Warmer. Safer. Drier.®
ASP volunteers provide high quality home repair for Appalachian families
ASP's History
Relationship Ministry
ASP volunteers and families develop life-long relationships
Transformation
Everyone who comes into contact with this ministry is transformed
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 longstanding 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.
“We accept people right where they are, just the way they are.”
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.
More Than 50 Years of Service: ASP Today
Since 1969, more than 440,000 volunteers from across the nation have repaired more than 19,000 homes and, in the process, Appalachian families, volunteers, and staff have been immeasurably blessed.
Today, with the help of more than 15,000 volunteers each year, our goal remains to make homes warmer, safer and drier for families in need. Yet ASP is more than a home repair and replacement program. It also provides a unique framework that fosters transformational experiences for volunteers, families served, and staff — by building relationships with each other that break down cultural, social and economic barriers. We often hear of significant life changes resulting from the ASP experience: of families renewing their faith in the goodness of others, of people newly motivated to continue their education, of young adults choosing careers of service. No one walks away from the ASP experience unchanged.
