Valley Stream youth group betters a community

A group of teenagers from Valley Stream got their hands dirty last month, spending a week in Westchester to work with Habitat for Humanity.

Saving Grace, the youth group of Grace United Methodist Church for teens in grades 9-12, took a week-long trip to New Rochelle. The teens helped build a new house, refurbish a school classroom and beautify the streets.

Led by Matt Roth, the director of Youth Ministries, the group spent three days helping to complete a new home. Their responsibilities included hanging siding, painting and caulking. On High Street, they painted a guardrail at the dead end and planted flowers around it. At a new charter school, they painted a classroom and the did some renovations at the home of a pastor who has been supportive of Habitat for Humanity.

Roth said the Valley Stream group spent nearly a year planning for the trip. They earned money through various fundraisers for their housing fee and a donation to Habitat for Humanity. “There was a lot of planning involved,” Roth said. “Not only was it a week away, but it was a whole year of working toward a goal.”

For last year’s project, the group raised money for health kits for Haiti earthquake relief. This year, the teens wanted to do a service project where they could see the fruits of their labor.

“It ended up being a lot of fun,” Liz Mastro, 17, said of the trip to New Rochelle. She said she got to learn several new skills such as caulking and spackling.

Mastro, a student at South High School, brought the idea to the youth group and said it’s important to help others. She said she learned through the trip how important it is for people to have good, safe housing.

Sean Wraith, 16, a South High student, followed the lead of his older sister who worked with Habitat for Humanity two yeas ago. He noted that the home he and his fellow youth members helped build will be energy-efficient with thermal windows and solar heating.

Wraith added that he learned that Habitat for Humanity does more than just build homes. The organization strives to improve entire communities. He also likes that he was able to help people so close to home. “I definitely would love to do it again,” he said, “because it gave me such a good feeling.”

Justin Vespoli, 18, who just graduated from Valley Stream North High School, has learned a lot from his uncle who is a handyman and was happy to put his skills to use for a good cause. Wanting to be a contractor or an architect, Vespoli said it was also good training for the future.

“It was just a great experience all around,” he said, “just being able to help out and knowing you’re doing something good for the less fortunate.”

Vespoli noted that the youth group members got to work with teens from other states, as well. Julie DiSalvo, 16, a student at South High, said the experience made her appreciate what she has. She said she particularly enjoyed helping spruce up the community gardens in New Rochelle.

During their week-long trip, the teens also got to visit Re-Store, a warehouse in Mt. Vernon which sells furniture and building materials to the public, and also houses those items for Habitat’s projects.

The group stayed in close quarters at Habitat’s headquarters there. A typical day for them was 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with an hour for lunch. Other members who went were Ekow Eshun, David Towson and Alex Hartmann.

“It was just a good experience all around,” Roth said. “We all got our hands dirty and we certainly worked hard.”