The Height of Beauty, The Depths of Poverty
How can a region so rich in natural resources be so poor? You can't build factories on mountainsides. You can't plant crops. And for more than a hundred years, large corporations have extracted natural resources while putting little back in the form of taxes or community support.
The result is that jobs are few and far between. For many of these families, their modest houses-handed down from generation to generation-are the only real possession they have. But houses need maintenance. And when you don't even have money to put shoes on your kids' feet, fixing a hole in the roof is a low priority.
As a result, the homes are crumbling. Walls buckle. Roofs leak. And sagging floors pose hazards to the elderly and the very young.
- Poverty is more than double the national average
- One in four lives below the poverty level-105,000 children, 195,000 adults, and 35,000 elderly
- 62,500 homes are substandard
- 19,000 homes lack adequate kitchens
- 21,000 homes lack complete plumbing
- Nearly half of the families have annual household incomes below $20,000
Your volunteer work will give a special family some financial breathing room to concentrate on more important things. Like feeding their kids. Looking for work. And making plans for the future.
Best of all, your presence will touch their lives and remind them that compassion knows no boundaries. And that not even the highest hills and deepest hollows can separate them from God's love.
THE PROGRAM: Appalachia Service Project (ASP)
ASP provides one of the most rewarding structured service opportunities in the nation -- bringing thousands of volunteers from around the country to rural Central Appalachia to repair homes for low-income families. But ASP is more than just a building program. Yes, Appalachia's poorest families urgently need your help, but they can help change your life, too. Because when you change the lives of others, they have a way of changing you.
After a few days of hard work repairing homes with ASP, your hands will grow a little tougher, your arms a little stronger, and your relationship with God a whole lot deeper. You'll return home to your community with a passion for service, a renewed compassion for other people, and a fresh appreciation for your place and purpose in this world. Best of all, you'll discover first-hand that regardless of geography, education, or economic class, we are all equal members of the family of God.
We like to say that our goal is to make homes "warmer, safer and drier" for needy families. And for more than 40 years, we've done exactly that for thousands of families. Yet for all that, we are only able to serve one in ten families who apply to us for help. We need many, many more volunteers to make a lasting dent in Appalachian poverty.
In other words, we need you.
So come on and join us. Sure, you'll install insulation. Repair porches. Reinforce foundations. But even more importantly, you'll build a whole new you.
