‘Teamwork Makes the Dream Work’

Christian Life Center volunteers perform landscaping project at Emerge Springs

YELLOW SPRINGS — The landscaping at the Men’s Recovery Housing facility at Emerge Springs was given an upgrade last weekend as dozens of volunteers converged on the site as part of a collaborative effort to beautify the property.

The location was one of nearly 47 locations throughout the Greater Dayton area that volunteers from the Christian Life Center visited and performed work on Saturday, as part of the church’s annual “LoveDayton” campaign.

The new Men’s Recovery Housing facility, which is located at 114 E. North College Street, previously belonged to Antioch College. The landscaping included dozens of yards of mulch and a wide assortment of plants.

Organizers said they are extremely pleased with the teamwork demonstrated throughout the day as representatives from both organizations came together to transform the exterior of the property in a short period of time.

“We do this once a year,” said Margaret Colvin, site leader for CLC at Emerge Springs. “Overall, the day was a huge success — 100 percent. We were exhausted but thrilled with the results.”

Colvin said more than 20 people from the church were on site in Yellow Springs, and they worked with about a dozen people from Emerge. 

“There’s no way we could have accomplished what we accomplished without the help we got from Emerge,” Colvin said. “We are happy with the teamwork demonstrated Saturday. We’ve been doing this for years. We started at about 9 a.m. and went until a little after noon.”

Because the project was not complete at noon, everyone decided to stay later into the afternoon to finish it up. Crews left a little before 1 p.m.

“We went out and surveyed the site a month ago,” Colvin said. “We came up with a landscaping plan. Emerge helped by smoothing out the beds and getting the grass off. We estimated 43 yards of mulch was used along with around 100 plants. We submitted our plans to CLC and they ordered all the plants and provided the truck.”

The difference at the site before the work and afterwards, organizers said, was remarkable.

“Before and after – it’s beautiful,” Colvin said. “We wanted to make this a home-like environment that people would be proud of. I believe we accomplished that. We also wanted to make it easy to care for. We wanted to beautify it. I am so grateful for the CLC volunteers and the volunteers at Emerge. I think we were a fantastic team and we are excited we got it all done!”

Colvin and other volunteers on site said the project was very rewarding. 

“None of us could have done this on our own,” she said. “CLC had the resources. And there were people willing to make it happen. We all worked hard on this. We wanted it to be beautiful and it turned out great.”

Helen Mumaw, outreach coordinator at CLC, has been a staff member at the church for three years and a member for 10 years. She said they were all very pleased with how the project turned out and the teamwork involved.

“It looks absolutely beautiful!” Mumaw said. “LoveDayton has been going on since 2009. “I started helping in 2013. When we decide where we are going to go, we invite all of our current partners to go to a luncheon. Emerge has been part of LoveDayton for three years. We are happy with how it turned out and how everyone worked together. Having the guys from Emerge was a big help as well.”

Many of the volunteers from CLC said they enjoyed working with the residents at Emerge who offered their time. 

“One of our goals is to be the wind beneath your wings to partner with your volunteers and do the project together,” Mumaw said. “Emerge provided quite a few people to work alongside our team, which is what we wanted to see. Having the residents see a church come and love on them is encouraging. People care. They also see the wider reach.”

Pastor Jordan Moore, outreach team leader at CLC, said the entire campaign is based off Acts 1:8, which says:

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

He said “Jerusalem” is where they “do life.” He said that represents their church campus on Little York Road. He said “Judea” would be church multiplication; it includes planting other churches or helping other churches. Meanwhile, he said, “Sumera” is cross cultural. 

“We are still responsible for our city,” Moore said. “We believe we are supposed to pray, give and go. So we aren’t just stuck in our pews. Although CLC is at the edge of the city, we still feel responsible for our city. We want to love our city so programs like Emerge are very important to us.”

Moore said they had more than 550 people volunteering in total on Saturday.

“It started at 8 a.m. Saturday and went until noon but there were countless hours over several months of planning to pull that off logistically,” he said. “Each area is unique for showing love to people, to ministries, and to programs that are benefiting people of all walks of life.”

Moore said the site in Yellow Springs turned out wonderfully.

“I was on site in Yellow Springs for a minute,” he said. “It was truly amazing. There was a lot of teamwork between the two organizations. It was great seeing how many guys in the program were out there working and making a difference. Seeing what it looked like, at that moment, it looked like a resort. The transformation was amazing. I was able to see the site in Yellow Springs a month ago and it was inspiring to see afterwards. It was a no-brainer for us at CLC to partner with Emerge as often as we can.”

Elaine Bonner, Director of Philanthropy at Emerge submitted the project for Emerge and was on site as a volunteer.

“It was great to see many people and neighbors walk by and admire the work in progress. This also gave me the opportunity to explain how men living at Emerge Springs are continuing to make positive strides on their recovery journeys. Some are employed in Yellow Springs. They are part of this community and are grateful to be in a supportive environment.”

To learn more about the Men’s Recovery Housing program in Yellow Springs, give us a call at 937.272.4925.