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"Majesty" By Caedmon's Call
  In our area we tend to overlook the elderly,
handicapped and needy.
We help in some areas, but all to often we forget that sometimes we
don't look at the
whole picture. A lot of these people, along with bad
health, are lonely and just feel lost and forgotten. We look to
food
and health care as answers to helping these people, and that helps
us feel that we are doing everything that
we can to help. Feeling
lonely and forgotten can do more to bring a person down than a lot
of illnesses.
Richmond
Metro Workcamp makes house calls. We send a crew of
hope and sharing into a house. For one week each summer we take
paint brushes and spread sunshine and love; we hammer, scrape
and chip away at walls that seem to trap a person into
a dim, dismal
and to often bitter lifestyle. Our crews of youth volunteers lift and
rescue these people. We go
to these homes and paint walls inside
and out, fix floors, porches, patch cracks and do as many repairs
in the
time we have as possible. We have added wheelchair ramps,
and new locks that added to one lady's feeling of security.
We spend
time talking with the people and the youth do daily devotions,
inviting the residents to feel part of
the group. This show of
affection and unselfish giving lifts the spirits and hope of the people,
improving
their overall outlook on life. We have also seen how our
show of pride can inspire other youth, children and adults in
the
area to see the benefits of caring.
Our leadership is made up of volunteer adults from eight local
churches, who work year round doing programs to draw youth
into the program, go to local social service organizations
to
secure the residents, assess homes and train youth to accomplish
the many task at workcamp. We recieve referrals
from social
service and handicapped agencies, country and city agencies and
mental health programs. We have the
support of the Richmond
City Council, Henrico Board of Supervisors and Hanover County
Board of Supervisors.
We have seen the need for such camps to teach our youth the
value of helping one another without seeking rewards here
on
earth. This will be our 18th camp. during this time we have had
over 30 churches and at least 6 denominations,helped 202
residents in our communities. We have had 1,033
youth and 291 adults attend and have the workcamp experience.
How have we impacted the area? We have helped brighten
their lives, built wheelchair ramps so that people could get
out
of their homes, fixed bathroom and kitchen floors so that they
were usable again, and just cared when no one
else seemed
to, we brought life back to dark and dimly lit homes and pride
to their owners.
If you would like to have someone from RMW contact you about us doing a program for
your group, please contact us at:
programs@richmondmetroworkcamp.ipower.com
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