Bishop Willie Billips praying for help to repair his Faith Hope and Charity church in Brownsville
NEW YORK - A Brooklyn bishop who has spent years helping his community is now begging for help himself.
He's asking for someone to make repairs on his church.
As CBS2's Andrea Grymes reports, it was badly damaged during Hurricane Ida last summer.
"I miss being here, I miss my wife standing here," said Bishop Willie Billips.
Preaching again at the pulpit can't come soon enough for Billips. His church, Faith Hope and Charity House of God in Brownsville, Brooklyn is in such a state of disrepair they can hardly do anything inside.
"To come into the church and see that going down was really rough," Billips said.
They were already dealing with burst pipes when Hurricane Ida came last summer, flooding the building. They're asking for someone to come in pro bono to fix the plumbing, paint and get rid of the mold.
"We really need to get this done. We need help," Billips said.
It has been a devastating blow for the bishop and his wife pastor Karen, who have worked for years serving a neighborhood plagued by gun and gang violence: Comforting families at crime scenes, helping with food drives and clothes drives and, as Det. Mohamed Amen of NYPD Community Affairs notes, guiding gang members to better lives.
"He was always working with them, trying to show them the right way," Amen said. "The church has always been a beacon of hope to a lot of unfortunate congregants."
He says now it's time for others to come to the bishop's aid.
The detective helped get some free help to make repairs, including from ICNA Relief, a Muslim nonprofit, which worked on the roof and sheetrock. But they need more, so they can continue their work in the community.
"We still try to provide whatever's necessary that we could, but our hands are tied. Got to get things done," said church member Curtis Edwards.
The church still gives away free clothes for families who need them - just part of the services they still provide.
In a perfect world, the bishop hopes to have the entire church fixed in 30 days.
Despite the enormity of the work, he has faith someone can help.
If you'd like to help out, you can email bishopbillips@aol.com or call (347) 678-4500.
