Teens Work in Chattanooga as "World Changers"

Having a house can feel hopeless when there are endless repairs presenting themselves everyday. But just imagine you cannot afford the changes or you physically can't do the work. That's where a group of energetic teenagers comes in. NewsChannel 9's Erica Green has the story of the World Changers coming to Chattanooga.

Nearly 25 thousand teenagers across the country are trading in their comfy mattresses and other luxuries from their homes for sleeping bags and box lunches. 500 students from the North American Mission Board are staying at churches in Chattanooga to help out people who can't help themselves.

" Well we're sleeping on the floor. I'm not used to that. I'm used to my bed but it's all good on air mattresses," said Jessica McClintock a volunteer from Arkansas.

" They're people that take off from whatever they normally do and take vacation days to come and work the the kids that do this. The kids are students. High school, college students that do this work. Some of them have no construction experience at all," said Bob Rann, an organizer.

But that lack of experience doesn't damper their spirits. These energetic teens say they're ready to get to work. They're making changes for people who can't afford to make them or can't physically do the work.

" This lady has a deck and we're going to redo it and the steps to the deck are about to fall. So we're going to redo that and she's got a lot of shrubbery that we're gonna cut," said McClintock.

" It'll feel really good. I'll feel really accomplished and it just feels really good to work with our crew and get it done together," said Tori Mathis, a volunteer from North Carolina.

" A lot of faith and confidence in them to see that they have this kind of core values willing to be involved in a project like this," said Rann.

The volunteers will also be serving meals in homeless shelters, working at senior centers and leading sports camps. The students paid their own expenses to stay at Brainard Baptist church who is also providing breakfast and dinner. Other local churches are providing lunches. The city donated building materials for the work.