Kathy Moore hates to think about what might have happened if her bathroom floor or porch roof hadn't been fixed.
"I was afraid to go out there because I was afraid it would fall on me," she said of the roof. "It was bad."
This week, a crew of 70 people from Saint Scholastica Catholic Church, other Catholic parishes and churches of other denominations from Pittsburgh visited the Elkview, Clendenin, Big Chimney and Charleston areas to make much-needed repairs to homes like Moore's. The group consisted of 50 high school-aged students and 20 adult supervisors.
As Christians, their mission is to strengthen their own relationships with Christ through service to others, said youth minister Jamie Dillon. One way of doing that is "by being his hands, his feet and his heart," said Dillon.
"You come out and you work without complaint, and you serve and spread the gospel with your hands," she added.
This is the parish's 14th Appalachia Mission Trip. It's always held on the last week of June, and it's always in West Virginia.
St. Scholastica works with Our Lady of the Hills Catholic Church in Pinch, which shelters the crew while they're in town and organizes applications throughout the year for homes in need of repairs.
"They look at the applications and base them on what we have skills and money to do," Dillon said. "We build a lot. We build a lot of decks and wheelchair ramps and steps. With a lot of trailers being on a hill, some will have front steps but not have back steps."
They also paint, do some plumbing, roof work, yard work and cleanup.
Each day of work begins around 8:30 a.m. and ends around 4 p.m. Then they go back to Our Lady of the Hills for dinner, fellowship, worship and rest.
"We sing a lot," Dillon said. "They're a very singing bunch. They love it. Each group will share about what they did that day."
Moore has lived in her mobile home on Indian Creek Road for three years.
There was a leak in her bathroom that created a dip in parts of the floor near her sink. It was ready to fall through at any time, so, for her own safety, she avoided stepping in the area. Also ready to fall through was the roof over her front porch. The fixes weren't in her budget, so she applied for free help from the St. Scholastica mission team. As of this week, her safety at home is no longer a worry.
"They're really hard workers," Moore said of the crew. "They really are a blessing. I'm proud to see that kids are doing that."
The crews typically do a little extra, so they cleaned up and repaired her back deck, too.
Tim Marsh, 17, had his hands on the projects at Moore's home. This was his fourth Appalachia Mission Trip.
The experience for him - about 230 miles from home - is a chance to make a difference each summer.
"For me, it's a great experience to go outside of our comfort zones, because we're all from Pittsburgh, so it's great to live our faith, as Jamie always says," Marsh said. "We get to come down, help people out, get to hear some stories that we might not get to hear every day, and we love talking to all the people and helping them out."
Marsh and the other students raise money year-round for the weeklong trip. It costs about $300 for each to go, Dillon said, and she won't let them buy-in.
"They can't come to me with the $300 because I'll say no," she said. "What happens is you create a sense of ownership. They're here because they want to be here. It puts the kids out in front of the church because a lot of times the kids are in the background. The whole parish is excited about the kids coming down."
Students like Marsh and Casey Dillon, 18, have been coming for multiple years.
They have a sense of purpose with their summer mission trips. It's something they look forward to and an opportunity to contribute in a positive light. And it's something they want to do.
"It's just like, this is what we're doing," said Casey Dillon, who has come all 14 years with her mother, Jamie. "It's not like, 'Oh, we have to do this. Oh we should help.' But it's like, 'Oh, that person needs help. We have to help them.' "
The rewarding part comes when the work is completed. The students see the things they've built and worked on, and they see how it affects others.
"I think it's rewarding to see not only the work that we do but the people's reactions, and seeing how even the smallest things, like building a set of stairs or a porch, can really make someone significantly happier and improve their quality of life," Marsh said. "Seeing their reaction and their appreciation for it is really special."
The newest members of the crew pick up a few handy trade skills during the trip, too.
They are taught mostly on the site from the adults and more-experienced students. The church works on similar home repair projects throughout the year from organizations like Habitat for Humanity in Pittsburgh before the summer mission trip in West Virginia.
"We do work in Pittsburgh all year round, but there's so much value in taking them outside of their comfort zones because they're away from their friends and from soccer practice and TV. There's just this huge sense of fellowship," Jamie Dillon said.
Kristen Friday, 16, and Nicole Garcia-Tunon, 15, did the program for the first time this week.
After demolishing the porch roof and parts of the deck Monday, they both agreed the trip takes hard work. The focal point became teamwork and fun.
"We really have to rely on each other," Friday said. "To get the job done, we all have to work together."
After the work day ends, that's when bonding begins.
"It's super fun," Caroline Smith, 17, said. "Back at the church, all of our air mattresses are super, super tight together and we're just like all sleeping on top of each other and we stay up kinda late and talk."
The trip fills everyone with a different sense of purpose, whether it's building relationships, building faith, building character or building a physical structure.
"I read a book that talked about how the world doesn't expect anything from teenagers. They expect them to be bad and lazy, and so that's what teenagers become. But if you raise the bar and you expect more from them, then they will meet that expectation," Jamie Dillon said. "That's what we do here. We empower them to raise the bar and show what they can do."
Reach Anna Taylor at anna.taylor@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4881 or follow @byannataylor on Twitter.