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Mission

Appalachia Service Project (ASP) is a Christian ministry, open to all people, that inspires hope and service through volunteer home repair in Central Appalachia.

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Vision

To see substandard housing in Central Appalachia eradicated and everyone who comes in contact with ASP transformed.

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Repairing homes, transforming lives

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.

 

For over 48 years, we’ve made homes warmer, safer, and drier(R) for families and provided transformational service experiences for volunteers.  Last year, 16,231 volunteers served with ASP, providing critical repairs for 493 families and constructing 26 new homes.   Since 1969, ASP has repaired 16,811 homes throughout Central Appalachian Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia through the efforts of 361,145 volunteers. Providing home repair free of charge to the families we serve is our privilege and pleasure.

 

Poverty, Potential and a Preacher named Tex

In 1969, Rev. Glenn “Tex” Evans — a United Methodist minister — became one of the first people to connect the energy of youth with the deep needs of the poor.

 

During Tex’s 13 years as director at Henderson Settlement in Frakes, Kentucky, he witnessed the great need for home repair assistance. So as part of his already-thriving outreach to the people of Appalachia, he recruited 50 teens and adult volunteers to repair homes in Barbourville, Kentucky. They worked on-site during the day and worshiped in the evenings. By summer’s end, four families had safe, warm homes for the winter, fifty young lives had been changed forever — and a forty-seven-year-long legacy was born.

 

But Tex was more than a leader; he was a born motivator. A true student of Appalachian culture and a legendary storyteller, he set the tone for what ASP is today: an extended family where laughter is king. Where relationships matter. And where changing the lives of families and volunteers alike is the highest priority of all.

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To learn more about Appalachia Service Project click here