August 20, 2020
For many Appalachian parents, being able to support the educational efforts of their children can be challenging.
Now, with the coronavirus pandemic continuing to plague the communities you help us serve, the topic that is on most parents’ minds is what they’re going to do when school is in session.
Thanks to supporters like you, we’re helping to give these children options. From providing school supplies to helping create online opportunities so that teens are safe, we believe in the youth of Appalachia and their educational endeavors.
Along with providing teens in Beattyville, Kentucky with Coronavirus Learning Pods, we also want to make sure elementary school children will be able to continue their studies even if they have computers at home, but not internet access.
That’s why Americans Helping Americans® is providing 200 flash drives to them.
This is part of the digital divide, or simply, families who have access to computers and broadband internet at home and those that do not. Many school children in Appalachia live with no computer and broadband internet access at home. That means that low-income students without computers cannot do their homework. They cannot conduct research for school projects. They cannot email their teachers if they have a question or need guidance. They cannot do their assignments when school isn’t in session.
For years, we’ve worked with our partner, Lee County Family Resource Center (LCFRC), in Beattyville to provide a computer to needy children at Beattyville Elementary School.
With the flash drives, students will be able to receive their assignments from their teachers, complete their classwork and upload it onto the flash drive and return the flash drive to their teachers.
With your help, we can help hundreds of children in Beattyville are able to adapt to the educational challenges facing the community.
June 25, 2020
Although our partner in McDowell County, West Virginia, Big Creek People in Action (BCPIA), was not able to move forward with its annual summer camp program out of an abundance of caution, they are pleased that they are planning to offer a fun substitute for dozens of children, ensuring they’ll have a fun-filled, and safe, summer.
For each of the 49 children who had attended their summer camp last year, BCPIA plans to provide them with a Summer Fun Box full of clothes, basketballs, Nerf footballs, jump ropes, water sprinkler toys to help the kids stay cool on hot summer days, “and lots of other fun things to do outside,” says BCPIA co-executive director Dyanne Spriggs.
Right now, Dyanne and staff are preparing to make lists for each of these children, reporting, “We [won’t] just pick out the first thing we see. We know the likes and dislikes of these kids and will spend a long time looking for something we know they will like.
“Some little girls like unicorns or JoJo Siwa (a teen dancer, singer, actress and YouTube personality), and some little boys like West Virginia University or football shirts, so we will spend the time to find something we know they’d personally like.”
In addition, to make up for the meals they would be missing out on due to the cancellation of this year’s summer camp, each child and their family will receive two food boxes.
Meals include macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, soup, and other items that can be prepared simply in a microwave oven, as well as snacks such as Pop-Tarts, granola bars, applesauce, fruit rollups, cookies and crackers, and more.
June 10, 2020
Home. Perhaps now more than ever, Home is where many of us spend our days and nights.
For some, being home these days can be challenging. For too many families, urgently needed repairs can’t be completed. The cost is just too high.
Despite the challenges posed by the global coronavirus pandemic which has spared no region of our nation, even the most rural regions of Appalachia, our partners are carrying on with their mission to rehab homes for families urgently needing repairs.
Among them is our longtime partner in Jefferson City, Tennessee, Appalachian Outreach, which was able to work on four homes doing repairs on roofs and gutters, painting, and exterior deck construction and repairs.
Another continuing its home rehab mission is Ocoee Outreach in Cleveland, Tennessee where many homes were damaged by a tornado which passed through the community about six weeks ago.
With the financial assistance made possible through the generosity of our supporters from across the country, Ocoee Outreach was able to provide disaster relief to those homeowners whose homes were damaged by the tornado.
Their efforts included clearing debris, placing tarps on roofs to prevent further damage, and demolition work on homes that were damaged beyond report, according to Ocoee Outreach director Randy Bonner.
“We’ve also completed a wheelchair ramp, and made electrical repairs and plumbing repairs for several tornado-impacted families,” Randy reported.
“Ocoee Outreach has been blessed by the assistance provided to us through the partnership with we’ve had with Americans Helping Americans for several years. That partnership has enabled us to complete many home repair projects for low-income families trying to survive all sorts of life issues and hardships.”
Ocoee Outreach volunteers Darrell and Sharon Bottoms who have been delivering meals to a local homeless shelter commented that “This is another opportunity for us to love on another precious soul.
“Apart from God’s grace, any of us can be in a needy situation, so why would you not want to help someone else when you are able to.
“As local residents, we are extremely grateful for the partnership Ocoee Outreach has with Americans Helping Americans — it truly has had a great impact on our community.”
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March 20, 2020
As the COVID-10 (coronavirus) pandemic continues, residents in Appalachia still need help and children still need to eat – particularly healthy foods such as vegetables and fruits that families are able to grow in their backyard or in neighborhood community gardens.
Among our newest partners are Sprouting Hope in Marion, Virginia and Refresh Appalachia in Huntington, West Virginia, which are soldiering on as best they can even in these most worrisome of times.
Knowing that they count on Americans Helping Americans and our loyal helpers, we will aid them to establish their gardens to help their communities.
That’s why, thanks to a supporter who wishes to remain anonymous, for the first time we are able to announce our “Garden Match” program in which every dollar contributed by people like you will be doubled by this generous donor.
Sprouting Hope’s mission is to feed the community by growing and sharing healthy produce, with the vision of everyone having access to healthy food. With the Homegrown program, 10 families will be able to learn how to operate a successful garden in their own backyard, benefiting the family and the neighborhood!
“With a focus on serving and empowering low-income individuals, we not only give a fish but also teach how to fish by making the program accessible for participants to work and learn in the garden,” states Sprouting Hope on its website.
Program coordinator Mandy Hart reported this week that the organization’s operations have not been affected by COVID 19 yet, although they are taking precautions including putting its Homegrowers course online making it available to residents in the community.
“The Homegrown program will continue,” says Mandy. “We just have to get a bit more creative.”
This month, participants began planting the seeds in trays at a local high school greenhouse so the seedlings will be ready for planting following the final frost of the season.
Upcoming classes focus on soil fertility, including soil tests, transplanting their seedlings from trays into bigger pots as they mature, basic gardening skills including demonstrations of the proper use of gardening tools, planting, hoeing and mulching, followed in June with learning about common gardening problems including pests, diseases and more.
In Huntington, Refresh Appalachia, with support from Americans Helping Americans, is working to create a garden on an unused tract at a community center in a low-income public housing community. This area is known as a “food desert” – the nearest actual grocery store is miles away and many residents don’t have access to transportation.
These projects are vital to the health and wellbeing of the residents in the communities, and they MUST go on!
And with your help, these communities will become more resilient with fresh local food, food security, with the potential to provide additional income to families and individuals.
Please, if you can, give today to our Garden Match and remember, every dollar you contribute is doubled!
Thank you, and be safe!
March 5, 2020
(Pictured: 11-year-old Ailesi, seated left, a member of Refresh Appalachia community garden planning committee, listens as various aspects and options of the proposed garden are presented.)
Among Americans Helping Americans® newest partners is Coalfield Development Corporation, which supports a family of social enterprises, including Refresh Appalachia, “that inspire the courage to grow, the creativity to transform perceived liabilities into assets, and the community needed to cultivate real opportunity in Appalachia through mentorship, education and employment.”
“Our vision is Appalachian places and people unlocking their full potential, power and purpose, Together, we are rebuilding the Appalachian economy from the ground up.”
Refresh Appalachia is its agriculture-focused social enterprise that currently works in Wayne, Mingo and Lincoln counties in southern West Virginia.
“By providing training in farm and food entrepreneurship, we aim to transform the lives of young people and those displaced from the coal mining industry,” says Refresh Appalachia director Adam Hudson. “Refresh Appalachia operates like a business but also provides goods and services in places that aren’t being served by the private sector.
“To this end, as we work to build our own thriving food and farm business, we are also focused on strengthening other farm-based businesses – and communities – throughout the region.
“We do this by providing workforce training, market access and distribution services for farmers while also increasing healthy food access by creating new market outlets serving low- and middle-income people.”
Refresh Appalachia directly employs low-wealth, low-skill individuals who receiving on-the-job training which includes six hours per week of coursework towards an Associate’s Degree at an institute of higher learning. It makes a three-year employment commitment to its employees so they have the time and support they need to obtain their degree, accumulate work experience, and move from financial vulnerability toward financial resiliency.
The community center where the Refresh Appalachia community garden will be located.
Thanks to the supporters of Americans Helping Americans® we were able to provide a $15,000 grant to its Food Access Resources & Employment (FARE) program which is working to create a community garden in the Fairfield neighborhood of Huntington, a low-wealth neighborhood with a high minority population and located in a food desert.
With the funding from Americans Helping Americans®, Refresh Appalachia will be able to plan and implement an educational community garden program at a community center and hire unemployed people from the community which will be used for nutrition education program.
Among the community members involved in the planning process for the garden is 11-year-old Aikesi, the only child from a female-led household in Fairfield.
Aikesi was studying at the community center before the start of Refresh Appalachia’s first community-based planning meeting where neighborhood residents were invited to take part in deciding what they would like to see.
Although Aikesi had not planned on attending the meeting, Aikesi was intrigued by the discussion, joined the meeting and became an active member of the decision-making team.
“Her voice is an important one, as the youth program being built in the Fairfield community is undoubtedly strengthened by the input of the children it will affect,” reported a Refresh Appalachia AmeriCorps volunteer. “The individuals living in Fairfield, including but not limited to Aikesi, will have access to food grown in their own community.”
She and her friends helped determine what lessons would be taught, what food will be grown, and even what the garden will be named, putting in a strong foundation in place to build an inclusive and lasting program to abate the issue of food insecurity in Fairfield.
“There is not an ag-based effort in play in the Fairfield community,” says Adam. “Through this community garden project, we will provide people with unemployment and other resources to improve their lives and wellbeing.”
And as Refresh Appalachia noted in its recent program update:
“Funding provided by Americans Helping Americans® is enriching the Fairfield Community by bringing the members together, young and old, to learn about food production. In an area characterized by lack of access, these skills provide an invaluable tool for conquering food insecurity in their neighborhood.”
August 27, 2019
Among Americans Helping Americans® newest partners is Sprouting Hope, located in Marion, Virginia in the rural southwest region of the state.
Sprouting Hope’s mission is to feed the community by growing and sharing healthy produce, with the vision of everyone having access to healthy food.
“With a focus on serving and empowering low-income individuals, we not only give a fish, but also teach how to fish by making the program accessible for participants to work and learn in the garden,” states the organization.
Everything grown is distributed to volunteers, food pantries, soup kitchens and a local free clinic. In addition, Sprouting Hope offers youth education and therapeutic gardening programs for people in the mental health community.
It’s 13,800 square foot garden serves more than 300 families with approximately three tons of fresh produce annually.
Sprouting Hope is located in Smyth County, which as a population of less than 6,000 and a median household income of $38,900, much lower than the statewide average of $68,114. Indeed, the services of Sprouting Hope are much needed.
Fresh produce provided to households by Sprouting Hope is key to healthier diets, particularly for growing children in a county where 55 percent of them qualify for free and reduced-price meals and one-third are expected to develop Type 2 diabetes in their lifetime and are at risk becoming seriously obese.
Low-income rural Appalachian communities are at an even greater risk than the general population, so access to nutritious food is vital to their health.
With funding from Americans Helping Americans, Sprouting Hope will be able to restart their Homegrown project which allows applicants to participate in a multi-year education course teaching them how to start a farm in their own backyard.
In the first year, they will learn the basics of farming including proper ways to ward off insect pests and diseases and learn more about the options and benefits of organic gardening. In the second year of the curriculum, participants will be instructed on how to qualify for food certifications and sell their produce at local farmers markets.
Fresh food and self-sustainability will work wonders for this community and this project can be emulated across America.
