07/17/03 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

VISTA Update Home Repair Project Exceeds Expectations By Jaysen Mell.qren, AmeriCorps*VlSTA Member Ihen I started my AmeriCorps*VISTA term at East Side Neighborhood Development Company (ESNDC) in November, I was under the impression that I would be coordinating a modest new volunteer home repair program. I thought we would try to repair approximately 50 homes this summer, with 200 volunteers slated to come tothe East St. Paul area for one week and participate in our program, while sleeping camp-style at a local high school. The home repair program is a partnership between ESNDC ind a faith-based organization called Group Workcamps. Group Workcamps finds churches that are excited to send volunteers to help in each location, and the host organization, in this case ESNDC, locates work sites and recruits local volunteers to make sure the camp week 9oes smoothly. In anticipation of the July work week, I'd began running a local publicity campaign in November, to give homeowners in East St. Paul an opportunity to submit applications for repairs involving painting or carpentry. It~ a good thin9 I started early, because by March our numbers of committed volunteers to come to our area had risen to 327! This meant t. hat I was required to find about 60 homes for this summer! By late March, I had received 58 applications for work sites. If we had to make do, we at least had enough to put all volunteers to work at a home site, and any further applications we received would go toward enabling us to eliminate any non-ideal sites. I was feeling pretty comfortable. Then I received an email; it was from our contact with Group Workcamps, who told me ~.hat 423 people were now expected to come to on the project! I wondered if maybe she had made a typo, but it turned out to be the right number. I was baffled. I was suddenly faced with the task of doubling our application count in a very short period of time. In the previous four months, we had received 50 applications, and now in less than a month we needed another 50. I decided to flyer like crazy. I got seven people from Northwestern College to help pass out about 350 flyer packets on the street for their volunteering day. I also enlisted the help of local schools to send the flyers home with the children. Fortunately, the response from the flyers was immediate. I received 112 applications, which were reviewed by 12 volunteer construction workers and ESNDC employees from April 24-26. The sites were reviewed according to required skill level, potential safety issues, and time required for the work requested. After the initial reviews, we got together and narrowed down the sites based on each project~ need and type of work. We are now in good shape for the program this summer! The 423 volunteers will be coming for one week, July 20-26, to do the work we've located through the publicity campaign and application process. If you can, try and stop by and see · the work these people are doing in East St. PaulJ It promises to be a great week! Jaysen Mellgren is a VISTA member at East Side Neighborhood Development Company. If you would like more information on the £$NDC home repair program, contact Jaysen at 65'1.771. 'l '152 ext..1 '1,5 orjmellgren~esndc.org, or stop by the office at 925 Payne Avenue, Suite 20.1 in St. Paul. Campers learn construction skills at a Group Workcamp site in Barter, MN. (photo courtesy of Group Workcamps, 2003) The Bullet 1 7