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History: OLA Mission - 851 N. Avers

851 N. Avers and 849 N. Avers (formerly vacant lot converted into parking/ garden space) serve as volunteer housing and parking for the Mission. 851 N. Avers is currently used for volunteer housing. Most notably, since 2016 it has been home to between 5-8 students each summer living and working at the Mission as a part of our long-term summer volunteer program.

The building and adjacent property were purchased in 2014 and renovated the following year. The building was completely gutted and redone. We are particularly grateful for Ryan Companies who donated most of the material and labor for this job. Please enjoy the timeline and accompanying pictures of the renovation project below:


Week 52- July 11-16

We are so grateful for all who have made the renovation of 851 N. Avers and the landscaping of 849 N. Avers possible. These spaces are an incredible blessing to us here at the Mission and have already been put to good use. Please know of our continued prayers to all who have assisted with this project.

(We are going to be starting a similar weekly update page for some other projects in a week or two - look out for some updates soon)

The porch was the last major item- and it was completed this week!


Week 51- July 5-9

 

 

 

Porch was started and is almost done! Thanks to Synergy Construction for making this happen.


Week 50- June 27 - July 2

 

 

Concrete! Thanks to All Bry Construction for taking care of our last 8 feet of concrete + our plumbing hole in the basement of the church.  The yard is now essentially done. A new porch is going on the front of the house this week- and we’ll call this job complete!


Week 49- June 20-25

 

 

Yard is very close to complete! An additional 8 ft. of concrete will be added to the parking pad this week. We are looking for plants - mainly herbs and vegetables. If you have any plants you’d like to donate, please e-mail HERE.


Week 48- June 13-18

 

 

We're very excited that our new patio and yard are nearly complete. Look forward to pictures of the completed project next week!


Week 47- June 6-11

 

 

Yard work continues! The lot has been quite the mess to clean up. Yard work should wrap up next weekend. Thanks you all for your continued support!


Week 46 - May 30-June 4

 

Now that the house is done, we are working on our yard/ patio! We dug out all the old nasty top soil and are working on making a patio and a yard.


Week 45 - May 23-28

 

 

 

The porch got ripped off this week! New porch and landscaping coming in the next 2 weeks!


Weeks 43 and 44 - May 9-20

We were very blessed to have Bishop Rojas join us for the dedication of the new house this past week! The house is blessed and ready for our summer volunteers who are coming in about a week.
We still need a few last minute things to wrap this up. See the wish list HERE!

In celebration of the dedication, we’d like to share our most memorable BEFORE and AFTER shots!


Week 42 - May 2-7

We fully “moved in” this week with bedding, toiletries, artwork, and temporary furniture (we still need dining room chairs if anyone has some)! And, most importantly, we had our FIRST residents from Holy Cross College this week - so exciting.


Week 41 - April 25-30

 

 

More furniture and furnishings this week- check it out! We actually have PEOPLE staying the building next week as a test run! Pictures to come with building dwellers next week!


Week 40 - April 18-23

Move in day! Thanks to our friends from St. Clement’s, we moved all the furniture into the house on April 23! We have a few more things to work on furniture wise (mainly pull out couches and dining room chairs if you have any of those items). We’re going to be organizing the kitchens etc. this week. Thank you SO much for making it possible for us to get this far!


Week 39 - April 11-16

All major work is DONE in the house! THANK YOU to all! We are looking towards moving all of the furniture next week with our huge volunteer group from St. Clement’s (yay!)! There will be a wish list on this page shortly for the remaining household goods that we need to finish the project.


Week 38 - April 2-9

 

 

We have new, fancy back stairs! Looking good! Painting is getting finished this week + cleaning is starting. T minus 2 weeks ‘till furniture!


Week 37 - March 28 - April 2

Appliances, plumbing fixtures, other plumbing work + much more this week! Thank you to ABT, Whirlpool, and O’Sullivan Plumbing!
We ALSO (bonus!) are doing the final phases of the multi-year rectory-church boiler repair project (check out our big hole)!


Week 36 - March 21-26

 

 

Great work on the house this week! We are very grateful for our new countertops from GI Stone. A lot coming this week- appliances, plumbing, and more! Thanks to everyone for your continued help.


Week 35 - March 14-19

 

 

You know the construction project has made it when the sisters have gotten over there to start cleaning! Lots of odds and ends finished up this week with countertops and plumbing hopefully starting this week.


Week 34 - March 7-12

 

 

Progress continues!! Electrical finishes were completed this week along with the stairs. There will be some work on patching and minor repairs this week. Looking forward to a Holy Week full of paint and plumbing!


Week 33 - February 29 - March 5

 

More doors, molding, and general cleaning were the highlights of this past week!

Countertops, more plumbing and appliances (!) are coming soon.


Week 32 - February 22-27

 

 

We have functioning plumbing! Namely, 1 toilet. Tile was completely finished this week + there was much progress on the molding and doors.


Week 31 - February 15-20

 

The tile guys finished up the bathrooms this week- they look fantastic. We are very much looking forward to furniture, countertops, more doors, and more floor this week!


Week 30 - February 8-13

Next week, significant portions of the internal renovations will ready for the last coat of paint! That means it’s time to start thinking about next steps. Here is what we need to continue this project:

-Trundle beds
-Pull out couches
-Outdoor doors (front and back door)
-Landscaping

If you can help with any of this, please e-mail olamission@gmail.com! THANK YOU!


Week 29 - February 1-6

 

 

Thanks to Bourbon Tile and Ryan Companies we have NEW tile in all of our bathrooms and entry way. Looks fantastic- thank you!


Weeks 27 and 28 - January 18 - 30

 

 

We’ve got windows in our basement! Big updates coming next week- tile, more flooring, finishing the cabinets, and probably more!


Week 26 - January 9 - 16

 

 

Thanks so much to the Ryan Company team that came in to volunteer last Saturday to put up the cabinets, internal doors, and lay most of the flooring! HVAC and electric finishes began this week as well. It’s really beginning to look a lot like a house- a beautiful one at that!


Weeks 23 -25 - December 20 - January 9, 2016

 

 

We are very excited let everyone know that we now have FLOORING going in the house! It looks great. Thanks again to Ryan Companies for their help with this donation!


Weeks 21 and 22 - December 7-19

 

The first and second floors were primed this week! Looking forward to the first coat of paint very soon. Floors, doors, and fixtures to come coming immediately in the New Year! Thank you all for your continued support of this project.


Week 20 - November 30 - December 5

 

We now have Our Lady of Guadalupe watching over the new lot and house! Thank you, Pedro, for custom making her for our fence. Very appropriate as her feast day is this Saturday!

Drywall continues and should be finished this week! Painting tentatively scheduled to start next week- yay!


Week 19 - November 23 -28

 

Work from last week continues! First floor drywall in the house is essentially complete. We have officially resolved (hopefully) the church plumbing issue forever. The guys from O’Sullivan’s Plumbing really took one for the team for this one - thank you!


Week 18 - November 16 -21

 

We have drywall! Drywall will continue into next week. Looking fantastic.

As many of you know, we’ve had years of plumbing sagas in the Church. We finally decided to dig up the floor to figure out what is going on. We have answers + solutions that are coming next week, so we will have functioning plumbing for Christmas.

Thank you to O'Sullivan Plumbing and to Ryan Companies for making all of this possible!


Week 17 - November 9-14

We are ready for drywall to start this week! All pre-drywall electric, plumbing, HVAC, and carpentry are done. Insulation was sprayed this week. Drywall starts Wednesday! We also have gates and fences going in.


Week 16 - November 2-7

 

 

Gas is on, electric is live (check out the picture!), and window framing is near complete! Looking forward to spray insulation by the end of this week or early next week. We also have a fence!

 


Week 14 and 15 - October 19 - 31

 

Progress, progress! Furnaces, windows, and siding were installed this week. Thanks Ryan Companies for your continued help as well as the Carpenter’s Union for the window install. Heat should be working by the end of the week- and then we’ll be ready to work more on the inside!


Week 13 - October 12 - 17


The concrete in the back of the house and the new lot was poured this week. Additionally, the old siding got ripped off the house and is in the process of being replaced. Inside, the electric work continues and we've got insulation on our plumbing! Thank you all for your amazing continued generosity.


Weeks 11 and 12 - September 28 - October 10

 

MUCH going on in the new house! Electric is WELL on its way to being done, concrete is getting poured on Monday, windows will be installed next week, insulation is going in next week. We’ll be ready for drywall within the next 2 weeks.


We are also going to be ripping out all of the plumbing in the church because of the many recent plumbing problems. Look out for updates on that…


Week 10- September 21 - 26

 

Plumbing was finished this week- including the plumbing for our new basement bathroom (see picture)! HVAC is moving along quickly; the furnaces are expected to be here this week. Electric will likely start and FINISH this week. Windows, drywall, and fixtures are being planned right now as well!


In the other building, our new walk in fridge and freezer are being delivered and installed this week! Thanks again to Wal-Mart for making these items possible.


Week 9- September 14 - 19

The carpenters finished this week, the plumbers started this week, and the HVAC supplies are here ready for work starting this new week! The electricians are supposed to start this coming week as well. Thank you for your continued prayers and support as this project SPEEDS along!


Week 8- September 7 - 12

 

Carpenters started this week! We now have walls and a real floor. We are looking forward to starting the plumbing, electric, and HVAC in the next week or so.


Week 7- August 31 - September 5

 

 

We were blessed to be able to purchase the empty lot next to the house! We will be using this new space for parking - which is much needed at this time. Currently, we have very limited non-street parking for guests. Look forward to not searching for parking near the Mission very soon! We are very grateful for all who helped make this purchase a reality.


Week 6- August 24 - 29

Demo was competed this week on the house! Things are miraculously rolling- the carpenters are planning on arriving sometime this week to begin framing the walls. Plumbing, electric, and HVAC will also be starting as soon as the carpenter gets going!

An additional material need is:
-Aluminum (or equivalent) siding for the porch on the back of the house. If anyone has any siding connections, please let us know.

Thank you all for your continued support- and look forward to an exciting announcement next week!


Week 5- August 17 - 22

Demo is almost complete for the house! The house already smells and looks better. We also chopped down the tree in the front yard.
The rebuild is pegged to begin around September 1st through our friends at Ryan Companies!

Several of the things have been tentatively committed from the below needs list, but we will confirm very soon once things are finalized.
The speed and completeness of the commitments for this project has been miraculous. Thank you for your prayers!


Week 4- August 10 - 15

 

Demo started on August 13! The second floor demo is almost done. Most of the demo should be done by the end of this week. We’re already looking forward to the re-build!

If you know anyone who has a connection with windows, please let us know! That is our current biggest need.


Week 3- August 3 - 8

Thanks to Ryan Companies many items for the house are in process!

Remaining immediate needs:
-windows
-drywall and dry wall installer
-insulation
-landscaping

As other needs come up, we will let you know!

We also may be purchasing the lot next to the new house for a parking lot. Please keep this in your prayers as several things need to fall into place to make this a reality.


Week 2- July 27-August 1

 

 

 

Roof repair and replacement continued this week.


Week 1- July 20-25

Official construction on the house began this week with the tuck pointing. The tuck pointing will be completed by Tuesday, July 28. The SIX roofs on the house will be ripped off and replaced on July 29.