JUSTIN COOK The Roanoke Times

Ashley Bowman, 7, her father, Jimmy, and brother Daniel, 9, wait in the shade as renovations are performed on the bridge leading to their property. "Everyone was scared to come across it [the bridge]. Even the rescue squad wouldn't come over," said Bowman, who helped cut boards and allowed the volunteers to use his blow torch.

A youth mission based in Christiansburg is on track to repair its 100th house this summer, and its volunteers hope to do even more.

Summer Project Youth, or SPY, is a five-year-old youth mission and leadership program based at Fieldstone United Methodist Church. Campers come from churches all over the East Coast to devote a week to repairing and improving the houses of elderly, low-income and disabled residents of the New River Valley. Repairs include work such as reshingling roofs and building wheelchair ramps.

The program itself lasts seven weeks during the summer, with campers from out of the area volunteering their efforts a week at a time, working alongside the Christiansburg group.

SPY's volunteer efforts are funded completely by donations from area groups and businesses.

The New River Valley Agency on Aging and Blue Ridge Independent Living Center in Roanoke collaborate by providing resources to SPY's labor force. Whenever the agencies' staff learn of an elderly person that SPY may be able to assist, the information is passed to Tim Dayton and Tara Milligan, directors of SPY. Dayton and Milligan assess the manpower and materials needed for the task and schedule the project. Usually, 25 projects are done in the summer.

"The need is there, we're just trying to supply that need with volunteers that can help them out," Dayton said.

The group's focus is making homes safer, warmer and drier.

"The experience of SPY is so much more than just volunteering. It's making a relationship with campers and people you're helping," said Harrison Weinhold, a rising sophomore at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg and summer intern for SPY

Weinhold got involved with SPY three years ago when Beverley Hills Community United Methodist Church, his regular church in Alexandria, came to the New River Valley to participate in the camp.

Though he keeps coming back for more, Weinhold said participating in the camp is no easy task.

The volunteers sleep, eat and bathe at Fieldstone. The church building, converted from an old furniture warehouse, becomes the home for about 50 campers every week.

The typical day involves a wake-up call about 6:30 a.m. with breakfast shortly thereafter, an hour of preparation and gathering tools, with the group breaking off to various work sites by 8:30 a.m. With lunch and dinner breaks between labor, Weinhold said the group's members can usually count on a 12-hour day.

This summer's biggest project focuses on making a home safer.

Earlier this year, a Pulaski County woman had a heart attack. When the ambulance arrived at her home on Brookmont Road, the driver had to stop. The wooden bridge he would have to drive across had many rotting and missing beams, so he refused to cross the bridge, said Barbara Petty, the woman's daughter.

A smaller ambulance was dispatched that could cross the bridge, she said.

Petty said the incident shook her to the core. In the past year she said she had lost two brothers, three aunts and a brother-in-law. The week after the bridge incident, her mother died from breast cancer.

With an ailing 80-year-old father still in the home, Petty wanted to ensure that he would receive swift medical care if needed.

"It's nerve-wracking watching your parents, knowing they need help," Petty said.

She said she contacted resources on the local, state and national levels, looking for help. But because the bridge was built on an old railroad right of way, neither Pulaski County nor the Virginia Department of Transportation had any obligation to make repairs, she said.

After hitting a dead-end for months, Petty's luck turned around.

The Agency on Aging provides meals to her father. While talking with one of its workers, the subject of the bridge came up. The conversation led to the answer for Petty.

The agency has been in touch with the Blue Ridge Independent Living Center and SPY, procuring money and volunteers to repair the bridge. The agencies were able to allot $1,300 to purchase lumber, while Beverley Hills Community UMC youth made their annual trip from Alexandria to assist in the repair.

After months of communication and planning, SPY began making repairs on the bridge July 14. The volunteers are having to learn on the go, with adults experienced in construction overseeing and teaching the young workers.

Mattie Darr, who spent her 15th birthday at the work site, said she was excited to help, though it was definitely a learning process.

"It's just, like, frustrating getting all the boards up, and unloading the lumber was not so fun because I got a bruise," Mattie said.

Jimmy Bowman, who was among the neighbors begging the ambulance driver to cross the bridge months ago, helped cut boards and allowed the volunteers to use his blow torch.

"It was really scary. She could have died, man," Bowman said.

Petty said she is grateful that SPY stepped up to the task when other attempts at getting the bridge fixed had failed.

"I think it's really nice that there are still people out there that care about other people," said Petty, with tears in her eyes.

Weinhold said he hopes that people in the community recognize the need for these types of services.

"It doesn't have to be a church group, anybody can do it," Weinhold said.

Not only is SPY planning to expand its program throughout the state, its volunteers also would like to see it grow from a summer program to a year-round effort. This would cost about $1,000 a week, though donations of materials would alleviate some of the costs, Dayton said.

Though it would require more donations, Dayton said having SPY year-round is possible because the structure is already in place.