A single pot sits in an empty room on 73rd Street in Ravenswood, Indiana. It is the only clue that the space was once a kitchen — a reminder that everything else a family built over a lifetime was washed away by floodwater.
That home belongs to 93-year-old George Hibbard, a carpenter who built much of the house himself. He and his wife raised their family there for more than 65 years. Hibbard made the custom cabinets with carved ducks, the detailed window trim, and the red fencing around the property. His family says his wife designed the pieces, and he brought them to life. When floodwaters rose about 4 feet, most of it was destroyed.
Now volunteers are helping him come back. Crews from Samaritan’s Purse, a disaster-relief organization, are gutting homes across the neighborhood after the flooding. In Hibbard’s house they removed 49 inches of wet walls and insulation, and treated the whole home to keep mold from spreading.
“What we are doing is taking out 49 inches high of the walls and insulation and then doing mold abatement,” said Jane Morgan, a volunteer who traveled from Wisconsin. She said the volunteers want families to know they are not facing recovery alone. “Get in there, help them at their lowest point. We know how hurting they are and we just want everyone to know that we’re here for you.”
Brenda Doyle, the fiancée of Hibbard’s son, described the loss. “This is their home they raised six children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren. He lost everything that he accomplished in his life with his wife,” she said. “I’ve never seen that house empty. Seeing that house like that, it’s heartbreaking.”
But amid the loss, there are small acts of care. Volunteers saved Hibbard’s wife’s collection of ceramic figurines, carefully placing them on the porch where floodwater couldn’t reach them. It is a quiet sign that not everything was lost.
The work is only beginning for Ravenswood. As of Wednesday — just three days into the effort — Samaritan’s Purse had received 92 work orders and counted 85 volunteers, who together had already put in more than 800 hours of service. The group says they still need more help.
Volunteers worked in the summer heat to clean out the home so contractors can rebuild and Hibbard can eventually return. His family is hopeful, though the road is long. “We’re all blessed, and we hope he can get back to his home soon because he misses his home,” Doyle said.
For Morgan, the reason to keep working is simple. “He’s 93 years old and I see the love and respect for him, and it just warms my heart. He is like their world.”
In a neighborhood marked by ruin, strangers from across the country are proving that no one has to rebuild alone.