During the 2016 summer Sierra Service Project (SSP) will bring their successful home repair program to the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. SSP is a faith-based nonprofit that has been building faith and strengthening communities through service to others for 40 years. From June 26 to August 6, they will host over 300 volunteers who will serve the community in one-week increments.
Sierra Service Project is proud to say that they complete complex and high-impact projects like wheelchair ramps, stairs, and interior/exterior painting with almost entirely teen volunteers.
Megan Walsh, SSP’s Director of Programs, worked side by side with these youth volunteers for five summers before being hired full time into the nonprofit’s headquarters. She explains that she “was and is continuously impressed with the quality of work completed by our youth volunteers. By the end of their week of service, they are just as impressed, and often surprised, by just what kind of impact they can make.” Most volunteers come with church youth groups, though individual youth are also encouraged to participate.
By the end of their week of service, they are just as impressed, and often surprised, by just what kind of impact they can make.
SSP has been invited to work with the Spokane Tribe by Timothy Horan, the Executive Director of the Spokane Indian Housing Authority. He has worked with SSP previously with the Round Valley Indian Tribes and the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians, both of which are Native American communities in Northern California. Horan says that he knows “firsthand the high-quality of work that SSP does with communities and the long-term impact that their work has.”
One of the goals of expanding into Washington is to increase accessibility for youth groups from the Pacific Northwest. Rev. Alissa Bertsch Johnson was on SSP’s Board of Directors for six years and made the initial site visit to the new location. She says that, “this site will broaden the geographical scope of our mission and hopefully encourage more participation by groups in Oregon, Washington, Montana, and Idaho.”
In addition to this new site, SSP will host 1,600 volunteers at five other project locations throughout Oregon, California, and Arizona. SSP works to create long-term relationships with the communities they serve, and are excited to pilot the Spokane program this summer with the intent of establishing another enduring relationship.
Tim Horan, Executive Director of the Spokane Indian Housing Authority, invites youth to serve in Spokane next summer!
See what the Spokane site will have to offer and register your group.