For a little over a year, the New River Valley HOME Consortium has had a non-profit arm, NRV Home, in which to better serve the needs of the region. Currently the HOME Consortium Board is comprised of two representatives from each of the five member localities and a non-voting member from both Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs), Community Housing Partners and Habitat for Humanity NRV. While this board helps to guide HOME Staff regarding policy and implementation activities for its HOME Program funding, it is not a legal entity. Establishing a non-profit allows for the entity to supplement housing funding above and beyond its annual allocation or to help serve in areas tangential to housing, but not eligible under the HOME program. An important distinction to note is that NRV Home will never pursue funding in competition with any of its local housing developers.
Since it’s conception, NRV Home has funded two community programs. The first has been the creation of the New River Valley Timebank. The Timebank is a neighbor to neighbor network where people exchange skills and services using time rather than dollars. To date, there are 85 members in the NRV Timebank, with over 800 hours of service exchanged.
A second program, the Tools of Time Community Art Project was recently funded through an Enterprise Community Partners Collaborative Action Grant for the Old Prices Fork School Revitalization Project. Community members will be invited to participate in an interactive series of events that will capture their families' contributions to local history and culture, resulting in a permanent art installation within the old school building: a three-dimensional sculpture with a millstone at its center circled by a series of clay tiles that will hold, in relief, the impression of the tools of labor used by local residents over the ages representing occupations such as coal mining, stone carving, farming, quilting and food preparation.
For more information on this project, contact Jennifer Wilsie ( jwilsie@nrvrc.org) or 540-639-9313 x 204.