Mike Meyer, of Ohio, has been a volunteer construction leader with his church for the Back Bay Mission since 2001, including sleeping in a parking lot to help immediately after Katrina.

He’s working with our group for the week.

“My first experience touched my heart. I cried like a baby after I got home and didn’t know why. It was because God had given me a message that this is what he wanted me to do. I’ve come here ever since.

The best part of being a volunteer is meeting all of the varieties of folks who take a week out of their life and spend it helping somebody else. And that’s a big help to these people. It’s diverse — some old, some young, some families. Last year we had a mother and father and two children, working on the same site, learning about each other.”