MLK Day of Service

On the West Side of Buffalo I can see hints of Dr. King's dream.  Looking around the neighborhood you'll find white families that have been here since European immigrants built the neighborhood; African-Americans that have populated the area since the days of the Underground Railroad (W. Ferry St. led down to the ferry to freedom across the Niagara River to Canada); Hispanics that flooded into the neighborhood during the final decades of the 20th century; refugees from the war-torn conflict areas of the last decade (Iraq, Somalia, Congo, Rwanda, Burma).  Whether all these groups will really look past their differences and truly judge each other by the content of their character, still remains to be seen.  But there is tremendous opportunity for racial reconciliation to take place here, and that's why it so exciting to be moving our family into this place!  Dr. King's dream for his children is still the same dream we have for our children today.

How fitting then, that we began our work on what will become our house, on the weekend we celebrate Dr. King's birthday.  With AmeriCorps, West Side Ministries, and their volunteers we worked Saturday and Monday demolishing the bathrooms, ripping up flooring to expose hardwoods that will be refinished, and we even started some of the electric wiring.  Below are some shots of crew in action, including a short video of our progress...

The clean-up crew

The ladies exposing those beautiful hardwoods!

Demo in the kitchen and bathrooms

The kids having some winter fun in the backyard