About Winchester Rescue Mission
Located in Winchester, VA, the Winchester Rescue Mission provides safe shelter, meals, support, and life-changing services to hundreds of individuals experiencing homelessness each year. The Mission contains a mens’ shelter to accommodate up to 35 individuals and a women’s shelter (The Stone House), which accommodates up to 10 individuals. Community dinner is served seven days a week, 5,000 meals per month, 365 days a year. In addition, the mission passes out boxes of meals every Monday through Friday and estimates 5,618 boxes were distributed as of September 2021.
The Challenge
The Winchester Rescue Mission’s building was constructed in 1973. In 2020, the Mission renovated the building with new carpet, flooring and paint, and an external beautification in the form of a wrap-around, painted mural depicting the mission’s comforting, giving, and welcoming spirit.
“Everything was antiquated from the top to the bottom and we wanted to elevate the level of dignity we bring to the people we are serving,” Vicki Culbreth, Development Director, Winchester Rescue Mission.
Although the building was cosmetically restored, the repair funds were exhausted and the utilities were failing. The lighting consisted of older fluorescent tubes that were constantly flashing, and half the lights were inoperable. To make matters worse, there were very few protective coverings left on the ceiling light fixtures—presenting a considerable safety hazard should the long fluorescent bulbs break. The Rescue Mission, whose sole purpose is to administer charity to those in need, now found themselves desperately seeking help.
“We are so focused on serving the people that the utilities just kept getting pushed to the side,” Culbreth admitted.
THE SOLUTION
For the Winchester Rescue Mission, help came in the form of a recommendation through the local Chamber of Commerce, the 3 Wins Development company referred the mission to Budderfly.
Budderfly is disrupting the energy industry by leading the digital transformation of energy management and consumption conservation through its unique Energy Management Solution. With no cost to its customers, Budderfly implements proprietary energy intelligence software, energy efficiency solutions such as LED lights, HVAC replacements and upgrades, refrigeration controls and monitoring, options for comprehensive maintenance, and much more.
“In the nonprofit world, we always get approached by someone who wants to do something for the Mission, and they always say they're going to make a great impact. As a result, we think this sounds too good to be true,” Culbreth added.
In just a month’s time, Budderfly assessed the Mission’s fluorescent lighting needs, developed a no-cost plan for installation and maintenance, and upgraded all outdated fixtures with new bulbs, protective coverings, and motion sensors that automatically shut lights off. In total, Budderfly installed:
Overall, Budderfly upgraded $11,000 worth of lighting fixtures, with an estimated saving of 25,428 kWh or approximately $2,288 annually—at no cost to the Winchester Rescue Mission.
"What impressed me about Budderfly was seeing the entire transformation in about a month. It was a very fast process with consistent communication and follow through—it takes all of the too-good-to-be-true away. In the nonprofit world, we really need companies to support us, it’s invaluable,” Culbreth added.
THE BENEFITS
The Winchester Rescue Mission takes pride in surrounding itself with experts in substance treatment, mental health services, and now energy efficiency.
As part of their energy management service, Budderfly assumes full responsibility for paying the energy bill and shares the saving results with clients such as the Mission. In addition, the company continually monitors for any abnormalities in power use and will make appropriate adjustments to return the consumption back to the established baseline. If any of the fluorescent fixtures, bulbs, or sensors should fail, Budderfly will quickly replace the unit.
"I don’t have to deal with the energy bill, I just generate an invoice to pay Budderfly for our contracted amount that is lower than our past bills. Best of all, we have historical data to compare if the cost ever goes up or down. It's an easy, automatic process and I don't have to stay on hold dealing with the electric company if I have a billing question—Budderfly takes care of it all,” Culbreth concluded.