Friends United Meeting’s Latino Friends in North America Committee and Indianapolis Iglesia Amigos co-hosted a series of Saturday workdays to prepare a new house for refugees and other immigrants in Richmond. The house is to meant to help with the initial housing needs of some of the refugees and immigrants who move to the Richmond area. The vision for Amigos House is that it will be used to welcome Spanish-speaking immigrants into the Richmond community.
On five Saturdays between May 11 and July 6, service upgrades and cosmetic work were performed at the house, located at 908 North Eighteenth Street in Richmond. During these workdays, the furniture remaining in the house was removed, as well as the soiled carpet; yard work was performed; some plumbing repairs and initial cosmetic work (such as wall repairs) were accomplished, and the electricity was upgraded. Although the house did not initially pass the electrical inspection, Brian Young (pastor at West Richmond Friends) and Michael Jay (pastor at Raysville Friends) undertook electrical upgrades under Brian’s direction, and the house was able to pass the inspection and in order to have the electrical service turned on.
There is still work remaining to be done on the house to make it comfortable for a family to live in. Fortunately, expenses during this initial phase were minimal and most of the funds raised to repair the house remain unspent. We hope to schedule another series of workdays in the fall and hire professional help for jobs too big for volunteers. We are grateful to all the Friends that came to help with the house.
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