For the past 16 years, groups of
young people and adults have
volunteered one
summer week to help
those in need of emergency home
repairs in Delaware. And this year
was no different. Nearly 70
volunteers from two Presbyterian
churches in New York and New Jersey
traveled hundreds of miles to
replace impaired roofs and fix
floors, windows and doors -
all part of the
Emergency Home Repair Project of the
First State Resource Conservation
and Development
(RC&D)
Council , Inc.
The volunteers arrived in Sussex
County on a Sunday in early July.
The group included 31 young people,
ages 14-18, and 14 adults from the
Presbytery of Utica (New York) and
the Old Greenwich Presbyterian
Church (New Jersey). They put in
long hours Monday through Friday
morning hammering thousands of nails
to complete repairs on 10 emergency
home sites.
Adult
chaperone Bill Butler said he got
hooked the first time he came and
has since returned five times. Many
of the young volunteers have also
made multiple trips throughout the
years.
The Project was
initiated in 1991 and founded on the
idea that neighbors would be willing
to help their neighbors in need.
This project serves very low-income
homeowners in Kent, Sussex and lower
New Castle counties by assisting in
the elimination of conditions that
present an immediate safety and/or
health risk.
“The Emergency Home Repair project
is a great way for young people to
get involved in improving
communities and making a real
difference in people’s lives,” said
Bill Bell, RC&D Coordinator. “It’s
one way for people facing difficult
circumstances to know there are
other folks who care.”
About Us
Back to Top