This old house..

Being a hundred year old house, RHHP merits its own maintenance crew. In last Friday's episode in the continual upgrading of RHHP, a plumber who has been re-plumbing the main floor bathroom accidentally discovered a hole in the side of the furnace through which the gas flame is visible. This called for the furnace to be turned off and is only to be turned on when someone is supervising it. So Ellen was "trained" to turn on the furnace so that the house may continue to be heated and have occasional hot water for showers. Residents wanting hot showers are to coordinate with Ellen as she has to stand guard outside the furnace room to keep an eye on it. (See photo above.) Fortunately, the weather has been mild and no one has suffered unduly from the shivers.

The good news is that the Brubaker Plumbing crew from Lancaster, PA, will be here on Tuesday to replace the furnace. They should be familiar with our furnace room after having spent an entire day a couple of years ago replacing one of the boilers.

RHHP Visioning Meeting

Representatives of the RHHP Committee, Asylum Seekers Housing Network, the Mennonite Voluntary Service unit, residents and the house managers met yesterday to review the progress of RHHP over the past eight years, especially the period since the visioning meeting in May 2008, and to look for ways to strengthen the RHHP's fulfillment of its mission in the future. Ruth Clemens ably guided the group through the three hour process. We reviewed the mission statements of the ASHN and MVS to ensure that their missions are in support of the RHHP vision. The respective groups came away with assignments to complete. The group also discussed different ways the community residents, ASHN clients and VSers could be better integrated.