Home Remains Home Thanks To Grants
Episcopal News Service. August 21, 1986 [86179]
Mary Lee Simpson, Diocese of Southwestern Virginia
TRAMMEL, Va. (DPS, Aug. 21) -- A $10,000 grant from the Presiding Bishop's Fund for World Relief has helped bring new life to residents of this small coal-mining camp along Virginia Highway 63 in Appalachia's Dickenson County.
The grant enabled 24 families, banded together as the Trammel Homeowners' Association, to bid successfully on the houses they had been renting and living in for generations.
The town literally was put on the auction block to settle the estate of a wealthy Virginia landowner, who had bought the camp nearly 60 years ago from Banner Coal Company. Included in the sale were about 90 houses, most with no running water and none with a septic system, but home to the families, many of whom live on meager incomes from part-time jobs, black-lung benefits or welfare.
"This is the most significant victory a bunch of poor and working people in southwestern Virginia have experienced in at least 40 years," said Linda Johnson, director of nearby Grace House, an Episcopal Church-sponsored educational and training center. "Not since the United Mine Workers of America organized here in the mid-1940s have people of Dickenson County been able to organize in such a manner.
When residents received less than a month's notice they were being evicted and their homes were being auctioned off, they turned to three local ministries for help, including Grace House. In about three weeks, they organized the Homeowners' Association and raised or received commitments of $60,000. They earned the money with bake sales, car washes, a gospel sing, yard sales and telephone and door-to-door solicitations. Gifts came from individuals and from groups, including Episcopal congregations in the Dioceses of Upper South Carolina, Virginia and Newark and their own Diocese of Southwestern Virginia. Other denominations, including Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists and Lutherans, made substantial contributions.
"I truly believe we witnessed a miracle on auction day," said Johnson.
The Rev. R.B. Lloyd, director of the Episcopal Church's Appalachian People's Service Organization, (APSO) described the day: "At first there was a great deal of tension and anxiety, yet of hope. When the Trammel Homeowners' Association failed to get the bid on the first three houses (shared by a four-generation family), it was like a wet blanket had been thrown on the whole scene."
"People got physically ill when they saw that family lose those homes," added Johnson. "They became pale and clammy and shaky, and some got sick to their stomachs.
"In a way, though, it was good because it shook us up, let us know what we were up against and forced us to change our strategy."
Instead of a family member bidding on the home he had lived in for years -- an intimidating and frightening and emotionally wrenching experience -- two representatives of the association handled the bidding, coached by the family and supported by friends.
The strategy worked. "There would be a great cheer after each successful bid," said Lloyd. "Spirits lifted, and you could see the climate changing. At the end, there were tears and smiles and the people were absolutely beside themselves with Joy.
By the end of the day, the association had purchased 25 houses for $63,000. The group also had an offer to buy the first three houses it had lost in the bidding.
Lloyd described the auction as a "tremendous victory" for the people. "The town people have changed from people living in houses to a community in which families are doing things together and helping one another," he said.
Now that the auction is over, Trammel residents want to rehabilitate their homes and install a sewer system. They want to build a community center that also can be used as a church.
"I consider this an opportunity to open our hearts, our minds and our eyes -- and then to act in ways which are enabling for poor people to have some control over the decisions that affect their lives," said Johnson.
Persons wishing to contribute to the efforts of Trammel residents may send their tax-deductible checks to Grace House, Rte. 1, Box 232, St. Paul, VA 24283.