Catholic Diocese's WorkCamp Program Attracts 600 Teen Volunteers

VIRGINIA — More than 600 teenagers in Northern Virginia and the Fredericksburg area are volunteering their time to repair homes and complete various service projects in their Catholic parish communities.

Within the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, 35 parishes are supporting the effort to undertake more than 100 community repair projects as part of the diocese’s annual WorkCamp, a week-long program that offers young people an opportunity to serve while building friendships and discovering the value of volunteerism.

This year’s WorkCamp began Saturday, June 19, with teambuilding exercises and safety training, and goes through the evening of Thursday, June 24.

The Catholic Diocese of Arlington’s Office of Youth, Campus and Young Adult Ministries has sponsored this week-long summer service program since 1990.

“Each year, hundreds of young people in our diocese take time out of their summer vacations to serve their neighbors in need — for this I am extraordinarily proud, as I am also for the adult staff and volunteers who facilitate this great work,” Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, Catholic Diocese of Arlington said in a statement.

“After a particularly difficult year in which many repairs had to be put on hold, the need is especially great,” he added.

WorkCamp projects include installing wheelchair ramps, painting projects, repairing home doors, decks, railings, and fences, and preparing meals for those in need. WorkCamp groups will begin their day with mass at their local parish and enjoy music, games, prayer, talks and other social activities each evening.

Among the projects in 2021 are repairs to a home in Arlington that suffered damage from a 2019 flood. The teenagers are making door, porch, deck and fence repairs at the woman's house. In neighboring Falls Church, WorkCamp participants are repairing an unsafe deck.

In Dale City and Woodbridge, two homes are being repaired. The house in Dale City is getting a new deck to replace one that was unsafe and falling down. The teen participants are also putting in a new concrete walkway at the house.

At the Woodbridge home, WorkCamp volunteers are replacing gutters and adding supports to a carport.

In the Fredericksburg area, the teen volunteers are working on a number of home projects, including adding an indoor ramp to the entryway of a home, doing deck work, installing railings, making wall repairs, and adding outdoor ADA compliant handicap ramps.

Each year, Bishop Burbidge visits the WorkCamp sites and spends time with the teen volunteers.

“We have seen both teens and communities transformed,” said Ed Gloninger, WorkCamp coordinator, Office of Youth, Campus, and Young Adult Ministries for the Catholic Diocese of Arlington.

The diocese does not charge people who are the recipients of the teenagers' services. All supplies, building materials, and building permits are provided by the WorkCamp program. Crews arrive at residences with the necessary tools, food, water, and everything they need to complete the projects. A safety training is completed the first weekend of WorkCamp.

The Catholic Diocese of Arlington is home to 70 parishes and more than 460,000 Catholics. There are currently 276 priests serving in the diocese. The diocese includes the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Fredericksburg, Manassas, Manassas Park and Winchester and the counties of Arlington, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier, Frederick, King George, Lancaster, Loudoun, Madison, Northumberland, Orange, Page, Prince William, Rappahannock, Richmond, Shenandoah, Spotsylvania, Stafford, Warren and Westmoreland.

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