Our 2026 St. Joseph Teen Appalachia Mission Trip was a wonderful success! From June 21-27, a team of 46 teens and 22 adult chaperones traveled to Paintsville, Kentucky, and worked in conjunction with Good Neighbors, Inc., to serve families in Appalachia. Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, parishioners, families, and friends, our mission to assist the working poor continues to make a meaningful difference. 

SITE 1

Team one worked on the home of Hannah, Trey and their three children, Travis Jr. (8), Emilyn (7) and newborn Lakeland. The home needed additional living space so that Trey’s elderly grandmother could live with them. The team boxed-in a front porch to turn it into a bedroom, including framing, drywall, insulation and flooring. The team installed new kitchen cabinets and countertops. They also worked on flooring, electrical installations, painting and much more!

SITE 2

Thomas is a hardworking man who has been living with family and friends and really wants to get his house habitable again. The house has suffered severe damage through some hard winters and bad storms including roof leaks and broken windows. It was also damaged after a friend’s truck accidentally crashed through the laundry room. The team worked on replacing the windows and repairing the laundry room, removing and repairing ceilings inside the home and laying new flooring.

SITE 3

Christina and Ronald worked hard to buy their first house and needed help making it into a home! They have four children and want to provide a safe home for them to live. Team 3 installed new flooring in 11 rooms. They also installed trim throughout the house as well. The team created new flower beds and plantings and hung gutters to stop the flooding of their porch. A new American flag and new cushions for the front porch completed the "small town America.

SITE 4

Amanda Wells is a single mother of three children and was overwhelmed with the repairs needed on her home. Team 4 built an addition to the home installing drywalls, added roofing, insulating and wiring. Drainage was installed around the addition. They also repaired and installed siding on back and side of home, cleaned up and organized shed and yard area - making room for a fun trampoline gift for the family!

SITE 5

Team Five worked on the home of Faith, a single mom of three children. Our crew worked on adding vinyl siding to two sides of a large trailer. They replaced 11 windows, shored up and rebuilt a sagging kitchen floor, and painstakingly repaired and prepared a warped, leaky roof for installation of a new tin roof.

SITE 6

Freida and Jessie are a couple in their 50’s who live in a small trailer that was literally falling in on them. Severe storms and flooding caused horrible damage to the roof and in turn caused leaking throughout the home. Team 6 built a new pitched roof to install over the old-style flat mobile home roof. Inside the home they removed and replaced water-damaged ceiling. They raised the sunken ceiling by over 10 inches and added two support beams to provide safety for the family.

SITE 7

Shawn and Amana, and their 10-year-old daughter are anxious to make their new home safe and secure and start a new life together after some hard years. Team 7 worked on putting new flooring in the daughter’s bedroom as well as repairing walls and painting. They replaced cabinets in the kitchen and repaired the front porch to provide a safe entrance to the home.