Dauphin Rowda's voice broke with emotion as she described what a group of young people and their adult supervisors accomplished at her Ross home.

"It is unbelievable what they've done," she said of the work completed as part of the Stay At Home Mission Work Camp held June 28 through July 2.

The camp was sponsored by Christ Lutheran Church in Millvale, with volunteers also coming from Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church in Richland, Berkeley Hills Lutheran Church in Ross and Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Shaler.

"It's more than I asked for," said Mrs. Rowda, 69. "And the kids were all so wonderful, so polite. These kids are great."

The volunteers painted and made repairs that Ms. Rowda said she could not afford on her Social Security income.

A single mother of two for 40 years after her divorce, Mrs. Rowda lives alone and said she finds it hard to get affordable help. She got some this time.

"I contacted the North Hills Community Outreach after reading about [the work camp] in the church bulletin and asked for help with a high storm window I couldn't get closed. It blew in the wind, and I was afraid it would blow away," she said.

Three girls, two boys and three men, including Pastor Joel Benson of Trinity Lutheran, did much more.

In three days, they painted all of her window frames and did other painting, removed a small tree growing in her chimney, fixed gutter guards that had collapsed, power cleaned and sealed the deck and cut down an overgrown hedge.

"It's a blessing," she said. "Everything is so expensive."

Her home was one of the camp's eight scheduled projects, including the Millvale Volunteer Fire Department's second-floor meeting rooms.

Recipients of the help were chosen in collaboration with NHCO, which sent notices to newspapers, monthly magazines and church bulletins about help senior citizens could receive with painting and minor repairs.

Those interested were asked to contact the agency's Faith in Action Program, which passed the information to the Rev. George Mendis, pastor of Christ Lutheran Church.

Rev. Mendis said the youth group has gone to other states but decided last year to help people closer to home.

"We identified low-income and seniors to make their homes more secure and livable," he said.

Twenty-five young people and a dozen adults participated in this year's camp. Sunday school rooms were turned into separate dormitories for the boys and girls, and a trailer for showers, borrowed from Lutheran Disaster Response of Ohio, was parked outside.

The trailer bore the words "Renew Response Rejoice" in huge letters. A garden hose connection provided shower water, a propane tank furnished heat and an electrical connection was installed for light, he said.

Explaining how the camp was paid for, Rev. Mendis said, "We received a generous grant from St. John Lutheran Church, Perrysville. We had some money left over from last year's program, and the kids paid a $75 fee."

The work day began after 8:30 a.m. breakfast and ended at 4:30 p.m., followed by showers and dinner. Volunteers prepared the food and packed lunches each night for the following day.

Sylvia Lynn, from Berkeley Hills Lutheran Church, and Bill Geidel, from Christ Lutheran, supervised another group painting walls and scrubbing floors on the second floor of the Millvale Volunteer Fire Department.

Mrs. Lynn's husband, Jerry, a member of the Long Term Recovery Task Force for Allegheny County -- formed after Hurricane Ivan in 2004 -- also worked with the youths.

Mike Benn, 16, and Brandon Cerny, 17, both of Millvale and Billy Schmelzer, 15, of Shaler, helped paint a front porch and side stairs and cleaned out a swimming pool for a senior citizen in Ross before coming to the fire house to paint. Two paint-smudged girls, Allie Jaeger, 13, and Joslyn Charles, 11, helped paint the hallway and scrub floors there.

"It has been fun and it's helpful," Allie said. "I would do it again."

Fire Chief Jim Tunstall Jr., a former Millvale council member before moving to Shaler two years ago, expressed his appreciation.

"We assumed responsibility for the former [Millvale] Council Chambers after they built the new building next door. We had shared the space with the borough, and use it for meetings and training now. This is a great help. We never had a group come in and do something like this," he said.

A group also went to the Salvation Army on the North Side to help organize and stock its food bank, which is open four days a week. Other groups worked in Reserve, West View and the Natrona Heights section of Harrison.

Entertainment and other activities kept the teens busy after supper, including a Pirates game, singing, a mime, an appearance by sports figure Leo Wisniewski Jr. from White Field Foundation and a service project involving putting together fleece blankets for children affected by Hurricane Katrina and making cards for Light of Light Mission.

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