Sister Althea Anne Spencer, a member of the Sisters of St. Francis of the Providence of God in Whitehall, doesn't wear a habit, but she wears many hats.

She is a vocation and formation minister. She does parish social ministry. She is a certified massage therapist and she is studying to be a spiritual director.

But for one week each year, from July 15 to 22, she plays the role of Sister Fix-it, doing carpentry, painting and general repairs on homes of impoverished families in David, Ky., a poor, rural Appalachian community of about 500 people about 100 miles southeast of Lexington, Ky.

Sister Althea, of Whitehall, and Sister Kathy Adamski, pre-entrance coordinator for the Sisters of St. Francis of Millvale, will be among nine local women making the mission trip as part of a program called Franciscans in Action. It is sponsored by the Bachmann-Neumann Franciscan Congregations, which includes religious communities in Whitehall, Millvale, Philadelphia and New York.

Like other summer mission programs sponsored by many religious dominations, this program focuses on trying to help improve the lives of poverty-stricken people.

Franciscans in Action is open to women over 18, whether married, single or members of a religious order. It provides them with an opportunity to live and work together, while deepening their spirituality.

"We live and pray and work and they get to understand the Franciscan way of life," said Sister Kathy, adding that two of the women from Pittsburgh are planning to enter the Millvale convent in August.

She said the mission trips were not only for women who are interested in vocations, but also for married and single women who want to spend a week working, praying and reflecting.

"A woman who is married, who is an associate in our community, is taking a week's vacation to go on the trip," Sister Kathy said.

Sister Althea said this was her fourth year of doing work in David, which is about 345 miles from Pittsburgh.

She said the group worked on houses that had been damaged by fire or flood, or were owned by people who were disabled.

It can be hot doing manual work in Kentucky in July, Sister Althea said.

"One year when we were working, it was 98 degrees and 97 percent humidity."

This year, she said, the women will stay in a guest house of a Benedictine monastery in Martin, Ky. She said the theme for each day was "based on our Franciscan heritage."

"We start the day with a prayer of service. ... After work, we have quiet reflection to think about what happened that day. After dinner, we have a little faith sharing," she said.

Fay Krapp, of Bethel Park, went on the mission trip to Kentucky in 2004. She was 59 and was concerned about whether she could keep up, especially with the baking summer heat in Kentucky.

"It was wonderful," she said. After receiving minimal instruction, she and another volunteer ended up putting siding on a house.

"With God's help and a lot of prayers, it went well," Mrs. Krapp said.

Judith DiPerna, 62, of the North Side, is one of the nine women who will make the trip. She signed on after seeing a notice in the Pittsburgh Catholic.

Ms. DiPerna, a clinical therapist by day and a house manager at City Theatre, hopes she has some skills that will be useful.

"I can hang a picture and I am fairly good in a crisis because of the kind of work I do.

"And I can make people laugh if there is a stressful situation. I am great at cooking, love to clean and I can play the piano and church organ," said Ms. DiPerna, who grew up in Brackenridge, where "my role models were always the sisters."

"I had the sisters of St. Joseph [as teachers] and I loved them all," she said.