ASP Works to Build Latest RISE Home

​CHARMCO, WV (WVNS) - Construction is underway for one of the latest homes built under the RISE Program.

It was a bitterly cold and wet Monday morning in Charmco,Greenbrier County, but volunteers and members of Appalachian Service Project, had no complaints as they hammered away, working tirelessly to build a home, and rebuild a life, for a family who lost everything in the 2016 flood.

Julie Thompson with ASP said, "This family, they really need a new home, and so it's time that they get one and so I'm really glad that hopefully they'll be in it soon."

Nearly five months after the West Virginia National Guard took over the RISE Flood Recovery Program, and with the help of Appalachian Service Project, long-awaited progress is finally being made. This summer the program was under fire for improper management of that money and delays. However, after it was taken over by the National Guard, relief efforts seem to be back on track.

Chris Schroeder, ASP Flood Recovery Coordinator, said, "The program looks and feels very different now, everybody is and has always been very motivated to get this done, and to get this done quickly, but now we have the tools and the opportunity to do so."

The thousand-year flood left the family with several feet of water inside their home, making it immediately unlivable. Once RISE gave ASP the okay in late October 2018, the damaged home was taken down in just two days. They then began building the new home up the hill, two feet above the 2016 flood plane.

Schroeder said they have been working with the family since July, and although delays with RISE have been frustrating, they made the best of it. Schroeder said to them, progress means so much more than numbers on a spreadsheet.

"We see them day in and day out, and we know in the back of our heads what they're going through and what their circumstances are," said Schroeder. "We are committed to crawling all over this house until its done, and that's our attitude with every house that we build."

He said they hope to have the home move-in ready within two weeks.