Nonprofits
Blue Ridge Opportunity Commission helps people to help themselvesDare Stromer has been working for the Blue Ridge Opportunity Commission, Inc. since 1981 and has been the community action agency’s executive director since 1995.
By being thus involved, Stromer said he is part of a massive movement to help those less fortunate by making a difference in their lives.
“My challenge and mission is to be there for those less fortunate and to be there for those who need help,” Stromer said. “As I pass this way, I want to enhance the lives of others and give the Lord the praise that I have had this chance.”
The Blue Ridge Opportunity Commission, Inc. (BROC) was founded in1966 as a result of the enactment of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. It was designed to assist low-income citizens of Alleghany, Ashe and Wilkes Counties.
BROC’s mission is to serve as an advocate with the community to seek out, identify and eliminate poverty in its service area.
It works to provide opportunities for low-income people of all ages in order to alleviate the causes and symptoms of poverty and to help people to help themselves reach economic self-sufficiency. It does so by offering services, advocacy and support for persons so they can improve their quality of life and provide better opportunities for their families.
As such, under the guidance of its board of directors, BROC develops programs and mobilizes resources from federal, state and local governments, private foundations and faith-based organizations for services benefiting low-income residents of the three counties.
That board is made up of 21 volunteer members from the three aforementioned counties. One third of them represents elected public officials, one third represents the private sector and one third represents low-income communities.
The board oversees all BROC has to offer, including the BROC Community Services Block Grant program. Administered under the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services/Office of Economic Opportunity, the program helps address, reduce and eliminate the conditions of poverty.
It provides a range of services designed to assist low-income people to attain the skills, knowledge, and motivation necessary to achieve self-sufficiency.
Low-income participants are assisted with employment, education, better use of available income, housing, emergency assistance, community involvement and more effective use of other resources.
In turn, the block grant program funds the Emergency Services Program. This assists low-income families with electricity, rent and fuel. This locally funded voucher system for emergency assistance gets its money through fundraisers, grants, faith-based organizations and contributions.
The BROC Weatherization Assistance Program helps low-income families pay for measures which include air sealing, insulation, water heaters and heating systems.
BROC HARRP (Heating Appliances Repair and Replacement Program) allows repair and replacement of existing heating systems. It is directed at eliminating wood burning or portable heating.
BROC Senior Nutrition Services operates meal sites at the Wilkes Senior Center, the Maple Springs Community Center and the Austin Community Center. The program also delivers hot nutritious lunches to shut-ins with the Meal on Wheels of Wilkes Program.
BROC Head Start provides quality, individualized comprehensive services that empower children, with the overall goal of fostering healthy development and increasing social competence of young children in low-income families. Under BROC’s sponsorship, the federally funded program has been operating in Alleghany, Ashe and Wilkes Counties since 1966.
BROC Head Start services are family-centered, following the belief that children develop in the context of their family and culture. Parents are respected as the primary educators and nurturers of their children. Its range of offerings are designed to meet families’ needs to function to full potential.
“Since its inception, BROC Head Start has succeeded by promoting school readiness in children and self-sufficiency for their families,” Stromer said.
To support its offerings, each year, BROC is involved with quite a few fundraising events.
In summer, BROC’s supportive arm, the Wilkes Community Action sponsors the Little Miss Princess Jr. Miss and the Miss CAG pageant. Contestants compete to raise money to support BROC projects and can win scholarships in the process. Held each year in July, the pageants are the climax of local fundraising for crisis intervention services for the upcoming fiscal year, Stromer said.
Named after the late NASCAR legend, the Benny Parsons Race Against Hunger raises funds to provide food for the children. Toward that goal, the charity organizes an annual golf tournament and silent auction, both of which serve as significant fundraising events.
“The Benny Parsons Race against Hunger (https://bennyparsonsraceagainsthunger.com/) provides our biggest food donation,” Stromer said.
To address food insecurity, BROC also works with Second Harvest Foodbank of Northwest North Carolina (https://www.secondharvestnwnc.org/) and the programming the food bank offers.
Other fundraising efforts include a yard sale, a pet contest, an online auction, chicken BBQs, Valentine and Easter basket sales, a Christmas Bazaar and involvement with Light Up Downtown North Wilkesboro, the Brushy Mountain Apple Festival and the Brushy Mountain Peach Festival.
Volunteers are welcome to assist with fundraisers, yard sales, delivering meals for the Senior Nutrition Program and at the Head Start Centers.
“You can make a difference each and every day in someone’s life,” Stromer said.
For more information, see http://brocinc.com.
Hospitality House expands among a growing need for helpHospitality House of Northwest North Carolina’s history of helping the homeless dates back more than 40 years.
Hospitality House Executive Director, Tina Krause, said the organization has seen a trend in more people experiencing homelessness for the first time that are well up in age.
On top of that, over the past year, the nonprofit has seen a 50% increase in the number of people requesting services. That includes housing, emergency shelter for those currently homeless or fleeing domestic violence and financial assistance to avoid eviction. And there is a waitlist to enter its emergency shelter.
“Our staff works hard to move people out quickly into their own housing, which frees up space for others who are in crisis. However, the availability of affordable housing has slowed this process and caused longer stays in shelter,” Krause said.
Since the early 1980s, the Boone Coalition of Churches has been providing assistance in one form or another to people who find themselves in need of housing. The coalition consists of Grace Lutheran, Boone United Methodist, First Baptist, First Presbyterian, St. Luke's Episcopal, The Boone Jewish Community and St. Elizabeth of the Hill Country.
In 1981, the group came together and identified the need for a true shelter. After a period of temporary shelter in the six local churches, a more permanent solution, Hospitality House of the Boone Area, Inc. was incorporated on Sept. 7, 1984.
Soon after, the doors at 302 W. King St. opened to house homeless people. That original location in downtown Boone, was built in 1917 and given as a gift from an anonymous donor in 1984.
Ten years later, in 1991 the property at 494 W. King Street, christened Sleeping Place, was acquired and used to start the Transitional Housing Program. Around the same time Rock House Annex, which sat up on the hill behind the original house, was acquired to meet the needs of homeless families.
Recognizing the increased need throughout the High Country, Hospitality House opened its doors four years later to homeless citizens from Ashe, Avery and Wilkes counties.
As the face of homelessness continued to change, Hospitality House invested in a new property named Rock Haven, a house containing eight efficiency units with shared dining, living and kitchen areas. Rock Haven was built from the ground up and opened its doors on June 12, 2003 to serve people living with disabilities in the Permanent Supportive Housing Program.
In 2005, North Carolina recognized the need to help rural communities apply for Continuum of Care funding from HUD, creating the Northwest CoC, NC-516. This designation not only expanded the service area of Hospitality House to include Alleghany, Mitchell and Yancey counties, but allowed the agency to apply for increased federal grant funding. Hospitality House continues to serve as the point-of-entry for all homeless services in these seven counties.
As service needs continued to grow, the board of Hospitality House began a capital campaign, raising $3 million to build an 18,000 square foot building to better facilitate services for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
The move from three very old homes in town to the main facility was the beginning of an era, as Hospitality House grew services across the region.
In its ongoing quest to end homelessness, Hospitality House added Scattered Site Housing and Rapid Rehousing programs not long after moving into the facility.
Scattered Site Housing consists of 15 leased properties (apartments, homes and duplexes) in Watauga and Wilkes counties, providing stability and case management for families and individuals with disabilities or mental illness.
Rapid Rehousing provides financial assistance and services to prevent families from becoming homeless and help those who are homeless to be quickly re-housed.
In 2020, Hospitality House again expanded its reach into Wilkes County with the management acquisition of Wintergreen, a home with seven efficiency apartments added to its Permanent Supportive Housing portfolio.
And within the last two years, Hospitality House opened the Watauga Housing & Outreach Center, 160 Den-Mac Drive, Boone, allowing it to convert the conference room and outer offices at Brook Hollow into additional dorms providing space for 34 more beds.
In 2022, Hospitality House opened the Wilkes Housing & Outreach Center at 1904 W. Park Drive, North Wilkesboro, providing housing and crisis assistance for those who are currently experiencing homelessness or at-risk.
In October 2023, Hospitality House had nearly 100 people at its main facility, from families with newborns to elderly. Many more in the Rapid Rehousing program are housed and receive monthly case management as they stabilize in their new homes.
Hospitality House also operates a community kitchen that serves three meals a day the year round. It averages about 11,500 meals a month being prepared and served either inside to residents or on the front porch for anyone in need.
The group continues to work with area landlords to secure units that are affordable and safe. It’s also pursuing development of new units that will increase affordable housing stock.
Adding to the challenge of helping the homeless has been the winding down of federal COVID-19 relief funding, which assisted agencies with operational costs and prevented evictions for people who were struggling during that time.
Hospitality House was one of the few shelters that remained open throughout the pandemic. During its height, Hospitality House had as many as 47 people quarantined onsite at a time.
“We navigated the space that we had and worked around the clock to provide care for people who were struggling. Staff learned to hook people to oxygen and monitor for changes while dressed in full PPE,” Krause said. “During the second year of the outbreak we experienced the greatest loss, with 21 people leaving this world too soon.”
The physical and mental health of people experiencing homelessness is fragile on a daily basis, Krause said. Covid added another layer that took a tremendous toll on the people Hospitality House serves.
“Now that relief funding is gone, people are finding that they owe large amounts of back pay in rent and as well as facing the increases in cost of living. This has contributed overall to the increased number of people experiencing homelessness,” Krause said.
Inflation also poses challenges for the shelter.
“In our food service programs, we have experienced a surge of need, going from an average of 100 people per meal to 140. With three meals a day and a seven-day-a-week food pantry, the cost of food continues to rise. These costs have doubled in the past year,” Krause said.
To help cover its costs, since 2011, Hospitality House has been holding the annual High Country Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day along the Boone Greenway Trail. So far, the fundraiser has brought in more than $275,000 and collected close to 10,000 pounds of food to support its mission.
Krause said Hospitality House has enjoyed the relationships that have developed over the years with the Wilkes Chamber of Commerce. Through the Chamber’s community events and hosting after hours have been ways for the agency to better inform the community and to provide opportunities to share its own events and employment needs within the chamber network.
“We are grateful for the opportunity to share more about Hospitality House and the work being done across this region to bring a better way of life for our neighbors. This is the work of a community,” Krause said.
For more information, see https://www.hosphouse.org/.
