Appalachia Programs

The Auxier Center

The Auxier Center – formerly the Auxier Lifetime Learning Center – was begun by Charlie and Sue Schaffer at the behest of Rev. Ralph Beiting, who founded the Christian Appalachian Project.

The Auxier School was closed in the 1990s, and The Auxier Center was founded in 2000 as the new hub for community activities. It has since been a source of education, recreation and a gathering place for social events, and its work has grown to include four surrounding counties and parts of West Virginia.

The Auxier Center became a part of Hand in Hand Ministries on January 1, 2007. The two organizations had worked closely together for several years, and HHM took on the Center to ensure that its programs would continue after Charlie and Sue retire as co-Directors at the end of 2009.

Hand in Hand Ministries plans to find replacements, continue most programs and hopes to be able to raise funds to repair and update the existing facilities – which include the school and an adjacent building.

Below is a listing of the Center’s accomplishments in 2007, and the stories of people helped by the Center would fill many pages.

One example is the Spalding family (not their real name) who lost their father in an accident while he was repairing the family car. A flash flood washed their home off its foundation shortly thereafter, When Charlie and Sue discovered the family’s plight, they requested that Hand in Hand Ministries volunteers step in to help. Volunteers repaired walls and floors for the widow and her seven children. In 2007, HHM volunteers working through Tha Auxier Center repaired over 85 homes near Prestonsburg, Kentucky, which is several miles from Auxier.

One of The Auxier Center’s main goals is to bring Eastern Kentucky into the 21st Century by providing free computers to those who complete the center’s computer course. It has also delivered over $100,000 in food, clothing, furniture, toys and the basic necessities to families in Appalachia over the last year. Most of the supplies were collected at the HHM Warehouse in Louisville.

The Auxier Center

2007 Statistics

A. Home Repair Program
1. Repaired 56 homes for low income families
2. Used 434 volunteers who worked 9,763 hours
3. Served 85 adults and 48 children
4. Built 14 wheelchair ramps
B. Outreach Program
1. Served 80 families, donating items such as clothing, bedding, baby items, furniture, etc. with donations also being made through nine schools, churches, and other organizations.
C. Food Pantry
1. Distributed food to as many as 58 low-income families
2. Served 1,469 adults and children
D. GED
1. Educated 27 students
2. Offered 1,080 hours of instruction
3. Had three students people pass the exam
E. Spring Classes
1. Educated 27 adults in the basic computer class
2. Provided five adults with quilting classes
3. Provided four adults with sewing classes
F. Fall Classes
1. Educated 20 adults in the basic computer class
2. Taught10 adults low-fat, healthy cooking
3. Offered quilting classes for five adults
4. 3 adults and 1 child attended the sewing class
5 15 people attended the crazy quilt class
G. Five Kids Summer Camps
1. Hosted 31 children
2. Used 14 adult volunteers
H. Computer Give Away
1. Distributed over 300 computers to low-income adults and children in West Virginia and Kentucky.
I. *Funds Spent by Volunteers
1. $20,806 on home repair supplies
2. $4,072 on gas by home repair volunteers
3. $718 on entertainment by Volunteers
4. $ 976 spent on souvenirs
5 $6,596 on groceries by volunteers
6. $6,041 on miscellaneous items by volunteers

* Approximately one out of four volunteers fail to complete information forms, so the actual forms could be 25 percent higher.