In 2015, when the Asheville, North Carolina Corps was doing fundraisers for the Boundless Congress, they held a big yard sale in which they rented spaces to the community. One of their vendors was a member of the West Asheville Arts Council with a company called Ya–Ya. She takes old clothes and accessories and recycles them into new fashions. When the West Asheville community was planning a big arts festival, they asked if The Salvation Army would be interested in opening their corps building for artists to show their work. They agreed, making sure the items placed in their corps building would be suitable to be shown in the corps building.
On the day of the festival, a lot of people came through the corps building. Uniformed Salvationists were present to show people around. They set up tables in the foyer for copies of the War Cry and promotional material to educate the community regarding The Salvation Army and to extend an invitation to attend church services.
The West Asheville corps building is located in a very eclectic neighborhood containing a lot of coffee shops, quaint little boutiques and restaurants. People walk up and down the street all hours of the day and night. Ya-Ya has asked to use the sidewalk in front of the Army building for an Art Exhibit.
The friendship with Ya–Ya has grown through the months. She has come to do a women’s ministry program on recycling old clothes into new and fresh apparel. She has planned another art walk utilizing the corps’ back parking lot to provide additional space.
The Asheville Corps is in the beginning stages of planning another big community yard sale to raise funds for Commissioning. They are sure that Ya–Ya and many of her Art Walk friends will be a part of that also.
