Dr. Wilson Mugambi Marimi is the pastor of a faithful church with a long neighborhood history in Maple Heights on quiet Lafayette Avenue.
The Mount Moriah AME Church was delivered a hard break after its partially flat roof above the sanctuary gave in during a rainy Saturday, soaking everything below.
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If not for a well-functioning drain in the basement the first floor would be more like an indoor pool.
"Saturday, it was a big mess, big mess. By the time we came in here on Sunday the roof down here collapsed. It was a big mess, but we're glad that there was nobody here. Nobody was hurt," said Marimi.
The smell of mildew permeated inside the sanctuary's main floor late Tuesday morning.
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"Even now, these pews, they are very wet, very wet," Marimi said. "The carpet is still wet, and then the water went through the floor to the basement following a conduit, then went downstairs."
The church is insured, but Marimi said there has not been any word on what will be covered.
Until then, the church's parishioners have banded together to help a man who they say has always been there for them.
"He's always there for us, so I mean this is his time. Something happened to the church, so now we have to come together as a family to help clean up our church so we can make it a better place to come back here for our service," said parishioner Ciara Ridgeway. "Kids love it. The Sunday school is awesome for the kids, so we want the kids to be here, so this is like a family thing. We just came together to help."
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If you'd like to learn how you can help the Mount Moriah AME Church, you can call (216) 662-0521 or click here.
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