More than 100 students from across the Southeast descended on the city of Cullman late last week and have spent their time creating what they hope will be a lasting impact on the community.

The idea of summer mission trips shouldn’t be unfamiliar to many Cullman residents. Many local churches regularly organize evangelical and relief trips. But, the image which typically comes to mind when thinking about these efforts involves third world, disaster stricken or heavily impoverished areas. The World Changers organization, however, has focused their efforts a little closer to home.

Since its formation in 1990, World Changers has partnered with local churches and municipal agencies throughout North America to mobilize Christian students to assist residents with home improvement projects ranging from painting to constructing decks or wheelchair ramps.

“We want to provide more than just a weeklong mission trip, we want to provide the tools and training to equip your students for a lifetime of missional living. World Changers is a hands-on mission experience, engaging students in meeting the needs of people in communities across North America. Students are able to put their faith into action by serving others and sharing the gospel,” the World Changers website says.

David Hatfield has worked as a project coordinator for the organization since 2001. He said more than 130 students arrived at Northbrook Baptist Church — where they have been staying — Monday, June 10. The students were divided into separate crews and had been diligently working on 13 projects in the city of Cullman until they were completed Friday afternoon.

Hatfield said he has led several projects in different areas of Alabama in the past, but this year was the first World Changers effort in Cullman which is thanks, at least in part, to the efforts of Fairview councilmember Steve Eddleman.

Eddleman said he first became involved with World Changers as a volunteer in 1997 and later as a site coordinator. During that time, Eddleman said he has participated more than 100 missions efforts across the the U.S. and Canada, but had always felt a desire to bring the organization back home.

“For years and years I went to work in other cities to help other people to make those places a better place to live and meet the needs of people out there. I just kept thinking there are people back home that need some help and it’s time that we stop spending all of our focus in other places and try to take care of some people here and some people out there as well,” Eddleman said.

As a lifelong resident, Eddleman said he felt as though Cullman was “one of the greatest places to live anywhere around here,” which he added can make it easier to overlook those residents who are in need.

“People on fixed income or single parents who have a couple of kids and are trying to figure out how to survive on income, it can become hard for those people. Sometimes it doesn’t hurt for their neighbors and their churches to look around and see what they can do to get through this crazy world,” Eddleman said.

According to the most recent Census information, nearly one-in-five Cullman County residents are living in poverty and the average per capita income is a little more than $32,000. Meanwhile, the median cost of a home in the county is roughly $184,000. As of June 12, the property management website Zillow shows the average local rental cost is $1,645. The least expensive rental of the 54 available on the website is $600.

But for some of the participating students, their main goal isn’t as much about their physical contributions to community members, but about sharing their faith with the people they interact with.

Gracie “Pockets” Ryan is an incoming high school junior from Trenton, South Carolina who said this will be her third summer visiting Alabama — her nickname was earned during her first trip as an eighth-grader when she believed her crew chief when they told her she had “dropped her pocket” as she walked to her work site — through the World Changers organization. When speaking to The Times on Thursday, June 13, Ryan said each project required a different set of skills, which she was thankful to have learned, but she viewed each of them very similarly.

“They’re really all the same. We are just trying to get the houses in the best shape that we can and have conversations with the homeowners. We try to get them to understand that we are doing all of this to glorify God,” she said.

World Changers has already included Cullman in its list of projects for next summer and Hatfield said he is hoping to extend projects sites throughout the county. Eddleman said while this year will always be considered a special one in his ministerial efforts, he is excited about continuing those efforts in his backyard.

“I have been a lot of places, but now I get to have the opportunity to see the impact we can have here at home. These are my people and I want to make sure that if we get an opportunity to help people, we take it,” Eddleman said.

Hatfield said the 2025 dates will be from June 6 through June 14, and applications to become a project site will be made available at Cullman City Hall as well as the World Changers website.