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St. Charles members help Habitat build homes, lives
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .The hardworking crew at the Habitat for Humanity build on Dryden Avenue in Struthers took a break from a morning of detailed construction work to eat a lunch provided by the St. Charles Church Social Justice Committee. The pause gave homeowners Cassandra and Charity Leavell (far left) a chance to thank the church members for providing the feast.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Members of the St. Charles Social Justice Commission provided the Habitat for Humanity volunteers a meal of salad, pizza, chips, cookies, brownies, and beverages. The meal offered the crew members a few moments of rest on the home's front porch before the workers got back to business.
By SARAH FOOR
The members of St. Charles Church in Boardman treasure their worship time, but also place great weight on the importance of social teaching. The church’s Social Justice Commission calls for its members to respect hard work, the plight of the poor, and to provide solidarity and care for God’s creations.
Throughout the months of June and July, members of the Social Justice Commission have given their time to the construction of a new house for a Struthers family through Habitat for Humanity Mahoning County.
Members of the St. Charles community each offered their own unique support for their project. Jackie Fyock and fellow parish members brought a feast to the hardworking crew at the Dryden Avenue Habitat for Humanity build in Struthers. Fyock brought pizza, salad, cookies, brownies and bottled water to the site and offered a break for the building crew on June 25.
Sean Fyock, the site’s construction supervisor and also a St. Charles Parish member, welcomed the lunch and a chance to reflect on his work.
“Giving my time to Habitat is a very important part of my faith,” shared Sean Fyock. “Charity is more than just words or gestures. Instead of just giving, I want to do. Every Habitat build is about teaching self-sufficiency, and that continues on long after we leave.”
The supportive energy was felt by homeowners Charity and Cassandra Leavell.
As required by the Habitat for Humanity homeowners, the couple will put in more than 300 hours of “sweat equity” along with volunteers.
“There is so much work that goes into building a house, but we already feel so connected to every nail and screw in there,” shared Charity Leavell.
“We’ll definitely be staying in the Habitat volunteer program. We want to help build for other families. It’s our way of thanking the volunteers who are giving their time for us,” said Cassandra Leavell.