After the work was completed on her home, Norwich Homeowner Wanda Hirsch received a bible signed by the volunteers on site from The Impact Project Executive Director Jim Willard III. (Photo by Zachary Meseck)

NORWICH – A group of volunteers from local churches and a nonprofit spent Friday and Saturday afternoon building a new roof for a homeowner in the Town of Norwich.

The Impact Project is a nonprofit dedicated towards helping homeowners stay in their homes by performing major repairs that they wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise.

According to The Impact Project Executive Director Jim Willard III, a roof was in worse condition than previously anticipated in the Town of Norwich, and was fortunately replaced before added issues in the winter.

“When we originally assessed this home we knew it was bad, but when we started working on this yesterday we found out it was way worse than we thought,” said Willard on Saturday. “This roof had a 50/50 shot at making it through another winter.”

“I personally don’t think this roof would have made it through the winter without water, mold, and insulation problems - we did this just in time.”

Homeowner Wanda Hirsch agreed with Willard, and said the Impact Project along with all of the volunteers made it just in time.

She put her application in around March or April, and that there were multiple holes in the roof allowing water to come inside the home.

“It was getting really bad up there,” said Hirsch. “It’s a trailer from 1974, and I’m pretty sure it was the original roof.”

“I just want to say thank you so much to The Impact Project for all of this.”

When asked about why they got involved with the project, Canasawacta Valley Free Methodist Church (cvfree church) Lead Pastor Jen Westervelt said her church will continue to honor God by helping others.

“God has created us to feel a sense of fulfillment when we are serving, helping others,” said Westervelt. “The Impact Project has successfully given community members and businesses an opportunity to fulfill that part of us.”

“Ridiculous generosity, joyful service, and radical compassion are three values of cvfree church, so it is our pleasure to come alongside Jim and his team whenever we're able.”

Westervelt said her church believes its fourth value, transforming grace, so often happens because people reach out and help meet the needs of others.

“Our prayer is that each project is a way to show the homeowner and our community that care can be contagious in a powerful way, and that's a mindset we want to be spreading,” she said. “As always, we are honored to team up with The Impact Project to "impact" those in need and our community at large for the better.”

Willard said several organizations assisted with the project including NY Pizzeria, Curtis Lumber, cvfree church, and First Baptist Church.

“We’re trying to help as many people as we can,” said Willard. “We’re going to be back in Norwich within the month, but we want everybody to know that we know it's tough out there; we’re going as fast as we can and trying to help as many people as possible.”

“We’re a volunteer organization, so our capacity to help people comes down to all of the partnerships with people and organizations who are willing to volunteer.”