MILTON, Del.- Traveling thousands of miles to lend helping hands.
AmeriCorps NCCC is a national community service organization that focuses on team-building and learning skills for 18 to 26-year-olds. Teams of 8 to 10 members go nationwide to places that need the most assistance due to natural disasters and other serious situations.
Chelsea Derbyshire is a 22-year-old from Dallas, Texas who is in Delaware for the first time in her life. The Bayou 2 team leader is happy to be a part of an elite organization that can complete any work a community needs done.
"I joined AmeriCorps to provide my skills to different communities that I wouldn't have seen otherwise without this program," Derbyshire said. "I feel like everyone has a purpose to serve and this program is a great opportunity to do that."
Due to the pandemic, Sussex County Habitat has seen lower numbers of volunteers at their builds. That is when they called AmeriCorps to come in and help for a three week period. These young adults have risen to the challenge of helping build the house on Pine Street and others across Sussex County.
The home that habitat and AmeriCorps are working on is right behind the home that was dedicated six days ago on World Habitat Day.
Construction Site Supervisor Matthew Waryga is thankful for the assistance AmeriCorps NCCC has provided and is impressed by the wide range of skills members have.
"It's great to have AmeriCorps out here," Waryga said. "They do a lot of great work. They are very eager to learn and they are young individuals so they are strong and very smart. They have really been able to help us move along during a time when people are hesitant to come out."
Bayou 2 from the Southern Region leaving their mark in the first state.