Seeing the Need

By Brianna Stephens

He listened to stories of families who faced immense loss after the tornadoes. He heard a man retell his family’s history as mud-soaked photos were shoveled into a dumpster. With each story he heard, it seemed as though all hope was lost. In a year where natural disasters were one after the other in Kentucky, Barry Ballew, a Christian Appalachian Project (CAP) donor and skilled volunteer, continued to come back to hard hit areas to help pick up the pieces and build hope in the lives of children, their families, and seniors.

“Seeing the need makes you want to come back,” Ballew said. “The Bible says we are to encourage one another and build each other up. It really is about giving them hope. We are helping to build back their lives. As devastating as these disasters were for the people, CAP is doing its best to help them recover. Being a part of the mission and bringing hope and joy to people in Appalachia is amazing.”

In response to deadly tornadoes that tore through Western Kentucky in December 2021, CAP was asked to manage the logistics of getting essentials to families in need through the Bowling Green Distribution Center. Ballew and his team of volunteers served at the center to distribute items as well as process the abundance of donations from generous donors across the country being received in nearby warehouses. Ballew worked with Robyn Renner, CAP’s Disaster Relief director, and Becky Neuenschwander, manager of CAP’s Groups program, to create a seamless daily process to restock the distribution center with items from the warehouses twice a day to meet the needs of tornado victims.

“When I was in Bowling Green, I saw the great devastation and the needs of the community after the tornadoes,” Ballew said. “I talked with families who had lost everything to the disaster. Thinking about my own family, it is tough for me to imagine the amount of loss they faced.”

As Western Kentucky continued its recovery into the summer, unprecedented flooding impacted Eastern Kentucky in late July, damaging and destroying 16,000 homes across the region. When flood waters receded and CAP’s relief response began, Ballew brought a team of skilled workers to begin mucking out and cleaning up homes.

As a skilled volunteer, Ballew led his group of volunteers under the guidance of Ron Morrow, a CAP Home Repair crew leader, during disaster relief and recovery efforts.

“I’ve never seen flooding like what we had in July,” Morrow said. “We were on the ground trying to help get homes mucked out and cleaned up, but it seemed like there was no end. There was no shortage of work to be done.”

In the fall, during his fourth trip to CAP in 2022, Ballew and his team helped Morrow make progress on an extensive recovery project. An elderly woman’s home of more than 40 years was crippled by floodwaters, shifting it from its foundation, buckling the floors, impacting the electric and plumbing, soaking insulation, and damaging flooring throughout the home. At the peak of the flood, 2 feet of water was standing in her home.

Volunteers like Ballew, his crew, and others who have responded for flood relief efforts have been instrumental in building back Eastern Kentucky communities. Because of volunteers, CAP’s crew leaders can accomplish work in as little as a week that would typically take them a month to complete. This allows more homes to be repaired for people in need.

“We said we would come to help make a difference in their lives, and we did that. But we had no idea the difference it would make in our lives,” Ballew said. “If you are willing to come and serve with CAP, there is a place for you, no matter if you have few skills or are highly skilled. You can make a difference.”