50 properties fixed up in 4 days by church volunteers

"Flip 50 in Four Days" project

Berachah Baptist Church, Faith United Church, New Covenant Church and the city of Middletown celebrated their home renovation work Sunday night, May 16, at the Robert “Sonny” Hill Community Center, 800 Lafayette Ave.

Here are the homes that had repairs and primary improvements completed:

MIDDLETOWN — The idea, to most, would seem impossible.

After years of renovating one home in Middletown, volunteers from Berachah Baptist Church — this time assisted by two other churches — tackled a larger project: 50 homes in four days.

Clark Helvey, outreach and mission director at Berachah and project manager, called it “a lofty goal.”

Regardless, at 5 p.m. Sunday — during a celebration at Robert “Sonny” Hill Community Center — Helvey and the Rev. Lamar Ferrell, pastor of Berachah, and city officials proclaimed the four-day blitz an “overwhelming success.”

Consider that hundreds of volunteers renovated 50-plus homes in the city, and the $50,000 in materials were paid for through the Middletown Community Foundation and a Community Development Block Grant fund, and the project was completed on time.

And there was paint left over.

Doug Adkins, community revitalization director for the city, applauded the efforts of the volunteers.

“This has been wonderful,” he said.

And what’s next for Berachah and its army of volunteers whose closets must be stuffed with paint-covered T-shirts? Ferrell said the church hopes to complete another “Extreme Makeover” this fall.

“We’re ready,” he said.

Helvey compared Middletown’s climb out of its depressive condition to a marathon.

“It all begins with a step,” he said. “You can’t run 26 miles without taking that first step. You know it’s going to be difficult, but you have to sacrifice, you have to endure. It’s a process.”

That’s a lot to ask for a city labeled as “dying” by a national publication.

“I don’t see that,” Clark said. “I see life in this city. We are not done. We have been knocked down, but we’re making every effort to get back up. We are not finished.”

'It's amazing the difference a coat of white paint can make'

Clark Helvey, outreach and mission director at Berachah Baptist Church in Middletown, has a strong message for the doubters in this town.

“As long as we’re able to walk, we can’t be defeated,” the 57-year-old said. “We are not going to be defeated. We don’t have to be defeated. We’re not dead as long as we’re standing on our feet and sucking air.”

On Sunday, May 16, Clark and hundreds of exhausted workers were sucking air after volunteering for the last four days renovating more than 50 homes in Middletown.

The city of Middletown partnered with Faith United Church, New Covenant and Berachah to make maintenance repairs to homes that the city declared as non compliant with its property maintenance code.

During the last few years, Berachah, as part of its “Hands and Feet” ministry program, completed an “extreme makeover” of one home in the Middletown area. Church members and building contractors donated their time to the annual project. The cost of the labor and materials was more than $50,000.

The cost of materials was offset by the city’s Community Development Block Grant funds.

The Rev. Lamar Ferrell, pastor of Berachah, figured if one house was good, 50 houses would be “incredible.”

“Flipping 50 in Four Days” was born.

The city identified the homes in need of repairs that fit within the $1,000 material range. The materials were purchased through a $25,000 grant from the Middletown Community Foundation and with funds from the Community Development Block Grant.

Then on Thursday, May 13, the real work began.

Hundreds of volunteers — representing three local churches and the city of Middletown — spread out armed with paint brushes, tools, ladders, shovels and lawn mowers, and most importantly, the desire to revitalize the city one house at a time.

Volunteers wearing lime green “To Love is to Serve” T-shirts could be seen throughout the weekend. They pulled weeds, trimmed bushes, repaired gutters, scraped and painted exterior walls.

They sweated and they laughed.

“It’s great to make a difference,” said Shannon King, who recently moved to Florida with her husband, but returned to Middletown for the “Extreme Makeover.”

A few feet away, Shauna Glover added: “It’s amazing the difference a coat of white paint can make.”

All of their work seemed appreciated.

Norman Hoskins, 81, who lives on Malvern Street, said he’s unable to keep up with the maintenance on his house. He called the work by the volunteers “wonderful and nice.”

Rain was predicted Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Ferrell said he prayed that the rain would hold off until 5 p.m. Sunday, when a celebration was scheduled at the Robert “Sonny” Hill Community Center.

It didn’t rain until 5 p.m. Sunday.

Ferrell said during his missions in Africa he learned that rain is considered “a blessing” from God.

“God said, 'I’ve seen what you have done and I’m blessing that,’” he told the volunteers at the center. “We proved that with God, all things are possible.”

Contact this columnist at (513) 705-2842 or rmccrabb@coxohio.com.