunteers coming and going through the small living room.

Nichalas was happy about the work, though.

“I’ve been tripping over it and all that,” he said of the unfinished floor. “I bet it’ll look a lot better.”

His father smiled as he greeted the volunteers and said of the project, “I love it; I love it.”

City of Hope Outreach founder Phillip Fletcher submitted the projects for the Week of Action. Fletcher, 38, started the ministry in the mobile-home park in 2007. He holds church services each Sunday, but also offers an after school tutoring program, education and Bible classes, meals for kids during the summer and more.

City of Hope Outreach became a United Way agency this year, he said.

College students in Conway volunteer with the ministry, too, and serve as staff members.

Cory Nelson of Cabot, a junior, heads the City of Hope’s Nehemiah Project, which is about community renewal and improvement in the area - having people clean up their homes and beautify the area around where they live, Fletcher said.

“I think that brings lasting change and investment in a place,” Fletcher said.

“I do it because of the Gospel,” Nelson, 23, a junior geography major, said. “It’s the faith we believe put into action.”

That Church hosted the United Way Week of Action kickoff event this year, Radke said.

“We were willing to pick up projects that didn’t get picked up,” he said.

Fletcher said the mobilehome-park projects “took a level of skill,” which is why they may have been the last to go.

“I really like Phillip and what he’s doing in this community,” Radke said. “They’ve planted themselves in the community.They’re not just dropping in on the weekends. Some of them even live out here.”

That Church was established just more than a year ago, Radke said, in downtown Conway.

“Rather than come up with new ministries, we support people who are already doing it, because it’s not about us - it’s about people getting served.”

Fletcher’s goal is to have residents of Oakwood Village and volunteers and businesses in the community work together to improve the mobile-home park.

Wearing a black City of Hope Outreach T-shirt with the acronym the ministry uses, CoHo, and a Bible verse on the back, khaki shorts and flip-flops, Fletcher walked to the mobile-home park’s community center. The renovated trailer is used for Bible and education classes, a place for residents to wash their clothes and just “hang out.” Children in the park planted a flower garden outside, and a resident constructed a brick border.

“We have a tendency to think people in low-income situations have nothing to offer,” Fletcher said. “Once you get to know a person and realize they have something to offer, it’s better to stir and motivate that.”

He said volunteers often “come to give, but many times they leave receiving.”

That Church member Brandi Howard of Wooster, who helped her husband install the new floor in Adams’ mobile home, said Saturday’s project was satisfying.

“We really didn’t want to leave - we wanted to find somebody else to serve,” she said. “Even though we’ve done other service projects, this was very humbling. Most of the residents we talked to are good people at heart, just had a bad situation.”

“It looks wonderful,” Russell Adams said about his new floor. “It’s just good to get it fixed. Dad’s been meaning to get it done for a long time. Now maybe we can start on another project.”

“Like the living room,” son Nichalas chimed in.

Bickers said the Week of Action included 24 projects this year, compared with 35 last year.

“Even though there are fewer projects, the scope of them is so much bigger,” Bickers said.

“The biggest thing I hope people understand about the Week of Action, … I really just want people to understand everyone has something they can give. It doesn’t have to be a financial contribution; you don’t even have to refurbish a house for it to make an impact.”

Wofford, who has diabetes and other health issues and was using oxygen, sat on his porch with Fletcher and talked about recent trip to the emergency room.

Wofford laughed when asked what he thought about Fletcher’s ministry and the Week of Action project.

“They’re great. What can I say?” Wofford said.

River Valley Ozark, Pages 71 on 06/30/2011

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