For Nikki Price, finding a two-bedroom apartment with access for her son, Kale, and his wheelchair in Belington, West Virginia, population 1700, was challenging. In addition, she doesn’t own a vehicle and needed a place that was walkable.
“There are really not any other accessible options in town besides the Golden Rule,” said Nikki. “It is central to downtown and we can walk to the grocery store and post office.”
The historical Golden Rule Building has been the heart and soul of Belington since 1902. With past lives as a wholesale grocery and department store, the three-story brick structure had an uncertain future after its closure in 1999. In conversations with Woodlands Development Group in 2015, the community identified it as a high priority for preservation. The nonprofit took on the rehabilitation challenge, creating ten affordable rental units and a main floor commercial space in a county identified by the Appalachian Regional Commission as economically distressed.
The scale of the $2.5 million project was ambitious in this rural area. The largest funding sources were historic and low-income federal tax credits. Utilizing them for a relatively small nonprofit development took determination and a committed local bank partner. Numerous smaller funding sources, including a Fahe Community Lending loan, were also crucial to the project’s success.
For Nikki and Kale, the building is more than just a place to live.
The tenants have created a family of sorts, doing chores for each other and spending time together. The downstairs commercial spaces almost feel like an extension of her apartment. A Family Resource Center offers services and activities—clothing drives, craft nights, garden programs—that weren’t available anywhere in town before. A bakery business welcomes a cross section of the population into the historic building. The Golden Rule has gone from a beloved but abandoned building to a vibrant community hub.
