The city of Hamilton is going to become the site of a home repair blitz. Over 400 teenagers from across the country will come to Hamilton to make minor repairs to dozens of homes as part of a church work program called Group Workcamps Foundation. The foundation is based in Colorado.
Hamilton is one of 60 U.S. cities the foundation will help in the summer of 2010. There are many details to work out so the planning is starting now.
The neighborhoods that will be targeted are between the river and Route Four.
The Butler County organization, Support To Encourage Low Income Families (SELF), applied to have the Group Workcamps Foundation come to Hamilton. About 80 homes will be improved thanks to the teenage volunteers and the adults who supervise them.
"There are a lot of great activities in Hamilton for homeowners to help them improve their neighborhoods," said Jeffrey Diver, the Executive Director of SELF, "But this will help a large number, up to 80 households in one swoop, in one week."
The volunteers will paint, repair fences, drywall and do light carpentry work. They will also weatherize the homes.
Volunteers will spend one week sleeping and eating at Hamilton's Garfield Middle School. They'll put sleeping bags in the gym and eat in the cafeteria.
Churches help pay the way for the volunteers but about $20,000 will need to be raised locally for supplies.
"A lot of elderly, people with disabilities, low income people will really benefit for this project," said Diver. "These are the homeowners who are very low income who don't have the means to do a paint job to improve the exterior of their home.
People who live in Hamilton are excited about the project. "We never had that in Hamilton so that would be really nice to help us. We all need help. This community does," said Ruby Thompson.
For more information on how to get involved with this project, contact Kim Weigel at kweigel@selfhelps.org or Butch Hubble at kemjak@aol.com
