Work Has Officially Begun

I can't tell you how blessed I was to see this crew from Samaritan's Purse show up to help at Mrs Mary's house a couple of days ago. I have mentioned this big project we are doing to try to get Mrs Mary's house back in suitable living condition. I honestly am trusting God on this one because it is bigger than any other project I have taken on. It amazes me how all the needs get met at just the right time. I thought I was meeting one man at the house to walk through and discuss how it would all work and I showed up to an eager crew ready to start working. Little Mrs Mary was sitting in her living room with furniture passing right by her. She and her husband are now moved out and the work has begun. It is time to kick into overdrive. I am trying to get the basics done so we can get in there with some crews and re paint and fix it up.
This was such a hard working crew. They came in and flat stripped this house bare exactly like it needed to be. There were people working on this house from Michigan, Raleigh, NC, and Alabama to Tennessee. What an amazing group effort to bless this family.
Just since Samaritan's Purse came in and began, two of the neighbors right next door gave their lives to the Lord and prayed with the chaplain. They were inspired by all of the people serving and asked what was going on. I also got to know and hear the story of another neighbor. We even had one of the volunteers sing to us on a break. She is trying out for American Idol.
I will have a video soon of everything I mentioned above. I have some great stuff captured. Lives are being changed one at a time and it is all because some Ordinary Heroes came together to bless a blind woman and her husband and their daughter who loves them and wants to give them their life back. There is such a ripple effect in giving and serving.

Thank you, Thank you, to the Samaritan's Purse team for helping us help them. What a huge blessing you were to this family and to our project.

Time To Restore.....Jump on Board.

I wanted to fill everyone in on the progress we are making with restoring some of the homes of the flood victims. I also want to give you an opportunity to jump on board with one of our biggest project restores, so make sure you read to the end of this post :). You may have seen the video that I posted a few days ago which showed several different families that we are currently helping. These first couple of pictures show the progress being made on the Grandmother's home. She raises her 4 grandchildren alone and I found her just after the flood when she had no help. Several have jumped on board to help her. I am excited to see her home start to come back together. Her grandsons are excited about their new rooms that they will be getting with decor to their liking :)

Pictured below is a sweet woman and her two daughters and their friend. I met them when they came into our donation center. She happens to be a widow and is a working single mom with not much help. I discovered that she only had air mattresses in their temporary apartment.....AND THAT WAS IT. I went and saw it for myself. So I am pleased to say that a few of us got together this weekend and delivered a couch, chair, bed, dresser, pictures, kitchen table and chairs to her apartment thanks to all of your donations to our center.
Also, while I was out I dropped by her home that was flooded to see the damage for myself and it is totally wiped. I have put her in touch with a contractor to start repairs. Once the repairs are made and she is put back together she will be in need of furniture items for her home and decor for any of you creative minds out there.
I wanted to show you how blessed we have been with the donation center. You see how we started out in the picture below. We thought that was a blessing.....

I had some great gals show up to help sort through it all and try to create some kind of order :)
Then, before we knew it.....word got out and our warehouse was packed!!
We have given away all of the furniture and items you see pictured below.
We still have lots of clothes and shoes left if you know of any flood victims in need. After the flood victims are covered we will start giving these to organizations that can use them.
Throughout this process we have met some wonderful people and made some great friends.....even our kids, as you see my son on the right making his goofy face with some of his new friends.
How bout a game of kick ball???
We have sorted......
Loaded......
AND NOW THE REAL WORK BEGINS..........

This is where I call out to all of you. You may have seen the video I posted about Miss Clemmie and her mother. If you didn't, I encourage you to watch it. You will then see why I am driven to find them some help with her mother's home that was damaged by the flood but just needs a little love on top of that.

We are currently starting the repairs to the roof and the great big hole in the ceiling due to the flood. I am now looking for people, church groups, bible study groups, or just a group of friends, that have a creative eye and can come in and take a whole room and transform it into a beautiful room that they would be proud of. That will include you painting, finding furniture to fill it, adding the finishing touches, etc. I really think this could be awesome!! It would be a great way to give back to a woman who has given soooooo much. Both of these women, Miss Clemmie, and her mother, have given and helped so many. Let's take this opportunity to bless them. This home has been in their family for 20 years and will be a blessing to the next generation of all of Miss Clemmie's nieces and nephews that she mentions in the video.

SO PLEASE CONTACT ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN HELPING WITH THIS PROJECT RESTORE. kelly@ordinaryhero.org
As you can see in the pictures, there is lots to do but with the right people it can all be amazing in the end. If you are an out of towner and can't be here but would like to give toward this project just click on the donate tab to the right and put Miss Clemmie in the memo line. You may also send a check to Ordinary Hero, PO Box 1945, Brentwood, TN 37024. 100% of all donations will go toward making this home beautiful!!

We will be fixing up the whole house which includes front living room, kitchen, sitting room, dining room, two bedrooms, back kitchen, two bathrooms. If you have anything you would like to donate to any of these rooms....PLEASE get in touch :)

Above you see the hole in the ceiling of the back kitchen which is getting fixed first.
Above you see Miss Mary, which is Miss Clemmie's blind mother. She has a heart of gold and spirt to match. She sits in a room surrounded by pictures and newspaper clippings that she has collected over the years. IT IS AMAZING TO SEE!! I am looking for someone who can create some sort of cork board to line her walls in this room in order for us to properly put her pictures on the walls.
This home CAN and WILL be amazing!!
CAN YOU HELP??????

Want to go to Africa?? How bout Ghana??

I had a special request from someone going on the Visiting Orphans, Ghana, trip to put the word out about this amazing trip. I confirmed with my friend, Amanda Lawrence, executive director of Visiting Orphans, that they are still in need of people to go on this trip in order to make the trip happen. The trip is at risk of being cancelled if people don't get signed up.

The trip is right up my ally. If I wasn't heading to ET in July, I may just jump on board. Here is a brief description.....

"In the mud huts of the Dagomba tribe, death is an unwelcome visitor way too often. There is little or no accessible healthcare and the nearest major health facility is four hours away by bus. Children whose mothers die in childbirth are many times seen as "evil" and are rejected by the father. Multiple births are seen as a bad omen and those children are usually shunned by their mothers and their villages. These are called "spirit children". Most of the orphanages in the Northern Region care for these "spirit children", but there are also orpha

ns living in remote mud hut villages. We will visit three of these villages as well.

This tribe is considered an "Unreached People" group, which means that 93% or more have never heard the Gospel. They are Muslim. We will be doing hut-to-hut evangelism, sports evangelism, and orpha

n care. We will also be helping to paint the local school and deliver school supplies to the children of the Dagomba trib

e.

This trip is ideal for individuals, families of older children, and for those interested in taking a small group of people from your

local church."

This is an amazing opportunity to help a region of people and

orphans that often times get forgotten about. There is not a "buzz" about Ghana right now like there is Ethiopia or Uganda. So all I can say is.....let's create one. Let's brin

g awareness to this country. There is no telling the impact that can be made from this trip. Ask yourself if you are supposed to go. There are many children waiting. Let's not let this trip get cancelled.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE VO SITE TO FIND OUT MORE OR SIGN UP.

Beyond The Flood...What now??

It amazes me how people press on beyond the hardships of life. This recent flood has certainly taken it's toll on sooooo many, here in the Nashville area. But what now?? We at Ordinary Hero, thanks to many of you who have donated your belongings, time and money, are striving to help the flood victims that we have come in contact with to try to put their lives back together. I say lives, and not just homes, because, as you will see by watching this video, so many have the storms of life to deal with and not just the flood. It is simply AMAZING to me to see how God has hand picked several Ordinary Heroes who have stepped up to help the victims, to not only help with their flood needs, but make lasting friendships that prove to help with their storms in life as well. Had it not been for the flood, I would not have been in East Nashville checking on one family, then look over and see a Grandmother with her grandsons by themselves trying to clear their house alone. I went over, met them, thus sent other Ordinary Heroes down to inquire about her and help her, and the next thing I know we are all meeting up at the park to play with her grandsons, they are now picking them up each week for youth group, have brought them to church, given one of them a birthday party, supplied clothes, meals, and we have seen to it that her home is getting the proper repairs. You see, one family decided to invest in the lives of these four children who are being cared for by their Grandmother alone with no one else in their lives right now. For the first time in years they have people telling them how valuable they are and taking time to spend with them. AND THIS IS JUST ONE STORY of how God has brought good out of the flood. I have personal testimony from the family that is helping that I will post soon.

My goal is to connect each flood victim with an Ordinary Hero who will walk beside them and see that their needs are met during this overwhelming time in their life. You will also see in the video a single mom who shows us her home that has been destroyed and she also lost her job. I have connected her with a family to help her. This family that decided to help her had a birthday party for their daughter. Their daughter decided she wanted to collect money for these flood victims they were now helping instead of getting presents. This 10 year old little girl, alone, collected $75 from her party to be able to give to this family. What a wonderful way to get their daughter involved by letting her feel like she has done something to help. This single mom will need a lot of help during this time.

You will also see another flood victim that I met when she came into our donation center. After talking with her I found out that she is a young widow who lost all the belongings she was saving for her children when they got older of their father. She said they are sleeping on an air mattress and that is it in their temporary apartment. We have some furniture items for her. We are taking donations for more. I currently have a family that I am going to connect her with to give her moral support right now. We are checking on her home as well to see what types of repairs are needed.

I ran into all these people as a result of the flood, but I never would have had any idea of their personal stories. Every person has their own story. Every person needs someone to walk beside them. God works ALL things together for good.

We are still taking donations of furniture items and money to be used on home repairs for all the victims that we have come across. Contact me at kelly@ordinaryhero.org if you feel led to help any of these families that have been affected by the flood.

CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO and go to the direct link.

(silence the music at the bottom of this page to watch the video here)

Ordinary Hero~Beyond the Nashville Flood from Kelly Putty on Vimeo.