Hearts and Hammers seeks to help area homeowners with needed repairs and cleanup.

Hearts and Hammers is an annual one-day blitz to repair and rehabilitate the homes of those physically or financially unable to do so alone. It began in 1994, as a pilot project under the sponsorship of the Langley United Methodist Church. Now it is an independent, non-profit program that is supported by the larger community. Since 1999, Hearts and Hammers has been one of the ways that Church of the Resurrection gives back to the community. In 2006, ecumenical partners Cross of Christ and St. Louise joined with Resurrection to continue the outreach.

There is no charge to the homeowners for labor or materials. Local fundraising with Resurrection's church garage sale and donations of labor and materials cover the costs.

Home referrals come from Hopelink, a community organization serving the Eastside. Work assessment teams visited the proposed sites and determined the work that was within our financial and time constraints. Maintaining a home can be physically or financially difficult for the elderly, disabled, or anyone with limited resources. Hearts and Hammers volunteer crews hope to build community spirit and compassion while giving their neighbors a helping hand.

Who can volunteer?

Skills are welcomed, but everyone can be put to work (youth under 18 must have their parents complete a permission slip). House crews are organized by a House Captain who needs to have the expertise to oversee the whole job and to see that it is done properly. For certain jobs, this implies a high level of skill, but other jobs--yard cleanup, for example--require no more skill than the average homeowner's. If you are interested in being a House Captain, please let us know when you volunteer.

If you'd like more detailed information about Hearts and Hammers, contact Vee and Demaris Drummond at 425-747-3594.

We are excited about the prospect of lending helping hands to people in our community and we are looking forward to the 2008 Hearts and Hammers projects. Watch this space for more specific information. Grab a hammer and show your heart!

If you know a homeowner in our community who needs the sort of assistance Hearts and Hammers offers, consider having him or her fill out an application by March 1. Note that members of the participating church communities are not eligible; this is an outreach project; congregations should help their own members, but not on Hearts and Hammers Day.

Hearts and Hammers 2008

Saturday May 2 &3 , Hearts and Hammers day was a huge success. We had about 100 volunteers from the Church of Resurrection, Cross of Christ, St. Louise Catholic and Temple B'nai Torah.

We started the day with a prayer. Then we had breakfast prepared by Betsy Teays and her team. We started eating at 7:30 AM and then with Jim Teays assistance divided into five teams to go to work on five different homes.

The house captains were ready for the challenge of the tasks at each of the five houses. We painted the complete outside of two of the homes, built 450 feet of fence at two homes, hauled over 5 tons of weeds, old fence, trees, and other material to the dump, redid a kitchen floor, painted the inside of two homes and we even had time for fun and lunch.

At 5:30pm, the teams said enough work, cleaned up and went to Church of Resurrection for a hamburger dinner. At the celebration, each of the teams shared their success. Some of the residents were there to say thank you. We thanked the Lord for this great day and are looking forward to next years Hearts and Hammers Day.

Vee Drummond

Hearts and Hammers Minister Group Leader