TFH National Annual Meeting

The TFH national annual meeting, Together for Transformation, October 23-25 in Decatur, GA, was packed with experienced and knowledgeable presenters, networking and collaboration, encouragement and inspiration, and friendship. TFH Appalachia was happy to welcome friends from Appalachia: Mark Snipes and Laura Davis, with CBF Virginia; Bob Fox, with CBF Kentucky; Amy Anderson, with Lees-McRae College; Amelia Bandy, Economic Development Greater East; Sharon Felton, CBF Congregational Advocacy; and Devon Hayes, Coalfield Development and Annual Meeting presenter.

EDGE Nominated for Prestigious Trust for Civic Life Grant

The Southern Coalfields, Economic Development Greater East (EDGE) was accepted into Trust for Civic Life's grant process. After being nominated by TFH (Sebrena Williamson and Emily Zilich Thomas, TFH Chief Development Officer), EDGE received confirmation that they would be able to apply for funding for entrepreneurial programming. Our team at TFH Appalachia is incredibly proud of our coalition members, and will continue to advocate for their work.

SOAR - Shaping Our Appalachian Region

Keith represented TFH Appalachia at the Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) Summit in Pikeville, KY, October 16-17. SOAR is a nonprofit serving the 54 Appalachian Regional Commission counties of Eastern Kentucky with the goal of economic development and population retention. Keith exhibited for TFH and connected with some great organizations and leaders including: 

Betsy Whaley & Andrea Muñoz, with the Mountain Association

(https://mtassociation.org/). The Mountain Association, “invests in people and places in Eastern Kentucky to advance a just transition to a new economy that is more diverse, sustainable, equitable and resilient.”

Molly Updegrove, with ReImagine Appalachia (https://reimagineappalachia.org/). “Reimagine Appalachia was born out of a broad recognition that the economy has not been working for most people and places in the Ohio River Valley. In response, a diverse set of economic, environmental and community leaders, and grassroots organizations, came together to find common ground and build the future we want to see—a 21st century economy that’s good for workers, communities, and the environment.”

Teresa Back & Becky Stacy, with Appalachian Early Childhood Network

(https://appchildnetwork.org). “The Appalachian Early Childhood Network provides professional development and advocacy efforts that support young children, their families, and the early childhood professionals that serve them.”

JC Morgan, with Dolly Parton's Imagination Library (https://imaginationlibrary.com). “Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is dedicated to inspiring a love of reading by gifting books free of charge to children from birth to age five, through funding shared by Dolly Parton and local community partners.”

Tim Crawford, with Red Bird Mission

(https://www.redbirdky.org/). Since 1921 Red Bird Mission has been serving their mountain community with education, healthcare, housing improvement, food assistance, disaster relief, senior adult ministry, community building, and economic opportunity.

Dr. Kathryn Engle, University of Kentucky Appalachian Center, Director.

And many others

Hindman Settlement School

On his way to the SOAR Summit, Keith paid a visit to the Hindman Settlement School. The last time Keith visited the Settlement School, he went as a volunteer after the flood of 2022. He came with two Centre College archivists who were helping recover from the flood—historic archives, papers, books, and pictures. On this recent trip he saw volunteers continuing the job of meticulously cleaning and restoring valuable historical archives, slowly but surely making progress in a large room full of tables covered with pictures, papers, and books.

Appalachian Artisan Center

Also in Hindman, Keith revisited the Appalachian Artisan Center. Keith last visited after the 2022 flood, while the center was still wet and filled with mud. On that earlier visit, he picked up some of the candle holders artisan Kirk Banks had created for TFH, used as gifts to share with donors. The candle holders were muddied by the flood but survived. The Artisan Center was devastated and the kilns destroyed, shutting down the pottery making business for some time. However, Keith was happy reconnect with Kirk and learn that he is back in the pottery making business. TFH looks forward to placing a new order of candle holders.

Emma Quire Mission Center

Keith was asked by First Baptist Church, Frankfort, KY, to speak on behalf of the Emma Quire Mission Center, in worship on Sunday, October 13. Keith was happy to report on the important role the Emma Quire Mission has played for the community, for the church, and for Together for Hope. Owsley County was one two of the original 20 poorest counties of Together for Hope located in Kentucky. In response to the Together for Hope initiative, and in partnership with the Owsley community, FBC, Frankfort, KY, established the Emma Quire Mission Center. The Center has been faithfully serving with the community and hosting volunteers since then, with Linda Witt, director and Owsley County native, providing excellent leadership.

Public Education Advocacy - KY Amendment 2 Defeated

TFH Appalachia has been advocating for a “no” vote on a Kentucky ballot amendment that would have allowed public funding for private schools. Passage of this amendment would have inevitably diverted resources from already underfunded schools in Together for Hope’s 42 counties of persistent rural poverty in Appalachia. Through TFH Social Media and email, and in partnership with Pastors for Kentucky Children, TFH Appalachia has been advocating in support of public education that our rural communities rely on.

Keith attended a rally sponsored by Crescent Hill Baptist Church, in Louisville, Kentucky where representatives of Protect Our Schools KY, Jefferson County Schools (Louisville), Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Congregational Advocacy, a video message from Governor Beshear, and others, spoke and answered questions. University of Kentucky student, Sawyer Noe, summed up the effort this way, “Growing up in eastern Kentucky, you learn early that public schools are often, for far too many, the one and only avenue for success.”

We are happy to report that Kentucky's ballot Amendment 2 was soundly defeated on election day, with a majority of every county in Kentucky voting "no."

Growing Roots - Hurricane Relief

Eight volunteers from Growing Roots in Grundy County, TN, a TFH Coalition Member, traveled to East Tennessee to help their Hurricane impacted neighbors. Stephanie Colchado Kelley, Director, was a member of the relief team. The volunteers assisted three homeowners, removing mud and debris, gutting water damaged homes, helping residents sort through their flooded personal belongings, and putting a fence back up. The Growing Roots Facebook page described the work this way: “Yesterday was a long but rewarding day — the people we're meeting are a testament to the strength, creativity, and resilience of community care. The land and rivers offer many lessons to us about what it means to grieve, process, and rebuild.” TFH Appalachia was happy to contribute to this effort through the new TFH Disaster Relief Fund

Stephanie responded, “We are so grateful for TFH’s support in this effort, and I can confidently say it wouldn’t have happened without y’all. You gave that initial contribution and phone call of support, and that flipped this project to a “green light” for us. Knowing that there was at least some financial support that could help a team of volunteers get from A to B gave us a foundation for the effort to grow organically. Thank you again.”

Learn more about Growing Roots:

https://growingrootstn.org/

Extreme Build Completes 19th Home

Volunteers working on the annual Extreme Build project completed their 19th home in October in McCreary County Kentucky. When Together for Hope was launched in 2001, the focus was on the twenty poorest counties in the U.S. Two of those counties are in Kentucky, McCreary and Owsley. One of the first major projects of TFH was Extreme Build, sponsored by Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Kentucky in partnership with the Highlands Housing Corporation, a nonprofit lending and construction organization. Extreme Build constructs a home every year in a little over a week with the help of many skilled and unskilled volunteers. Over that time, they have committed over a third of a million dollars and countless volunteer hours to provide life changing housing opportunities to people in McCreary County who would not have a chance otherwise. With the help of financing with Highland Housing and donations, the new homeowner receives a low interest loan for some of the cost and is able to own their own home for a payment of less than $250 a month. The selected family completes financial counseling and initial screening to gauge their ability to pay for and their commitment to owning their own home. Normally the home is built in an intensive week-and-a-half effort in June, but due to some financing delays this year, the home was completed over a period of a couple of months in the fall.

RAIL & Coalfield Development Partnership

Midway through the month, Rural Appalachian Improvement League (RAIL) was visited by Coalfield Development and researchers from Notre Dame. RAIL and Coalfield Development were connected through the Together for Hope Appalachia network, and a partnership between the two will center around workforce development in the Southern Coalfields. Our team at TFH Appalachia is thrilled to see the two incredible organizations team up to create equitable economic solutions.

Learn more about RAIL: www.railwv.org

ASP Hurricane Recovery

We can’t say enough about the work of our partner, Appalachia Service Project. On Oct. 22, they broke ground on their first home rebuild after Hurricane Helene. They are committed to repairing or rebuilding at least 200 homes affected by Hurricane Helene. As of the middle of October, ASP had already raised donations to fully fund the first 25 homes. To help with this goal, and with other projects throughout the region, ASP recently received a $10 million grant from the Appalachian Regional Commission. According to the ASP Facebook page, “The money is designed to strengthen long-term disaster recovery, home repair, and construction. This funding will allow ASP to establish three regional hubs over the next five years, providing critical services to communities within a two-hour reach of each location. The designated hubs will be based in Johnson City, Jonesville, and a third site yet to be determined in Eastern Kentucky.”