Mendham-Area Teens Help Repair Homes On St. Joseph Church Mission Trip

MENDHAM, NJ — Home and roof repair, building decks, and replacing flooring was all in a day's work for a group of 33 local students who recently returned from a Mendham church's annual mission trip to Appalachia.

A team of 15 chaperones accompanied the teens on their week-long service trip to Paintsville, a town of about 4,200 people in Johnson County, Kentucky. This is the 16th annual Teen Appalachia Mission Trip organized by St. Joseph Catholic Church in Mendham, volunteer Lynne Connor told Patch.

The Mendham mission team worked with a local non-profit called Good Neighbors, Inc., which serves the working poor in Johnson County. Families can reach out to Good Neighbors for help making needed repairs to their homes, or building additions.

From June 16 through June 22, the group from St. Joseph's worked on roof and foundation repair, siding, building decks, drywalling, and replacing flooring. And, the New Jersey crew got to spend time with the families whose homes they were working on, sharing stories and building bonds.

This experience is life-changing for both the families and volunteers, team members said.

“This trip allows our teens to foster relationships and grow in our God-given mission to care for our sisters and brothers in need," said St. Joseph Youth Director Mark Tosso in a statement. “The mission develops community within our parish and connects us all to new friends and wonderful families in Kentucky.”

The families that the team served do not receive any government assistance, as Connor explained.

"Those that receive help are required to undergo financial training to teach them to budget and save and they often turn around and help others in their community," she noted.

Abby Cirillo, a senior at Oak Knoll, said the mission trip “has opened doors to new friends, experiences, and life lessons."

“Hearing the families' stories helped us realize what’s truly important in life and what a difference we are making for them," she said. "We are so thankful for the support from our parish and community to give us this transformative opportunity.”

Daun Forester, another parent volunteer from Chester, said the teens "rose to the challenge" of meeting and serving people in a world that is "quite different from the one they had grown accustomed to."

"Yet, with a smile on their faces and the love of Christ in their hearts they ministered to several families who needed both help and hope," Forester reflected. "I will never forget is how the teens engaged with the families to learn about (their) lives, their challenges and their culture. What they did, they did out of love and not out of obligation.”