Local Teen Travels To Help Repair Homes In Tennessee

By CRAIG HIGGINS

The Progress

A local youth recently participated in a vital out-of-state service project with the organization: Humanitarian XP (HXP). Based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, HXP provides an avenue where teens can travel to assist in constructing and repairing needy people’s houses both in the United States and abroad.

Local teen Elise Dalley, who is also a contributor to The Progress, learned about this program and decided to take time out of her summer break to help in building and restoring homes in the distressed Appalachian region of the U.S..
“(HXP) was originally associated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints but the group now gets funding from donations and volunteer fees,” Dalley said

In Dalley’s project, volunteers worked in Johnson City, Tennessee, not far from Nashville. Ten teens signed up including Dalley. But there had to be at least two additional adults on site for this project, or the trip could not be held. So Dalley’s mother, Kristi, volunteered to go along as well.
“They (HXP) called my mom and said they needed a parent leader,” Dalley said. “So she decided to go along.”

The HXP also included a few restrictions on the youth. One convenience the teens had to forego during the trip was the use of their electronic devices.
“It was sad because we couldn’t use our phones for taking pictures and getting directions and stuff like that,” Dalley said. “But it was also kind of nice to take a step back from technology for a few days.”

When the time came, the group convened in Johnson City. They bunked at the local East Tennessee State University.

Their youth ranks were supported by a pair of experienced volunteers from Appalachia Service Project (ASP). According to its website, ASP is an organization which does “critical repairs to raise homes out of substandard conditions” for families in the region.

ASP provided the materials along with on-site expertise in construction and renovation, Dalley said.
Once on site at a house, volunteers were divided up and given separate tasks.
“Some did roofing work,” Dalley said. “I was doing a porch job, fixing a porch. It was really awesome.”
The Appalachian project had an added bonus. “It was one of the few sites that allowed power tools,” Dalley said.

The group put in all-day shifts Monday through Friday. By the time it was over, the youth had developed a great degree of fellowship.
“It felt like we were one big family by the end,” Dalley said.

She also described the feeling of helping others who were in difficult circumstances. “I felt like I was making a difference in somebody’s life,” Dalley said. “People were nice and really great to know.”

But it wasn’t all just work. The trip did afford some time for fun. Given downtime in Nashville, the volunteers took advantage of some of the famed sights and experiences that Music City has to offer. The teens visited the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Zoo.

Dalley said that she plans taking on more future service projects.
“Next year, I really want to get out of the US,” she said.