Jerome Trehy, Owner of Roland Black highlights the Crisis Center as a longstanding beacon of hope in the community, providing essential services such as clothing, food pantry access, various types of aid, and connecting people with community resources.
The connection between Roland Black Heating & Cooling and the Crisis Center for this project came from a letter Michael Meeks, an independent candidate running for Mayor of Bessemer City, sent out to different community businesses asking for help.
Understanding the unexpected and often significant costs associated with replacing HVAC systems, Roland Black stepped up to assist the Crisis Center, whose HVAC system was several decades old and broken beyond repair. The Crisis Center estimated that the replacement of their old system would have cost several thousand dollars and Jerome and the Roland Black team assumed how that could adversely affect the Crisis Center’s ability to instead use that money to help others.
In a collaborative effort, Roland Black Heating & Cooling enlisted Yandle-Witherspoon Supply of Charlotte to provide a state-of-the-art American Standard HVAC system. Their friends at Johnstone Supply of Gastonia and Carolina Preferred Services also played a vital role in this project, contributing additional materials and electrical work respectively to bring the new system to life and up to regulatory standards.
The Bessemer City Crisis Center has expressed profound gratitude for this generous gesture. Throughout the installation process, the center was highly accommodating, ensuring that the team’s needs and challenges were met with understanding and cooperation.
Roland Black Heating & Cooling hopes that this act of kindness will inspire not only their team members, but also the wider community to continue paying it forward. They believe that possessing a special skilled trade comes with a responsibility to occasionally offer these skills for free, fostering community growth and encouraging others to pursue similar paths in the trade industry.
About Bessemer City Crisis Center
For over twenty years, the Bessemer City Crisis Center has stood as a pillar of hope in the community. It offers vital services including the distribution of clothing, access to a food pantry, and facilitating connections with various community resources.