To all our extended NYSTY family: Last week we received an e-mail from a first responder family whose home we recently helped to sheet rock. The wife ended her note with the words: “You are angels on earth.” This week, we had a very emotional visit with a New York City firefighter and his wife on Long Island who after nine months of planning to rebuild from Hurricane Sandy had literally returned to “square one” the night before when their contractor got disqualified from elevating their home due to a change in local building regulations. The couple got very emotional when they told us their 3-year-old daughter kept asking to “return to their old home.” This year’s 9/11 Anniversary rebuilding project is going to be very different than the others. There are no words I can find to describe the level of sadness and pain so many families in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area are still going through 9 months after the storm turned their lives upside down. There is something so sinister about hurricanes and flooding. Unlike tornadoes or wildfires, you drive through entire neighborhoods and everything looks fine. The houses are standing. The lawns are clean. But when you walk in the front door, you realize there are no homes inside. There are no walls. No floors. No furnishings. Just emptiness. And when you learn the heart-breaking stories of these families – insurance denials, changing local regulations, the fact that many do not have nearly enough money to rebuild let alone elevate their homes to protect against the next floods, it literally breaks your heart. But that’s where you come in. That’s where the NYSTY family comes in. Just as there are no words to describe the sadness of these families, there are simply no words to express how much I appreciate – how much we ALL appreciate – the fact that you are going out of your way at great expense to come to New York from every corner of the United States to help our first responders rebuild their homes – and their lives. There are so many people who need help and we are just helping a small fraction. But your presence here in New York, your love, your caring will do more to rebuild HOPE in these families and communities than I could ever describe. In many ways this year will be “our biggest build ever.” 10-15 homes across a 20-30 mile stretch of some of the most densely populated space on earth. Unlike our barn-raisings or build at Annie’s House last year, many of us will be split up across the 4 day weekend at various building locations during the days. And we are working hard at trying to pull together evening dinners and a closing ceremony where we can all enjoy each others company as the big “dysfunctional family” that we have become over these past 10 years. More details will be forthcoming on events, times, maps, and preparatory conference calls for team leaders. But I just wanted to take this time to simply say THANK YOU. Thank you for making the commitment to come to New York this 9/11 Anniversary to help our local community rebuild. G-D bless you all and see y’all real soon. Jeff
Posted on: Fri, 26 Jul 2013 22:02:33 +0000
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