Willowdale DIY Camp works!

Article by Beth Dodson

“It was one o’clock in the morning and I’m going around looking for my pots to put under it [the leaks], and it didn’t even drip. They didn’t even have the shingles on yet and it didn’t drip.”  

Susan, a single mother of two kids, had been living with a leaking roof for over a year. The water damage was so bad, a 2x2 ft. section of plywood had completed rotted away, leaving a gaping hole in her floor and one of her bathrooms unusable. In between raising her children, caring for her sick mother, and running the errands of everyday life, she was placing pots and pans under her leaks. “I see dark clouds coming in and I already put my pots out because I know by the time I get home, I’m gonna have leaks.” 

All of that changed when a group of Good Neighbors volunteers stripped the roof and installed an ice and water shield on Susan’s home. A few days later, teenagers from Willowdale Chapel’s combined Kennett Square and Jennersville campuses climbed up on her roof and laid the shingles. Susan’s roof, as well as her sense of hope, was restored. 

“Thank you, for everything you’ve done for us. I wouldn’t have been able to afford it,” Susan told a Good Neighbors worker.  

As part of a three-day summer camp, Willowdale partnered with Good Neighbors to provide critical home repairs for three families in Southern Chester County. Under the hot summer sun, 21 teenagers and 6 adult volunteers joyfully threw off the old and put on the new, restoring hope to three families at no cost to them.  

In addition to shingling Susan’s roof, the teens completely stripped and replaced homeowner Mae’s roof. A former bus driver, Mae is now unable to work due to health issues. Homeowners Pat and Daniel warmly welcomed Good Neighbors to their home. Pat had been hospitalized for serious health concerns and now needed a ramp to safely access her home. Willowdale teens tore down and rebuilt their deck with a brand new ramp. “You don’t realize what you’re gonna get out of it [camp] before you start,” one teen commented while on site at Pat and Daniel’s home. “Once it’s done and you see how much it affects the homeowner and how much fun it is, then you realize what you’ve gotten out of it.”  

Good Neighbors Board Member, Alice Agostinelli, spearheaded Willowdale’s DIY Summer Camp. “I don’t think people realize how much you can accomplish in just three days,” she said. “The kids worked really hard, and they loved it.” Alice is already eagerly awaiting next year’s camp and hopes to assist other churches interested in hosting their own DIY camps.  

Thanks to the hard work of the adult and teen volunteers at Willowdale, and the Lord’s provision, Susan and her kids, Mae, and Pat and Daniel will live in warmer, safer, drier, and healthier homes for years to come.