Mission leads volunteers to their own backyard
More than 80 student and adult volunteers are participating in the third youth mission, working on improvement projects in the West End and Highland Ridge neighborhoods and Washington Park through this week. Volunteers are from Life Church, Church of the Covenant and Washington Alliance Church. The volunteers are hooked up with residents in need through Highland Ridge Community Development Corp.’s Mending Fences beautification program.
Volunteers Dominic Clutter, left, Jacob Phillips, Courtney Buchanan and Makenzie Diedrich stack wood for an improvement project during the third youth mission, working in the West End and Highland Ridge neighborhoods and Washington Park through this week.
Editor’s note: This story was modified from a previous version to correct the date of a closing party.
For the past two years, Melvin and Peggy Ralston fretted over the deteriorating roof of their Ewing Street home. When it rained, they watched water trickle through holes in the crumbling ceiling.
“We’ve been worried … how it was going to get done,” Melvin Ralston said as he watched four volunteers fix his roof Wednesday. “It’s an answer from God.”
The Ralstons were just one of the beneficiaries this week of services provided by three local churches and funded by Highland Ridge Community Development Corp.’s Mending Fences beautification program.
Homeowners in need, such as those who are elderly, low-income or disabled, can apply to receive help.
This is the third year teams from Life Church, Church of the Covenant and Washington Alliance Church descended on their hometown to help their neighbors, relying on HRCDC to point them toward the need.
“These kids can go anywhere in the world, and they decided there are needs in their own backyard,” said Fred Fleet, HRCDC vice president.
Fleet said the program has grown every year, both in number of volunteers – more than 80 – and the scale of projects. Students went from picking up trash and clearing vacant lots to helping construct porches and roofs.
“Skilled contractors, volunteers and kids do the work, and we provide material,” Fleet said. HRCDC used $4,000 of donated funds to purchase materials. “It makes a dollar go a lot farther.”
In addition to the Ralston home, volunteers worked on other projects in the West End and Highland Ridge neighborhoods, in Washington Park and at Washington High School, where they cleaned out and scrubbed down lockers.
In the evening, students return to Washington & Jefferson College dorms, accommodations that were donated by the college. A closing party will be held for participants and community members noon to 3 p.m. Saturday in Washington High School’s parking lot. The community is invited to attend.
“We like to give back here. We believe everything we do can shed some light on others,” said volunteer Courtney Buchanan, 16, who has participated every year of the program.
Fleet said the spirit of support is contagious. Neighbors who watched volunteers picking up trash the first two years were inspired to lend a hand in their own communities.
“The first year, kids picked up 300 bags of trash. This year, we’ve had 100,” Fleet said. “People said, ‘If these kids can do it, we can do it.’ It does make a huge difference.”