Trenton, North Carolina

What We Did

This year, the community leaders of New Bern and Trenton asked us to return to continue the impact we made there in 2019. Not only was the Hurricane Florence damage now over a year old, but new storms this year had exacerbated the living conditions of many residents.

Scott Murphy of Trenton had his new disaster relief coordination center up and running (we had gutted one of the businesses last year to set up his program), and now we got to see what has elapsed in a year, and how much more we could accomplish! More, we stayed and began work at his new camp for volunteers.

Thanks to our efforts, the 1872 church is ready for the next phase of its restoration: structural repairs to the foundation, removal of the rest of the second floor, and the formal redesign. Site 2 has a family preparing for their next phase: completion of the demo we made possible and the building of a brand new home.  Site 3 finds a homeowner returning to a surprise foundation repair and the clean-up of his front entry (he had not expected anyone to help until early spring). And Woodman Camp is now more than ready for its Open House/Dedication after our trip, one which should bring investors to complete the rejuvenation, now likely to be more profitable because the camp breathes with some new life. 

The Mayor of Trenton gave us Seals to the City of Trenton and treated us to a traditional southern BBQ; a local church sent us a dinner of fried chicken and black-eyed peas, a local artisan carved crosses for each student from a century-old dairy barn, and we have found photos of our group affixed to walls of municipal centers and businesses.