I was once told a story by a woman I encountered. She recounted to me something her father – now deceased – had once told her. In speaking to her of the importance of working hard for what you have, he also told her her the importance of helping others. He told her that “whatever you give to others, whether monetary or otherwise, will be repaid to you twiceover.” While reflecting upon my second month of being a member of CAP's long-term volunteer corps, I can say without doubt that those words are true and that that woman's father was a very wise man.

Being a member of CAP's elderly housing program has taken me across eastern Kentucky. It is a region of people who are poor materially, but spiritually and culturally rich. I have found myself doing things I never attempted before. I never sided a house, worked on top of someone's roof, crawled under a house filled with large spiders (my worst enemy), or built porches. Likewise, I never cooked for a large group of people, lived in community with people besides my own family, danced to bluegrass music, made peach jam, gone to a festival dedicated to chicken and Colonel Sanders, fished or hiked up a mountain. Some of these things I am rather embarrased to have not done earlier (my pitiful bluegrass dancing an exception). Yet these are things which have become a part of my life as I have adapted to this land.

For the past month I have found myself working with my fellow program members on a great variety of projects; a call comes in for a shower to be fixed; someone requires a handrail to be installed; another person needs new windows to keep out the fierce cold of the winter, a season whose slow coming is in the minds of a great many of our participants (people whom we serve). Each of these works teaches me a little more about carpentry, about our participants, and about God.

Regardless of how poor the people are they almost always go out of their way to help us. Sometimes this goes beyond simply hammering nails. People have baked and cooked for us several times in the past month; we were even invited to a large family housewarming party for one of our particpants whose home we had repaired. A fellow long-term volunteer who had been at CAP initially told me “once you help someone down here you are family to them.” This is without a doubt true as concepts such as community are taken very seriously among the people whom we work for. This is one of the reasons that CAP does not need to advertise as word gets around. In early September, an orientation week was held for those of us who were new to CAP. One theme discussed was the importance of seeing Christ in all whom we encountered. As I was at the housewarming party, at which our participants and their family showed us such tremendous kindness, it occurred to me that many people of this region have no problem seeing Christ in others at all!

The people whom we have helped are amazing and will never be forgotten. One of our projects was to prepare Michael and Robert's home for the upcoming winter. The two are brothers who are in their seventies. Robert is largely confined to a wheel chair and has a variety of health problems while Michael, who is the older of the two, has slowed down considerably in his retirement. Michael tries his best to take care of Robert; actually the relationship is beautiful as the two are very devoted to one another. For several weeks we worked on their home with two groups, one of which had eleven people while the other had five, to prepare their home for the winter with insulation. Robert, a very deep and spiritual man, insisted on making us coffee every morning as well as praying with us. Throughout the weeks we were at their home he did his best to talk to everyone who worked on his home. I remember him telling me about how he loved people, “'specially the ladies,” he would jokingly tell me. At times he would even try to dance to music. His brother Michael, although quieter, was always, in spite of his own poor health, ready to help us with our work. The final day I worked on their home was moving as both brothers hugged us and thanked us for the past several weeks. Michael himself told me, as many of the people we serve do, to come back anytime. Smiling he said to me “hopefully we will meet again either here or up there.” I hope to God that is so.

Ultimately, this is why CAP does what it does. As a charity, CAP does not consider itself a “hand out” but as a “step up” to help people who are on hard times in this region. The people of this forgotten region have a great deal to offer; they believe in the importance of family, faith, community and their own traditions. Sometimes I wish more of our country could place greater stock in values such as those. Part of service such as this is not only to help others for by doing such service we ourselves are helped. I recall how Aristotle spoke of the importance of habituating onself to virtuous actions. He believed that by doing such we would not only be conforming to the natural law but also be transforming ourselves. My time here has taught me that this is indeed true. By helping others we ourselves are helped and are changed. During the orientation ceremony that was had several weeks ago we were told “Welcome to the image of Christ in Kentucky, the Christian Appalachian Project, welcome to your place, take good care of it.”

Chris Giorlando is a long-term volunteer in CAP's Elderly Housing program. He lives in the Magoffin Volunteer Community.