Dustin Tommey, executive director of the community development corporation City Fields, shows blueprints of a renovation project to Tiffany Callaway-Ferrell, Chattanooga Gas vice president of operations (right).
Chattanooga Gas is ensuring that new homeowners in a historic but sometimes overlooked neighborhood will experience the comforts of home that natural gas provides by donating funds for appliances to the Blythe Oldfield revitalization effort in Cleveland, Tenn.
The $15,000 donation from Chattanooga Gas to City Fields, the community development corporation leading the project, is helping further the organization’s efforts to restore Blythe Oldfield – a previously industrial section of Cleveland known to many as the neighborhood that built the city – to its former glory.
City Fields’ mission is to cultivate healthy neighborhoods in collaboration with residents through physical and social revitalization, economic development, safety initiatives and leadership development.
This includes purchasing and renovating residential properties in order to offer affordable housing to local residents and prevent rapid gentrification and cost increases.
The gift from Chattanooga Gas will equip homes renovated this year with furnaces and water heaters that use clean, safe, reliable and affordable natural gas. This is the second donation Chattanooga Gas has made since partnering with City Fields. The first donation brought natural gas appliances to homes renovated in 2020.
“The communities we serve benefit when business, government and nonprofits work together. This donation from Chattanooga Gas allows us to be more impactful as we revitalize and empower this overlooked, but much-loved, part of Cleveland,” said City Fields Executive Director Dustin Tommey. “With Chattanooga Gas’ support, we are able to give residents the opportunity to build equity in their neighborhood. We are grateful for this donation, which will help us keep home prices low by passing our savings to buyers.”
Tiffany Callaway-Ferrell, vice president of operations at Chattanooga Gas, noted the funds used to equip these homes with natural gas appliances will benefit buyers well into the future.
“Gas appliances provide efficiency that will bring savings to homeowners’ energy bills long-term,” Callaway-Ferrell said. “The average Chattanooga Gas customer in 2020 paid just about the same for natural gas that they did a decade ago. We hope that by providing Blythe Oldfield’s new homeowners access to affordable natural gas, we will help make their homes comfortable, ease their financial burdens and enable a more healthy, vibrant community.”
Chattanooga Gas’ partnership with City Fields is one of many ways the company is supporting communities and driving economic growth. More information for customers in need of financial assistance is available at chattanoogagas.com.
City Fields Executive Director Dustin Tommey and Chattanooga Gas Vice President of Operations Tiffany Callaway-Ferrell hold a donation check in front of a home being renovated, as Chattanooga Gas representatives (rear left to right) Paul Teague, director of external affairs; Paul Leath, region director; and Breeze Miller, office assistant, look on.