Submitted by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church
Youth and adult members of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church recently returned from a week of home repair work with Appalachia Service Project (ASP). Working at ASP’s Bland County center, a site that included homes on both sides of the Virginia/West Virginia border, the team made a strong contribution to ASP’s mission to make homes warmer, safer, and drier.
This was St. Paul’s third summer mission trip with ASP, following similar trips in 2013 (six participants) and 2015 (fifteen participants). This year the St. Paul’s team numbered a whopping twenty-four, with seventeen youth, ages fourteen to seventeen, and seven adult crew leaders. Eleven of the group were returning ASP volunteers.
The Bland County ASP center was located at Camp Laurel, a former summer camp with cabins for sleeping quarters, a separate bathhouse with showers and toilets, a cafeteria and kitchen, an outdoor pavilion, and walking trails into the nearby woods. Most ASP centers are located in recreation halls or schools with large communal sleeping areas. The St. Paul’s volunteers appreciated Camp Laurel’s pastoral setting and the many opportunities for outdoor sports and socializing in the evenings.
Images above (c) Emily Mitchell, 2016 all rights reserved – Click to view larger image
Van 1, led by Emily Mitchell and Matt Skavenski, worked on a home in Pocahontas, VA, about forty miles from the ASP center, that needed interior insulation and paneling to help make the home warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer.The crew installed insulation, bead-board paneling, and trim in two bedrooms over the course of the week. One of the highlights of Van 1’s work was playing with the homeowner’s three young grandchildren, who were visiting for three of the five work days. Serving in Van 1 were Emi McSwain, Andrew Presti, Helen Pulizzi, Leo Pulizzi, Joleen Ricci, and Ben Woodward.
Van 2, led by Sharon Healey and John MacPhee, continued an insulation and siding project on the exterior of a home just two doors up from Van 1’s worksite. Through hot days outdoors, the crew measured, cut, and installed insulation panels and vinyl siding—in between visiting with the homeowner and playing with her three adorable dogs, Cookie, Punky, and Poopy.The Van 2 crew was Jack MacPhee, Amy Martin, Cole Parks, Emma Pulizzi, and Mack Wright.
Van 3, led by Amy McGlothlin and Joe Wright, also installed exterior insulation and siding. Their worksite was located in Bluefield, WV, just across the state line in what center director Chris Schroeder called “Appalachia urban.” Like Van 2, the Van 3 crew spent most of their days up high on ladders, or down on the ground measuring and cutting siding. Crew members were Maddie Anderson-LaPorte, Ian MacPhee, Alli McSwain, Mason Schalick, Cooper Wait, and Hannah Wait.
John Mitchell marked his fourth ASP trip this summer, and his second as a “floating volunteer,” moving among the three St. Paul’s crews to offer assistance and expertise as needed. John spent most of his time at Van 2’s site, with occasional stops at the other two homes as well.
ASP calls itself “a relationship ministry with construction on the side,” and that motto held up well for all three crews this summer. While all volunteers gained experience with hand and power tools, learning new skills and handy tricks for pounding nails and making straight cuts, more meaningful was the experience of living and working in a part of the country markedly different from Bedford. Spending time with the homeowners offered the teens and adults greater insight into the challenges faced by people living in poverty, as well as exposure to the great natural beauty of Appalachia and the generosity of its residents. The Van 2 crew spoke meaningfully about the homemade lunch their homeowner prepared for them on Friday afternoon, and many participants remarked upon the close ties they observed among families and neighbors in the communities they were serving.
On Tuesday of the work week, a local historian and artisan, whose home was one of the other worksites, gave a presentation during Evening Gathering about the history of the Cherokee Nation in the area, and showed the volunteers how to make rope out of raffia. St. Paul’s team members Hannah Wait and Cole Parks became quite expert at rope making, with Hannah’s rope measuring close to 40 feet by the time she returned home!
The work week was bookended by side trips in Pennsylvania. On the way down to ASP, the St. Paul’s team enjoyed dinner and overnight lodging at Prince of Peace Episcopal Church in Gettysburg, PA, complete with a tour of the historic church by the Rev. Herb Sprouse, a former classmate of St. Paul’s rector, Rev. Chris Wendell, from Episcopal Divinity School. On the way home from Bland County, half the crew stopped at Hersheypark, the amusement park in Hershey, PA, to enjoy roller coasters and other thrill rides as a special treat after a hard week of work.
Plans for St. Paul’s next ASP trip, tentatively slated for summer 2018, are in the works. To learn more about Appalachia Service Project or to make a donation, visit www.asphome.org.
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