After four weekends of dry-walling, the Krail Street house pushes hard in the home stretch! Quotes and photos recap Team Colleen’s progress as we work to get the family home in two weeks.
6-22-15 UPDATE — MESSAGE FROM FELICITE MOORMAN: SO MUCH PROGRESS!!
“Team,
We really made a hard push last weekend and during last week (Ryan had multiple 5:30am alarms)!
And then hit it hard again Saturday and Sunday (Sean worked it on Father’s Day)!
Elbert is working wonders with the kitchen window!
And I think we’ve all developed some cool new skills?! 😉
The 2nd and 3rd floor are all but ready for coats of paint! HUGE success!
Congrats and thank you! We are getting there!!!
Soon, Colleen and her Family will be home again — after 5 years!!
No matter what challenges you have this week, remember: you did THAT!
Never, never, never give up!!!“
(earlier:)
Hello Team Colleen!
I’ve coined a phrase on this project, “Biting off the tip of the iceberg.” It implies that I’ve bitten off more than I can chew, and it’s still just the tip of the iceberg! But it’s ok. Team Colleen keeps pushing with smiles on their faces and hope in their hearts!
The scope of the project has grown fairly dramatically, with a leaking roof stopping us in our tracks and requiring us to undo and redo some of our work.
The phenomenal news is that Team Member Sean got high up on a 40′ ladder in the blazing June sun and patched it like a BOSS!
We’ve had to replace the kitchen subfloor, re-create multiple walls, scavenge windows, fix multiple unexpected plumbing issues, and we’re still not done!
But there’s more phenomenal news!
We have primed the 2nd and 3rd floor! The bedrooms are ready for PAINT for the first time in 5 years!
We’ve had local companies donate volunteer lunches EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!
We have a donated refrigerator and oven on the way!
We have donated furniture filling TWO basements now!
We have donated sinks and ceiling fans ready to install!
We even have donated carpet coming!!!
This means every dollar you’ve donated has gone straight to materials! Cleaning supplies, drywall, lumber, screws, tape, spackle, primer, rollers, caulk, more lumber, roofing materials and more!
But there’s still A LOT you can do!!
We’d like to get the colors of paint that Colleen and the girls would choose for their rooms and not “oops” paint! Every $20 is a gallon of paint! Every room will need 3 gallons of color! Can you donate a room?
Also, the same (unbelievably dedicated and awesome) volunteers have been working weekend after weekend (seven weekends), long past our original date! Can you volunteer?! I promise we’re on the “easy” stuff! If you can wield a brush, we’ll need you!
Thanks for your support! We see the light!
With love,
Felicite
Team member Elbert Chen responds:
“I know! Three cheers for Ryan, Sean, Felicite, and all the other members of Team Colleen for all their hard work and sacrifice! I am still in awe of how far we have come in such a short time. I can’t believe we have primed the walls and are getting ready to paint!
“Speaking of which, I know Arlene DuBois had offered to donate some leftover paint, but from what I understand, we are not able to use them. So do we have another source for paint? Colleen said her girls picked out paint colors for their rooms, so hopefully someone can locate some un-tinted base.
“In other good news, Darla mentioned that someone has agreed to install carpet! By the way, do we have any donations of bathroom/kitchen fixtures such as faucets, vanities, etc?”
After four weekends of dry-walling — WE’VE GOT WALLS! The second & third stories of Colleen’s house were swept out & primed this weekend with two coats of spiffy white that went on fast and instantly boosted morale. Goodbye, smokey streaks. Hello, nice fresh eggshell on clean smooth walls.
Overheard at Krail house last Saturday:
RYAN: There’s no such thing as wasting paint. These are kids, and if they want to enthusiastically paint something, we’re gonna support that. Unless they might hurt themselves or the project, we’re gonna let ’em paint whatever they wanna paint, however their attention span directs. The important part is they’re helping as best they can. And this primer doesn’t need to be perfect, anyway.
FELICITE: So true! Good job, Carly, that looks great!
Such a family project, as well as a community one. Life-long friend (and honorary sister) Darla Bickings has been on-hand every weekend, pitching in on tasks and keeping Colleen and the kids laughing. She writes on her Facebook page “Helping Raise Awareness for Team Colleen:”
“I am so lucky to be working on #teamcolleeen! People don’t understand how lucky I am to have a family that would and could do anything for me. Coming from 1 of 10 siblings, anything I need, someone is right there for me. So to help Colleen, who has only one brother who works all the time and can’t help all that much makes me feel good. He did what he could but there was so much work to be done, so much more she needed. Then the good people showed up and I can be a part of it. To be a part of the team has been a blessing, thank you!”
Darla’s been arranging to have lunch donated from local restaurants like Epicure, Trolley Car, Slices, and Golden Crust. Darla also scored for Team Colleen BIG TIME when she found Aramingo Carpet and Flooring , who pledged to carpet at least the second & third floor bedrooms & hallways (they took measurements for the downstairs, too, but more work is needed there before any flooring decisions can be made).
Aramingo Carpet and Flooring is, itself, a family operation, in business since 1968. Dawn Stern who answered Darla’s phone call is the daughter-in-law of the company’s founder, and she immediately connected to the cause at hand:
“When I heard about the fire from Darla, I started to cry. We donate to local causes all the time, but usually stuff like a custom rug we recently designed for a neighborhood school. This is the first time we’ve ever dealt with a house fire. What a terrible story! My only regret is that we didn’t hear of this earlier. I mean, five years without a home?! Those poor kids! Grandkids too! It’s tragic.
“We are happy to help, this is the least we can do. Like my husband Ken says — you never know when you’re the one who’s going to need the help.
“Looking forward to seeing their faces when they finally get home again! Such a wonderful thing, that people are coming together to volunteer their time for this family.”
Please keep Team Colleen in your thoughts as we focus extra-hard on getting her home before the Summer’s end. To join the crew or donate supplies, call or text Felicite Moorman at 405-503-0035 or email felicite@felicitemoorman.com. Visit Team Colleen’s GOFUNDME page for more info, and additional ways to help.
GO, TEAM COLLEEN, GO!
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