The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

Wyoming Report

March 15, 2007

Students help put RAIL on track

Home renovation program expands

By Mary Catherine Brooks

As the weather heats up, church and college groups will temporarily move into the area to complete home repairs for those in need.

Rural Appalachian Improvement League (RAIL) is expanding its home repair program and kicked off the season with two groups of college students last week.

The groups buy their own construction materials locally and pay RAIL to stay in the Mullens Opportunity Center, the former grade school building.

“We’re trying to expand the program,” explained Erica Peterson, AmeriCorps VISTA member for the city of Mullens, who coordinates the program.

“Hopefully, this will get more people to come down here,” she explained.

In addition to providing the home repairs last week, the 26 college students from Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania and the University of Louisville in Kentucky were treated to a variety of cultural activities, including learning about the local watershed, growing up in a coal mining community, local history and culture and visited Tamarack.

Peterson said organizers hope expanding the program will contribute to the sustainability of RAIL; however, they do not want the cost to be a factor for volunteer groups interested in coming to the area to make home repairs.

“We work with each group concerning the cost,” she emphasized, adding it “costs a lot to run this building.”

Those interested in home repairs can phone RAIL at 294-6188 or come by the MOC building to complete an application. Some of the criteria may include family income, the urgency for making the repairs, among other items.

Additionally, when repairs can be made will depend on the skills of the volunteers coming into the area to work, how long they are going to stay, and how expensive the repairs are going to be, she explained.

The ultimate goal is “warmer, safer, dryer,” she said.

Peterson is also working to create, and maintain for future reference, a list of families who need the repairs.

She believes the project is part of a “housing momentum” taking shape in Mullens.

The city was recently awarded a HUD grant to buy and repair 10 houses in the area.

Additionally, Mullens was named one of 10 Blueprint Communities in West Virginia, a program designed to make housing more available and affordable.

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