Episcopal Campus Ministry Wins Provost's Award

The Office of the UNC Provost Public Service Award was presented to the Episcopal Campus Ministry for its work in Ashe County.

Established in 2000 by Provost Richard Richardson, the award recognizes university units, including officially recognized student organizations, for service to the state of North Carolina. The $1,000 award was accepted for the Episcopal Campus Ministry on April 17 by Jean DeSaix, James Glick, Matt Curtis, and Laura Cole Alexander.

The letter of nomination written by parishioner and faculty member Jean DeSaix includes the following information, much of which was compiled by student leader Sam Laurent.

Ashe County, in the northwestern corner of North Carolina, is striking both in its beauty and in the abject poverty in which approximately 16% of its residents live. Almost totally rural, Ashe County offers little in the way of industrial development. The 2001 median family income in the county was $35,000, ranking it 85th among counties in the state.

The Episcopal Campus Ministry (ECM) at the Chapel of the Cross is an officially recognized student organization that provides a spiritual home at UNC for students of all denominations. ECM typically hosts 50 students each Tuesday for worship, music, food, and fellowship. The group maintains an active presence in the community, working in areas as varied as Habitat for Humanity and Prison Ministry, and typically plans mission trips during University breaks. The relationship between ECM, the Blue Ridge Opportunity Commission (BROC), and the Chapel of the Cross began in the fall of 1998. At that time plans were made, with the assistance from UNC School of Social Work professor Andrew Dobelstein, for a mission trip to Ashe county.

The team worked to repair houses and to improve living conditions of residents identified by the BROC as needing help. Construction and trip supplies are purchased in Ashe County with ECM money. Specific projects have included the addition of a hot water heater and shower to a house repairing and replacing rotted flooring, replacing unsafe porches, adding handicapped access ramps to houses, and renovating a trailer home that had been donated to BROC but was not in livable condition. Each year the trip has grown in size. In addition to the mission trip, the relationship grew to include in some years the sale in Chapel Hill of donated Ashe County Christmas trees with all the proceeds going to BROC.

Additional activity in support of the people of Ashe County includes transporting excess ABC Sale clothing to the store run by BROC. The clothes are then sold on a pay-as-you-can basis to the residents of Ashe County, many of whom refuse to accept donations but are nevertheless in need of assistance.

Mission team members also volunteer at a Head Start center in Ashe County, spending time with preschoolers and assisting teachers. This not only helps the teachers, but provides young children an exposure to college students. BROC is constantly confronted by needs that far exceed their funding, and the ECM trip brings in funding and volunteers to complete projects that may otherwise be turned down or significantly delayed due to lack of funding.

2003 will be the fifth consecutive spring with an ECM trip to Ashe County. The trip grows each year; the 2001 team consisted of about 21 people and worked on eight different work sites as well as the Head Start center. Of the $4,259 spent on the trip, less than $100 was spent in Chapel Hill (for gasoline). This was the only part of the budget that did not go directly into Ashe County economy.

The relationship with the Chapel of the Cross has constituted the largest private source of funding for the Blue Ridge Opportunity Commission in years past. The mission team of UNC students received coverage in the Ashe County newspaper while building a strong reputation in the county for their friendliness and commitment to service. This truly represents the university at work in public service to the state.

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© 2003 The Chapel of the Cross