Office Of The Mayor
Thomas M. McMahon


PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

For More Information:
Ginny Hand , 610-655-6234

City of Reading Fire Department contributes extra safety feature to
overall improvements to 40 city homes during 2007 Group Workcamp Project

For immediate release//Reading, PA June 29, 2007: Along with having a more beautiful home after teen volunteers from the Group Workcamps Foundation make their improvements, residents in the city of Reading can sleep more soundly knowing they are safer with the installation of 80 smoke detectors provided by the Fire Department on Friday, June 29th. During this year’s Group Workcamp Project, the City of Reading Office of Neighborhood Development (OND) is working with the Group Workcamps Foundation to repair homes for elderly, low-income, and disabled residents of the city.

“We encourage every homeowner in the city to have working smoke detectors on every level of their home as well as one in each of the sleeping quarters for greatest effectiveness,” says Chief William Rehr of the Fire Department, “We know that currently many homes throughout Reading do not meet this standard, and we hope this will help.”

During their weeklong visit, over 50 homes will have improvements made to them. Besides the installation of new smoke detectors, among the work to be done are constructing of wheelchair ramps and porches, interior and exterior painting, weatherization, and other minor home repairs. Five young people with the supervision of at least one adult leader will do the work at each home.

The Group Workcamps program was operated by Neighborhood Housing Services in 2005 and 2006. However, this year, the City is providing the funding that will allow improvements to be made to the city homes through OND along with some support from the Group Workcamps Foundation. This is the first year that smoke detectors have been provided.
The Group Workcamps Foundation (GWF) exists as a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization to serve churches by providing mission trips that help children, youth and adults grow. The Foundation is located in Loveland, Colorado (Where the Group service missions program (Group Workcamps Project began).

Volunteers from the city of Reading are joining in the repair effort by participating in hospitality committees and sub-committees that will welcome and provide various treats for the teens. The campers will be provided lodging at Alvernia College throughout the duration of their visit.