WELLS — Several hundred youth will be descending on southern York County this summer to offer their services to those in need of home repairs.

Approximately 400 teenagers, mostly from the Northeast, will be stationed at Noble High School in North Berwick from July 27 to Aug. 2 to conduct work at about 65 homes, said Father John Skehan, pastor of the Parish of the Ascension of the Lord, which includes St. Raphael Church in Kittery; St. Christopher Church in York; Our Lady of the Angels Church in South Berwick; and Star of the Sea Church in York Beach.

The program is being sponsored by the Parish of the Ascension of the Lord and the Table of Plenty, a soup kitchen serving York, Kittery and Berwick.

Homes in the parish communities, as well as parts of Wells, Sanford and some other communities, will be eligible for work. Those eligible to receive these free services include senior citizens, those with disabilities and low-income people, said Skehan. Applications are still being accepted.

Some of the work the youth will conduct includes winterizing homes, painting, replacing decking and even building ramps for people with disabilities.

In addition to conducting repairs, said Skehan, the young people, who will have an adult supervisor, will provide fellowship to the homeowners at the worksites.

“They will let people know that people care about them,” said Skehan.

It will also “be a good experience for young people,” he said.

The youth will be participants of Workcamps, which are organized by Group Cares, a nonprofit, interdenominational Christian volunteer home-repair organization headquartered in Loveland, Colo. This summer, 25,000 young people and adults are expected to participate in 48 Workcamps across the United States and Canada, according to a prepared statement from the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland.

“Workcamps began in 1977 as a home repair project in Loveland, Colo., in response to a tragic flood of the Big Thompson River the previous year,” according to the Workcamps website.

After the flood, church youth groups from across the country went to Colorado to help rebuild the homes, according to the website.

“Since then, about 300,000 people have participated in a Group Mission Trips experience, logging more than six million volunteer hours,” the site states.

“These really are remarkable people,” said Jeff Thompson of Group Cares about the youth volunteers. “Each one is actually paying for the privilege of working in your community. Workcamp registration fees are used to cover our costs for food, insurance and building materials.”

The students in the work group will stay at Noble High School in North Berwick.

“This service to the community would be impossible without the wonderful cooperation of Noble High School, Principal Joseph Findlay and Superintendent Steve Connolly,” said Michelle Valcourt, youth minister of the Parish of the Ascension of the Lord. “Group Cares will reimburse all costs to the lodging facility.”

The work that will be done “represents about 12,000 hours of volunteer labor with a total economic impact for the community of over $300,000,” she said.

Residents interested in applying for assistance can contact Michelle Valcourt at 439-0442 or [email protected]. All eligible homes must be within a 30-minute drive of Noble High School, located at 388 Somersworth Road in North Berwick.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or [email protected].