Mission
Accomplished at the Bethesda Mission
December 2005
After several months of
planning work by the Community Outreach Committee, the IFMA
Chapter of Central Pennsylvania set forth on a mission at
the Bethesda Mission. Twenty-two volunteer workers showed
up on the morning of December 10, 2005 to embark on five
projects at the men's and women's shelter to improve the
conditions at these facilities. A road trip arranged for
the guests of the shelter left the facility about 8 AM at
which time our team of workers undertook their assignments.
A team led by Dave Wenger
set out to clean, sand and clean again and then apply two
coats of finish to the wood floor in the Men's Shelter
Chapel. This was the most ambitious project and the first
priority of the mission staff. After five days of work, the
floor was finished and it looks great. Following the
completion of the floor, another of our IFMA members, Tom
Chronister, arranged to donate over 200 chairs to outfit the
"new look" chapel.
Dale Schwan led the second
team of workers to accomplish two repair projects in the
men's dining room area. Dale's team repaired a door to the
short term sleeping quarters from the dining room and also
removed a section of wall that had deteriorated due to water
damage. When finished, these two projects did wonders to
improve the look and function of the dining room area.
Team three led by Craig
Hawthorne gathered a crew of vinyl floor experts to install
a new floor at the men's shelter entrance off of Reily
Street. Craig's team removed the old flooring, patched the
under floor and laid some new sheet goods at the well-worn
entrance to the facility. This crew also installed a new
floor in the entrance processing office adjacent to the main
lobby. What a difference this project made to the
appearance at the building entrance and it makes those
coming into the facility feel more welcome.
Team four, a group led by
our Chapter President, Charlie Claar gathered at the women's
shelter to complete an assignment that included installing
new chair rail and painting the main hallway in the
building. This crew worked hard cleaning, preparing and
then painting a key part of the building that each of the
clients use everyday to circulate within the facility. One
of the team members learned that there were not only women
in this facility, but also as many as 30 children who
utilize the shelter. Wanting to be sure that not only the
facility would look great for Christmas, Lynn Desantis and
her husband bought gifts and delivered them to the shelter
on Christmas Eve to brighten the Christmas celebration of
the children at the women's facility.
And finally our fifth team,
led by Josh Millman worked hard leading up to the work day
to locate some replacement furniture for the living room at
the women's shelter. He reported to me that soon after the
completion of the other projects, he was able to have the
furniture delivered to the shelter. Deb King with Bethesda
Mission staff commented how great the new furniture looks in
the space and how much the women appreciated the difference
this made to their living space.
The Bethesda Mission staff
shared with us that this is the first "professional
organization" in the Harrisburg area to organize work teams
to do the kind of projects that our IFMA chapter
accomplished on December 10, 2005. I shared with our teams:
"Mission accomplished for Bethesda Mission." They are now
able to carry out their important work more effectively for
those in the Harrisburg region who need shelter and a meal.
I want to thank each of our
chapter members who participated in this workday. We had a
great time working together completing these projects and I
know that the Bethesda Mission was appreciative of our
efforts. Our objective as a community outreach committee is
to make a difference in our community and I think we
accomplished that at Bethesda Mission. Please look for the
next project coming up this spring and make the decision to
get involved in our community to make a difference for those
who can use our services as professional facility managers."
Submitted by:
David Balinski, CFM
Chair, Community Outreach Committee
IFMA CPA
Bethesda Mission Project Work Photos
