Bethlehem Farm, Inc.

Bethlehem Farm serves the community primarily through our low-income "Repairing Homes, Renewing Communities” program. Typical home repair projects include: roof repair or replacement, insulation/weatherization, window replacement, porch repair, additions, wheelchair ramps, and exterior siding. In 2009, Bethlehem Farm hosted 412 service-week volunteers who donated 16,480 hours of labor to the local community. The total value of the home repair materials purchased by Bethlehem Farm last year was $23,065. The free labor contributed by Bethlehem Farm staff and volunteers multiplied that investment to a total of $105,000 of added value to the community. Bethlehem Farm also partners with local community organizations, such as Wellspring of Greenbrier (affordable housing), the Alderson Ministerial Association (food pantry and thrift store) and Loaves & Fishes (food pantry and thrift store). We emphasize working with people rather than for them, and we strive to always learn from one another. We remain open to other ways of serving the local community.

We infuse the teaching of sustainability concepts throughout our work, while enabling our volunteers and wider local community to practice sustainability. We currently compost, garden organically, clean our house without the use of harsh chemicals, conserve electricity, heat primarily with an efficient double-burning wood stove, and use rainwater to flush our toilets. In November of 2009, we installed a 6.24kW solar panel array on our roof to generate one-third of our electricity. We hope to eventually replace all of our coal-fired electricity with alternative, sustainable energy forms. We are also working toward using more sustainable home repair materials for our clients as products become locally available and affordable.

As stewards of creation and co-creators with God in its care and cultivation, we have a responsibility to consider the effect of our actions on the environment and adopt practices that sustain and promote environmental health, rather than degrade it. These Christian values have been clearly outlined in both the Appalachian pastoral letter At Home in the Web of Life and Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’.

As we have been learning more about sustainable building techniques (environmentally-friendly products, super-insulation to encourage conservation of fossil fuels and lower utility bills, high-quality durable products that will last a long time, etc.), it has become clear that using such methods can be more costly than a homeowner is capable of paying and/or more costly than they would choose (e.g., they may not want to spend the extra few hundred dollars on insulation, even if it’s good for the earth OR they do not know how much they could save on future utility bills). We subsidize the sustainable elements of home repair and renovation for our low-income clients. For example, if it would cost $1/sq. ft. for minimal insulation, while our preferred option of super-insulation would cost $1.50/sq. ft., then Bethlehem Farm gives the homeowner a credit for that additional $0.50/sq. ft. that covers the better insulation cost, above and beyond the standard material.

The Sustainable Upgrade Fund: Bethlehem Farm budgets funds each year for a “Sustainable Upgrade Fund.” The fund is used as a cost share (credit, discount, etc.) for the cost of sustainable materials above and beyond the cost that the conventional (standard, lower quality, more toxic) materials would have been. The cost share will generally not exceed 25% of the total project cost, except after discussion with the Project Director and Director. All home repair clients qualify for the Sustainable Upgrade Fund and everyone who participates will be given the opportunity to contribute to the fund for future clients.

In 2017 we established the Sustainable Upgrade Fund. We opened the fund with $5,000 from our reserve. We see an opportunity to expand upon these plans by investing more funds in the Sustainable Upgrade Fund. A high funding level will not only ensure that the fund does not get exhausted before all eligible families can participate in its current form, but would also allow us to expand the offerings of the Sustainable Upgrade Fund to include home energy audits, deeper weatherization of homes to cut down on fossil fuel use and energy bills, and renewable energy installations. One of our hopes is that if we can help transition some local neighbors and other local nonprofit organizations to renewable energy, then people may be able to see coal, natural gas and other fossil fuel extraction in a clearer light, since they’ll no longer be dependent on it.

Sustainable materials that qualify include, but are not limited to:
• Nontoxic or less toxic materials to replace toxic materials (toxic either in production and environmental effect, in construction, or their effect on indoor air quality.)
o I.e., using ceramic tile rather than vinyl tile or zero VOC paint rather than conventional
• Materials that lead to increased weatherization through super-insulation
o I.e., insulation in between wall studs is standard, but thicker walls and exterior foam board sheathing are recommended by Passive House and other green builders
• High quality, durable products that will extend the life of the home
o I.e., ceramic tile instead of vinyl tile, ZIP System sheathing, instead of OSB and house wrap, Advantech-style waxed subflooring instead of standard plywood
• Environmentally-friendly or sustainable products
o I.e., sustainably-harvested lumber, less impactful materials (bamboo over vinyl flooring)

We also include:
• Home energy audits
o Either in-house by newly-created Project Director or contracted out
• Assistance to carry out the recommendations of the home energy audits
o May include case management to reduce energy use, LED lighting upgrades, sealing drafts, underpinning, etc.
• Renewable energy installations
o Most likely solar electric panels, but may also include wind turbines or solar hot water

The Sustainable Upgrade Fund- Solar Upgrades: we have expanded the Sustainable Upgrade Fund to include solar upgrades. In this program, a family participates in a home energy audit, carries out energy conservation recommendations (with Bethlehem Farm support as appropriate), and after reducing energy consumption, is eligible for renewable energy installations like solar electric panels. Funding from the Wheaton Franciscans was used as seed money for the program. Families would provide a down payment for the solar install, and then pay back monthly a no-interest loan for the remainder of the costs. These payments return to the Solar Upgrade Fund, thus creating a perpetual fund that local families pay back into for the program to continue for years to come.

We are excited for the potential of this new fund to improve the health and resilience of our local community, while also cultivating care for creation. This is especially relevant in an Appalachian community that is still dedicated to its hard-working coal miners, natural gas extractors, and timber workers. We hope to be a small but clear voice among those who live out the belief that caring for these workers and their families can happen while also trying to move beyond the use of fossil fuels. We know that caring for people and caring for the Earth are inexorably intertwined and hope to model that by our every action.

At Bethlehem Farm we continually strive to choose sustainable practices, educate others, and plant seeds of sustainability in local community members and national volunteers. It is common for participants in our program to return home and implement something learned from their experience here with us. We would like to bring some pieces of this journey to completion with the help of the Wheaton Franciscan Sisters. In order to be “net-zero,” that is to produce as much (if not more) energy than we consume and produce as much of our own food as practical, we have set the following plan:
1. Hire an architect to create an overall plan for the sustainable design of the Bethlehem Farm property, including best placement of the remaining structures, rain collection plan, green design, etc. (See exploratory conversation with an architect in the budget document.)
2. Complete phase III of solar electric (photovoltaic) panels in order to produce 100% of our electricity from the sun.
3. Complete transition of hot water heating to renewables by installing solar hot water collectors for all domestic hot water. Some heating of spaces may also be possible with heat from these solar collectors as well.
4. Construction of 24’x40’ “San Damiano Center for Sustainability” to enhance our local food production capacity and teaching of sustainable practices to groups by housing the tractor, organic garden tools, organic supplements, wheelbarrows, season extension equipment, beekeeping equipment, and other garden/farm needs. Plans include installation of composting sawdust toilets off the back of the structure and gutters and downspouts for future rainwater collection. A goat shed off the eastern (orchard) side may be included as a way to transition pasture management to livestock, rather than using the fossil-fueled brush hog to maintain pastures. Some of the above tools currently sit out in the weather and are wasted through rusting and rotting, while others are currently housed farther from the gardens in a deteriorating structure with lead paint and fallen-in walls slated for demolition, so there is also a safety concern that this building would alleviate.
5. Install 18,000-gallon rainwater containment to collect rainwater from west half of Retreat House (2,968 sq. ft. roof), San Damiano Center for Sustainability (1,000 sq. ft. roof), and future 5-vehicle garage (1,800 sq. ft.), to use for laundry, toilets, food production, and livestock.