Burst pipe causes ceiling of New Directions to collapse, causing thousands in damages
Lead Summary
By
Brandy Chandler-brandychandler@gmail.com
A burst pipe in an apartment above the New Directions Youth Ministry in Greenfield caused the ceiling of the facility to collapse Wednesday, causing thousands of dollars in damages. New Directions had just completed a $40,000 renovation of the facility, located at 251 Jefferson St. earlier this year.
Director Mike Anderson and his wife Becky said that the damage is "devastating," but they are trying to keep it in perspective.
"A water pipe burst in the apartment above New Directions," Becky Anderson told The Highland County Press, "between the second and third floors. We were in there (Tuesday) and everything was fine. Mike wasn't even supposed to go into today - he had a day off - but he did, and he went in and found that the ceiling had collapsed. It's pretty devastating in there, especially with the fact that they had just done so much work in there."
According to the group's website, ndym.org, "New Directions is a non-denominational community-wide youth ministry that was founded in 1989 to reach out to students in grades 7-12 in the Greenfield, Ohio area." New Directions endeavors to provide a positive peer group, special activities and social events, as well as opportunities to serve the community, with exposure to positive adult role models.
Mike Anderson said that the renovations to the facility were completed the second week of March.
"Now it's going to totally have to be redone," he said. "We invested $40,000 in the facility just nine months ago, we had a totally renovated youth center. The water has done tens of thousands of dollars in damages. When the pipe burst, it ran through the whole building, for hours.
New Directions, according to Mike, is funded completely by the community it serves, with donations from individuals, businesses and through fundraisers.
"We got the water shut off and we're waiting for the insurance adjuster to come and tell us what to do next," he said.
The programs had just gone on break for the holidays, according to Mike.
"We had just gone on our Christmas break, so this is happening during our break," he said. "I guess that's a bit of a bright spot. No students were injured. There was severe damage to the property. It's going to take longer to fix than our Christmas break lasts, so we're going to have to move to a temporary facility. This is just a guess, but I'm thinking we're going to be out of the facility for most of the winter."
Mike said what the community needs most right now is prayer.
"We need their prayers, primarily," he said. "The first thing we need the community to do is pray, if they could keep us in their thoughts and in their prayers. We are keeping in mind that these are material things, and they can be replaced."
New Directions will need the continued support of financial contributions as well, he said.
"We'll need help with the continuing of our programming, so we might be needing some rental fees for a temporary facility," he said.
Anyone wishing to contribute to New Directions can write at P.O. Box 26, Greenfield, Ohio 45123, or call (937) 876-9868. More information on the programs can be found at ndym.org.
"We're kind of disappointed, but it can all be repaired and replaced."
A burst pipe in an apartment above the New Directions Youth Ministry in Greenfield caused the ceiling of the facility to collapse Wednesday, causing thousands of dollars in damages. New Directions had just completed a $40,000 renovation of the facility, located at 251 Jefferson St. earlier this year.
Director Mike Anderson and his wife Becky said that the damage is "devastating," but they are trying to keep it in perspective.
"A water pipe burst in the apartment above New Directions," Becky Anderson told The Highland County Press, "between the second and third floors. We were in there (Tuesday) and everything was fine. Mike wasn't even supposed to go into today - he had a day off - but he did, and he went in and found that the ceiling had collapsed. It's pretty devastating in there, especially with the fact that they had just done so much work in there."
According to the group's website, ndym.org, "New Directions is a non-denominational community-wide youth ministry that was founded in 1989 to reach out to students in grades 7-12 in the Greenfield, Ohio area." New Directions endeavors to provide a positive peer group, special activities and social events, as well as opportunities to serve the community, with exposure to positive adult role models.
Mike Anderson said that the renovations to the facility were completed the second week of March.
"Now it's going to totally have to be redone," he said. "We invested $40,000 in the facility just nine months ago, we had a totally renovated youth center. The water has done tens of thousands of dollars in damages. When the pipe burst, it ran through the whole building, for hours."
New Directions, according to Mike, is funded completely by the community it serves, with donations from individuals, businesses and through fundraisers.
"We got the water shut off, and we're waiting for the insurance adjuster to come and tell us what to do next," he said.
The programs had just gone on break for the holidays, according to Mike.
"We had just gone on our Christmas break, so this is happening during our break," he said. "I guess that's a bit of a bright spot. No students were injured. There was severe damage to the property. It's going to take longer to fix than our Christmas break lasts, so we're going to have to move to a temporary facility. This is just a guess, but I'm thinking we're going to be out of the facility for most of the winter."
Mike said what the community needs most right now is prayer.
"We need their prayers, primarily," he said. "The first thing we need the community to do is pray, if they could keep us in their thoughts and in their prayers. We are keeping in mind that these are material things, and they can be replaced."
New Directions will need the continued support of financial contributions as well, he said.
"We'll need help with the continuing of our programming, so we might be needing some rental fees for a temporary facility," he said.
Anyone wishing to contribute to New Directions can write at P.O. Box 26, Greenfield, Ohio 45123, or call (937) 876-9868. More information on the programs can be found at ndym.org.
"We're kind of disappointed, but it can all be repaired and replaced."
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