Austin students spent summer mission in Austwell

Twenty-two students and three adults from St. Dominic Savio High School in Austin participated in the Hurricane Harvey clean up in Austwell from June 25-29. The students stayed in the Austwell Community center and worked on two houses.

The first homeowner was 104-year-old Frances Navarro who needed her house scraped and repainted. The students spent the week prepping the house, painting the walls, painting the trim, and painting the deck. The students took turns mowing the lawn to make whole space beautiful and created a garden that included a statue of her favorite saint, St. Francis of Assisi.

Father Ponnuswamy Victor from Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Tivoli celebrated Mass and blessed the newly planted garden.

The second home owned by Mayor Mary Canales was hit pretty hard and is still a work in progress. Students put in a window and rebuilt an outside wall, put insulation in the attic, waterproofed and insulated the walls, removed an exterior wall so it could be repaired, wired the house to the main box, and dug trenches to allow drainage under the house.  

The students were guided and taken care of by Rusty and Cindy Bailey of Rusty Cindy Ministries. Rusty Cindy Ministries is a nonprofit and that specializes in repair and rebuilding homes after natural disasters without regard to payment. The students worked alongside Rusty Bailey at the Canales sight and Cindy Bailey was busy collecting supplies and making sure all their needs were met. Rusty Bailey made sure the students heard the daily scripture and he applied it to the work they were doing. 

The mission trip was a great success. The students served the community of Austwell, while also building a fellowship with each other.