RAINELLE, W.Va. — The Appalachia Service Project hopes to rebuild nearly 150 homes in Greenbrier County following the June 23 flood.
President and CEO Walter Crouch said the goal is to construct 50 homes in Rainelle alone, with an additional 100 houses for families impacted by the storm.
“As long as the funding is there and the need is there, we’ll keep building homes,” Crouch told MetroNews.
On Friday, a ribbon cutting ceremony was held in Rainelle for the first post-flood house built by ASP.
Crouch said there was enough land to build the house on the front of the property, but that’s not the case with every flood-damaged home. Currently, they’re looking for land.
“We’re still looking for lots and properties simply because, until the demolition starts we cannot build homes where a lot of these homes are,” he said. “A lot of home owners want to stay where they’re living and so they’re just having to wait and we’re having to wait.”
The project has received a lot of support with donations from organizations nationwide, Crouch said.
“We have donors literally across the country. They have, in gifts of $5, $10, $25, they’ve given us in the hundreds of thousands of dollars already,” he said.
In Rainelle, Crouch said they have three houses up off their foundations with about another dozen with foundation work only. He said the goal is to finish 20 homes by February 2017.