Appalachia Service Project, Inc. (ASP)

Appalachia Service Project will address the need for high-impact home repair in the Central Appalachian region by recruiting and deploying youth, adult, and college volunteers that will complete the repairs in partnership with the communities in which ASP serves, and with the families that need the critical repairs.Our philosophy of service has remained the same since our founding: ASP encourages people to act responsibly in the face of human need and injustice. By transforming faith into ASP service, volunteers respond to a specific need: housing. By putting aside their own needs and desires, ASP volunteers free themselves to share talent, love, and concern with the people of Appalachia and with one another. More important than construction know-how is a willingness to enter the communities and homes of Central Appalachia with sensitivity, concern, and love — accepting people right where they are and just the way they are. ASP “staffers” are college-aged young adults, who will work with community partners, such as local churches, non-profits, and businesses in the areas we serve to get connected with the families that need the critical repairs. Staffers are trained in volunteer management, budget management, construction management, spiritual programming, and more, and will run the ASP centers in the field that volunteers travel to and stay in. ASP currently serves 4 communities year round (Chavies, KY, Guyan Valley, WV, Jonesville, VA, and Tri-Cities, TN), and around 25-30 communities during the summer, when ASP has a large influx of youth volunteers.

Appalachia Service Project is a Christian ministry, open to all people, that inspires hope and service through volunteer home repair in Central Appalachia. ASP has a vision that substandard housing in Central Appalachia will be eradicated and that everyone who comes into contact with this ministry will be transformed.

Ultimately ASP aims to see substandard housing completely eradicated in Central Appalachia.