Et cetera : AmeriCorps NCCC Team Oak 1 Restores Historic Cottages in Illinios

Chaz Evans paints the cottges at the children's day camp.

Muhammad uses a saw to remove invasive species to entice curb appeal.

By Robert Gonzalez

Oak 1 upon arrival to their round 2 project site were welcomed with waving flags by cottagers and staff to show how appreciative they were for the team to be there. As the team walked through the camp they viewed many cottages that were in much need of assistance.

Dee Hilbert, a first time sponsor of an NCCC team and Volunteer Manager of Program/Events, stressed how important the cottages were to her and that she was grateful to have an NCCC team serving on site to help restore these historic cottages back to how they once looked in the year 1860.

Since Oak 1’s first day on site the area of Des Plaines was a flood zone. Even though the still managed to remove invasive trees from the gates surrounding the camp grounds; scraped, primed, and painted the camp’s main dining hall kitchen, outhouses, hotel halls, and pool house office; as well as cleaning the inside of the hotel.

Desarae Hillyer of Oak 1 says, “I could describe this second round project as eye opening. Most people would drive passed the site and not even realize the history that is behind it. I love the variation of work, the people we have met so far during our time at the Methodist Camp Grounds, and the fact we are right outside of the city of Chicago. I’m looking forward to doing more construction and hopefully some demolition work”.

The team has 5 more weeks with the sponsor and cannot wait to see the results of what they have accomplished and how many people they will have made feel forever grateful for their hard work.