Dear Friends,

It has been a remarkable year for Asheville GO.

One year later, Green Opportunities —the organization we’ve built around Asheville GO—is on solid ground and well on its way toward its goal of providing pathways out of poverty into promising green careers. Here are a few of our accomplishments:

•  Five of the six members graduating from the pilot class are now employed full-time.
•  Our new class of 12 Asheville GO members has completed 15 service-learning projects addressing important community issues like water and air pollution, invasive species, climate change, and food security. Twelve more members will begin their service-based training in March of 2010.
•  Our newly-formed GO Energy Team has provided ten disadvantaged young people with marketable job skills in building science and weatherization, and has weatherized 16 homes and performed energy audits on 18 others—plus two commercial audits including one for the Asheville Chapter of the Red Cross.
•  Thanks to dozens of newspaper articles, TV and radio pieces, community events and public appearances, Green Opportunities and Asheville GO are becoming household names in the region. More importantly, however, businesses, community organizations and underserved and unemployed youth are seeking us out.

Even more impressive are the stories behind the accomplishments and the lives affected by them.
     “D” is a 20-year old Pisgah View Apartments resident who joined Asheville GO just over a year ago. At the time, he was facing criminal charges, he hadn’t worked in months, and he was struggling with alcohol abuse. Early last month, D was hired full-time with FLS Energy as a solar installer. His record is now clean, he quit drinking, and he is enrolled in a GED program. Five days a week D walks to work from his nearby apartment and, according to his supervisor, is often the first to arrive.
For struggling young people like D, Asheville GO represents a tangible opportunity to turn one’s life around, providing a sense of purpose, dignity and self-sufficiency.

    On cold days, Vietnam Veteran “Tony” used to wear his coat inside his home in the Burton Street neighborhood. Although his veteran’s benefits put him just over the income requirement to receive free weatherization services, renovating his home to be more energy efficient was beyond his budget. On October 24, in conjunction with an international day of action to confront climate change, GO members and community volunteers weather-stripped Tony’s attic hatch, wrapped his hot water heater, sealed leaks around his chimney, installed CFL’s, and more—all free of charge. Concerned about indoor air quality in the house, our staff connected Tony with a reputable HVAC contractor replaced his furnace at a price he could afford. As a result, Tony’s house is now healthier for him, uses less energy, and pumps less CO2 into the environment.

Service-based training opportunities like this one allow our members to gain valuable technical skills, life skills and work experience while improving the health of the planet and transforming their community.

Despite all our accomplishments, our work has only just begun. In addition to strengthening Asheville GO and the GO Energy Team, we have plans to:
•  Connect to youth and their families through neighborhood-based afterschool programs
•  Create other green microenterprises to employ and train GO members and other disadvantaged community members with barriers to employment
•  Work with community partners to prevent violence, reduce recidivism and bridge the gap between low-wealth, high crime neighborhoods and the rest of our community.
In order to support our efforts, our staff has tripled and our budget has quadrupled in the last year. While much of this growth is supported by grants, we are still $20,000 short of the revenues needed for our 2009-2010 budget. That’s why we are asking supporters like you to help us continue this important work by making a financial contribution today.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Green Opportunities is awaiting official nonprofit designation from the IRS. In the meantime, tax-deductible contributions can be made through our fiscal sponsor, the Western North Carolina Green Building Council, an Asheville-based nonprofit dedicated to promoting environmentally sustainable and health conscious building practices through community education.
To learn more about the WNC Green Building Council, or to donate online via PayPal, please visit http://www.wncgbc.org/. Be sure to write “GO” in the comments box.

You may also mail your contribution to:
Green Opportunities
C/O WNC GBC
378 Haywood Road
Asheville, NC 28806
 Make your check payable to WNCGBC and write “GO” in the Memo.

 

Many thanks for your support.

Sincerely,
Dan Leroy and DeWayne Barton 
Green Opportunities Co-Founders