www.esryle.comLOCAL NEWS ACROSS THE NATION
Posted on 06/29/2004 11:17:46 AM PDT by esryle
CHESAPEAKE — A church bus pulled up in front of Marcel Sims’ South Norfolk home Monday, and a group of teens piled out, carrying paint, nails, hammers and cleaning fluids.
The youths, part of a volunteer project called World Changers, were there to fix Sims’ ceiling, replace a wooden gate destroyed by Hurricane Isabel and paint her garage. Throughout South Norfolk, about 350 youth volunteers were busy Monday renovating or refurbishing homes.
It is the first time that World Changers, a project that has repaired 7,500 homes in 375 communities, has volunteered in Chesapeake.
“I appreciate it,” said Sims, whose single-story home in the 1300 block of Hoover Ave. was one of about 30 in the community targeted by the group.
“I think it’s really nice, a neat program for them to be so young,” Sims said.
Next door, World Changers volunteers were preparing to replace a roof. On other streets, the youths were power-washing siding, building wheelchair ramps, painting, repairing porches, plumbing and replacing windows.
“It’s just a great opportunity to serve and to show God’s love,” said Rachelle Wilson, a 21-year-old college student from Gainesville, Fla., who is serving as World Changers’ spokeswoman.
During a World Changers project, youth volunteers – supervised by skilled adults – work together on home repairs. Twelve to fifteen volunteers are assigned to each site, with a responsibility to complete the work in one week.
The project in South Norfolk will go from June 26 to July 3. After this week, World Changers will move on to other cities, such as Atlanta; Anchorage, Alaska; and Chattanooga, Tenn.
World Changers provides the free labor, and the city provides funding for materials, Wilson said. The city of Chesapeake gave $60,000 to the faith-based group.
Area churches are chipping in by providing the workers with lunch every day. Residents had to apply to be considered for home improvements. The requirements were that the structure be a single-family, owner-occupied dwelling.
Candidates had to have a household income of less than 80 percent of the area median income, which is $55,900 for a household of four. Duplexes were considered if the owner lived exclusively in one side.
Started in 1990, World Changers is a project of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Its purpose it to “share God’s love” by providing free labor to communities in need.
Corey Losselyong, a 15-year-old from Winston-Salem is one of th e volunteers who traded part of his summer to help complete strangers. He worked in Georgia last summer.
“It’s hard, but it was fun,” Losselyong said as he stood in front of a job site. “It’s a good purpose.”
The youth volunteers have created a stir in Chesapeake, with curious homeowners looking to be included on the World Changers list of targeted homes next year.
The city has already begun to build a database of properties for next year, said Theo McClammy, Neighborhood Services Coordinator for the city.
McClammy spent part of his day Monday watching World Changers kick off the project. “It’s a very positive day, a very positive start,” McClammy said.
Thanks for the wonderful story.
I'm proud to say my own teenage son participates in a similar program.
There is a grass-roots Christian movement amoung teens that is generally ignored by the media. Even on MTV, a christian rock group, "Switchfoot" has a very popular song/video. Of course MTV prefers to promote Lil'Kim and her ilk.
We jokingly call it the "Jesus Clique", but there really is a new fad amoung teens to learn about God and do His work.
My 14 year old daughter is in Tennessee, as I type, doing her week of volunteer work. It is amazing what these kids can do.
My church has been involved with this for many years now. The kids just got back last weekend from Rock Hill S.C. and had a great time. We're hoping to get a trip to Alaska one of these days, so this was one a little closer to home, but regardless of where they go, they always come back invigorated to do God's work.
Please give your son a big hug for me and tell him that an old man in Nevada is very proud of him for helping his neighbors.
Please give your 14 year old daughter a big hug for me and tell her that an old man in Nevada is very proud of her for helping her neighbors.
How can this possibly be working if it isn't being run by the federal government?
Enough people vote for Kerry, it will be. He wants to make community service mandatory. Required for graduation from high school.
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