Our History

The LOT Project was founded in 2009 by Matt Beasley and Jason Ashley. The early days of the organization included driving kids from the Alphabet Streets neighborhood to children's ministry programs at Newspring. Andrew Gibson joined the effort later that year and helped to get The LOT Project registered as a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization. In the fall of 2009 our first official program, The LOT, began. We leased a portion of the building at 302 West Market Street (which we still operate out of today) and began providing food and clothing to a population of homeless, housing-insecure, and low-income individuals in and around the downtown area. Our initial audience was about 20 guests, once a week. In 2024, we renamed this program Louie’s after our long-time volunteer, Louie Ross. Today, Louie’s is currently serving an average of 90+ guests, twice a week and serves over 1,200 unique individuals each year (as of 2023).

In 2016, the organization formed a partnership with Artisan Fellowship Church to support their community garden program. Artisan Gardens was created and managed by Marci Sloan, and existed on E Street and G Street. These gardens served as an avenue for the church to engage residents of the neighborhood in gardening activities, nutritional counseling, and church programs.  In 2020, Artisan Fellowship withdrew from the garden program and sold the gardens to us. We continue to manage the gardens with the goal of serving, teaching, and engaging the ABC community in a variety of ways. In 2021, we received a donated property on H Street to create a third location for Artisan Gardens. In 2023, we started a weekly outreach program called Meet You at the Garden where we invite the families of the neighborhood to join us for games, free snacks, a Bible lesson for the kids, and an overall supportive community. Our goal with this program is to cultivate a space for our neighbors where they are welcomed, known, and loved.

In 2016, the organization began a discussion about creating a new program called a Makerspace. We launched a capital campaign in 2017 and began seeking funding to acquire a building and equipment to launch the program. As of July 2021, the capital campaign had raised over $270,000. We were initially leasing space at 302 West Market Street for this program, but we decided to purchase the building in March of 2020 to have more control and longevity as the program develops into this space.  The construction on phase 1 (downstairs) was completed and we received our Certificate of Occupancy in May of 2022. We plan to begin phase 2 (upstairs) construction in the next year. In 2023, we launched West Market Makers, a co-creative space, including a communal studio area for artists and a workshop featuring woodworking and basic welding tools.

The most recent addition to our service portfolio is our transitional housing effort, which we call Village Homes. This program began out of a partnership with the Chamber of Commerce's Leadership Anderson program in 2018 when the group offered to build a new home in the Alphabet Streets neighborhood and donate it to us to manage as a transitional home for those in need.  The home at 308 E Street was completed in December of 2020 and given to us in the summer of 2021. The home was occupied when we acquired it by a single father with 2 sons. We continued to house them until the fall of that year. In 2024 we have already served three residents with this program - all graduates of the recovery program at The Bridge Center. While residents are in the home, they participate in a goal-setting process with a mentor and also commit to attending financial counseling.

All of the growth we have seen since 2009 and all of the accomplishments we have made in serving and loving those in need has been the direct result of God’s favor and the generous support of our community! Thank you all for making this possible.