Hello once again, readers, and happy Tuesday! Welcome to another edition of Lighting the ASP Journey. For lack of better words, this past week of ASP’s journey has been amazing! Many of our centers across the service area have completed their final week of construction with volunteers and are now preparing to wrap up for the summer. There were some emotional moments and heavy hearts as the week came to an end, but also some great happy moments in the midst of it all. There were a few standout moments I want to share with you all that really made my week. Â
On Monday, Haley and I traveled to Cocke County, Tennessee, and spent the day visiting their home repair sites. This county has been severely affected by recent flooding caused by Hurricane Helene, which hit the area. However, everything has started to come back and flourish, which is really great to witness. We met a man named Jon who’s getting his home repaired by ASP and actually owns a white-water rafting company nearby. His home, like many others ASP is working on in the county, is situated right by the river where the floods made their biggest impact. Not only was his home damaged, but his business also suffered a rough season. Because of the floods, this area’s economy took a bit of a dip. Much of their tourist revenue decreased. Jon is happy to have his house repaired and even happier that since the flooding damage has subsided, his company is back in business. He showed his gratitude to the volunteers working on his house by offering them a day of white-water rafting on his boats after a day on the worksite! I’m sure that was a memorable moment for the volunteers, and it was very kind of Jon to do that for them. Â
In Cocke County, we also met a very sweet woman by the name of Bessy, who suffered flood damage to her house as well. Bessy unfortunately was in the process of grieving the loss of a family member right before the flood hit, and once this disaster happened, she had lost a lot of hope and had a tough time mentally getting through this rough patch of her life. The water crept into the foundation of her home, and she temporarily left after the flooding subsided. Thankfully, she was later able to have her home checked out and worked on by ASP. Her repairs included the addition of a beautiful ramp 8 feet high and about 30 feet long! The ramp was absolutely amazing, and the volunteer’s signature touch made it even more special. Several groups that came to work on Bessy’s ramp left their name and encouraging messages for Bessy on a post of the ramp. One group even made her a picnic table to sit on at the top of the ramp and wrote their names along the bottom of the base, which was so sweet of them! Bessy showed great hospitality to the volunteer groups too, letting them use her living room for lunch and water breaks, and even giving them some of her famous slushie sweet tea! The groups really appreciated her kind gestures, which made working on her home feel that much more meaningful. Â
With Bessy’s limited accessibility range, this ramp was a huge feature for her. This way she can still go out, tend to her garden, and enjoy the beautiful view of the river. Talking to Bessy about her ASP experience was so emotional and very moving for me. She expressed how happy she was to see the youth working on her home and willingly wanting to help her out. She said the young volunteers always made her day. I’m overjoyed she is able to now have so much to be grateful for. It’s so relieving to know that after going through so much devastating loss, she now has a lot of things going her way again.   Â
This week, I had the opportunity to revisit McDowell County and see a homeowner I had interviewed during their first week of construction earlier this summer. Thomas Bell and his wonderful wife Karen were some of our first interviewees of the summer, and I ended up making a pretty good connection with them. After their interview, I talked for a while with Thomas about my aspirations of being a sports journalist. He said he was a big sports guy himself and thought that would be a cool career to get into. It just so happened he had an awesome connection with the local news station in Bluefield that does sports broadcasting in their daily news rotation. He offered to take me up there and introduce me to their staff, possibly to gain an internship with them next summer! I was grateful for the opportunity and didn’t hesitate to take him up on the offer. It took a few weeks, but finally I found myself back up there and we did just that. Â
Getting to tour the news station and talk to the on-air talent, as well as the news director, was a great experience. I got to see lots of behind-the-scenes action and gain more valuable advice on the industry while learning what I can continue working towards to one day be in those shoes. I walked away knowing if I’m still interested in spending a summer up there next year, they told me I’d be first on their priority list! I was super happy that we made the trip up there and appreciated the time they took to really show me around and give me a personable experience.Â
I want to give a special shoutout to Thomas Bell for that awesome networking opportunity, and for the conversations we shared throughout the entire day. It was really fun and inspiring. He has so much wisdom to impart and I was into every bit of it. Good luck on all your youth teams’ seasons this year! Also, a belated birthday shoutout to Mrs. Karen!Â
In reflecting on this week, I’ve seen firsthand how community connections make such good impacts, and truly are a testament to the kind-heartedness of Central Appalachia’s population and relationships formed through ASP. It’s so ironic when you think about how we show up in counties, working to be the light for others, and somehow the community becomes the light for us too. There is always someone willing to lend a helping hand or show up big through acts of gratitude for others. I can’t express how much I’ve appreciated the connections and interactions I’ve made with every single individual this summer, and it’s sort of surreal that it’s all about to come to an end. Â
This summer still has one more week left, no doubt with more stories to tell and so many thoughts and emotions that I can’t wait to share. Until then, I pray that this week will bless you all, and we’ll talk again soon! Â
Until next time readers, Â
Josh Adams
Story Gathering Intern
