APPALACHIA – (March 20, 2023) Students from The University of Scranton, recently spent their spring break in Eastern Kentucky, making homes safe, warm, and dry for children, their families, and seniors in the region. Scranton students joined other college students from across the country who are participating in Christian Appalachian Project’s (CAP) annual WorkFest, an alternative spring break program that addresses substandard housing in Appalachia.
This year, all of the home repair projects for WorkFest in Knott County and Floyd County are families devastated by last summer’s flooding. They need assistance to make much-needed repairs. The floods, which hit 13 Kentucky counties, left devastation in its wake, and families are still struggling to recover eight months later.
“There are still a lot of families that haven’t been able to move back into their homes, or they are living in homes that are not really safe, warm, and dry. That’s our mission: to get them back in their homes,” said Bryan Byrd, assistant director of Home Repair for CAP. “We have several families still on the waiting list for repairs. We couldn’t make this kind of progress without these student volunteers and skilled volunteers who join CAP staff to provide supervision and training.”
CAP does a lot of Disaster Relief work but normally in areas where there isn’t an opportunity to follow up because of the distance from CAP’s primary service area, but this year provided a unique opportunity for CAP staff to help in the communities where they live and raise their own families.
“This is in our backyard, we’re glad that we get to help families that we have been with since right after the floods,” Byrd added. “We formed relationships with these families when we were doing muckouts and it’s a blessing to be able to help them finish the work that was started all of those months ago.”
Students who serve as a part of WorkFest help live out CAP’s mission of building hope, transforming lives, and sharing Christ’s love through service in Appalachia. Because of volunteers during WorkFest and throughout the year, CAP is able to serve more children, their families, and seniors in need.
“We were hoping our students would be present and listen to the families that we are helping,” said Melissa Eckenrode, who assisted with chaperoning the trip. “It means a lot that our students can help. The University of Scranton is all about the care of the whole person. I hope that our students are living that out for this Appalachian community.”
Eckenrode also felt saddened being in the home. “I felt the loss, not only of material things, but of family. It touched by heart a lot. It’s one thing to see pictures or to see stories on the news, but when you are present, it’s a different feeling. I hope our students look forward to coming again and continue to serve their own communities.”
The University of Scranton brought 9 students and staff to serve a week repairing homes and getting to know their participant families. Asbury students worked alongside students from Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky and Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey.
For more information about WorkFest and other service opportunities at CAP, visit christianapp.org.
