CrossRoads Church at Westfield will bring 300 high school students to Westfield in June 2023 for a week to provide free home repairs for 30 to 40 families in need in Hamilton County. This program is being offered in partnership with Group Mission Trips, a youth mission organization based in Ft. Collins, Colo.
CrossRoads is currently seeking applications for home repairs. This program is geared primarily toward older adults, veterans, and any low-income families who live in the community and own their own homes.
Applications are due by March 1, 2023 and can be obtained at this link. Building or repairing wheelchair ramps, constructing decks, doing mobile home skirting, and exterior and interior painting are being offered.
Once you apply, people from CrossRoads Church at Westfield will assess the needed repairs and determine if they have the skills and people power to meet the need. Not all who apply will be guaranteed repairs because students many not have the skills to properly repair the home.
“We want to help people stay in their homes for as long as possible,” said Eric Lohe, who is the lead pastor of CrossRoads Church at Westfield. “During the week of June 19 to 23, 2023, a total of 300 high school students from across the country and their adult leaders will come to the Westfield community, live at Westfield Middle School, and go out in smaller groups of six people to serve in Westfield and the surrounding communities. They will serve at 30 to 40 home sites where each of those small groups will spend a week doing repairs for the people and families.”
During one week in the summer of 2021, the students and adults repaired 26 homes in northern Hamilton County.
“Group Mission Trips serves in 25 communities in the United States each summer and does week-long youth mission home repair camps,” Lohe explained. “I have been attending these camps since 2005 working as staff and a volunteer. Our church has sent a number of students and adults to these work camps. In Group Mission Trips’ 32 years, they have repaired over 56,000 homes.”
Lohe continued, “This effort is one of four church initiatives called, ‘For Our Neighbor.’ We are trying to meet, know, enjoy, and serve our local neighbors. Our next community event is our annual Pizza and Punchlines, a free family friendly comedy event held at 6 p.m. on Feb. 18, 2023, for pizza with the show at 7 p.m. at Westfield High School.”
CrossRoads wants both to be good neighbors and also engage others in helping neighbors in the community.
“In addition to seeking applications for repair sites, we are also seeking businesses or service organizations to serve with us,” Lohe said. “Can you cook up some hot dogs and have them available when the kids come back from sites? Or take out popsicles or water to a couple of work sites during the week to say, ‘Thank you. We’re glad you are here and thanks for what you are doing’? It is not just about us as a church trying to do something for our neighbor, it’s also about engaging people in our community to be the best neighbors we can be. We have been blessed to have the support to aid in material costs by the Central Indiana Community Foundation and the Westfield-Washington Schools for hosting our students for the week.”
If you would like to serve with CrossRoads, email forourneighborinfo@gmail.com or call Lohe at (317) 402-6574.
Go to ForOurNeighbor.Life for more information on all of the Westfield CrossRoads Church “For Our Neighbor” community outreach programs.
Photos provided by CrossRoads Church at Westfield