ASP is in the process of repurposing and moving out of our Guyan Valley and Chavies facilities, following final approval during our fall Board of Directors meeting. After 23 and 31 years respectively, we are saying goodbye to some wonderful buildings, but not to the communities of Brenton, WV and Chavies, KY. We WILL continue to serve Wyoming County and Perry County through rented summer facilities, giving us the ability to touch a similar number of homes each year, just much more efficiently. This decision has come as the result of much prayer for wisdom and a serious analysis of the useful life of the facilities as well as our strategic year-round programing goals. ASP remains involved in year-round programming through home repair and replacement in Hancock County, TN, Charleston, WV, Jonesville, VA and in the Tri-Cities area of East TN.
As for Chavies and Guyan, we solicited the local communities for proposals and they have voiced their dreams for the future. ASP is hopeful for the repurposed next life of community service for these properties.
Pending completion of legal logistics, early next year, these beloved locations will be gifted to their communities. Guyan Valley is planned to go to our long-time neighbors, the Brenton Volunteer Fire Department. The facility will be used as an emergency shelter, for community meetings, to house fundraising dinners, as first responder training space and provide additional covered parking for emergency vehicles. This parking is important as it allows the fire department to comply with requirements needed to request an ambulance vehicle, bringing additional resources much closer to the remote area for the first time.
Chavies will be gifted to Perry County. The old school building and warehouse will be removed to make space for an outdoor park. The County is excited for this opportunity to continue progress on goals for county beautification and expansion of public outdoor spaces. This park will serve local residents as a gathering and play area. The hilltop will also add one more attraction for ecotourism to the area as part of the increasingly popular ATV trail network in Appalachia.
Both the fire department and Perry County are grateful for the chance to have these great assets and we at ASP are happy to be a part of blessing the next life of these properties. As we physically move from the buildings, usable equipment is being transferred to other ASP facilities or gifted to the community. Rocking chairs will be lovingly placed in Jonesville. The memorials and murals have been documented and will be displayed on a collage created to honor each center at Jonesville and/or ASP’s headquarters in Johnson City.
In February, ASP will host a virtual recommissioning service for these facilities to invoke God’s blessings for the future and to pay tribute to the wonderful past. We invite all to take part. We will also have memorabilia created by local artists and past ASP staff that can give you a piece of history and to fund ‘restricted county’ accounts for use exclusively in Perry and Wyoming counties.
We are collecting stories and pictures to keep. The lives of countless volunteers, staff, families and community members have been touched out of these wonderful year-round hubs. We want to hear and document your stories! Please submit those, as well as pictures, via Facebook on ASP’s main page, the ASP Staff Alumni page or on the individual Chavies and Guyan Valley pages.
We will keep you updated with the details for the recommissioning service as they emerge. We appreciate your prayers, love and support as we go through the emotional process of saying goodbye and the excitement of seeing these locations continue to serve their communities well.
In service,
the ASP Board and staff
