By Lee Ann Sides GarrettSalisbury Post
It has been an extremely difficult two years for Elsie Oxendine. Her house burned down, six months later her husband died from cancer and her daughter, Melissa Patterson, was killed in a car accident on Christmas Day.
“It was horrible,” Oxendine shudders.
Oxendine has a new house now on Stokes Ferry Road, but it’s been difficult for her to get up and down the front and back stairs with her walker. She’s even fallen off the back stairs.
Before her death, Oxendine’s daughter paid part of the cost of building a ramp to a man who started the job, left with the money and never finished it.
But that succession of bad news came screeching to a halt on July 20. That Friday, a group of “little elves,” as Oxendine calls them, finished building a new ramp, and it didn’t cost a thing.
The “elves” were teens and their adult counselors from Carolina Cross Connection, a nonprofit mission organization that sends teams of youth and adults to do repairs for disabled individuals or those who cannot afford it.
Linda Beaver, Mary Carroll and Ryan Thomas led six youth in the project to fix Oxendine’s ramp. Allie Ingle, Kevin Jordan, Aimee Messier, Lauren Mullis, Kristin Fulton and Ashton Wassack sawed, hammered, laughed and encouraged each other.
As each nail was pounded in the ramp, the group would cheer on the one wielding the hammer.
“Go Aimee, go Aimee, go,” they chanted. “You are bigger than the nail.”
The group stayed at Camp Joshua in Albemarle, one of five camps in the state operating this summer. Altogether, the volunteers help approximately 1,000 families every summer. They use donated materials and do not charge for their services.
The youth came from different areas and did not know each other before this project. None of the four youth at Oxendine’s house on July 20 live in Rowan or surrounding counties. Some even come from out of state.
“This group just melded,” Beaver says. “They just met each other Sunday and work and play together like family.”
The group did four projects in a week, two one-day projects and two larger projects. Two different groups worked on Oxendine’s ramp during the week.
Oxendine says the young people who worked at her house on July 20 were “wonderful little children, real smart about the Bible.”
The kids listened to Oxendine tell stories and discussed the Bible with her during rest periods.
“You can see God through her,” Messier says.
This summer is Thomas’ seventh summer with Carolina Cross Connection. He uses his construction background to supervise some of the projects. He and his wife help out every summer.
“It’s a way of making a joyful noise to the Lord, even if it’s with a hammer,” he says. “It comes back to you very quickly.”
Despite the hot weather earlier in the week, Friday morning was cloudy and cool enough to make finishing the ramp comfortable.
“I was worried about them in the heat,” Oxendine says.
“Watching the kids interact with families and each other in Christian love and challenge themselves is amazing,” Beaver says. “Three of them are afraid of heights, and they were on ladders cleaning out gutters.”
The kids all say this experience was positive.
“It’s really cool,” Jordan says. “It’s definitely worth it.”
“You get closer to God by helping,” Wassack says.
Oxendine is grateful for the help and the fellowship.
“This gives me hope,” she says. “Maybe there’s a chance for our youth after all.”
You can find more information about Carolina Cross Connection online at www.carolinacrossconnection.org. Or call Catherine Sherrod locally at 704-735-4257.