Since a fire damaged the home of the Thomas family on John Street — located off Witherspoon Street — about a month ago, University students have been working with local volunteers to return the house to its former, livable state.
Members of Community House — a group that addresses the needs and inequalities within the John-Witherspoon neighborhood — went to the home March 2, after Director of Community House Marjorie Young investigated how students could help out.
Typical of Community House projects, cleaning out the home afforded an opportunity for joint work between members of the University and town communities.
"I feel a bit of a connection to the people [in the John-Witherspoon neighborhood]" said Michael Martinez '02, a co-coordinator for Big Brother/Big Sister, one of Community House's mentoring projects. "I knew they didn't have enough people to do this, and the kids that I worked with in my program are in the community." Martinez drove a handful of students from campus to the site of the fire, where many of them worked a 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. shift. Young said 10 students worked on the house while 2 babysat the Thomas children.
Neighbors, local church members and others in the community pitched in to clean out the house.
"We were all working together," said Renu Ouseph '02, a staff member at Community House who also volunteered. "And it was a lot more fun that way."
The students' jobs involved breaking down walls and removing the burned debris, Martinez said.
"There were walls with holes in them. You could basically see through the house because of the burned damage," Martinez said.
The family now lives on Alexander Street but hopes to move back into their John Street home within the next six months, the Princeton Packet reported.
"It still needs more work," said Ouseph, describing the home's remaining damage.
Community House has played a key role in expediting the restoration process.
"I let them know I was willing to stick around and help any way I could," Martinez said.
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