Nonprofit Tackles Projects for Those in Need
By MONICA CALZOLARI
ONEONTA
Kingdom Builders of Central New York is a local, faith-based non-profit that has completed 24 construction projects in the last three years for low-income homeowners in greater Oneonta at no charge. Its founder, Andy DeForest, has been a licensed contractor for 39 years.
DeForest said, “I want to provide practical assistance to people who can’t afford needed repairs or maintenance to their homes.”
He completes one project for free every month while he continues to operate his construction business.
Three mission trips to New Guinea, Honduras, and Cambodia helped DeForest reconnect with the Christian community and inspired him to want to use his skills to help people in need in the Susquehanna Valley.
The guiding principle of Kingdom Builders of Central New York is to “Serve God through Serving Others.”
DeForest formed a multi-denominational board of directors about five years ago comprised of fellow Bible-believing individuals with significant experience in all facets of construction and business: electrical construction, maintenance, civil engineering, carpentry, finance, and human resources.
DeForest lives in Sidney. His board members live in Oneonta, Otego, Morris, Mount Vision and Davenport. Some are members of Main Street Baptist Church and Wells Bridge Baptist Church. Others belong to non-denominational churches. For example, Pastor Frank MacCracken of Word of Faith Christian Family Center, is a member of the board and worked in the construction field for 15 years prior to becoming a minister full time.
Applicants for assistance from Kingdom Builders do not need to be Christians or practice a particular faith. They must own their home and be considered low-income according to official county guidelines.
Theodore Anderson, another board member and former chair of the board, said, “The spiritual focus is on building relationships with those served, with the end goal of demonstrating the love of Christ through ministry.”
“One example of a project that I am currently working on is for a sweet, elderly woman who needed some repairs to her kitchen, which was overcome with rats and water damage. We replaced an old drop ceiling, kitchen drawers, and cabinet doors, and gave her a new countertop and sink,” Deforest said.
He added, “I have been very fortunate to be able to form a special relationship with her…[She] and I have been making time together to engage in some fun, deep discussions of Jesus and the Gospel. We have also had discussions of darkness and evil.”
Another example of a project that Kingdom Builders has completed is for a man named Miguel, with pulmonary fibrosis, who requires a double lung transplant. Miguel has not been able to work in construction for the past eight years. His downstairs was uninhabitable because a portion of the flooring had been removed, leaving an area open to the cellar.
Normally, DeForest completes projects on his own, but this project was a big one and took him and several members of the board two full days to complete. They addressed the immediate problems to make Miguel’s home safe.
Deforest said, “Shelter is one of the most basic yet important needs a person can have. Yet, many around us [who are] less fortunate or less able to meet this need find themselves or their family lacking of someplace safe, dry and warm.”
DeForest said he heard a calling from God to do this work. Kingdom Builders receives donations from individuals, area churches and several local foundations. It would like to develop additional relationships with other foundations, such as The Clark Foundation.
During COVID, Kingdom Builders was trying to raise capital to purchase a $50,000.00 van.
DeForest said, “Once we decided that we needed to purchase a van, I went to my dealer, who I have a great working relationship with. I was told that they cannot get any new vans during the pandemic. Then, out of the blue, I received a call from Country Club Motors of Oneonta, saying that they found a brand new, one-ton cargo van for us, which is exactly what we needed.”
“It was definitely a God moment,” DeForest said.
He and Anderson believe God will provide and describe finding this van as a miracle.
Many in the area have not heard of Kingdom Builders of Central New York—a situation which Anderson acknowledged.
Anderson explained, “We want to become better known in this community and meet the needs of this community.”
DeForest’s goal is to make this type of ministry his full-time job.
Kingdom Builders encourages those who meet the qualifications to use the application on their website, https://kingdombuilderscny.org/. They caution that if your home is owned by your children who live elsewhere, you would not qualify. Also, if you rent your home, you would not qualify.