Charities/Volunteer Organizations serving the Appalachians

[theHandpuppet]

This discussion thread is pinned.

Charities/Volunteer Organizations serving the Appalachians

This is an umbrella thread where anyone can post information regarding charities & volunteer organizations dedicated to the issues of poverty, hunger, health & education in the Appalachian region.

Some guidelines:
1. Please provide a description of the organization, the area they serve and a link to their website.
2. Indicate whether the organization has religious or political affiliations. Some religious-affiliated groups do a great deal of prosthelytizing while others do very little. Readers may make up their own minds but should have that information available to them, whenever possible.
3. If you have served as a volunteer in this region, please share your story!

Thanks to everyone and anyone for participating.

[theHandpuppet]

1. RAMP -- Rockin' Appalachian Mom Project

Area served: Martin County, Kentucky (currently)
Religious/political affiliations: minimal

I'd invite everyone to explore the RAMP website at http://www.rampamerica.org/ They have many ongoing programs that could use our support. Thanks!

RAMP -- Rockin' Appalachian Mom Project

Vision and Mission

RAMP’s vision is to significantly improve the well-being of children and families across rural Appalachia.

RAMP’s mission is to CONNECT resources, INVEST in communities, and EMPOWER children and families to lift themselves out of poverty, beginning in Martin County, Kentucky.

How We Work

RAMP works with the Martin County community to identify critical needs and create solutions focusing on nutrition, economic development, and emergency relief intervention, with a special focus on children and families.

RAMP connects resources locally and nationally to address basic human needs where other resource are limited or inaccessible.

RAMP builds relationships with the community, schools, and local government and business leaders to mobilize volunteerism and facilitate the efficient delivery of resources and services.

RAMP believes in a “hand up, not hand out” operating model that invests in the community from the ground up.

RAMP empowers the families, schools, and organizations of Martin County to take ownership of the programs, get involved, and volunteer to help bring about positive change.

RAMP envisions a poverty-free Appalachia. It strives to refine its operating model and grow its impact by replicating the Martin County pilot throughout the Appalachian region.

[theHandpuppet]

2. Southeast Ohio Hunger Fund

Area served: 10 Appalachian counties in southeast Ohio.
Religious/political affiliations: None. the Southeast Ohio Hunger Fund is a program of the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, a philanthropic organization. Website: http://www.appalachianohio.org/

Perhaps when you think of hunger in America, "Ohio" doesn't come to mind. But for thousands throughout the Appalachian counties of southeast Ohio, the daily specter of poverty and hunger are very real. NO ONE in America should go to bed hungry, no child go to school on an empty stomach. If you think you could help to provide even one good meal for a needy family, please consider a donation to the Southeast Ohio Hunger Fund. Thank you!

For more on the Southeast Ohio Hunger Fund, visit:
http://www.appalachianohio.org/grow/funds/fund-profiles/southeast-ohio-hunger-fund/
You can either make a donation online or send one to:
Southeastern Ohio Hunger Fund
Foundation for Appalachian Ohio
P.O. Box 456
35 Public Square
Nelsonville, Ohio 45764
(Phone [phone])

[theHandpuppet]

3. Grow Appalachia: Bringing gardens and fresh food to Appalachian families

Grow Appalachia

Area served: Counties in Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio and Virginia.
Religious/political affiliations: Partners with many community organizations and some of those are affiliated with church outreach programs. Their list of partners can be found here: http://www.berea.edu/grow-appalachia/partner-sites/

This is a wonderful project from the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center of Berea College (Berea, Kentucky). For more information on how you can participate/contribute, please visit their website: http://www.berea.edu/grow-appalachia/

(from their website)
Grow Appalachia is planting the seeds for a sustainable future. Despite a rich agricultural history, family farming and gardening have become less popular and less profitable in Appalachia, limiting access to healthy, affordable food. Grow Appalachia seeks to solve pervasive food insecurity issues by restoring the relationship between the people and the land.

When food grows, communities and families grow too.

Through funding and technical assistance, Grow Appalachia has supported thousands of gardens through hundreds of community partnerships in five states; from backyard gardens to community gardens to school and summer camp gardens to greenhouses to mini-farms; producing more than 1,151,000 pounds of healthy, organic food for thousands of people in its first four years. The gardens are worked by nonprofits, farmers’ market entrepreneurs, the elderly, the Girl Scouts, inmates, the disabled, and others who believe a better food system equals better lives. Some participants garden to save money. Others garden to make money.

The program seeks both to educate communities and to learn from communities. It works to preserve the past, build hope for the future, and empower Appalachians to live healthy, productive lives. Grow Appalachia is proud to be a part of the Loyal Jones Appalachian Center of Berea College.

[theHandpuppet]

4. The Appalachian Community Fund

Area served: Appalachian counties in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia and West Virginia
Religious/political affiliations: None known.

The Appalachian Community Fund
For more information on the ACF, please visit:
http://www.appalachiancommunityfund.org/

From their website....
The Appalachian Community Fund (ACF) is a publicly supported, non-profit grantmaking organization that provides resources and support to grassroots organizations working to overcome the underlying causes of poverty and injustice in Central Appalachia (East Tennessee, Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia and West Virginia). We pool resources from a range of sources including individuals, businesses, and foundations to support community-led efforts and movement for social change, to support the training and leadership development necessary to strengthen the work in our region, and to cultivate the conditions for lasting, long-term change to be possible.

ACF awards grants to community-based organizations working for social, economic, racial and environmental justice. We support communities with little or no access to other financial resources and grassroots groups which are often too small, too new, or working on issues that are too controversial for traditional funding sources. ACF also funds long-term strategic efforts to address the long-term problems of Central Appalachia.

Since 1987, ACF has funded a variety of community-led efforts and approaches to social change including:
•Accessible health care and child care
•Youth leadership development
•Educational equality
•Protection and preservation of civil liberties for all people
•Rights and benefits for disabled miners and their families
•Racial healing and establishing policies against hate crimes and homophobia
•Arts and culture for social change
•Tax reform
•Issues of gender and sexual orientation
•Domestic violence prevention, victim advocacy and healing
•Environmental justice
•Alternative arts and media
•Low-income and working class rights
•Grassroots coalition and networking
•Economic development
•Criminal justice

We fund organizations working to:
•End racism, sexism, classism, homophobia, ageism, and ableism
•Promote non-violent communities
•Build organizations that are fair, inclusive, and democratic.

[theHandpuppet]

5. Project R.E.A.C.H.

Area served: West Virginia
Religious/political affiliations: None. R.E.A.C.H. is a project of the West Virginia University Institute for Community and Rural Health.

From their website at http://www.hsc.wvu.edu/icrh/Students/Project-R-E-A-C-H

What is project R.E.A.C.H.?

It stands for Rural Education Alliance for Community Health. It is a student run student-staffed rural health outreach.The purpose is to educate rural West Virginians about healthy living and provides health maintenance information to people in potentially low health-access areas. The project encourages patients to schedule appointments with their local doctors to follow-up on their current health status and helps the patient to find a Primary Care Provider, if they do not have a local doctor.

Goal
• Provide Health-care to various counties throughout West Virginia that might not have access.
• Collaborate with Marshall University, West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine (WVSOM) and other health sciences schools to ensure state-wide participation.

8 Different Stations:
1. Nutrition: Portion control, Healthy Snacking, Food Prep
2. Exercise: Everyday Movement, Kids Keep Fit, Pedal at work Challenge
3. Smoking Cessation
4. Blood Pressure screening
5. Self-Breast Exam
6. BMI Station
7. Diabetes Education
8. Oral Hygiene

Volunteers Needed
• Volunteers are needed to run each station, register patients, and set-up/tear down.
• By volunteering you will have an opportunity to practice your clinical skills of interviewing, calculating BMIs, and taking blood pressures.
• There will be monthly opportunities for volunteers, and would like to have 10 volunteers from each health sciences school (WVU, Marshall University and WVSOM)

Leadership Opportunities
• First year and second year representatives.
• Representatives for Charleston and Eastern Campuses.
• Responsibilities include helping to plan all the events as well as picking a location to be the event leader to plan an event yourself.
• If you are interested, send an e-mail to the following address: [e-mail]

[theHandpuppet]

6. Feeding Appalachia's Hungry Children Through the Summer

For an overview, please refer to a previous thread on this subject: http://www.democraticunderground.com/1272429
In this post I wish to focus on one particular charity but if you have others to share, please add them to this thread.

The Steven A. Hunter Hope Fund
Area served: Scioto County, Ohio
Religious/political affiliations: No direct affiliations. 95% of donations go directly to purchase goods or services.

The Steven A. Hunter Hope Fund http://stevenshopefund.org./
The Hope Fund’s summer meals program: http://stevenshopefund.org./SummerMeals.html

From their website:
• The Steven A Hunter Hope Fund was established January 2006 in memory of Steven A Hunter. Steven was loved by all who knew him. Steven’s enthusiasm was contagious and his compassion inspires us all. Steven had a strong conviction to help those in need, rooted in his strong Christian faith.

• The goal of the Steven A Hunter Hope Fund is to provide goods, services, and funds for the benefit of the students of the Portsmouth City Schools with financial needs. Poverty can have a devastating effect on the ability of children to learn and achieve. The fund provides for shoes, coats, clothing, school supplies, college entrance exam and ACT/SAT fees, lab fees, field trip/excursion fees, tutoring, limited eye or dental exams & treatment, etc.

• The goal has been broadened to offer services to additional schools as well through Steven's Power Pack Program. This program provides food for the weekend for hungry children.

• Two funds have been established to accomplish these goals: The Steven A Hunter Hope Fund, Inc. and the Steven A Hunter Hope Fund of the Scioto Foundation.

• The Steven A Hunter Hope Fund, Inc. is a 501(3)c tax exempt, tax deductible public charity organized in 2008 to assist in fund raising activities and also to provide immediate assistance for the needs listed above and special projects such as Steven's Power Pack Program and the Mobile Food Pantry.

• As well as individual contributions, fund raising will be held and grants will be sought. Contributions can be sent to the Steven A Hunter Hope Fund, Inc., P. O. Box 802, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662.

• The Steven A Hunter Hope Fund of the Scioto Foundation is a Tax Exempt, Tax Deductible, Non-Profit fund. The purpose of this fund is to establish a perpetual endowment fund for the benefit of these children. The fund is administered by The Scioto Foundation, which is responsible for accepting contributions, investing and managing the fund. Donations for the endowment fund can be sent to the Steven A Hunter Hope Fund c/o the Scioto Foundation, P. O. Box 911, Portsmouth, Ohio 45662.

• Scholarship assistance is also available from the endowment fund for a PHS graduating senior attending Shawnee State University or Milligan College.

• Income from the fund will be distributed to the Portsmouth Education Foundation specifically to be dispersed for the needs of individual students as identified by teachers and counselors at the school and then upon recommendation of the Steven A Hunter Hope Fund Advisory Committee.

The Need is Real

You should support Steven's Hope Fund because the children of our community need your help! The most recent child hunger statistics (2012) from Feeding America reveal that almost one in three children in Scioto County are food insecure. That's almost 50% higher than the national average!

We urgently need your help so we can continue to improve the lives of these precious children. Please consider a contribution today. A donation of $30. will purchase food for ten children for one weekend. A gift of $100. will provide four weekend meals for eight children for a month. $120. will provide weekend food for a hungry child for an entire 40 week school year!

[theHandpuppet]

7. The Central Appalachia Health Wagon

The Health Wagon
Website: http://thehealthwagon.org/hwwp/
Area served: Eleven sites in Virginia’s Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell, Lee, Scott, and Wise counties (and the City of Norton)
Religious/political affiliations: Unknown; no apparent affiliations.
Video of their work, from a CBS news special: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/on-the-road-with-the-health-wagon/

From their website:

The Health Wagon strives to meet the unique challenges of health care delivery to the medically under-served and indigent in poverty-stricken areas of rural Appalachia. Through the use of this innovative mobile health unit, health care doors are opened to many needy individuals, families, and communities; doors that would have otherwise remained closed.

The Health Wagon visits eleven sites in Southwest Virginia’s Buchanan, Dickenson, Lee, Russell, Scott, and Wise counties on a weekly, biweekly, and monthly basis. Accessibility to culturally sensitive primary health care services that emphasize education and prevention is considered the key to improving the health status for populations residing in these rural areas.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

About Us

◾The Health Wagon is a nonprofit organization providing mobile health services to the medically underserved in Southwest Virginia since 1980.
◾The Health Wagon visits eleven sites in Virginia’s Buchanan, Dickenson, Russell, Lee, Scott, and Wise counties (and the City of Norton) to serve a severely medically underserved population.
◾The Health Wagon’s staff consists of two full time certified family nurse practitioners, one registered nurse, two licensed practical nurses, a Director of Operations, a Director of Development, Data Systems Coordinator, and an Administrative Assistant.
◾Every dollar donated to the Health Wagon is approximately $100 reaped in health care benefits.
◾In 2013, the Health Wagon assisted more than 11,000 patients obtain access to care valued at over $1 million.
◾The Health Wagon provides: ◦Acute Disease Management (Colds, Sore Throats)
◦Chronic Disease Management
◦ Hypertension, Diabetes, Dyslipidemia)
◦Low Cost Lab Services
◦Medication Assistance and Pharmacy Connect
◦State of the Art Telemedicine capabilities with University of Virginia Health System with Specialists
◦Physical Assessments
◦Immunization Programs
◦Health Teaching Components
◦Referrals and Follow-up Systems
◦Cardiac Specialty Clinics
◦Nephrology Specialty Clinics with renal ultrasound
◦Lung Cancer Early Detection Program with pulmonology consultation and chest x-ray
◦Women’s Health – Pap Smears and Mammogram Assistance
◦Community Health Fairs
◦Cardiovascular Disease Outreach Screening Programs
◦Remote Area Medical (RAM) Health Expedition
◦Loan Closet for Medical Supplies
◦Dental Clinics
◦Eye Clinics
◦And more…

◾Through partnership with many pharmaceutical companies, the Virginia Health Care Foundation and Mountain Empire Older Citizens Agency, the Health Wagon’s Pharmacy Connect Program provided $1.2 million in pharmacy assistance to patients in 2013.
◾The Health Wagon utilizes an advanced computer system and broadband telecommunications linkage to provide clinical, educational, and other specialty services to patients via telemedicine technologies. As a partnership with the University of Virginia Health System, the network is capable of rapidly transferring patient records and medical images – such as x-rays, CT and MRI scans, ultrasound recordings, and more.

[theHandpuppet]

8. Women's Fund of the Blue Ridge

Women's Fund of the Blue Ridge

Website: http://www.womensfundoftheblueridge.org/
Area served: Primarily Watauga and surrounding counties in North Carolina
Religious/political affiliations: None.

From the website:

Our Mission:

Our mission is to create positive change and economic justice for women and girls in the counties we serve. Through funding to local non profit agencies, we aim to be a philanthropic catalyst for all women and girls to have access to the resources they need as they strive to become empowered and reach their full potential.

Agencies supported by the Women’s Fund of the Blue Ridge 2014 grants include the following:

Hunger and Health Coalition, Watauga County. Grant will support the Women Over 60 Food Program.

ASU: ACCESS (Appalachian State University: Appalachian Commitment to a College Education for Student Success), Watauga County. Allocation is for summer scholarships for ACCESS students, all of whom come from families below the poverty level.

Western Youth Network, Watauga County. Grant is to support The Girls Circle, helping marginalized girls with academic improvement and self-esteem.

W.A.M.Y. Community Action, Watauga, Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey Counties. Funds are for women’s financial literacy and credit building, and self-sufficiency assistance.

OASIS (Opposing Abuse with Service, Information, and Shelter), Avery and Watauga Counties. Allocation is for support group sessions for domestic violence survivors in order to promote self-growth.

D.A.N.A (Domestic Violence is Not Acceptable), Alleghany County. Funds given will help women make financial transitions out of violent relationships.

BRWIA (Blue Ridge Women in Agriculture), Alleghany, Ashe, Wilkes, Watauga, Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey Counties. Money given is for scholarships for women farmers to take business courses, and for capital investment grants through the Mary Boyer Food & Sustainability Agriculture Grant Program.

Daymark Recovery Services, Watauga County. Grant provides free childcare for mothers during mandatory evening substance abuse treatment sessions.

A.S.H.E. (A Safe Home for Everyone), Ashe County. Funds are to assist domestic violence survivors in transitioning into independent living situations.

Mountain Alliance, Watauga County. Allocation is for Mountain Alliance’s LIFT (Leadership in Female Teens) program, which helps young women between the ages of 13-18 improve self-esteem and strengthen support between girls in the high school community.

Community Care Clinic, Watauga County. The WFBR supports dental care for CCC patients, and vision care for uninsured female diabetics.

The Children’s Council, Watauga County. Grant supports on-site childcare for mothers enrolled in the GED program, and expansion of the Parents as Teachers program for high-risk mothers.

NOSW (New Opportunity School for Women at Lees-McRae College), Avery County. Funds support this free immersive educational program for low-income Appalachian Women.

WeCAN (Watauga Crisis Assistance Network), Watauga County. Allocation supports homelessness prevention program for women through funding for emergency rent, mortgage, and utility payments.

Hospitality House Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Mitchell, Watauga, Wilkes, Yancey Counties. Support is for operational and support service expenses for women in the Emergency and Transitional Housing Programs.

Girls on the Run, Ashe, Avery, Watauga, Wilkes Counties. Grant is for support of this youth development and empowerment program and expansion into Avery and Wilkes Counties.

[theHandpuppet]

9. Remote Area Medical: Bringing Healthcare Access to the Appalachian Region

Many, many thanks to DUer Earth_First for bringing our attention to this organization! If you believe you can help in any way, either by a donation or by voluteering, please visit this website: http://www.ramusa.org/
Information on their work in Appalachia may be found farther down in this post. For a calendar of clinics to be held, please see http://www.ramusa.org/#!clinics/cx5d

Area served: TN, KY, NC, VA, WV, OH and MS
Religious/political affiliations: None known at this time.

About Remote Area Medical: GOALS
Serve Humanity

We believe that we are responsible to one another as a part of humanity. We exist to bring about positive change in our world. We embrace our role to help prevent and alleviate suffering and to enhance quality of life for those we serve.

Empower Communities

We empower, inspire, and lead communities to serve those in need in their own backyard. We are committed to equipping communities to work together to confront healthcare problems in their area.

Generate a People Movement

We are strengthened by the dedication of compassionate volunteers - they are our heroes. We are driven by people who want to bring needed change to communities. Remote Area Medical® provides those people with the perfect opportunity to witness community transformation. This generates a people movement made up of dynamic and caring people seeking to change their world.

Provide Free Quality Services

Remote Area Medical is committed to providing all of our services and support at no charge to the patients. Our standard of service combines high quality healthcare with compassion and cooperation from our supporters, investors and practitioners.

REMOTE AREA MEDICAL: STOP THE SUFFERING IN APPALACHIA
Link: http://www.ramusa.org/#!stop-suffering/cjf8

The Problem of Healthcare Access in the Appalachian Region

Families all across our nation are having a very difficult time in life. Can you imagine what the poorest families are suffering through? The poorest area of our nation is Appalachia. We want all the poverty stricken children and their families in the Appalachian “Distressed Corridor” Region to have free quality healthcare access in 2014-2016. Today, 42% of those living in that region are in rural areas, compared with 20% of the national population. This is already problematic to the quality of life for those living in these impoverished communities and will only grow worse if we fail to act.

If we ignore this problem, we may miss critical opportunities to stop the needless suffering of those living without help. RAM will provide clinic events, mobilize our partners and use our stellar abilities to offer free preventive, dental, and visual care services required to help improve the quality of life of those in these under-served and impoverished areas during this initiative.

The Goal

Our goal is to provide free quality healthcare access through the “Stop the Suffering” Appalachia Initiative so that at least 90% of those living in the “Distressed Corridor” during 2014 – 2016 will be in driving distance of a RAM clinic event.

RAM intends to use the Initiative as a gateway to establish RAM Affiliates based in Appalachian States to provide ongoing services and healthcare access beyond 2016.

The Expected Results and Measurable Impact

The “Distressed” counties represent approximately 1,200,000 people. Our patient estimate, based on those in urgent need of healthcare access, is projected to be 15% of that population or 180,000 people.

This estimate is based on the present underemployment and unemployment rates in those counties.

Dates: September 2014 – December 2016

States Served: TN, KY, NC, VA, WV, OH and MS

Number of Patients Estimated: 180,000 in over 180 clinics

Services Provided: 270,000 Patient Encounters

Value of Care: $90,000,000 (Based on 2013 data/$500+ average value of care per person)

Partners: Over 200 Community Organizations and 13,500 healthcare professionals and general volunteers

Cost: $5 million dollars - $28 per patient

[theHandpuppet]

10. Grandma's Gifts

Grandma's Gifts
based in Columbus, Ohio
Area served: Appalachian counties in the states of Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, New York, and Maryland
Religious/political affiliations: None

From their website at http://www.grandmasgifts.org/

Vision.

Grandmas Gifts envisions the end of Appalachian poverty. We wish to educate and assist our way out of "business".

Mission.

With the support of the community Grandmas Gifts works to improve the lives of Appalachian families by providing goods, services, and opportunities, while educating people on regional issues and teaching the value of volunteerism.

Purpose.

We believe that the end of Appalachian poverty is through building people in the following ways:
1.Providing Goods - We work to provide goods such as books, food, clothing, toys, school supplies, and scholarships to children families, and schools in need, who reside in the Appalachian region.

2.Providing Services: We work to provide educational, health care, and organizational development service opportunities to children, families, and organizations in need, who reside in the Appalachian region. We also help organizations in Appalachia get started so they can better serve the community.

3.Providing Inspiration: We work to inspire people to get people involved in their community.

4.Providing Education: We work to educate people on the current socioeconomic status of Appalachia and how to become active in their community.

Diversity Statement.

The Appalachian region embodies a rich culture, heritage, and history. At Grandmas Gifts we believe that to fully reach our constituents and to work with our donors and volunteers we must be an organization that not only recognizes diversity but deeply appreciates it. We know that by loving everyone for who they are and what they embody will lead to innovative and creative problem solving, recognition of opportunities for improvement, and new projects. Thus, Grandmas Gifts works to insure that no person is excluded from receiving goods or services, donating, commenting, or volunteering because of cultural heritage, race, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender, sexual orientation, religion, educational situation, or any other discriminatory reason.

Here's an article about a recent donation from Grandma's Gifts:

The Ironton Tribune
Ironton, Ohio
Harvest for the Hungry gets large donation
Published 10:40am Thursday, October 30, 2014

Columbus-based Grandma’s Gifts secures basic needs for pantry

Several pallets fully loaded with blankets, diapers, books, detergent and shoes on Wednesday arrived at the Harvest for the Hungry food pantry in Ironton.

The basic needs were secured by Columbus-based Grandma’s Gifts, a charity organization that works to provide goods and services to children and families in Appalachia, from Alexandria, Virginia-based Americans for Americans, which partners with local organizations to provide food, clothing, blankets, emergency medical assistance and more for people in need.

“If we can help someone with this stuff then we’ve done a good thing,” Michael Hampton, a volunteer at Harvest for the Hungry, said. “It’s good that we got these because I have friends who live underneath the bridge.”

What doesn’t get given out at the pantry is given to the city mission....http://www.irontontribune.com/2014/10/30/harvest-for-the-hungry-gets-large-donation/