West Central Minnesota Communities Action, Inc., (WCMCA) is partnering with Group Cares to bring a Group Cares Camp to the Glenwood area from July 13-19, 2014. As part of the camp, volunteers will paint and repair about 50 homes in the Glenwood area.
WCMCA is currently looking for households that are in need of repairs and a new paint job. Eligible households must live within 30 miles of the Minnewaska School in Glenwood. Both town and rural residents area eligible and selections will be based on the following criteria: 65+ years of age, U.S. veteran, disability, single parent or children in household, 200 percent of federal poverty guidelines (free or sliding fee scale) and workload. The income guidelines are as follows per household: one person – $22,980, two people – $31,020, three people – $39,060, four people – $47,100, five people – $55,140.
The resident must commit to having someone at the home during the time that the volunteers are there. They must have close proximity to the bathroom, electricity for tools and accessible drinking water. Both labor and materials will be free to qualifying households.
Typical projects include painting interior, painting exterior, wheelchair ramps, grab bars, smoke detectors, weather stripping, repairs to steps/porches, weatherization and general repair.
To apply, visit the website www.wcmca.org or contact Amanda Duenow at 1-800-492-4805 ext. 122. A selection committee will be comprised of local stakeholders, such as social services, public health, law enforcement, senior programming, etc.
Not only will senior high youth and adults from across the United States share their time and talent repairing and painting homes, they will also bring canned food items to the local food shelf in Glenwood (typically around 15,000 pounds of food). Hearts and Hands food shelf, located in Glenwood, will receive this camp’s food donations. Campers raise funds and, on average, contribute $424 to attend the camp. West Central Minnesota is one of the most requested areas to visit by the campers.
WCMCA has done Group Camp for the past 11 years and, on average, helped 50 homes per camp totaling about 500 projects with about 1,750 volunteers or 70,000 volunteer hours. Volunteers come from across the U.S.
The camp always serves a 30-mile radius and moves around to different cities in counties that WCMCA serves – Pope, Douglas, Grant, Stevens and Traverse.
WCMCA is a resource agency dedicated to “reducing the effects of poverty and helping people achieve self-sufficiency and improving the quality of rural life.”
For more information on WCMCA visit its web page at www.wcmca.org.