Helping Overcome Poverty’s Existence (HOPE), a Wytheville based organization, recently acquired over 36 acres of undeveloped property, located approximately three miles south of Interstates 77 and 81 in Fort Chiswell, Virginia.

Speaking from his Wytheville, Virginia, based office, Andy Kegley, Executive Director of HOPE stated that his organization plans to develop the 23 parcels of land, set to be known as Long Meadows, in an effort to provide affordable homeownership to qualifying individuals.

HOPE’s Homeownership Program is geared toward assisting lower-income families in achieving their dream of homeownership.

Qualifications to be eligible for the 33-year mortgage include a credit score of 640 or better, a maximum income no greater than 80% of the median income of the area, required financial counseling attendance. Monthly mortgage amounts are expected to be no greater than 30% of income.

Additionally, the program requires homebuyers to invest a minimum of 200 hours in ‘sweat equity.’ Sweat equity can include keeping the lot clean during construction, landscaping or some other form of specialized labor.

The program has already seen success in Wytheville’s Deerfield community, where HOPE supplied well nearly thirty families with affordable homeownership.

When asked of the benefits of purchasing a home through HOPE, Kegley answered, “Our ability to work with a first time homebuyer has remained the same, whereas credit has largely dried up with traditional lenders in recent years.”

Kegley also referenced the fact that homeownership loans require no down payment and that interest rates are as low as 1%.

To help expedite the process, Wythe County officials have agreed to run waterlines to the community.

“County tax payers stand to benefit greatly from the development of this new community, as the developed land will dramatically increase the real estate values associated with the properties,” stated Jeremy T.K. Farley, Wythe County’s Public Information Officer.

Once the entire neighborhood is developed, the county projects Long Meadows to provide over $10,000 in additional real estate tax revenue each year.

WYTHEVILLE, Va. – Despite what were at times torrential downpours, Wythe County Parks and Recreation officials remain honored to be hosting this year’s District 1 Dixie Youth All-Star Tournament.

The ongoing event at Ager Park is now entering its fourteenth day and has been delayed numerous times by inclement weather.

Just hours after the most recent flashflood watch had expired, a very resolved Wythe County Parks & Recreation Director, Gary Cody, stated, “We’re excited to be hosting the tournament. It’s given us an opportunity to showcase Wythe County to hundreds of people throughout our region.”

Sixteen teams total have been competing in the event, participating in one of two tournaments – the AAA tournament for those aged 9-10 and the OZONE tournament for players 11-12 years-old.

Winners of these tournament games will advance to a regional and then state championship tournament.

According to Cody, the economic impacts of hosting these coveted tournament games are huge.

“Each of the sixteen teams has twelve players and three coaches, which when you begin to add up parents, spouses and fans it’s plain to see that this tournament is spurring several hundred additional transactions for local businesses each day.”

Praising field crews and volunteers who have dedicated countless hours in readying the fields after each deluge over the past two weeks, Cody said, “It has been a collaborative effort between volunteers and staff members to make this event a success,” adding, “Our field crews have done a phenomenal job to ensure each time players take to the field, the playing surface is as good as it possibly can be.”

Barring any additional rain delays, the tournament is slated to end this Saturday.

-Jeremy T.K. Farley

Dave Morris, Chief of the Max Meadows Volunteer Fire Department has watched Wythe County transform throughout the course of his lifetime.

Growing up in a very different era in Wythe County’s history – a time when the county was without a completed interstate highway and boasted of only two-thirds its present day population – the Max Meadows resident reminiscences about how different things were in the early 1960s.  “Back in those days we didn’t have a local fire department.  When we had a fire, firefighters would have to come all the way from Wytheville.”

Though they were fully committed to battling blazes throughout much of the county, the long and winding country roads, sometimes dozens of miles away, left the Wytheville Fire Department stretched thin in many areas.

“In 1965 we had a string of construction fires on the eastern end of the county and it became clear that we needed a separate fire department here,” notes Morris, who was a teenager at the time.

“My father was a firefighter at the Radford Arsenal and had previously served as a firefighter for both the Wytheville Fire Department and the US Army…  He got together some local guys and they formed the Max Meadows Volunteer Fire Department.”

With only $100 in annual funding from the county, Bill Morris, the first Chief of the Max Meadows Volunteer Fire Department, worked with the department’s founding members to secure a makeshift fire truck.

“The tank for the truck was donated by Smyth Oil and they kept it parked out in a field until enough funds were raised to build a fire house.”

In the years to come, great changes would come to the department and Wythe County.

Not only would Interstate 81 soon be completed, but eventually a second interstate would be built alongside I-81 – creating the most traveled stretch of highway in our region.

In 1994 the county purchased the department land, just a few hundred yards from the interstate.

A year later, the department’s new firehouse was unveiled.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Dave Morris not only serves as a firefighter at the Radford Arsenal, but also as Chief of the Max Meadows Volunteer Fire Department.

Morris, who joined the newly established department at the age of eighteen, says the challenges the department faces today were completely unimaginable to the original group of founders.

“The Gatorade factory is a million-square-foot building.  It, along with the several other factories in our coverage area, presents new risks and possibilities.”

To help meet these challenges, Wythe County, along with the Max Meadows Volunteer Fire  Department, has been on the forefront in preparing for worst case scenarios.

Part of that preparation is evidenced by the department’s newest fire truck—a rescue pumper capable of spraying 1,500 gallons of water per minute.

The truck, which was purchased by Wythe County, was furnished with money made available through a generous grant from the Wythe-Bland Foundation.

“Whether it’s a crash on the interstate or a disaster in Progress Park, this truck will undoubtedly have the power to save countless lives,” says Chief Morris.

The truck was purchased at the same time the County of Wythe purchased a fire truck for the Barren Spring Volunteer Fire Department and went in halves with the Town of Wytheville in the purchase of a similar vehicle for their fire department.  Both of those trucks were also furnished with grant money from the Wythe—Bland Foundation.

-Jeremy T.K. Farley