The Appalachian Region

2,367 domestic violence victims were turned away from shelters in Virginia in 2005 because no beds were available. An increase in funding is imperative in order to build more shelter space to accommodate victims (Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Action Alliance. (2005) Domestic Violence Services in Virginia)

One in every four women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime (findings from the National Violence Against Women Survey, 2000)

Every day in America, at least eight million children and youth are left alone and unsupervised once the school bell rings.

78 counties in Appalachia qualify for distressed county status on the basis of low per capita income and high rates of poverty and unemployment.

Unsupervised after school hours are the peak time for juvenile crime and experimentation with drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and sex.

The cost of intimate partner violence exceeds $5.8 billion each year, $4.1 billion of which is for direct medical and mental health services (Costs of Intimate Partner Violence Against Women in the US, 2003. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Centers for Injury Prevention and Control, Atlanta, GA)

Coal producing counties are among the poorest in the nation. McDowell County, West Virginia, has produced more coal than any other county in the U.S., yet suffers from a 37.7% poverty rate.

30 percent of adults in Appalachian Ohio attend college, compared to 62 percent for the entire U.S.

1 in 5 Appalachian children (77,000 total) live in poverty ($14,630/year or less for a family of three).

77% of children living in Appalachia go without three meals a day.

Between 2000 and 2006, the number of women and children staying in domestic violence shelters has doubled (The Virginia Sexual and Domestic Violence Data Collection System, 2006)