July 27, 2016 The News-Record & Sentinel Page 9

Fisher Branch, Lower Shut In andSandy Bottom are roads that even aMadison County native may consideroff the beaten path. For a growing num-ber of summer visitors however, timespent in those tucked hollers are thehighlight of their visits to the county.

“We find a lot of beauty here,” saidBetsy Lane, a volunteer youth adviserwith Holy Trinity Episcopal in Greens-boro. “Our time and our service here ishard to describe. It just feeds us.”

For 30 years, congregants of centralCarolina church have come to MadisonCounty offering assistance to those inneed. With church vans full of eager,young volunteers, the group used tosimply drive up to a local home, in-troduce themselves to the owners and,with their permission, get started on asmall improvement project.

Those trips have since evolved tomore organized annual visits. Underthe leadership of the Community Hous-ing Coalition of Madison County, a localnonprofit dedicated to safe and afford-able housing for local residents, thechurch is now just one of nearly 30organizations providing nearly 1,000volunteers focused on improving livingconditions for locals.

“We see ourselves as a bridge be-tween volunteers and the community,”said CHC Executive Director Christo-pher Brown. With the help of groupsfrom places as far off as Pennsylvaniaand Texas, CHC is able to mobilize anestimated 10,000 hours of volunteerlabor to maintain and repair MadisonCounty homes. Brown estimates sum-mer crews will complete 31 significantjobs, including nine new roofs, that willpositively impact the lives of nearly 100community residents.

“It’s heaven-sent and a real bless-ing,” Jason Gosnell said as he watchedHoly Trinity crews replace the roof onhis father’s home. “The new roof isdefinitely needed. In the winter, theroof leaks and doesn’t hold heat. Ifthere’s snow on it, it’ll find a hole some-where.”

Coordinating the summer volunteerefforts underscores CHC’s outreachacross the entire county. Though thenonprofit recently fell short of securinga $150,000 grant to expand capacity,that setback has not slowed down thenonprofit’s work.

“We continue to embrace what wealready have and we’re expanding ourefforts to network and build awarenessacross all corners of the county,” saidBrown, highlighting the impact of anongoing listening tour that has alreadysent board members to engage withcommunity leaders in Spring Creek andHot Springs. CHC has also been thedriving force behind a local restaurantinitiative that sees 10 percent of a day’ssales benefit nonprofits. Zuma is host-ing the weekly benefit on Wednesdaysfor CHC throughout July; Good Stuffwill participate in August.

“It’s a win-win, driving customers tolocal businesses and starting the con-versation around the need for safe andaffordable housing,” said Brown.

Economic impactBringing in volunteers to improve

living conditions for locals has alsohelped the bottom line of local busi-nesses. Brown estimated that over thepast three years, volunteers visiting

from across North Carolina and aroundthe Southeast have added more than$300,000 to the local economy.

“Every single one of those groupsbrings in anywhere from 15-50 peoplefor anywhere from six to 12 days,” hesaid. “While they’re here, they coverthe cost of lodging at Mars Hill Univer-sity, at Glory Ridge, or at a camp-ground. Almost all of them go to Zumaat least once or twice to get a RocketShake and more. A lot of them go to TheDepot on Friday. Some will work a halfday and raft with a local company. Theysubmerge themselves in Madison Coun-ty, and it definitely has a real economicimpact.”

Business like Ramsey Lumber onU.S. 25-70 and Gentry Hardware in HotSprings benefit by selling the suppliesand tools needed to complete the homerepairs. Looking over a receipt for

Holy Trinity, Sherry Ramsey listed afew of the supplies the group picked upon a recent stop. “They came in forpressure-treated wood and metal roof-ing,” she said. “I didn’t even total it upbecause they said they’d come back andget more.”

A native of the county, Ramseypraised the efforts to mobilize outsidesupport for local families. “It’s great tosee the older people get taken care of. Iknow they’ve done porches, redoneroofs and even built sheds for fire-wood.”

“Groups have been coming throughfor years to pickup things like screwsand paint,” said Keith Gentry of GentryHardware. “It helps. It definitely helpsbusiness and it helps people. There arealways good kids coming through whowant to work and want to help people.It’s really good to see.”

Spiritual centerGlory Ridge, a multi-denominational

Christian camp in the Walnut communi-ty, hosts a handful of the churches thatvolunteer with CHC. Jennifer Redaworks full-time as the camp’s directorof ministries and also serves on theCHC board. That dual role gives her aunique perspective on the impact vol-unteers have on the community, andhow their experiences in MadisonCounty shape the hard-working visi-tors.

“Glory Ridge is more a communitythan a place. It’s not just a camp-ground,” said Reda. “There are tradi-tions and particular ways of the ‘Ridge’that we teach and uphold. For our min-istry, we’re about giving youth the op-portunity to put their faith in action.From a CHC perspective, it’s a consis-tent and reliable flow of boots on theground for 10 weeks straight. It’s im-portant to have that consistency forCHC.”

“The two organizations may havedifferent missions, but the collabora-tion between them brings a lot of ac-tions throughout the summer: the ac-tion of opening the hearts of kids, theaction that takes place during connec-tions between volunteers and localresidents, and the logistical action ofputting up new stairs at a home or anew roof over a house.”

Lawton Gresham joined the HolyTrinity Episcopal group for the firsttime this summer. While taking a breakfrom roof repairs at the Gosnell homein the Grapevine community, the highschool student reflected on his volun-teer experience in Madison County.“People here really do welcome you,”he said. “They welcome you into theirhomes. You can feel the happiness inthis community and the atmosphere isbeautiful.”

PAUL EGGERS/PAUL@NEWSRECORDANDSENTINEL.COM

Volunteers from Holy Trinity Episcopal in Greensboro install a new metal roof on a home in the Grapevine community.

VOLUN-TOURISM

COURTESY OF GLORY RIDGE

Volunteer crews join together ahead of service work.

PAUL EGGERS/PAUL@NEWSRECORDANDSENTINEL.COM

Young congregants from Holy Trinity Episcopal in Greensboro get ready to call it a day afterrepairing a roof in the Grapevine community.

PAUL EGGERSPAUL@NEWSRECORDANDSENTINEL.COM

Product: ASHBrd PubDate: 07-27-2016 Zone: NRS Edition: 1 Page: MetroCov User: lbarker Time: 07-25-2016 11:55 Color: CMYK