Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

An Atlanta-based nonprofit is looking to help renovate up to 10 houses low-income houses with the help of church volunteers.

On Tuesday, Sherri Brown, Executive Director of Circles of Troup County, presented a request for funding to the LaGrange City Council on behalf of Mission Serve.

Mission Serve is a faith-based organization based out of Atlanta that sends church volunteers to renovate homes in low-income areas within communities around the country.

“It’s a national organization, primarily Baptist, although we have multiple denominations coming,” Brown said. “High school students, sometimes a little older, sometimes a little younger, come and spend a week here and provide free labor to renovate houses of low-income homeowners.”

Brown said the churches will put in the labor to renovate the exterior of about 10 homes throughout the city.

“We do outdoors. We paint. We may roof. We do small repairs around and we’re asking for the funds for the materials. The kids actually pay to come here, sleep on the floor and do the work. So that covers all of their expenses. These expenses would just be paint, wood, shingles, nails, whatever is needed,” Brown said.

Brown said the group has done projects in LaGrange in the past but hasn’t for a few years.

“We did five of these projects five summers in a row, and we renovated over 100 homes, primarily in the Hillside area,” Brown said.

The money for the previous project came from Community Development funds. Brown asked for $75,000 in similar funding for the new round of projects, which would provide materials for 10 houses around LaGrange.

Habitat for Humanity and Circles participants helped identify all the low-income homeowners that will receive the renovations. That’s how Circles got involved, Brown said.

The homes that will receive renovations are located all over the city, Brown said. The residents also must own the home to receive the renovations.

Brown said the student volunteers will be staying at Western Heights Baptist Church during their week of service renovating homes throughout the community.

The funds were approved by the council 3-0 with councilmen Leon Childs and Quay Boddie abstaining.

“We are so grateful the city council chose to support this project. It will be good for the homeowners, the neighborhood and the community,” Brown said.