Supporting the Abandoned Properties Coalition

During the two years I’ve been a Preserve WV AmeriCorps member serving at the WVU BAD Buildings Program, I have been extensively involved with the work of the Abandoned Properties Coalition (https://badbuildings.wvu.edu/abandoned-properties-coalition). The APC is made up of stakeholders, partners, representatives from key organizations, and topic area experts (Including PAWV and the BAD Buildings Program) that are committed to working with communities to adequately address the issue of vacant, abandoned, and dilapidated properties across West Virginia. At the start of my service, the APC was just beginning the transition period from being headed by the WV Community Development Hub to the BAD Buildings Program. Thanks to my position, not only was I able to see the APC grow and develop, I took an active role in that progress. 

My original task for the APC was the maintenance and growth of the Abandoned Schools Inventory. One of the issues the APC is focused on is the amount of abandoned school buildings in West Virginia. Once schools are shut down or consolidated, the buildings (many of which are historic) are left to stand there and become dilapidated. The inventory was created by the Abandoned Schools Team to keep track of the buildings and to create a clearer understanding of the scale of the issue. I created a survey that would allow people to submit abandoned school buildings and all information they knew about them online so that these buildings can be added to the inventory. The survey was a great success. Thanks to it, over 80 new school buildings were added to the inventory. This inventory along with the map, that is based on it, have been important parts of the APC presentations and future plans. 

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Besides the Abandoned Schools Inventory, I was a member of the APC Transition Team. This team was created to facilitate the moving of the APC from the WV Hub to the BAD Buildings program. Members of this team would meet to discuss what has been working, what can be changed, and what the future of the APC would look like as hosted by the BAD Buildings program. We wanted to ensure that the APC was developing in a way that would improve the cohesion between committee members, the general constituency, and the larger communities we serve. For this purpose, I wrote an outreach improvement strategy that was approved by the steering committee. Additionally, I started an official newsletter for the APC that makes it easy for interested individuals to subscribe and stay informed about the efforts of the APC.

The Abandoned Properties Coalition is dedicated to pursuing the revitalization of abandoned and dilapidated properties across West Virginia and I’m glad I was able to be a part of it during my service term. I am proud of the contribution I made for this coalition. Various members of the APC have thanked me for what I’ve been able to do and I hope the short term and long term effects will continue to provide support to the APC’S mission of revitalizing abandoned and dilapidated properties around West Virginia. ​​

SUMMER PHILLIPS

Summer Phillips served with the Preserve WV AmeriCorps program during the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 service years where she was assigned to assist the West Virginia Northern Brownfields Assistance Center with its WVU BAD Buildings Program.