Teens tackle home repairs

By Yolanda Putman

Staff Writer

Alton Park resident Eunice Wilbur has a rotting roof and gutters but lacks the money to pay for repairs.

This week, 33 volunteer work crews are fixing her residence and other houses throughout the city.

The volunteer crews include 400 students from about 15 states and are here with World Changers, a ministry of the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention.

"The work they're doing makes me feel really good because it is something that I could not do on my own," said Ms. Wilbur, 68.

Ms. Wilbur's house is expected to get a new roof, gutters, drip edges and some new shingles. The house also will be painted by the end of this week.

The students and adult volunteers, including some construction professionals, started repairing homes in the city on July 21. Their work here is scheduled to be completed on Saturday.

"We want to leave this yard and this house better than we found it," said youth leader Beth Watson of Smithville, N.C., while standing in front of Ms. Wilbur's West 41st Street house.

Ms. Watson and several volunteers said their goal is to share their Christian faith through their actions.

World Changers is making home repairs in City Council districts 1, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.

Councilman Manny Rico represents District 7, which includes East Lake, St. Elmo and Alton Park, where Ms. Wilbur lives.

"You can't imagine how thankful the people are until you see their faces," Mr. Rico said.

The group has repaired about 170 Chattanooga homes for low-income, elderly and disabled residents since their first project here in 2001.

World Changers has been coming to Chattanooga through a partnership involving Neighborhood Services and Community Development and the Front Porch Alliance.

The Front Porch Alliance received $30,000 from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to help pay for materials, while other money was donated. About $50,000 was spent for materials this year, officials said.

The city's Neighborhood Services Department received the applications for home repairs and gave them to World Changers officials who did site visits of the application locations and determined which repairs they could make, officials said.

World Changers is scheduled to return next year, said Beth Trussell, executive director of the Front Porch Alliance.

She said the organization's next goal is to include more local neighborhood and church groups in the effort so that the homes of disabled and elderly people still can be repaired if World Changers is unable to come.

Several of the students raised an average of $260 to go on the trip.

Megan McGee, 18, of Avon Park, Fla., said she has enjoyed bonding with new friends while sharing her faith.

"These people are like my family," she said.

Jim Wood, of Avon Park, said this week has been the highlight of his summer.

"You could spend the summer going to the movies, but you don't get the same feeling when it's over," said Mr. Wood, 18, while taking a break from working on Ms. Wilbur's house.

E-mail Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com

ELEMENTS

34 local homes are scheduled for repairs

$50,000 spent on materials for home repairs in Chattanooga this year

400 volunteers making repairs in Chattanooga

170 local homes repaired by World Changers since 2001