What do teams do: There are currently 70+ houses that are still on a waiting list from the most recent storm damage. Teams go in and do repair work for the home based on the skill level of the team. This work might involve painting, hanging sheet rock, sheetrock mudding, laying tile, tearing out, etc. Teams with skilled workers might do plumbing, electrical. roofing, etc. There is something to do for anybody that wants to go.
The work is really just an excuse to share the love of Christ with the homeowners. So relationship building is encouraged as well as looking for opportunities to have gospel conversations.
Teams of less than 10 usually will work on the same job site. Teams with more than 10 might be split between multiple sites.
About Housing for the Team: New Bern has an awesome facility that can house up to 125 people. Sleeping quarters have bunk beds for about 14 per room. There are individual showers rooms. There is a large industrial kitchen and large dining area. There are several common rooms for relaxing which have a pool table and ping pong table for fun. There are also washers and dryers available for the team to use.
Meals are prepared by the staff and the food is top notch.
Schedule: There is a lot of flexibility depending on your schedule. Typically teams will travel down together on Thursday afternoon - leaving by 3 PM to avoid Raleigh traffic and to get to New Bern in time for supper. Then work on Friday and Saturday - knocking off between 3 and 4:00 pm on Saturday to get back to Durham before dark and in time for supper. But if this does not suit your availability or if you can only give one day to work then we will figure it out on a per person basis.
Cost: Your only cost is for any meals on the way down or the way back or if your team goes into New Bern while you are there. The actual cost is $10 per person per day for food, housing, and insurance but Ridgecrest is covering this cost at the present time.
To officially Register for a Trip: Fill out THIS FORM. Then download this Liability Form and bring it to New Bern with you already filled out.
Other Frequently Asked Questions:
1) What do I need to bring? your own bedding (sheets, blanky, etc.), pillow, towel, toiletries, clothes to wear on the work site, closed toe shoes - expect clothes to get dirty and perhaps painted on, clothes to wear for relaxing, work gloves just in case they are needed.
2) Do I need to take any tools? If you have skills in a particular area then you might want to bring your tools. But they have most everything that is needed for everyday grunt work.
3) What kind of work will we do? That all depends on what the current needs are and on what other teams have recently done. We often don’t know until the week that we head down. But if you have special skills it is likely that they will try to take advantage of them.
4) Will we have any free time to explore New Bern? Sometimes we do and sometimes we don’t. It all depends on how long we stay on the job site as well as how tired the group is.
If you have any other questions, contact Shay Reyner at sreyner@DiscoverRBC.org
