BREAKING NEWS!  - Page 3

Timothy Project Helping Us Push Forward in Chicora

                                                          Timothy Project volunteers begin work on our newly donated building at 2021 Reynolds Avenue.

With the many projects we have going on at Metanoia, we’re always very thankful to our volunteer groups who give their time to help us out.  For the last week of July and the first week of August we are especially grateful to the Timothy Project for taking on tasks at several different sites throughout Chicora/Cherokee.  Metanoia is hosting approximately 180 volunteers spread across these two weeks and doing lots of jobs all over our community.

The Timothy Project began in 2007 and is based out of Asheville, NC.  Current director and founder Cliff Christian says what started out as a support network for local ministries, has grown into a larger congregation of folks who have a passion for supporting the missions of organizations like Metanoia.  The volunteers currently working at Metanoia are made up of 6 different congregations from Western North Carolina, Virginia, and South Carolina.  Cliff, who also brought a group of volunteers to Metanoia last summer, said he believes in unique assets-based approach that Metanoia employs to community development: “It is a model of the gospel, which honors the work of the individual.”

Probably the biggest project the Timothy Project is working on is getting us started on rehabbing the donated property at 2021 Reynolds Avenue.  The property was donated to us back in January and will have the multipurpose function of housing our youth entrepreneurship programs, serving as a hostel for out of town volunteers, and offering a student-run café.  While we have big plans for our new space, it will take a lot of time and hard work to transform it into a useable facility. 

Lucky for us, the Timothy Project offered to spend two weeks in Chicora/Cherokee to begin the initial process of gutting the interior.  Metanoia board member Bruce Jayne, who helps out with several of our building projects, explains that “the building has solid bones; the foundation is sound.  What we’re working to do now is clear out all the junk!”  The junk that Bruce is referring to is old wood that has been warped by years of water damage, as well as unused concrete and discarded building materials.  During their first day on the job, members of the Timothy Project from Boulevard Baptist Church in Anderson were able to clear out 8 large dumpsters worth of debris.   A very special thanks goes to North Charleston City Councilman Michael Brown and the City of North Charleston for hauling off all that debris at no cost to Metanoia!!

Aside from rehabbing the property at 2021 Reynolds, members of the Timothy Project are also helping rebuild the Children’s Garden at Chicora Elementary School and rehabilitate two recently acquired Metanoia homes.  Volunteers at the garden have been sawing lumber for constructing planters, raised beds, and student bleachers.  Volunteers are also stationed at the two newly acquired Metanoia homes located off of Dorchester Road, taking the initial steps in making them ready for new home buyers who go through our financial literacy program. 

Turning an unused building into a working facility that will serve to boost the local economy, protecting the quality of our local school, and offering quality affordable housing to home owners are all great examples of how we at Metanoia strive to strengthen our community’s assets.  But we are also happy to give a lot of credit to the volunteers who help to make our vision of a strong community into a reality. 

                              Timothy Project volunteers' efforts at the Chicora Gardens will help to enrich student experiences in the coming years.