Recently, a team of North Dallas high school students spent a week in Slidell, Louisiana volunteering with the Epworth Project, a ministry that offers physical and emotional support to community members in need through the construction of homes. 

The trip was organized by Spring Valley United Methodist Church (SVUMC) and intended to provide aid to the Epworth Project and its ongoing effort to reconstruct houses and mobile homes that were damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and Hurricane Isaac in 2012.

Lead by a former Habitat for Humanity employee and a construction industry veteran, three teams of students worked to repair stairs, floors, drywall, wheelchair ramps and a fence. Linda West, a team leader and mother of trip participant Nick West, shared, "One thing this trip impressed upon me was the incredible work ethic these teens have. When there was a job to do, they didn’t stop or rest until the job was done.”

 In addition to restoring and fortifying homes, the teens beautified the surrounding neighborhood and campus of the church that hosted them for the week by mowing lawns and moving trash, resulting in a drastically transformed and revitalized community.

West added, "I had never been on a trip like this before. I was shocked by the conditions these homeowners had been living in but you truly get more out of things like this than you give the people you're serving. I think we were able to leave some hope in a community that we feel ultimately gave so much joy to us.”