You hear the stories on the news of tragedy and devastation but never does the thought cross your mind that you can do something. In 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit New Jersey. It left thousands without electricity, power, and heat but most importantly it left thousands without a home. Many didn't have family that wasn't affected by the storm too so it became a struggle to survive. Now, 5 years later, and many are still in this situation.
This past week was an eye-opening experience for me. At first, I thought it was going to be a new experience to paint walls and fix a ceiling or two, never did I think this week was going to change my life. I spent the week not only helping build houses but also helping people put their lives back together. As a group, we molded, and painted, and did some lawn work, but once the simple jobs were done the families were eternally grateful.
We stood there after a long day of work, exhausted, and watched as husbands and wives held on to each other and told their stories. They cried as they remember the day of the storm, and how this natural disaster destroyed their homes. And that's when I realized the huge difference this one week made. The work to put these homes back together was hard, but it was nothing compared to what these families were going through.
So by the end of the week, I wanted to cry every morning waking up at 6 a.m, and I was starving by lunch time, but it was all worth it. To me, at first this was just a week off from work, but to those impacted, and to those homeowners this was a new beginning, and I'm so grateful I was able to kickstart their new life.