Workcamp for Lincoln set to arrive July 25th

 

[May 29, 2021] 

The week of July 25th through the 31st the visitor population in Logan County will increase substantially as hundreds of volunteer youth arrive to participate in Workcamp for Lincoln. The workcamp is a volunteer program where youth will be involved in performing many home repair/home improvement projects for those in need around the community.

At the May 11th meeting of the Lincoln City Council, Todd Henry shared information about the upcoming week with aldermen.

Henry offered an update on the evolution of the project since first bringing it to the city in 2019. He said that to bring the project to Lincoln and Logan County there were three things needed: funding, housing and sources.

Henry said that all three had been filled.

He said that the project budget at the beginning had been $35,000. He said that there had been a good response to requests for funding as well as a number of grants including those from Ameren Illinois, State Bank of Lincoln, Regions Bank, and Illinois American Water.

As a result, the project had raised in excess of $55,000.

Henry said that with the arrival of coronavirus, there were concerns about some of the original plans that the extra funding was now going to cover. He noted that construction material costs, particularly lumber,+ have increased tremendously as a result of the pandemic. The extra funding is going to be the blessing that keeps the project on track in spite of inflation.

Covid-19 has also impacted the housing situation for the young people. The original plan had been to house the volunteers at Lincoln Community High School with communal sleeping arrangements with several kids occupying each of the classrooms being provided.

Henry said because the communal sleeping arrangements are not ideal at this time, other arrangements had to be made. He said that the plan now is to have the youth housed in the dormitories at Lincoln Christian University. He said that moving the housing to the dorms was going to increase costs. Again, the extra funding was going to make that possible.

While the project is labeled as Workcamp for Lincoln, Henry said that there will be projects in several communities.

Working with the Community Action Partnership of Central Illinois, there are 40 homes that will receive attention, with several of them having more than one or two problems that need to be addressed.

Henry said that projects include building wheelchair ramps, painting, guttering, soffits, repairing porches, adding skirting to mobile homes, and much more.

Henry said that he was not asking for anything additional from the city, but that he just wanted to update the council and take a step toward raising awareness that the program is moving forward and coming to town.

He said that by mid-June there will be signage around the community letting residents know and the youth will be guests of the city.

Ron Fleshman asked if the program was still taking applications for projects. Henry said they were not. He explained that there is work that has to be done ahead of time. CAPCIL has done the work of verifying home ownership. There are also assessments that need to be made for each project, making sure that work is needed and that all the work needed per home is listed. He said he had at that time made site visits to 11 of the project properties and there would be more site visits between now and the end of July.

Henry concluded that he was excited to be bringing Workcamp for Lincoln to his hometown. He personally has been a volunteer with the program for 27 years, and this is the first time he has been able to see the good works of the youth done in his own community.

He said that over the years, some of the best experiences for himself and the students was the welcoming attitude of the communities. He said it was good for him, good for the kids to have people shake their hands, thank them for their service, or even just acknowledge their presence.

The community is encouraged to welcome these young people, and if you meet any of the participants, please make them feel at home while they are here.

[Nila Smith]