Alpha Henson Shade Structure - May, 2008

Last weekend we almost completed the shade structure at Teen Challenge Alpha Hensen House in Lincoln.  It has been a wonderful project with a solid crew of motivated volunteers.  Here is the run down.

Saturday, May 10^th – We mobilized on site with tools, equipment and great attitude around 9:00am.  Lumber had been delivered on the previous Friday.  The volunteers were Don Kensey, Larry Fritz, Tim McGowan, Randy Plentzas and myself.  This day, we got a good start on staining the lumber and we dug and placed the concrete footings and set the post bases. These tasks kept us busy until around 3:00pm.  Since staining of the lumber needed to be completed prior to the build, the crew decided to re-convene on Thursday evening to finish the job.

Thursday, May 15^th – The crew consisting of Don Kensey, Larry Fritz, Tim McGowan, Randy Plentzas, Paul Filo and myself arrived at around 5:00pm.  We finished our first task (pizza) in short order.  Many hands make the work easy so the remaining 69 pieces of lumber were stained stacked and ready for the build by 7:30pm.

Saturday, May 17^th – Due to the heat, we started at 6:00am. Volunteers included Larry Fritz, Tim McGowan, Randy Plentzas, Paul Filo, and myself.  We divided and conquered, and by noon the structure was complete except for some miscellaneous pickup work, staining of cut lumber ends, and installing the shade fabric.  This magnificent crew is committed to seeing this through so we will be convening again on Thursday night to finish.

The total cost is running right at $2200.

The project went very well and we had a great crew.  During the planning stage I had felt strongly that we needed well built cabinets, good quality appliance, and a solid surface counter top to stand up against the high use of a men’s center.   We were fortunate to get cabinets built for cost and a granite slab donated for cost of fabrication only.  The island ended up with a new deep stainless steel sink, waste disposer, instant hot water dispenser, and new dishwasher with 3 year in home service warranty.

Prep Day:

We started on Friday 2/15 at around 12:30pm and we had a crew of four (David Ossont, Paul Fillo, Thomas Swarm, Larry Fritz, myself).  We identified that the power circuits needed for the island were fed from separate panels.  This was sufficient for the appliances. We demolished the existing island and found extensive underlayment damage under the island and around the perimeter extending outward due to prolonged water leak from the old dishwasher.  We needed to peel back several courses of the ceramic tile to remove the saturated underlayment material beneath it.  Dave and Thomas removed all saturated underlayment and used sidewinder to cut out cement board.  Several layers of vinyl tile proved difficult to scrape off of existing wood sub floor.  We were not able to remove all damaged underlayment as this would have effected completion of the project so we took it back as far as seemed reasonable.  We picked up additional underlayment and cement board to repair floor in the morning.  Larry prepped the kitchen sink and installed hardware. Dave and Thomas prepped the dishwasher and waste disposer. Thomas hauled off the debris in his own truck.

The ladies showed up around 4:00pm and prepared dinner for the crew and the Teen Challenge men at the house.  We had a great time of fellowship with the men sharing a meal of meatballs, fresh green beans, jello salad, and cookies for desert. 

Serve Day:

We started on Saturday 2/16 at around 8:30am and we had a crew of six (David Ossont, Paul Fillo Tim McGowan, Gary Morgan, Larry Fritz, myself).  David and Paul completed the repairs to the underlayment and installed the cement board under the island.  This needed to be done before the new cabinets could be installed and also was necessary for the replacement of the ceramic tile.  We also started an additional project replacing dry rotted sill plate and studs at the foundation wall.  This project was on the high priority list but we didn’t initially think that we had the time to complete it.  Due to the size and skills of the crew, we decided to tackle that project as well and picked up the necessary materials.  Gary and Tim tackled this project and worked it to completion.  The Teen Challenge men assisted with hauling the cabinets into the house and we started assembling the cabinets around noon and just finished when the granite slab arrived at 1:00pm.  Everything went together as planned.  After the granite slab was installed we dropped the sink in place and made a mad scramble to connect all under sink plumbing before lunch. 

Ed Mahoney and his crew showed up around 3:00pm and we had a very nice backyard BBQ at 4:00pm with the Teen Challenge men.  After the BBQ we installed the dishwasher and hung it up for the day at around 6:00pm

Finish Day:

We started on Sunday 2/17 at around 8:00am and we had a crew of three (David Ossont, Larry Fritz, myself). Larry began cutting tile however we discovered that we needed to apply self leveling grout before the tile could be installed so it was agreed that we would at least get the tile cut.  Dave and myself completed the under sink plumbing and tested the dishwasher, instant hot water dispenser, and waste disposer.  We checked for leaks, cleaned everything up and left around 12:30pm.

Remaining Work:

The ceramic tile needs to be installed.  We will be returning on Saturday 3/1 to install the tile.  Fortunately Teen Challenge has plenty of extra tiles so we only needed thin set mastic and grout.

Thor

Thanksgiving 2007 

Bayside Teen Challenge Ministry held its first Thanksgiving dinner at the Alpha Henson women’s center in Lincoln and the men’s training center in Sacramento on November 17^th and 19^th.

The first dinner was held at the Alpha Henson center and had 46 people in attendance. There are 26 women housed in that facility. Bayside volunteers fixed a complete turkey dinner with vegetables, cornbread, cheesecake, cranberry jello, and pumpkin pie. After fellowship some of the women told their testimonials and touched everyone’s hearts.

At the men’s center dinner there were 26 people in attendance. The empty nester small group brought full turkey dinners with all the fixings. There were devotionals, testimonials and Derek Brandt lead worship.

The men and women were touched by the kindness and thoughtfulness of the Bayside volunteers and many tears were shed in appreciation. You could tell that God was there and is playing a huge role in the lives of all of the Teen Challenge people.