Since 2001, the Nativity Knights of Columbus Father Sikora Council #7992, in partnership with the Appalachian Construction Crew, Inc—a Christian non-profit organization—have built 23 homes for families in need who are living below the poverty level in the heart of Appalachia. Thanks to your support and generosity, we were able to build Nativity’s 24th home! May God bless you all for your caring and generosity.
2022 Home Building Project
On behalf of the Knights of Columbus, the Appalachian Construction Crew of Omaha, NE, and the New family of five, we want to thank the Nativity family for their tremendous outpouring of support that made this home building effort possible. With the combined donations from Nativity, the Knights, and personal donations, our contributions totaled over $120,000, not including a truck load of household items provided by the Nativity family. With slightly over $10,000 raised from Omaha, the combined crews were able to again build a home for a very needy family. Good Shepherd Chapel selected the family. The New family clearly had some challenges. The family had a combined income of around $21,000 and lived in a trailer with significant mold, leaks, and electrical issues. This was the 24th home where Nativity and the Knights partnered with the Appalachian Construction Crew.
Still dealing with Covid challenges, we kept protocols in place for the safety of the crew, but still had to deal with crew members testing positive. From June 1–14, the combined crews were able to complete the home with two of those days dedicated to travel. The Nativity crew was composed of 20 including: 18 knights, one family member, and Father Bresnahan; Omaha sponsored 7 that included a support crew to help with feeding the Crew. Weather was ideal during the entire build and even with the Covid crew challenges, we completed the build on time. Local electrical, heating/air conditioning, and plumbing contractors worked at night to ensure the home was ready for critical inspections. Early Tuesday, we completed hanging all the sheetrock and applied the first coat on most of the joints and cleaned up the site for the house blessing. Literally, we completed all this work, exterior construction and interior rough-in, in 5 ½ days!
We had the house blessing on Tuesday afternoon led by Fathers Danny of Kentucky and Bresnahan. Due to Covid, we presented the keys to the family at the house blessing and told them of all the household items that we brought from Nativity rather than present the items at our normal family dinner. The family was overwhelmed with the outpouring of help and the caring from the Nativity family. Brandon and Opel, the parents, were in tears when they received the keys and Brandon spoke on how their new home would change their lives. They also made the effort to personally thank everyone.
On Wednesday morning, the first crew departed, and the finishing crew took over. From Wednesday thru Monday, our Nativity finishing crew of seven, with Omaha’s two, stayed to do all the finishing. The finishing team completed all the drywall finishing, painting, hanging doors, trimming, and installing kitchen cabinets. The finishing crew left on Tuesday. All final inspections were completed by June 21, and appliances and new beds provided by Nativity were delivered soon after. The family moved in over June 24–26.
