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DEL.ICIO.USTIME to make a difference
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
He cut to the chase quickly.
It wasn’t his idea, Chris Honein told me, to spend part of his summer re-roofing a house for the needy.
But before the five-day project ended Wednesday night, Chris was digging it. Mom and dad were right.
“Every morning you wake and you’re tired and you have to get going,” the 13-year-old said. “But once you get up on the roof, you get into it. It’s cool.”
Well, actually it was hot for a group of young people who hung shingles on three homes in the Tucker area this week. What started out as a youth project for Tucker First United Methodist Church has morphed into a privately-sponsored nonprofit called TIME , which stands for Tucker Interfaith Mission Experience. Its purpose: To re-roof one-story homes at no cost to select homeowners who can’t afford it.
TIME volunteers will tear off an old roof and tack on a new one if a homeowner qualifies and lives within a few miles of Main Street in Tucker. New shingles are the tangible benefits. Others are immeasurable. TIME aims to improve the community, connect the church to the people, and it is hoped, instill in teens a benevolent spirit that continues into adulthood.
The Badie Tour was drawn to TIME for a number of reasons, some selfish. My family attends Tucker First. My son Miles, 12, took part in TIME. Like Chris, he had a change of heart as time moved on. So it was special to see my church and its youth take the lead in a project so simple and humane yet practically an anomaly in these parts.
See, I get it.
Perhaps you don’t. Maybe you take issue with “hand outs” and “helping hands.” Maybe you believe individual responsibility supercedes and overcomes most any and everything. Maybe you generalize about the less fortunate, judge them, their situation, with scant evidence. Criticism from a position of comfort is crude, callous, inhumane, arrogant.
Know what?
You probably could benefit from spending a little time with TIME. If nothing else, think about the “what ifs.” Imagine. Dream big.
It’s what John Lukens, the nonprofit’s board chairman, and I did Tuesday evening. Dinner had been served, the tables were clear. The TIME volunteers were lounging around the Tucker First campus.
“Can you imagine what our youth could be like in 20 years?” he asked. “This is like putting a down payment on the future. Can you imagine the power if every church partnered with another church and did three or four [roofs] a year? You could help people in a way no government assistance could ever provide.”
Make no mistake: TIME is youth driven, though adults work, supervise and chaperone. Teens from Tucker First and Tucker’s Northlake Church of Christ teamed up this year. They bunked at Tucker First and ate most meals there. They were on the job sites by 8 o’clock or so most mornings, and back at the church in the afternoons for dinner, chapel, activities and down time.
Lukens and his daughter, Libby, were part of the 2007 inaugural mission project, when TIME repaired four houses. This year, they worked on the same roof, part of the same 22-person crew. Libby, a rising senior at Parkview High, was the “timekeeper.” In order words, she was the boss.
“The house we worked on this year was in better shape than the one I worked on last year,” she told me. “I love this experience, and I have learned a lot. I want to play a part in this as long as I can. The youth have to keep this going. We’re helping the community. And we’re all just one community.”
See photos of the work at http://projects.ajc.com/gallery/view/metro/gwinnett/0618badie/. For more information about Tucker Interfaith Mission Experience, visit www.timesmission.org. Rick Badie’s column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact him at 770-263-3875 or e-mail: rbadie@ajc.com.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Post your comment | Categories: Rick Badie
Comments
By Cindy
June 19, 2008 8:39 AM | Link to this
That’s nice. When you help others, everyone wins.
By Jeff
June 19, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this
I typically get a kick out of the non-religious hypocrites saying Christians don’t help the needy. TIME is a perfect example of the fallacy of that statement.
Another is the fact that Woostock First Baptist gives more money and support to the needy than ANY other church in Metro Atlanta, EVEN THOUGH they just built that massive new sanctuary.
Good job with TIME, Rick, and I hope your son takes much from his time on the rooftops.
By Jais
June 19, 2008 10:07 AM | Link to this
I am sorry Badie but this is another losing article. SADLY so. Get some articles done about REAL issues in gwinnet, not the lame feel-good drivel you always spout.
By Cindy
June 19, 2008 1:32 PM | Link to this
I don’t think it sucks.
This blog is one of my many daily stops…but i’ve never confused it with anything that defines my life. I read it for entertainment and perhaps a chance to discuss something with ya’ll, sometimes seriously and at others times in a silly manner. Whatever works.
Badie shouldn’t be attacked and berated. I think that’s both mean-spirited and inappropriate.
Try to bring a better attitude to the table and you might enjoy the meal a little more. If not, maybe allow the rest of the dinner party to enjoy theirs.
By KIM
June 19, 2008 2:47 PM | Link to this
How wonderful these young people are learning to give back to their community. That IS a significant issue, and we all can learn what they are learning:the sense of accomplishment that doing for others can bring. Thank you for Good News about Good Kids.
By Randy
June 19, 2008 2:55 PM | Link to this
Jais,
You wrote, “Get some articles done about REAL issues in gwinnet…”
Like what? I don’t believe one has the privilege of complaining if one is not willing to offer positive alternatives. If you don’t like the topics on which Rick writes, suggest others or keep quiet.
Also, learn how to spell Gwinnett. ;o)
By Sarah Chandler
June 19, 2008 7:22 PM | Link to this
JAIS got OWNED!!!
Badie thank you for writing this article about a VERY important issue. It is programs like this that can really make a difference in many communites. It is important for people like you to spread the word about things like this so that others may be inspired. If jais can even CONSIDER a new roof to be trivial then he/she should try sleeping a night in their beds.
Thanks again, Sarah
By George
June 19, 2008 11:34 PM | Link to this
How refreshing to know that more young people are participating in such loving caring community service. I love the idea of TIME. I have heard and worked on and off on several community projects before, but re-roofing is new to me. I would like to see more churches team up to embark on big projects like that. The pictures are great! Thank you Rick!