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WATCH: Demo kicks off annual Extreme Home Repair in Langley

The Acts of Kindness crew is tackling a much smaller home renovation project this year.
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A crew of two dozen volunteers converged on a Brookswood mobile home on Sunday morning, to begin demo and start work on a two-week-long repair and renovation project for a Langley brother and sister in need.

Jim and Victoria Newstead have a mobile home that has been in their family for about 50 years. Sadly, it was in some major need of TLC, said Michael Dauncey, associate pastor with Church in the Valley and AOK coordinator.

Acts of Kindness, previously a ministry of the church and now its own non-profit charity, has been performing Extreme Home Repairs in Langley for the past 14 years – many of them in Aldergrove (where the church was formerly located).

This year, Dauncey explained, the efforts are being divided up between a number of smaller projects, including the refurbishing of the Newstead home in the Brookswood Estates trailer park.

Some have been questioning Dauncey about why they’d put such money and effort into a mobile home. Well, he replied: “It has great sentimental value” since it’s been in the family for about five decades. “It’s home.”

Hit with a number of issues in recent years, including the death of their mother, the pair “absolutely don’t have the money to repair it and it was in need of repair with a moldy washroom and stuff like that,” he explained.

Following the major demolition on Sunday, the team is spend six days a week between now and Victoria Day replacing the flooring throughout, repairing the deck, replacing four windows, and refurbishing the bathroom – which was lossing ceiling tiles and suffering from “major mold issues,” Dauncey said.

“We have to work on the things to make it functional, safe, and health for the family,” he added.

While traditional AOK makeovers typically involve 150 to 200 volunteers, this year’s crew is much smaller.

“Last Sunday saw 20 to 25 volunteers attacking the place… it is much smaller. It’s not a full-sized detached house,” he elaborated.

That said, Dauncey explained that more volunteers are still needed – whether that’s experienced trades people or individuals who can help with clean up or basic yard work that “anyone can help with. I’m not going to turn people away,” he said. “We need more volunteers who can come during the weekdays.”

The crew works Sundays through Fridays, from roughly 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

“We could really use more help during the weekday,” he said, inviting people to email at extremehomevolunteer@gmail.com, or by calling Dauncey at 778-549-3896.

“It started in ’04 really small… but this is a good year for us to catch our breath. It’s become so huge. I think it’s good that we’ve gone this route, to affect more people with smaller projects. We can make a difference in more people’s lives by doing smaller ones and spreading it out a bit.

In addition to the mobile, this year the AOK team is going to help build the new youth homeless shelter in Langley this summer with Encompass, and also helping replace skirting on the Encompass-run Family Place trailer located at Shortreed Elementary.

Typically, the AOK’s annual makeovers are valued at between $150,000 to $200,000 (including volunteer labour and donated supplies and services), but this project will likely be valued at $30,000 to $40,000, he explained.

Because of the smaller scale of the projects, this year, Dauncey said AOK hasn’t need nearly as same amount of help or sponsorship – but hopes donors aren’t disheartened that they haven’t been called on for assistance.

“Maybe next year,” he said. “Or, honestly, there is still a chance you may hear from us this year,” as the project moves along.

In the meantime, the Newsteads have moved out of their mobile home while work is underway, and will be brought back in on Monday, May 22 for the reveal.

• Stay tuned to the Langley Advance for more on this project and other AOK efforts

Extreme Home Repair 2017 Begins! from Acts of Kindness {AOK} on Vimeo.



Roxanne Hooper

About the Author: Roxanne Hooper

I began in the news industry at age 15, but honestly, I knew I wanted to be a community journalist even before that.
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