Tag Archive for: #rebuildinghope

TownTalk: Rebuilding Hope Celebrates 20 Years

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In the Bible, Jacob labored for 20 years for Laban. And that’s how long the Israelites were oppressed before Samson came on the scene to be their deliverer. And it’s how long it took Solomon to build his temple.

Tom Wille, co-director of Rebuilding Hope, shared those biblical references with those gathered Thursday to celebrate 20 years of the local non-profit.

“Twenty years is a significant number in scripture in terms of what God wrote down for us in his book,” Wille said.

And so the question is, he said, What now?

“What’s the continued call of this ministry? We’re going to keep on…is there more there? I don’t know,” he continued.

The first 20 years of the ministry began in a little office in Warrenton, where Randolph and Gail Wilson and a few other volunteers started out.

They worked the first 10 years operating out of donated space in Henderson before purchasing their current home – the former Coca-Cola Bottling Co.

And now, looking back at the first 20 years, Wille looks ahead to the future, and said the volunteers – brothers and sisters in Christ – will continue the mission of faith through acts.T

“Twenty years have flown by in the Rebuilding Hope land,” Wille said. In the 13 or so years he’s been involved, the building has changed and the circumstances have changed and the equipment has changed, he said. People have come and gone, but the mission has remained the same and the organization’s name says it all: Rebuilding Hope.

The audience gave a round of applause when Wille thanked the Wilsons for the work they’ve done and continue to do. “They took a huge leap (of faith) when they were called to do so,” he said.

Before the ribbon-cutting ceremony began, Wilson told WIZS that he is thankful for everyone who has been a part of this ministry. Starting Rebuilding Hope was simply something “I couldn’t not do,” he said. “I had to.”

Henderson-Vance Chamber President Sandra Wilkerson said Rebuilding Hope defines perfectly the term non-profit.

“We are so grateful to help you celebrate 20 years,” Wilkerson said in remarks before the ribbon-cutting – you really show what a non-profit is all about and we thank you. Rebuilding Hope does exactly what its name says, said Chamber Board member Kevin Wade. “You give encouragement to people, you give love – that’s what we need more of today.”

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TownTalk: 20 Years of Rebuilding Hope

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It was 20 years ago when Randolph Wilson was struggling to understand just where he was being led.

“God had been dealing with me for a while,” Wilson recalled Thursday. He felt called to do something, but he didn’t have a clear picture of what that “something” was.

That’s when a friend casually mentioned whether he’d ever considered a local ministry. That was the light bulb moment – he knew immediately what the “something” was.

Rebuilding Hope is celebrating 20 years of providing help to people in need, right here in the Henderson area.

Tom Wille joined Wilson on TownTalk Thursday. The two men are co-directors of the non-profit organization that replaces roofs in disrepair and builds ramps for people to safely enter and exit their homes.

In the beginning, Wilson said, the young organization set up shop in a building that once had been used to construct trusses for homes.

The Pernells, of Pernell Steel on Raleigh Road, gave Rebuilding Hope the building for 10 years, which was a blessing in itself, Wilson said.

They started out giving away household furniture, too, but decided they’d prefer to focus on construction instead. That way, volunteers could visit with people at their homes to see what their needs were.

“We were excited about how God was leading us,” he said. “It was just amazing to watch Him work in those first few years.”

But the time came when they knew they’d need to find a permanent location, so they started looking at warehouses and other potential sites that they could afford.

When they got a lead that the former Coca-Cola Bottling Co. may be available, Wilson and Willard Jackson went to meet Hager Rand, who owned the Henderson property.

Long story short, Rebuilding Hope raised $234,000 – $200,000 for the building and the rest for renovations.

“He was very generous in his price on the building,” Wilson recalled of Rand’s asking price. That generosity continued over the ensuing months, too. Rand gave them multiple extensions so they could come up with the money.

“We’re so thankful for him and his generosity,” Wilson said.

Since then, the former bottling facility has been transformed to accommodate tools, construction material and more that keeps Rebuilding Home humming along.

Wille joined the operation in about 2007, and he said that while the tangible results are ramps and roofs, the intangibles are just as important.

Whether stopping by the office at 414 Raleigh Rd. to complete an application or welcoming a construction crew to a job site, individuals see, hear and feel the love of Christ, Wille said.

By the time someone needs a ramp to get in or out of their home, they’ve already been through health issues they must overcome, he observed.

“Health issues lead to money issues,” Wille said. “By doing what we do, in that one little thing,” volunteers put their faith into action.

And then it’s no longer about the ramp – “it’s about loving on people in our community.”

Last year, Rebuilding Hope built 152 ramps in 10 counties including Vance. That’s an average of three ramps a week. The volunteer crews do every bit of the work, at no cost to the homeowner.

The summer Servants on Site program sent more than 100 young people out into the community to complete nine roofing projects.

Those young people, Wilson said, give him faith in the next generation, by their commitment and willingness to help others.

“It changes people’s lives,” he said. And it’s not just the people who end up with new ramps and roofs.

The youth grow in Christ and create friendships and bonds with other young people that will last a lifetime. Former SOS participants have returned – as adults – to help, which Wille called awe-inspiring.

The Kids’ Construction Camp helps younger children learn how to use tools like hammers, tape measures, angles and squares. This year’s campers – about 30 of them – had a lot of fun creating a bird house with their new skills.

And when they’re old enough to take part in SOS, they’ll be ready.

There were stations where the kids learned a little bit about roofing, electricity and plumbing, but Wilson said the most important station was the one where they learned about the Bible.

Volunteers are the heart of the ministry, but having community partners is critical, too.

And then there are the folks who make financial contributions.

It takes upwards of $1,000 in lumber to construct a ramp. A recent truckload of lumber cost $15,000.

“This is a community-wide thing,” Wilson said. The commercial institutions and businesses that provide support of one type or another are feeding back into the community, rebuilding hope for everybody that brings “a little bit of light shining into a huge pot of darkness.”

Find the monthly newsletter, donation links and more at www.rebuildinghope.com.

 

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The Local Skinny! Servants on Site for Vance County

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UPDATED  7/1/2026 AT 10 A.M. TO INCLUDE COMPLETE LISTING OF CHURCHES THAT PROVIDED SUPPORT TO REBUILDING HOPE’S SERVANTS ON SITE PROGRAM.

Rebuilding Hope’s 13th annual Servants on Site took place last week, and co-director Tom Wille said the 95 youth participants got a chance to work in the community, proclaiming joy, peace and hope from the rooftops – literally.

The youth replaced roofs on nine houses – seven in Vance County and two in Warren County. A number of teens who’ve participated in multiple SOS events have become quite skilled in the process.

They worked hard all day, and got to enjoy evening fellowship with one another, listening to a band and hearing a great message from this year’s speaker, Mitch Smith.

“It’s a very large effort to take the love of Christ out into the county, and share it in a very practical way,” Wille said on Monday’s segment of The Local Skinny!

With Romans 15:13 providing this year’s theme, Wille said the 95 youth and their leaders had the support of about 150 local volunteers who delivered meals to the work sites, helped oversee construction and provided overnight accommodations during the June 22-26 program.

Wille, who’s been a part of each of the previous SOS programs, said this year’s group did another outstanding job.

“We do the work that the Lord points us to,” he said.  “And that is growing people in Christ and rebuilding hope.

“There’s no other way to rebuild hope in anybody without encouraging them practically,” Wille continued. Whether it’s having gospel conversations or meeting their physical needs like providing water, a roof or a wheelchair ramp.

“If we don’t do those practical things, then we’re not doing anything,” he said.

Overnight accommodations and breakfast and supper were provided by Central Baptist Church, where praise and worship services were conducted each evening.

Nine area churches provided worksite lunches each day. The churches are Raleigh Road Baptist, Gardner Baptist, New Life Baptist, North Henderson Baptist, Oxford Baptist, Lake Gaston Baptist, Island Creek Baptist, West Oxford Baptist, West End Baptist churches and South Henderson Pentecostal Holiness Church.

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TownTalk: Rebuilding Hope Chicken Plate Fundraiser Coming April 24

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Rebuilding Hope is gearing up for its spring barbecued chicken plate fundraiser, which is scheduled for Friday, Apr. 24.

Come on out to 414 Raleigh Rd. beginning at 11 a.m. to pick up plates in the convenient drive-thru lane or park and head inside the Rebuilding Hope headquarters to dine in. Tickets are $12. Call 252.438.5132 to have a minimum of five plates delivered.

There’s a lot to coordinate, and Rebuilding Hope Co-Director Tom Wille said it’s a great team-building activity.

Just like the variety of carpentry and other construction skills that volunteers bring to jobsites across the county and elsewhere, dozens of volunteers work together to get the place ready for the daylong dine-in and drive-thru event.

There are those folks who get the big pots ready to cook vegetables, others who make the barbecue sauce – from scratch – some who bring in dozens of delicious cakes and still others who slice and bag those cakes so they can be tucked inside the now fairly famous plate heaped with succulent barbecued chicken, potatoes and green beans.

“It takes a lot of people to do this,” Wille said on Monday’s TownTalk. “We build ‘team’ through this event,” he said. “It’s a great time of camaraderie, encouragement to all the volunteers that work here.”

As Rebuilding Hope approaches 20 years of service, Wille said new volunteers are welcome.

“We invite them in on that day or any other day and talk about what we do and how we reach out,” Wille said. “Volunteers are critical – that’s how we operate.”

Last year, teams built 158 ramps and put roofs on 13 homes.

Fundraisers like the twice-a-year chicken plate dinners are one way Rebuilding Hope makes those ramps and roofs a reality.

The teams worked on 250 different homes last year and helped another 50 or so residents find resources for needs that the Rebuilding Hope teams couldn’t handle.

“It’s all done to point people to Jesus,” Wille said of the work that the volunteer teams do. “If we’re not helping them, then who are we?”

Because of the work – provided free of charge – people can live under roofs that don’t leak and are able to get in and out of their homes safely, whether it’s because of a newly installed ramp or repaired porch boards.

“There are many, many people who just need help,” he explained.

Registration for Rebuilding Hope’s youth summer camp is open now until May 1. Servants on Site has close to 100 young people already signed up, but Wille said there’s room for a few more.

The goal for summer 2026 is to repair or replace nine roofs, he said. This year’s S.O.S. takes place June 22-26.

The kids “work hard, play hard, and learn about Jesus in the process,” Wille said.

Learn more about Servants on Site at https://rebuildinghopeinc.org/

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The Local Skinny! Rebuilding Hope Gets $10K Grant From Coastal Credit Union Foundation

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Rebuilding Hope has received a $10,000 grant from Coastal Credit Union Foundation.

The local nonprofit made the announcement in its most recent newsletter. The foundation provides grants to organizations that make an impact in their communities by offering access to resources and that fit the foundation’s affordable housing initiative.

Coastal Credit Union’s local Branch Manager Karen Jones encouraged leaders to apply for the grant, according to information in the newsletter.

Emily Nail, executive director of the credit union’s foundation, presented the grant award on Nov. 20 to RHI volunteer Robbie Parham and co-director Tom Wille.

Send an email to info@rebuildinghopeinc.org if you’d like to be added to the mailing list.

Visit www.Rebuildinghopeinc.org to learn about all the opportunities available for requesting help or to make a donation or provide a service.

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TownTalk: Rebuilding Hope BBQ Chicken Fundraiser Coming Up September 26

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Plans for Rebuilding Hope’s Sept. 26 chicken plate fundraiser are well underway, and Co-Director Tom Wille said patrons are invited to pick up plates at the drive-thru, or they are welcome to park, come inside and visit for a while as they enjoy their meal.

One quick note: the price has gone up to $12 a plate, but customers can expect the same delicious food – half a chicken, potatoes, green beans, bread and dessert. The sale is from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

“We still think it’s a very fair price,” Wille said on Monday’s TownTalk.

With the cost of everything going up – from the food to lumber, Wille said making the price adjustment was necessary.

“The cost of doing what we do has risen also,” he said. “We’re trying to keep up with the times.”

Rebuilding Hope, located at 414 Raleigh Rd, helps the community in many ways, including building wheelchair ramps and making repairs to homes in Vance County and beyond.

The nonprofit holds fundraisers to help purchase the lumber needed to construct the ramps and stairs that help people get in and out of their homes safely.

Wille said folks can order their plates ahead of time, and businesses can have five or more plates delivered. Call the office at 252.438.5132 to place your advance order.

One addition to this fundraiser is called Scraps to Treasure, Wille said.

“One of our steady volunteers is very handy,” he said, referring to Larry Leach, who creates items like planters, candlesticks and other decorative items from leftover wood.

“We bring all our leftover scraps from a job site and so many times they end up in the landfill,” Wille said.

Leach takes this “pile of scraps” and he turns them into treasures, he said.

It’s a way to put a few more dollars out into the community, Wille said, but it also diverts scrap wood out of the waste stream.

Visit rebuildinghopeinc.org to learn more about the services the Rebuilding Hope offers and to see a sample of the objects offered in the Scraps to Treasure program.

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The Local Skinny! Rebuilding Hope Chicken Plate Sale Coming Up April 25

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Rebuilding Hope, Inc. is having its spring chicken plate fundraiser Friday, Apr. 25. For the price of $10 a ticket, customers will get half a chicken, potatoes, green beans, bread and dessert, thanks to lots of volunteers who will be working behind the scenes to get food prepared and packaged for takeout.

Stop by the RHI headquarters between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. to pick up to-go plates. Or, said RHI Co-Director Tom Wille, businesses that call and place an order for five or more plates can have them delivered.

Rebuilding Hope, Inc. has kept its price at $10 – “that’s our price and we’re sticking to it,” Wille said. Everybody is trying to save a little bit these days, and he said he hopes keeping the price at $10 a plate will be helpful to families.

Wille estimated that between 150 and 200 volunteers will have had some role in the fundraiser after all is said and done. “This is an awesome operation,” he said, “and it really speaks to what Rebuilding Hope, Inc. is all about – a team effort.

From cake bakers and slicers to the folks on the assembly line who place the meal in containers, the volunteers show up and show out.

And then there’s the grillers – “they appear from nowhere with their cookers,” Wille said.

“These guys know what they’re doing. They come together and have a good time doing it,” he added.

The end result? Chicken that’s cooked to perfection.

Whether during the twice-a-year chicken plate fundraiser or at other times throughout the year when Rebuilding Hope is helping others, the mission of the ministry is “designed to be the feet of Jesus in the community,” he said.

In addition to the roofing repairs and wheelchair ramp construction that the construction ministry is known for, they also help churches support members in need. Rebuilding Hope, Inc. supplies the materials and the tools, and the churches supply the workers to help get that ramp built or some other project around the house.

“We’re loving on the people where they’re at,” Wille said. “We’re here to point people to Jesus.”

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TownTalk: The Mission Of Rebuilding Hope, Inc.

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For Tom Wille, the message and mission of Rebuilding Hope is simple: The book of Acts calls upon Christians to be the witness in Jerusalem, and to spread the Gospel message.

“Here we are, working in our Jerusalem,” Wille said on Monday’s TownTalk.

As co-director for the past couple of years, Wille said he has witnessed acts of good service to residents in Vance County and beyond. When Rebuilding Hope teams venture out to repair a roof or build a ramp, he said, it changes people’s lives. Ramps make daily living easier to get people in and out of their homes, but that simple act of constructing a ramp also shows them the love of Christ, Wille said.

In 2024, teams installed 205 ramps in homes across five counties. Add to that 16 roofs and a bunch of deck and porch repairs, and Rebuilding Hope is really showing up for their neighbors in need.

“Most of us are retired from our secular jobs,” Wille said. “We’re just out here working in the name of Christ.” From recruiting new volunteers and managing construction teams to making sure materials are ordered and delivered on time, Wille said he and founder and co-director Randolph Wilson try to keep things humming along.

There are several local companies that send out teams to volunteer regularly to help with projects, but there’s always room for more, Wille said. Churches that want to form teams to help others in their congregations are welcome to participate, too.

“Their constituents have needs,” he said. Churches can form volunteer teams and Rebuilding Hope can supply the lumber, a tool trailer and whatever else may be needed to help the church serve its own members in need.

“It’s a wonderful thing when a local church serves its own congregation because they’re seeing how the family of Christ should work,” he said.

The office, located at 414 Raleigh Rd., is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call 252.438.5132 or visit rebuildinghopeinc.org to learn more.

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TownTalk: Rebuilding Hope, Hurricane Helene Relief

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Rebuilding Hope, Inc. is using one of its warehouses as a staging area and has two trailers ready to load up with much-needed supplies that will be delivered to western North Carolina that was ravaged by flooding and mudslides last week by Hurricane Helene.

Robbie Parham, one of the chaplains at the local nonprofit, said RHI has connections with several churches in the affected areas, including Crab Creek Baptist Church in Hendersonville, where Kevin Long is pastor.

Parham said one trailer left today for Hendersonville, loaded with beds, generators and some food – leftover #10 cans of potatoes and string beans from last week’s chicken plate fundraiser.

“When you have a storm like this, people feel like they want to help,” Parham said. “The problem is getting the assets there” where they can be put to use.

Large organizations like Samaritan’s Purse and Baptists on Mission are already hard at work getting supplies to devastated areas like Asheville and other areas where so many people are out of electricity and water.

“Rebuilding Hope has the ability to mobilize,” Parham said, and the doors will be open to the whole community to help get the trailers filled. Normally open 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., Parham said RHI is extending its hours to 5 p.m. to accept donations. Drive to the rear of the building to the back warehouse and someone will be available to take your donations.

Rebuilding Hope plans to get to the smaller towns now, Parham said, to help lessen the “logistical nightmare” of getting supplies from the big cities to those less populated areas where the need is just as great.

Some people just aren’t comfortable making online donations, Parham said, adding that actually purchasing items and dropping them off at Rebuilding Hope gives people peace of mind that their donation will go where it is most needed.

Many of those who will deliver the loaded trailers are disaster-trained, Parham said. “They feel led to hit the ground when disasters happen.”

Visit https://rebuildinghopeinc.org/ or call 252.438.5132 to learn more.

Here’s a list of items that are most needed at this time:

  • Bottled Water
  • Packaged nonperishable foods
  • Peel top canned foods
  • Paper plates
  • Plastic forks & spoons
  • Paper towels
  • Toilet Paper
  • Hand sanitizer
  • Wet wipes
  • Disinfectant wipes
  • Multipurpose cleaner
  • Large trash Bags

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The Local Skinny! Chicken Plate Fundraiser At Rebuilding Hope

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Volunteers and supporters of Rebuilding Hope, Inc. are gearing up for the annual fall chicken plate fundraiser, which will be held Friday, Sept. 27 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the 414 Raleigh Road location.

Co-director Tom Wille said the plates include half a chicken, potatoes, green beans and dessert, all for $10 each.

Call 252.438.5132 to pre-order or to get a minimum of six plates delivered to you.

“We’ll get those to you at lunch time, or break time,” Wille said. For pre-orders, “we’ll save them and you can pick them up,” he added.

But don’t wait until the last minute – they’ll be selling until 7 p.m. or until they run out.

This chicken plate fundraiser does more than just feed hungry people, Wille pointed out.

“We’re supporting the local community by doing this,” he said.

By building ramps for people with mobility issues, Wille said, they’re also helping first responders by reducing calls for help getting people in and out of their homes.

“It changes everybody’s life for the better,” he said.

“Everything we do is in the name of Christ. Because Jesus loved us first, we can go out and love those in our community.”

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