Elderly couple William and Lou Zemken found it difficult to keep up with some of the repairs needed in their home.
William recently suffered a heart attack and Lou uses a wheelchair to stay mobile.
Projects were beginning to stack up, especially a needed repair to the wheelchair ramp that gives Lou access to and from the couple’s home. William built it many years ago, and it started to deteriorate and become a safety issue.
Help for the Zemkens came in the form of a referral to Carolina Cross Connection, a Christian outreach ministry located throughout Western Carolina, and headquartered in Concord.
The regional organization was founded in the summer of 1988, in Lincolnton. A group of youth and adults from the United Methodist Church had been going to Tennessee, to a ministry called Mountain Top, to do community service in the summers.
“They kept hearing the message take this back home with you, and do the same in your own communities,” Adam Cline, executive director, said.
So they started a similar outreach ministry in North Carolina.
What started in Lincolnton has grown to five different locations, and camps, that do home repairs in about 20 counties. They offer their services to the unemployed, disabled, elderly or single parents.
“We work with community agencies to get referrals,” Krista Petty, development administrator, said. “We have definitely seen a difference with the economy. Home repair is something that gets put on the shelf when you are living on a limited income.“
CCC spends the year collecting projects that the campers will work on during the summer camp sessions.
The mission, according to Cline, is to restore hope to these families.
The very first camp that CCC held was started in 2000 at Pfeiffer University.
This year, the organization is expecting to register about 1,400 campers for the summer.
Based at the camps, they move out into the community to work on projects that range from wheelchair ramps to gutters, painting and landscaping.
The youth and adults stay at the camp for a week. Organized into groups of six to seven, they will work for four families on several projects ranging from one to three days.
“Everything we start, we finish,” Petty said.
They have a construction contractor who trains the college students that staff the camp, according to Petty.
“What we also want to emphasize is time with those families. Interacting with them, getting to know them, listening to their stories, and meeting lots of other needs — praying together with them, because we don’t want them to see it as a project.“
Cline hopes it will be more than a project to the campers, and tend to some of the emotional needs of the families.
“The longer I’ve done this, the more important that feels,” Cline said.
Last summer the group had 1,290 campers registered.
Fees paid by the campers helps finance the materials needed for the home repairs.
Even the staff chips in financially.
“They raise money towards their salary, about 60 percent, and some of their living expenses. We call those staff partnerships,” Cline said.
Additional funds and materials that may be needed are raised in the community that is being served.
“If we are building projects in Cabarrus we want to talk to the businesses and people in Cabarrus and say, ‘we need your help,’” Cline said.
The Zemkens are grateful not just for the work the group has done to their home, but the fellowship the volunteers provided.
“First they made us feel real good,” William said. “A young lady from Virginia. She was exceptional. They were very professional, and did a much better job out there than I had. Mine (wheelchair ramp) was about to cave in.“
“They were nice and polite. A good bunch of kids,” Lou said.
“It’s a blessing. They gave me more dignity,” William said.
For more information or to register for the camps go to www.carolinacrossconnection.org, e-mail ccc@carolinacrossconnection.org or call 704-721-0033.
Contact reporter Robin L. Gardner: 704-789-9140.
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