By Mark Boshnack
SOUTH NEW BERLIN _ Qualifying residents within a half hour's drive of Unadilla Valley Central School have had help this week with home repairs and improvements.
The Group Workcamps Foundation, from Loveland, Colo., sent 398 campers to the area through the Chenango Rivers Workcamp, sponsored by the Chenango Housing Council _ a local network of housing and social service providers. The volunteers from 21 churches in nine different states have been housed from Sunday through today at the school.
About 50 families in Chenango, Delaware and Otsego counties requested the service, which ranges from house painting to building wheelchair ramps for people who meet income eligibility requirements, said Chenango Housing volunteer Ken Austin, of Greene. For a family of four, the income limit is $41,616, according to a state agency.
The campers are led by John Fulton, a resident of Belews Creek, N.C.
They come from as far away as Michigan and Illinois with air mattresses and bedding, prepared to camp inside school classrooms, he said.
"We provide them a way to return hope to the community and make relationships," he said.
People age 12 to 20 are eligible to participate, according to the foundation's brochure.
On Thursday, one group of about eight was painting the outside of a house in the hamlet of South New Berlin.
A couple of those who participated said this is the fourth year they have been involved.
Kaitlyn Thomas, 16, from Sandwich, Ill., said she enjoys helping, but she also likes meeting new people.
Samuel Hyun, 16, from Valley Stream, said he likes "seeing the smile on everyone's face when the work is done. It's a great experience."
The two homeowners, who teach classes at the Norwich YMCA, had nothing but praise for the workers.
Susan Kocsis said the teens have been "absolutely wonderful."
They are always smiling, she said, and "there are not enough good things we can say."
Pat Jenkins said that without the help, "We wouldn't have been able to get the work done."
Austin said the last time the Mission Foundation came to the area was in 2004.
