(Atlantic) SHIFT ATL is looking for volunteers later this month to help clean up the yard at the organization’s inaugural flipping project at 608 Hazel Street.
The 501(c)(3) organization was born following local businessman Rob Stamp’s community meeting in 2019 focused on raising the tax base with economic development.
Mallory Robinson, who moved back to Atlantic last summer with her husband and daughter, recently joined the group. Robinson says, talking with President Jessie Shiels and the rest of the group, learned of their mission and wanted to get involved.“They all knew the housing and empty buildings in the downtown area were issues,” said Robinson. “Everyone on this board, except for me, is a transplant to Atlantic. They all moved here for husband’s jobs or jobs of their own and saw a need to continue to advance the needs of Atlantic.”
SHIFT’s first project was to renovate the former Telegraph and Downtown Restaurant Building across from City Hall. The group executed the renovation with Werts Construction, Camblin Mechanical, and Berg Electric and have made good progress. They’ve completed demolition, stabilized the building, plumbing electrical, followed by new flooring and interior walls for an Airbnb on the upper story and room for commercial space on the lower floor. Their next gear is a flipping project at 608 Hazel Street.
“When SHIFT took ownership of the telegraph building it needed a lot of demo work, to see what the bones looked like and get a contractor in there and those kinds of things,” said Robinson. “So they hosted a demo day. I wasn’t a part of this organization at that time, but what I hear it was incredibly successful. The saying “many hands make light work,” and that’s exactly what happened that day.”
The organization hopes to repeat that same kind of volunteer support on Friday, April 30, and/or Saturday, May 1, cleaning up the yard on the non-profits first flipper house at 608 Hazel Street. The job includes picking up sticks, raking leaves, debris, cleaning out the garage, etc.!
“We don’t need to do an extensive amount of demo work on the interior of the home at 608 Hazel, but the yard needs a lot of work,” said Robinson. “Seventeen trees were removed from that property within the last year, and there’s a lot of debris left on the property. We have the bid to seed the yard, but we need to do some major yard work before we can do that.
Volunteers are asked to bring their own work gloves, rakes, or tools. SHIFT ATL will provide drinks, snacks, music, and they promise as always a good time. The work hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 30, and 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 1.
