The Building Crew

By Elizabeth James

Driving down the backroads of McCreary County, Ky., you will most certainly come across a few things. You will observe the beautiful wildlife and nature that surround what many people here call home. If you stop for directions, you will be met with kind faces and helpful people. And if you travel far enough from the main roads, you will likely see the signs of poverty. At its heart, Appalachia is a vision of starkly contrasting beauty and brokenness. The people here are strong and humble, but the struggle to survive and thrive in this region is significant.

Two people attempting to lend a hand in this struggle are long-term housing volunteers Janean Shedd and Vinnie Birch. Currently, the duo are hard at work in the yard of Thomas and Sara. This elderly couple’s home has a laundry list of repair needs, and ever since the housing crew leader on this site suffered an injury at home, Janean and Vinnie have been tasked with addressing the home repairs on their own.

From the moment the sun rises each day, Janean and Vinnie work tirelessly to build a deck, stairs, and a ramp for Thomas and Sara’s home. Observing their interactions throughout the day, it becomes immediately evident that these volunteers consider the participants as family. Their love and respect for this couple influences everything they do—from their consideration for Thomas’ safety as they choose materials for the ramp to the conversations and laughter they share over lunch in the yard. For now, this region is Janean and Vinnie’s home and the folks they’re assisting, like Thomas and Sara, are their neighbors. There is still much work to be done on this home, but Janean and Vinnie are committed to finishing this project for the sake of their new friends.

Janean Shedd is from Ashburnham, Mass. She came to Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) with the desire to serve others. During college, she wanted to attend CAP’s WorkFest but never had the chance. After graduating, she volunteered for a year of service in St. Louis with the Vincentian Service Corps. Janean realized at the completion of that year that she wasn’t ready for her volunteering days to be over. “CAP was still on my radar at that point. I was already doing housing repair work on the weekends, and I felt called to serve in a more rural setting, so CAP seemed like the perfect fit!”

Her first long-term stint was from 2010 to 2011, and when this service year ended she immediately began to devise a plan to return. She was back for a couple of months in the summer of 2013, and then again this past winter. “When I started in February, I only intended to be here until the end of March, but when March rolled around I felt called to stay longer. Now I’m here until next December!”

Janean is discovering a lot about herself and the nature of service during her time in Eastern Kentucky. She explains that she is still adjusting to the slower pace of life and work. “I am a doer and a mover, and I find it hard to sit still. Being patient and taking the time to get to know the people with whom we interact is a vital part of CAP’s work and mission. I would like to think that I have learned how to wait, stop, and listen.”

Through her experiences in the Housing Program, Janean has been reminded of the importance of gratitude. She has come to value things like the stable floor in her home, the heat during the winter, and all the other aspects of her life that she may sometimes take for granted. She gains new insight and perspective every day, from fellow volunteers, CAP employees, our participants, or even those that she may pass on the road on the way to work. “There is an appreciation of time and life in Appalachia, and the longer I live here the more I share this appreciation.”

As far as working side by side with Vinnie, she says she couldn’t ask for a harder worker to serve beside, or a better friend. “I think that CAP volunteer life helps to create deep bonds more quickly than in other situations, due to the attitudes of those drawn to CAP and the devotional times we share every week.”

Vincent (Vinnie) Birch, an Albany, N.Y. native, was led to CAP when he felt called to make a radical change in his life to serve others. “After being in school for so long, I had the strong desire to spend some time giving to others in a more substantial way.”

Prior to his decision to become a long-term volunteer, Vinnie felt that choices he was making in his life were not significant enough to affect genuine change. Vinnie explains: “I began to see this as an opportunity to really let my faith direct me. And I felt that God was asking me to step into a new challenge.”

And everything was indeed new to Vinnie: his temporary home, the people with whom he shared it, and the types of hands-on work projects in which he is currently engaged. He quickly fell in love with the people and mountains of Appalachia, though he has been most affected by the constant opportunities for service.“One of the greatest lessons I have learned so far is how humbling of an experience it is to serve others.”

Vinnie had never participated in any building or construction projects before he became a volunteer, so it has been both challenging and rewarding to spend every day in CAP’s housing program. He is amazed by the willingness of so many participants to work right alongside him, contributing as much as they are able to the success of the home repairs. “Having the participants with me as I am struggling to complete repairs on their home is simultaneously one of the most humbling and beautiful experiences I have ever had.” He continues, “They trust my inexperienced hands with their home, something so near and dear to their hearts, and they are grateful for any progress I am able to make. The participants have faith that my work will be sufficient to protect them and their families, but it is work that can only be done through Christ.”

Due to the unusual circumstances of the past few weeks and the necessity to proceed without a housing crew leader, Janean feels very lucky to have Vinnie as her crew partner. She explains, “I don’t know that I could be doing this without him.”

When asked about working with Janean, Vinnie shares, “Janean is a really enthusiastic and hard worker. She is also very invested in Appalachia and its community. Out of the volunteers I have worked with, there has been a consistency of teamwork, and Janean is no exception. It makes the mission of CAP tangible when people work together to serve as neighbors in various ways to the people of Eastern Kentucky.”

Vinnie has been impressed with everyone he has met in the CAP family, and he is inspired by their dedication the mission. “Even though I’m a housing volunteer, I am also someone who works as a member of a community dedicated to serving the people of Appalachia. I have seen people adjust their role many times in order to serve the broader mission of CAP instead of solely playing their prescribed part.”

Janean is particularly encouraged by the collaborative, fluid manner by which CAP attempts to feed, clothe, and provide shelter for the participants. “As volunteers, part of our dinner conversation usually centers on our days, and so we get to hear stories of those in our communities and help each other brainstorm ways to help other programs.”

Janean enjoys looking out at Eastern Kentucky’s breathtaking landscapes while on lunch breaks at job sites almost as much as she enjoys getting to know the people who live there. She says the people of Appalachia have stolen her heart. “There is such a tie to the land and to family. The communities are formed by close-knit kin. The people I have met here in Appalachia are strong, capable, loving people. They are fiercely independent, and strongly inclined to defend their own. They are also ready and willing to welcome you in at a moment’s notice, to treat you like family, and to offer you even the last can of food in their house if you are hungry.”

She respects the humility with which the people live their lives and how they have learned to survive and make resources last. She admires the strong family ties, and the sense of tradition that permeates their lifestyles. She marvels at the way they pick back up and carry on after major disasters. She is comforted by the willingness of people to help their neighbors in times of distress. “Community truly exists here. I also cherish the spirituality of the people. They are very focused on God, and seem to trust God completely, in both good times and bad.”

Vinnie has also developed a love for the mountains and beautiful forests, and he loves the plant and animal life. Like Janean, he has enjoyed the overall atmosphere of the beauty of Appalachia and its people. “The quality that I admire most, and I have witnessed it in almost everyone here, is the ability of people in this region to sustain themselves. It seems everyone I encounter has had experience doing home repairs and living off the land, and everyone has some knowledge of the wilderness. I’ve been blessed to learn a lot about these things from the people I have met in Appalachia.”

When Vinnie served with CAP’s Disaster Relief program in Floyd County, responding to flooding that occurred in August, he was deeply touched by the experience. One home he visited belonged to an elderly woman whose daughter was assisting her. The daughter spoke with Vinnie and painted an image of the body of Christ, explaining that “when one part of the body becomes injured, a sort of bruise is sustained. And just as blood flows through our bodies to heal an injury, the blood of Christ flows through the body of Christ to heal any injured part.”

Vinnie firmly believes and is constantly reminded that the work he does as a volunteer at CAP, and as a Christian, provides healing for the members of the body of Christ whom need it most.

As the sun sets, Vinnie and Janean pack up the building tools and supplies to end their day with Thomas and Sara. The family knows that each sunset will bring with it a new morning, and that new morning will bring these two young people back over the hills and down meandering roads to their home. When the smiling faces and waving hands of these volunteers emerge from their CAP truck, they will be greeted not as a building crew, but as neighbors.