Thanks to 154 students at Silverdale Baptist Church, the 3800 block of Clio Avenue in East Lake is looking a bit spiffier this week.
The youth, as part of the congregation's Global Impact Celebration, partnered with the Nehemiah Project to adopt the block, on which a Habitat for Humanity home is being built, last weekend.
"We thought, 'Here comes a new home owner. Let's help them out,'" said Beth Pittman Trussell, executive director of the Nehemiah Project and Front Porch Alliance. "We wanted to give all their neighbors a face-lift, a little freshen-up."
She said middle- and high-school students painted, cleaned gutters, repaired shutters, hauled off trash and did yard work.
Randy Thomas, student pastor at Silverdale Baptist, said youth of his church have been involved in similar projects around Chattanooga for years. But this year, some 700 to 800 church members, from teenagers to senior adults, scattered across the city to work on various projects as part of the congregation's missions emphasis.
In addition to the East Lake project, church members in approximately 60 different groups worked at the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home, a school, various homes and other sites, he said.
Many of the individuals who needed assistance were widows, Mr. Thomas said.
Others were couples or families who couldn't physically do the work or afford it, he said.
Ms. Trussell said representatives of the Nehemiah Project went with a representative of the East Lake neighborhood association to contact home owners, many of whom are elderly and may not have opened the door for strangers.
"Too often, (elderly home owners) get taken for everything," she said.
The Nehemiah Project spent $1,000 on supplies, and the youth supplied free labor that was worth perhaps $6,000, Ms. Trussell said.
Mr. Thomas said many of the students met the individual home owners and understood the need inherent in what they were doing.
A few high school girls even were able to sit down with, talk with and pray with a woman who was battling cancer, he said.
"A lot of these students are very privileged," Mr. Thomas said. "Some of them go to private schools. To go out and serve someone else, it was impacting for them."
Ms. Trussell said Lee College students and students from other Christian colleges will continue work on the block next week during their spring break in what the Nehemiah Project is calling A Brush With Faith.
NEEDED: LUNCH
The Nehemiah Project is attempting to line up lunches for the students from Lee College and other schools who will participate in A Brush With Faith in the 3800 block of Clio Avenue in East Lake next week. For information or to volunteer, call executive director Beth Trussell at 355-4093 or e-mail nehemiahpro@aol.com.