Mechanicsville campers wrap a week of makeovers

Youth volunteer Hannah Scarborough washes kitchen tile. A group of volunteers from Richmond Metro WorkCamp, Inc., a nondenominational service organization, spent the week building access ramps and renovating the kitchen and bathroom of this Northside home.

By: WESLEY P. HESTER TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER | Richmond Times Dispatch
Published: July 18, 2009

SLIDESHOW: This old house

Not many are willing to devote a week of summer to fixing up their home, much less someone else's. But each year, dozens of local teens pay for the opportunity.

A group of campers with Richmond Metro Workcamp, a nondenominational faith-based group, yesterday finished up work on Betty Barner's aging home in North Richmond. Meanwhile, six other groups were finishing work at other houses in the area.

Barner, a disabled 61-year-old, got a wheelchair ramp, new floors and ceilings, some fresh paint and a new bathroom sink for her 100-year-old home.

"It's lovely," she said of her new ramp. "I've had so many falls out there. I'm just so grateful they came and helped me out because I didn't have the money to fix anything."

Through contacts in the community, social services and agencies on aging, the camp finds several homeowners to assist each year. In its 17 years, the camp has helped 202 area residents.

"It's for people who can use some help but can't afford it physically or financially," said Miranda Terry, the camp spokeswoman. "Most of the times it's older people or someone who has a burden like an illness or a large family to take care of and can only do the bare minimum to keep up their home."

To participate, campers must be rising high school freshmen or older and pay $225 to cover food, lodging, insurance and entertainment for the week.

In all, about 40 teens and a few adults participated this year, some coming from North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The seven teams gave makeovers to eight homes in the area.

Matt Dole, 16, of Hanover County reluctantly joined this year at his mother's behest.

"I didn't really want to do it at first. I didn't think it would be a lot of fun to come out and work every day and lose sleep," he said. "But I ended up having a lot of fun meeting the resident and bonding with people I hadn't met before."

The camp is now based in Mechanicsville out of Fairfield Presbyterian Church, where the campers sleep. Each night, there's a dinner followed by a worship service with a slideshow of the day's work and a keynote speaker or performer.

Bryan Walton, a 25-year-old Richmond native from Tennessee, started coming to the camp in high school.

"It's really just about helping the community and the feeling you get from helping someone out," he said. "It's very rewarding. At the end of the week you can see how much work you've done and how much it means to the person who lives there," he said.

Dole said he plans to participate again next year. "It's nice to do something to help other people and not all about you," he said.

Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or whester@timesdispatch.com.