The Mountain Spirit - March/April 1994

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The Mountain

T h e M a g a zin e o f th e C h r is tia n A p p a la c h ia n P ro je ct M a rch - A p r il 1994

T he Mountain Spirit

M a rch -A p ril 1994 V o L X in , N o . 2

The Magazine o f the Christian Appalachian Project

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The Invisible Homeless by Beth Dotson

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Transplanting by Sandra B. Keaton

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CAP Peace Award by Glen Taul

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People Believing in Themselves by Margaret Gabriel

Rural Homelessness, page fou r. — vs

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D e p a rtm e n ts 3 9 14 16

A Thought from the Editor Letters The CAP Closeup Around The Project

Homelessness: A problem in Appalachia As we worked on our stories for this issue, the spell checkers on our computers were working against us. Beth Dotson’s computer changed the word “homeless” to “hornless” and W ordPerfect (our word processing software) told us that “homeless” wasn’t a word at a ll “Hopeless?” it queried. Yes, in some cases, I’d think, as I typed the correction. It was kind o f prophetic that even our computers questioned the presence o f rural homelessness. We often read about homelessness in metropolitan areas, but seldom think o f homelessness as it relates to rural areas. W hile the plight o f homeless people in Appalachia m ight be different than that o f people in Manhattan, there is much that binds them together. On page four, learn about some o f the aspects o f rural homelessness from folks involved w ith the Housing and Homelessness Coalition o f Kentucky. Some o f the resi­ dents o f Family Life Services share thoughts on the subject on page twenty-two. On page twenty, you’ll meet George Duerson, recipient o f the 1994 CAP Peace Award, given in honor o f Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr .

CAP Peace Award, page twenty. Published by the Christian Appalachian Project. Editor: Margaret Gabriel. A dvisory Board: Father Ralph W . Belting, Mike M cLaughlin, Bill Begley, Dee Adams, Barbara Delm onico, Katie Newsom e, Beverly Potter. G raphic Designer: Elizabeth Reed M iller. Circulation: Linda Grider East The M ountain Spirit is published six times a year. The annual subscription price is $6.00. Subscriptions and other correspondence should be sent to The M ountain Spirit, Christian Appalachian Project, 322 Crab Orchard Road, Lancaster, Kentucky 40446. Copyright 1994, The Christian Appalachian Project, Inc. All rights reserved. Member, Catholic Press Association. The Christian Appalachian Project is a non-profit Christian service organization operating throughout Appalachia. The project operates on the philosophy that ‘ helping people help them selves' is the best approach to Appalachian poverty. A stanmary o f the registration «nd financial docaneut* filed by this organization cm be obtained by contacting: in New Y orit, Secretory o f State, O ffice o f Charities Registration, 162 W ashington A v e ., Albany, N Y 12231; htM aryland, die Secretary o f State, Stale H ow e, Annapolis, M D 21401 ( ill financial inform ation is available from the Secretary o f State for the coit o f postage n d copying); in Pennsylvania, residents may call the Pennsylvania Department a t State at 1-800-732-0999; in Weat V irgin ia, the Secretary o f State, State C apitol, Charleston, W V 25305; in V irgin ia, the State D iviaian o f Consuner A tta in , P .O . Bo« 1163, Richm ond, V A 23209. W aAm gton State residents m ay obtains copy o f the laat report filed w ith the W ashington Secretary o f State by calling to llftee within W ashington, 1-800-332-4483. In Florida, reairients may ca ll the D ivision o f O m sin v r Service* at 1 8 0 0 H E LP -FLA . O r write to Christian Appalachian Project, 322 G a b Orchard Road, Lancaster, K Y 40446. Our license number in M ichigan is M 1CS 9933. Registration with any o f the above government agencies does not im ply endorsement by the state.

The Mountain Spirit

A Thought from the Editor Margaret Gabriel We plan the themes for The M ountain Spirit months in advance, so it’s not often that an issue that w e’ve been working on for several weeks coincides with a story that makes the national news. But, as we worked on this issue on rural homelessness, Kentucky was hit with record snowfall and record cold at the same time. As work was getting back to normal this week, I contacted some o f our outreach workers and asked them how people who live in substandard housing —the rural homeless — dealt with a thick layer o f ice covered with ten to fifteen inches o f snow, then cemented in place with temperatures below zero and wind chills thirty to forty degrees below. The stories o f suffering had a dully familiar ring to them. Similar stories surfaced after “Storms of the Century“ in 1978 and 1985. Steve Peterson got to his office in Lincoln County to find on his answering machine endless requests for monetary assistance and food. Electric shut-off notices had been sent out the week before. Steve said that he was pretty sure that service wouldn’t have been cut o ff during the bitter cold, but past due bills are a big issue. Those bills will be a big issue well into spring, as people try to catch up on wood and heating bills that run into hun­ dreds of dollars. People did the best they could, Steve said. A 93 year-old woman set a coil heater close to her wall to try and keep the pipes from freezing and bursting. She’s living with family now, after the wall caught fire. She had really prided herself on living alone, too. Rockcastle County had a twist on the problems o f dangerous roads. Because the county has three exits from Interstate 75 (closed by Kentucky Governor

March-April 1994

Brereton Jones), service providers helped stranded motorists as well as people with substandard housing. Shelters were set up by the Red Cross and the Livingston Emer­ gency Assistance Program until the roads opened, and people were able to go back to their homes. Linda Proctor, the Rockcastle County worker, praised the networking between agencies in the county and said they continue to work together to get fuel and food to people who are still stranded, now by the mud and slush rather than snow and ice. W e’ve had a little warming spell this week. When Marie Bonner, the Garrard County worker, finally got her car dug out, it wouldn’t start. That didn’t stop her, though. She set up an auxiliary outreach office in her home. Marie’s phone proved to be a lifeline as she took calls from people needing food and kero­ sene. She contacted folks in the judge’s and sheriff’s offices who could deliver with four-wheel drive vehicles. She had calls from people who had checked on neighbors with no phones. “They’d call me, then I’d call the judge’s office and ask for a delivery.” Katie Mclnnis-Dittrich had four burnouts in Jackson County in only one week, the result of people overstoking stoves, trying to stay warm. “Families are quadrupling up. They’re trying desperately to find someone to crash with. Or they’re moving their things into the part o f the trailer that didn’t bum .” As I listened to the stories, it occurred to me that the problems

people face during a weather emergency are pretty much the same as they are all the time. The heat bills are staggering. The roof is leaking. The kids need medicine and there’s no money to pay for it. Freezing cold temperatures and heavy snow just intensify the problems. All o f the workers concurred —the problems are the same, only worse. As in urban areas, a lack o f affordable housing is a major cause o f homelessness, Katie said. Every county has public housing, but the complexes have long waiting lists, especially after a week o f weather like we just had. Each o f the workers told how willing people were to band together to help each other. Families helped families, neigh­ bors helped neighbors. People with more helped people who have less. CAP workers, as well as many others in the counties who work to alleviate problems in this area, worked that much harder to shelter people from the elements. “We had to depend on each other,” Marie said. “Something like this really brings out the best in people.” As we take pride in ourselves and our friends and neighbors for our endurance, it is important to remember, though, that just because the immediate emer­ gency is past, the after effects will continue.

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H o m e lessn ess is a deceptive character in rural Appalachia. He doesn’t wander the streets, so malnourished that his body doesn’t generate enough heat to keep him warm. Instead, he stalks the hilltops and hollows looking for an old bus, an unused chicken coop, a cave —anything that can keep the rain off. Homelessness doesn’t announce herself loudly with pathetic proclamation and pleas for spare change. She manifests herself, instead, in the bruises o f a woman who is living with ten other people in a two-room house without electricity or water. She peeks her head out in the child who goes to school dirty and falls asleep in class. That child doesn’t get much sleep in a bed he shares with three others under a plastic-paned window. Homelessness disguises itself so well in rural Appalachia that it’s easy to miss, easy to think it’s not a problem. After all, passersby seldom stop to explore a cave that’s miles from the main road; a cave usually inhabited only by bats. And from that road, an old bam simply looks like an old bam , not a place where a family might look for shelter. People who work on housing and homelessness issues in Kentucky know they’re working with a population that has so well deceived politicians, and even local communities, that it’s hard to get them recognized as homeless. Living in a car in an Appalachian hollow doesn’t have the same visibility as sleeping in a Washington, D .C . bus shelter. In fact, even the federal office o f Housing and Urban Development (HUD) doesn’t recognize what many in Kentucky define as homelessness. Rural families, many agree, try to take care o f their own even when it means overcrowd­ ing in a small trailer.

T h e In v i s i b l e H o m eless ♦ 4

b y Beth D otson ♦ The M ountain Spirit

“They really defined homelessness in a way in which we felt left out many o f the kinds o f folks we felt were homeless people," said Dave Lollis, director o f the Federation o f Appalachian Housing Enterprises (FAHE) in Berea, about HUD. FAHE works with local housing develop­ ment organizations to provide financing and housing to low-income families. “If a family is living in a dwelling, they might have a roof over their heads but it doesn’t have any kind o f water," Dave said. “They get their water from a creek. It doesn’t have any kind o f sanitary facility, there’s no place for people to take baths. That ought to be included in the definition o f homelessness. You might have a roof, but it still wouldn’t be a proper house.” Since its founding in 1988, the Housing and Homelessness Coalition o f Kentucky has been trying to get people to acknowl­ edge this definition. The members have also been working to get local, state and national leaders to better recognize and understand the unique face of homelessness in Kentucky. From its inception, the coalition struc­ tured itself to deal with Kentucky’s specific housing and homelessness issues. Lollis recalls the day Michelle Budzek, o f Hope House in Covington (in northern Kentucky, part o f metropolitan Cincin­ nati), called to tell him about the ideas behind the new coalition. She explained that Kentucky’s coalition wouldn’t concen­ trate solely on urban homelessness, as did most states. She wanted co-chairs o f the coalition who could bring expertise from urban and rural environments. Dave also recalled her saying that “the ultimate solution to the problem o f homelessness is not just an emergency shelter. There has to be a more permanent part o f the solution.” Therefore, Dave became the co-chair for rural and housing issues; Budzek is co-chair for urban and homelessness issues.

home repair work. Each spring, CAP hosts volunteers from colleges who spend a week repairing homes. Last year, 230 students participated. All o f this work helps because making an existing house healthier is homelessness prevention, Dave said. But perhaps the greatest assistance it gives is in transforming the volunteers who return to their hometowns to share their personal stories o f Appalachia. CAP also donated funds and material goods to the coalition, as well as to the housing efforts o f other groups in Appala­ chia. Through his work on the coalition, CAP’S Terry Harmon o f Operation Sharing has met groups to whom he could offer material assistance from CAP’S warehouse. Operation Sharing receives a wide variety o f donations from companies—everything from paint and lumber to jewelry and dolls. Through this program, CAP can support other grassroots organizations throughout the region that are dealing with housing or other programs that might help a family avoid becoming homeless. Just as CAP has come to know the homeless o f Appalachia, so has Gerry Martin, executive director o f the Hazard/ Perry County Christian Ministries. Gerry was drawn to working with the homeless because o f the commitment she feels as a Christian, and because o f her own experi­ ence as a divorced mother o f two. When she was left on her own in southern Florida, she discovered that “None o f the systems work.”

CAP joined the coalition at its inception. Through its work, especially in home repair and outreach, CAP is intimately familiar with Appalachian housing issues. Employees and volunteers have been in homes with inadequate or non-existent heat, water and electricity. They have received calls from families who lost their homes to fire, or needed help repairing a leaking roof. Throughout the region, CAP and other organizations invite volunteer groups to do

March - April 1994

In areas served by CAP over 20% o f the households use a means o f disposal that is not approved People dispose o f sewage in streams or other water sources that are usedfo r cooking and drinking.

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“The two big sister issues that have to be addressed at the same time are welfare reform and health care reform . ” So Gerry created her own personal system. She attended college, earned her degree, then began to look for a rural community where she could work and raise her sons in a positive atmosphere. She learned about a job in Hazard and made the move in June, 1991. W ith Christian Ministries, she meets people with a variety o f problems, including homelessness. The program offers a number o f services: a crisis center, transitional housing, food bank, clothing, day care for children and for adults, and a new family support center where the staff acts as advocates, mediators, whatever is necessary to help people get their own home. “Some o f them are people who remind me so much o f m e,” Gerry said. They are single mothers who have been told they can’t make it on their own. They arc single men with mental illness or a substance abuse problem who need to know someone will support them. Some are entire families who haven't been able to stop the cycle o f poverty. “If you give people good options they will make good choices,” Gerry said. Many o f the homeless haven’t seen good options in the past. Dave Lollis explains how some government programs meant to assist low-income families only keep them running in the poverty circle. People don’t look for a job, for example, because they are afraid o f losing the medical card that pays for health care for their children. The health problems are bad, because the housing is substandard —the water quality is poor; the heat is inadequate. When illness takes over, they miss work and get fired. When they can’t pay medical bills, their credit history is ruined. “We need to look at it all at once,” Dave said. “I think clearly the two big sister issues that have to be addressed at the same time are welfare reform and health care reform.

The two things that keep us from solving housing issues are these,” he said.

The Ken­ tucky Housing Corporation (KHC) recog­ nizes, in its 1994 draft plan for Comprehensive Housing Affordability Strategy, that housing issues cannot be addressed in a vacuum. They surveyed more than 6,000 homeless citizens in 1993 in an effort to discover what led these people to becom­ ing homeless, what services they needed, and the role o f available housing. According to Natalie Hutcheson, o f KH C, one o f the most surprising discover­ ies o f the survey was that 44 percent o f the women surveyed were victims o f domestic violence. The draft report states that, “More often than not, those who return to their abusers state that they did so because they were unable to acquire affordable housing on their ow n.” KH C’s report also analyzes the percent o f low-income households occupying dwellings with severe housing problems, characterized as problems with plumbing,

heating, electricity and upkeep. The areas with the most severe housing problems are in eastern Kentucky. Substandard housing leads to a host of problems. Unsafe water causes health problems, like parasitic diseases and respiratory infections. Overcrowding is a problem, too. “Rural families kind o f take care o f their own the best they can. Though they may not have the room, kids would get married and if they couldn’t afford anything they would move in with parents and all o f a sudden you begin to have situations where you have three and four families sharing a small bungalow or a three-bedroom trailer,” Dave explains. “It contributes to a lot o f other negatives. That’s one o f the reasons we have a large amount o f abuse.” Substandard housing can lead to safety problems. Dave has seen low-income families get talked into buying an expen­ sive trailer only to learn, when winter comes, that the insulation is poor and it costs too much to heat. Instead o f wres­ tling with a $200 heating bill, they cut a hole in the wall and install a wood or coal stove —something a trailer is not designed to use. Often, the result is that the trailer catches fire. Then, the family truly is without a home or possessions. The coalition has attempted to create homeless shelters in areas where there

were none previously. O f the approxi­ mately 42 emergency shelters to assist the homeless in Kentucky, most are located in urban areas, according to KHC. All are present in only 28 o f Kentucky’s 120 counties. The coalition also sees a need for transitional housing, and looking at all o f the problems that surround homelessness. In her work, Gerry searches for a place in the poverty cycle where she can jump in and help. “We ask them what they need, what their dreams are,” Gerry said. “We help them take away the obstacles.” For example, someone might come in and say they lost their house. Gerry would ask them why. Because I couldn’t pay the rent. Why not? Because I couldn’t get a job. Why not? Because I didn’t graduate from high school. “That, I can help you w ith,” Gerry will say. She’ll then help them enroll in classes, find a tutor, get whatever they need to start working toward over­ coming the first obstacle. “The trick for me is finding out where that person is and meeting them there. I don’t sit in front or behind them, but beside them ,” she emphasized. Gerry clearly is working from what she believes is her own baptismal covenant to treat every human being with dignity. She doesn’t like the dependency cycle. She creates an atmosphere o f mutual respect and recognizes that although she has many gifts to offer the people who come to her for help, they also have a lot to offer her. Dave also works to creates a positive atmosphere with the people he is assisting, and he has the numbers to prove that it pays off. “People will live up to their financial obligation if the house is one, affordable, and two, o f good quality,” Dave said.

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FAHE works with families whose income might only be $6,000 a year. Lollis said it might cost $20,000 to rehabilitate a house, or $30,000 to $40,000 to build a new one. They will work with a family to make the mortgage payments affordable, maybe $150 a month, by taking out a second mortgage for the remaining amount.

In one area served by CAP 25% o f the households have no well or public water system. These people must either get their waterfrom a local spring or river. This can be especially difficult on die elderly who may have to carry the water great distances.

March - April 1994

and Dave during the summer. She told them that she attributed her achievements to the house. “Housing is often the key to helping people get their life together,” Dave said. With all o f that building and the home repair work o f CAP’S staff and volunteers, as well as that o f other groups in the region, it seems there should be a good many success stories and a predictable end to the problem. But Dave points out that “Any o f us who own a house know there’s maintenance.” A family has to be able to keep up with that financially. In one o f the areas CAP serves, 11.5% o f households do not have complete kitchens, which occurs ten times more frequently than in the U.S. overall.

People respond to the help. In eight years FAHE hasn’t had one foreclosure. And they have built plenty o f houses. In one year, they might build 150 houses and rehabilitate another 200. On occasion, Dave has had the opportu­ nity to see how housing can be the one key that begins to solve the cycle of poverty. He recalled a time when he was in Manchester, the county seat of Clay County, with Duane Yost who has been building houses for low-income families for 20 years through the Kentucky Mountain Housing Development Corporation. A young woman who worked in the bank where they were doing a closing ap­ proached Yost and asked if he remem­ bered her. Ten years ago, she and her family had lived in a box house without insulation or water. In some places, there was no floor; only linoleum covering the ground.

What rural Kentucky has going for it, Gerry said voicing the opinion o f many, is that “People still care about one another here.” That’s why families put up with the crowding, pitch in to repair a home, or do whatever else they can to help.” Gerry didn’t see that same spirit where she came from. “I think it’s important to tell other rural communities you can do this,” Gerry said, referring to the progress Christian Minis­ tries has made toward addressing the homelessness issue. “If we address it now, then 20 years from now we won’t have this problem.” ft

While in grade school, the girl achieved and was happy. It was a small community where everyone knew and liked her. But when it came time for her to go to high school, she attended the consolidated school where her dirty clothes and living situation made her self conscious. She didn’t have a proper place to study because the house had only one light bulb, and she was ready to drop out o f school. That’s the year Kentucky Mountain Housing helped her family build a new house. She had a room to share with her sister, indoor plumbing and a much better place to study. She regained her pride and confidence. She not only graduated from high school, but went on to study pre law at Eastern Kentucky University. She worked at the bank where she saw Duane

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are growing up in poverty.

The M o u n ta in S p irit

Letters to the Editor I love reading about all the great things you do to help people in need. Everything from just being a friend to building a family a house to live in. I know God is pleased with all the things that all the employees and volunteers are doing to turn life around from helpless to happi­ ness for all the people you reach out to. God will bless you all. MaribeUe Keener Toledo, OH I really enjoy your little maga­ zine, The M ountain Spirit. It is so refreshing to read about neighbors helping one another —ordinary people accomplishing extraordi­ nary things. Wouldn’t it be a much better world if we all had “The Mountain Spirit’’!? M ary Zgraggen San Francisco, CA Your magazine is well written and I enjoy reading it. Your comments do tell the story of poverty in Appalachia. Keep up the good work. God commands us to help the poor, and you are certainly doing the job. Best wishes to you and your helpers. Ja m es Leach Huntsville, AL

So happy that your magazine is successful. I can still read, for a short time, the entertaining and interesting articles. My 88 yearold eyes are failing. May God bless your endeavor. Catherine Law ver Sun City, CA I enjoyed the article about the old motel that was converted into housing for seniors. I feel this is the way to go to get seniors out of substandard housing into closer contact with each other for help and companionship. Have you any plans for more senior housing? Ja n e LaFortezzo Toms River, N J The M ountain Spirit is positive living and thinking at work. May God bless you for bringing an inspirational magazine into my home —and to many others. Thank you! Linda Favorite Bowie, M D When The M ountain Spirit arrives, I get busy reading —don’t usually stop until I’m to the last page. Thanks for giving the nation a glimpse o f poverty in your area. We help what we can financially, which isn’t much. We hope every year we will be able to come work.

Keep up the good work. It’s heartening to know that someone cares enough to put motion to the notion in improving the living conditions o f the poor and helping to improve the educa­ tional opportunities for those who will apply themselves. Education is the way out. I know, coming from at least three generation of coal miners, I started, but saw the light, I came out o f the pit, and went to school and got my degree. Three cheers for the Little Red School Bus.

Thank you for every issue which brings your work into my home. I appreciate your commit­ ment not only to preach the gospel by word, but also by deed. Only eternity will show the impact on the lives o f the people o f Appalachia. I pray regularly that God will provide your every need as you commit yourselves to his work.

Thomas Holm es, Jr . W alnut Creek, CA

Kenneth Grant Norwalk, CA

Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Norton M urphy, N C

I am disappointed that in spite o f an annual comment I’ve made the past three years or so asking that you specify how our renewal checks should be made payable, you still have not updated this subscription renewal form to clarify this issue. I insist it would be helpful and expedient for your subscribers to have this informa­ tion. I look forward to receiving each issue o f The M ountain Spirit and read it from cover-to-cover, but I don’t like the annual quandary; Should I make my check payable to CAP, Christian Appalachian Project, or The M ountain Spirit? Surely other subscribers would welcome a clarification as well. Thank you for reading this annual request. Blanche D vorak St. Paul, M N Checks written to renew subscriptions to The Mountain Spirit can be m ade payable to Christian Appalachian Project. Thanks! The issues are great! It’s interesting, informative, etc., to know about all o f the different programs. I enjoy reading about the different types o f people who are helped. It’s enjoyable to me to see how CAP keeps helping these people improve themselves. I am glad CAP is there with the continuous support. I wish I could be there to help. I do send packages o f clothing throughout the year, purchase a holiday wreath, subscribe to the Spirit, etc. Keep up the inspiring work! Louise Kozlow ski Trenton, ML Letters to the editor are welcome. They should not exceed 150 words in length, and we reserve the right to edit them fo r space. Address letters to The Mountain Spirit Christian Appalachian Project, J2 2 Crab Orchard Road, Lancaster, K Y 40446.

March - April 1994

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1 ransplanting outlines o f the trees and hills the valley view allowed.

Am aziah D elk was 37 years old, tired and m oving again. A country w om an, tall and broad shouldered, she was big enough to give the im pression o f being stout, but she felt w eak lately, too broken to be carrying so heavy a load. Even asking the Ow ens to help w ith the burden o f transporting bed and board didn’t ease her at all. “It’s staying,” she said to Clona, her neighbor. “It’s staying that makes a home. It ain’t the welcome mat on the stoop or buttercups on the table or even your own rag rug put down to keep your feet warm. Let me tell you, it’s not even getting up and making biscuits. It’s putting them on the table in the same place every day.” “Mazie,” Clona said, “I feel just like you. If Harley wanted to move every year I’d feel like drawing my legs up under my chin and sitting in the com er to stay put." Amaziah stared at Clona’s face, trying to find evidence of the understanding she heard in her friend’s voice. Pulling herself to her feet she stretched and bent back to rub the hurting just above her hips. She walked to the window and put a walnut-stained finger to the glass. She traced the

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“Just when I start getting used to a place . . . ” She paused as much from the tightening in her throat as from not wanting to finish the sentence. Her head moved from side to side and when she spoke again her voice sounded as if it belonged to a chipper woman, strong and full o f good news. “James is ready, I sec. W e’ll be heading back.” As she turned to look at Clona, she added, “Thank you,” realizing the other woman probably didn’t know why. Outside James pumped the well until the force o f the water shot out, splattering his face and chin as he bent to drink. “Harley’s glad to help us move,” he sputtered, “Bright and early he’ll be there with his wagon and team,” James said, after wiping his mouth with his blue chambray shirt sleeve. He’d start tonight if he could, Amaziah fumed inwardly. If we had a light big enough he’d load it all up and bump over twelve miles o f gutted road to that place. It didn’t make any difference, she reckoned. She’d just as soon leave in the dark than to face going in the clearness o f morning. Their walk was brisk as they covered the three-quarters o f a mile from the Owens’ place to their own. Amaziah doubted that their swift gait was for the same reason. She was running home and Jam es, she thought, was running away from it. For some reason she reached out and grabbed his hand. He looked over in surprise and grinned at her exactly the way he had those years ago when she had stopped to fondle an amethyst-colored string o f beads at his vendor’s booth at the county fair. “Take them." His tone had been friendly, but forceful. “They match your dress.” She still had that dress, the purple sprigged muslin with full sleeves, although her waist

b y Sandra B. Keaton ♦ The M ountain Spirit

had widened to where she couldn’t wear it. It was tucked away securely in the manner she longed to wrap each day at its ending. He’d been a traveling man. He’d seemed so worldly; once she was positive she smelled smoke from Louisville on the lapel o f his suit coat. James symbolized the mysterious places she’d read about in Miss Emily’s seventh grade geography class. To a young settled woman that seemed mighty romantic at the time. Her folks thought it practically inde­ cent that she said yes to his proposal so quickly. Amaziah had never really been afraid o f what folks were thinking. Except for James. Lately, his compulsion for a change o f scenery scared her. James cleared his throat lending her the odd idea that he knew the exact time to start buttering up. “Honey, I sure do like the look o f that garden spot up Flint Hollow ,” he said. “And the attic is much bigger without those slanty rafters. Talitha and Nan will like all that space. When Jimmy is older we can partition the lower side o ff and make room for him .” She liked the way he said, “Jim m y.” Fouryear-old Jimmy had all the appearance of having the roving, rambling urges his papa possessed. The upstairs in their present house was crowded for two growing girls, but it allowed for closeness in feelings. Amaziah considered that important with families. She began savoring her private memories o f the coziness and secrets she and her brothers and sisters shared in the cramped quarters of the loft they’d slept in until each married and left. The couple rounded the bend in the road and sight o f the gray boards o f the house came into view. James said, “I think I’ll whitewash the other house after we get moved and settled in. It’ll make it look even more different.”

and it leaned a little to the left. A couple o f the chimney rocks were missing at the top and quite a bit o f the front yard was bald. Her eyes became her own again and she saw the way the morning glory vines wound tightly and bloomed up the porch post and the apple tree in the back yard making a fragrant white umbrella for the table rock under­ neath. She thought o f the “T”, “N ” and “J ” carved into the board that stretched from post to post serving as a place to sit empty fruit jars, the pail o f drinking water and the tin wash pan. The owners o f those initials were inside the house busily, if somewhat reluctantly, packing their belongings. “Coming with me?” James asked as he nodded his head toward the bam. He seemed hesitant to let loose o f her hand but Amaziah had things to do. She dropped to her knees and continued the ritual she had forsaken for a quick trip to the adjoining farm. With a small spade she dug into the earth below the leaves. Painstak­ ingly, she lifted the roots and remembered the pink-red blossoms which hung in rows from fragile stems. She had left some over at the Johnson place where they’d lived when they first set up housekeeping and some by the front path up on Caney Creek. They’d bloom once more next spring, she was sure, near the well house where they’d farmed by Rebo Rawlins up the mountain. There was a large bed o f them she couldn’t bear to move from the cabin where the girls were bom . Amaziah had taken only a skimpy start each time but they grew and multiplied. It was her way to take some and leave some every moving day. “Hey, Mama,” called Nan from the kitchen door, “Want me and Sis to put on supper?” “I’ll be in and tend to it directly,” Amaziah said. “I’m getting these flowers ready for transplanting. You know how I am about my bleeding hearts.”

Amaziah nibbed a hand over her hair and down the contours o f her face and wondered if James ever wished to whitewash her to cover up the drab sameness.

The answering glance her youngest daughter gave her caused guilt to make as wide a gap in the center o f her conscience as was the hole in the ground before her. She admitted to herself that the youngen knew how she was about a lot o f things. Like giving over too easy. To James.

She tried to see the dwelling with the eyes o f a hunter happening upon it. It wasn’t large

The resentment o f the children had begun to grow after the first few moves. Abandoned

March - April 1994

11

It was a sign, telling her to do now what she’d wanted to do since the girls were horn. playhouses and special places such as gullies lined with rain-washed gravel were left behind. Along with a part of each child’s laughter. That alone was enough to make her want to stand her own with James. Every time she thought about speaking up, her mama’s voice echoed in her mind reminding her to, “Mind your manners.” It might as well have been “Mind your man.” That was really what she’d been implying. Mama had been a God-fearing woman as strict with herself as those in her family, but the iron hand she used, especially with her daughters, had been covered by a velvet glove. True, mama had had her best interests at heart but mama didn’t know much about itchy feet. She and papa had lived in the same house their entire married life. “N o,” Amaziah spoke aloud, as if it had come without her being able to control it. She looked around, afraid one o f the children had overhead her talking to herself. She jabbed at the ground harder. It wasn’t so crazy to want a home, a real honest-toGod home where she could notch the wall by where little Jimmy stood and then look ten years from now to see how much he’d grown. It’d be really nice to stay around at one place so the spiders would begin to get used to them and start spinning a web in the comer. To stay long enough so their own days and deeds would weave themselves together much like that web, forming memories that would return even if they were temporarily brushed away. Amaziah dug deep and reached down with her left hand to disentangle more o f the threadlike roots.

Suddenly as if the fertile soil beneath her prying fingers gave her the needed elements to rise and grow strong, she came to her feet and walked toward the bam with steps faster than thought. At the gateway she nearly stopped, but prompted by something buried under the surface too long, leapt the fence unashamed o f her behavior. Jam es’ whistling enraged her. For a moment she hated the throat behind it as much as the tune he blew. His victory song. It was strange she didn’t recognize it until now. The melody he had given to getting his own way. She joined in giving him a hand with the evening chores. Jam es, apparently so lost in thought about the new place, hardly noticed the vengeance with which she worked. Winded, Amaziah plopped down on a bale o f hay and held to the pitchfork with one hand like a king might hold his scepter in front o f his subjects. Her words came in spurts like streams o f milk hitting the bottom o f a tin bucket. “I’m not going. This time. Go if you will. But me and the kids w e’re staying. For good.” The whistling stopped. When the silence became as uncomfort­ able as prickly heat at blackberry picking time she looked into Jam es’ face. It surprised her to notice how intently he was appraising her. She bit her lip and stared him down, trying to prove by her steady gaze that she wasn’t backing an inch.

“Ow . . . Ouch!” She drew back after the sharp contact had been made. Blood oozed from under her fingernail and dropped onto the small clods o f dirt.

Inside she wasn’t so convinced. What if that was what he really wanted? To be free, loose o f the bunch o f them, to become some high falutin’ fellow kicking up his heels like some spirited horse somebody had tried to tame. Leaving that somebody with the sore places to show for her unsuccessful efforts.

It was a sign, telling her to do now what she’d wanted to do since the girls were bom. To stand her ground with James. To stay put.

Amaziah went back to forking hay but with such determination it’d show she meant what she had just said. “All right, if you say so.” Jam es’ words sounded loud in the stillness o f the loft,

12

The Mountain Spirit

although his tone sounded neither angry or like Jim m y’s when he was trying to play on her sympathies. This was too simple. Way too simple for something so difficult. She had expected some sort o f reaction. Amaziah felt the need for excuses, as much for herself as for him. “I’m just so tired and wo re-out, James. O f living in these . . . these dwelling houses of yours. I hate breaking things and it’s not just a dish or a jar o f cucumber pickles I’m talking about, but breaking up the pattern of our lives for something I ain’t used to. Anymore, I hate even the getting used to because I know it won’t be long then until the whole blasted process starts over.” James was too quiet to suit her. She whipped around mad and scared her pitchfork up in the air. She knew she must look as savage as she felt. James began to laugh. At first it was low and rumbling like thunder and she felt like doing him bodily harm. When he threw back his head and laughed like a mad man it changed from being irritating to infectious. “Woman —w oah,” he gasped, struggling for control. “I wouldn’t try to budge you with a ten foot pole. I wouldn’t dare!” “You’re not aggravated at me?” It sounded more like a question than a statement. “I don’t reckon. I just never knew you were so intent on settling down. You used to make me tell you about all the places I’d been with that traveling show. Your eyes would light up like lightning bugs and nearly fly out o f your face. I always assumed you’d like a taste o f being on the move. I kinda thought that was the part you like most about m e.” Amaziah admitted, “I did. I do, I guess. It’s just exciting and all that. . . in you. It makes you different from me. I just wasn’t raised

March - April 1994

that way to keep pulling up stakes and roaming all over the countryside.” “It’s okay if you want to stay,” James said. “My home’s where you and the youngens are. I just wanted better for you.” “And how are you supposed to know what’s better for me?" Amaziah hit the handle o f the pitchfork hard against the floor o f the bam loft. “And how am I, if you don’t ever tell me? Besides, every move w e’ve made has been for some good reason. That house up Flint Hollow is bigger. Just like this one is bigger than that one up on the Rawlins Place. There’s never been a deal like this one offered us. Mazie, the acreage is double what w e’re used to. There’s more rooms. A man would find himself in a hard spot not to take up an offer like that. “I don’t always plan on being a sharecrop­ per, renting from the other feller. I want to be the other feller some day. I’ve been thinking about buying the place. Working two buriey crops for Beecher Talbott, letting both shares go for payment. But if it doesn’t be suiting you . . . ” “Whither thou goest, I will go, and where thou lodgeth, I will lodge It was Pap’s voice she was hearing now, speaking words from the book o f Ruth in the Bible. Funny how Pap’s voice came th ro u g h so plain now and him being dead and gone quite some time. The meaning behind Jam es’ actions began to sink in as she turned what he’d said over in her mind. “I reckon it’s a woman’s privilege to change her mind. I believe I’d like to go. Provided, that is, we stay when we get there. One more move won’t kill any o f us.” James gently removed the pitchfork from her hand and gathered her close to his chest. She thought briefly o f the bleeding hearts she’d left lying atop the ground to go have it out with James. She figured the bunch o f them would fare all right tonight. Tomorrow she’d be taking them home. t

13

The CAP Closeup “/

went to college

because I knew it was the on ly p la ce I cou ld get library books. ”

Ask Katie Newsome and she declares that she’s a seventh generation Floyd Countian. “We go back to the land grants, came out o f North Carolina in the 1840s,” Katie says o f her family. Katie began her work with the Christian Appalachian Project at the Wheelwright youth center in 1985. After stints at Camp Shawnee and the outreach program, Katie began working with CAP’S Community Health Advocates in 1991- She works with CHAP’s women’s groups, six in Floyd and Knott counties. “I’m an advocate for my people,” Katie says. “And I do mean my people. Most people around here are very protective of each other.” As a sponsor for women’s groups, Katie plans weekly meetings for each group that include a presentation on a health or life-management topic. “We emphasize exercise, nutrition and community involve­

♦ 14

ment, and learn from each other.” Katie frequently invites guests — registered nurses, physicians, social workers —to speak to the groups, “the ladies,” she calls them. “They’ll ask questions o f a guest speaker that they may not ask one-to-one because they’re afraid o f appearing stupid,” she says. The self-image and self-esteem o f her ladies is very important to Katie. The goal o f the women’s groups is to impress upon mem­ bers the fact that they are needed, wanted and capable o f doing anything they set their minds to. “A lot o f times they’ll try to do too much. Because they’re always doing for others, they have nothing left for themselves,” Katie says. “I’ve actually had people tell me that they can’t join a group because they don’t want to appear selfish. I tell them that it’s not selfish to want to do something for yourself.”

Katie believes that education is the key to solving many o f the problems in the area, and that her education gave her opportunities that otherwise would not have presented themselves. Katie didn’t give a lot o f thought to going to college when she was growing up, but after she graduated from high school attended Alice Lloyd College. “I’d like to say I had this great motivation, but I went to college because I knew it was the only place I could get library books. I read constantly, and we didn’t have a public library at that time. I was out o f school, and didn’t have a car, but I wanted to read.” As one o f five children o f a widow, Katie also knew that Alice Lloyd College was the only college that was both accessible and affordable, because o f the student work program. Mysteries are Katie’s favorite books, and she also reads biogra-

by Margaret Gabriel ♦ The M ountain Spirit

Katie Newsome phies suid other non-fiction. “And I read all the women’s magazines. I get a lot o f ideas from them .” Katie loves to cook and try new recipes, many o f which she passes along to her women’s groups. Often, a meeting w ill include trying a new recipe, with each lady bringing an ingredient, so that everyone shares the cost. Making crafts is another big part o f the women’s groups. “The ladies love to make pretty things to take hom e,” Katie says. Craft production plays a couple of other roles, too, as the ladies make crafts as community projects and to raise money for group activities. At Christmas the ladies decorated brooms and donated them to a local Alzheimer’s program and made dolls for the children’s ward o f the hospital. “We try to make things as inexpensively as possible. These ladies can’t afford to buy lace for $2.75 a yard, not when they have to buy toothpaste,” Katie says. Many o f the raw materials the groups use to make their crafts are donated by people w ho’ve read about their work, by volunteers and by people in the community.

are retired merchants; while some are on a sixth grade reading level, others are retired school teachers. There are younger women who make use o f the child care options, as well as grandmothers and even great-grandmothers. A lady with greater means told Katie that involvement with the women’s group had been very enlightening. “She told me that she just didn’t realize that poverty was just down the road. You can really insulate yourself from poverty around here if you want to .” If you’ve been a reader of The M ountain Spirit for any time at all, Katie’s name may seem fa m ilia r to you; she’s one o f the magazine’s most frequent con­ tributors, as both a writer and photographer. At one time, when her son was young, Katie worked as a one woman newspaper staff for a small weekly paper, handling everything from typesetting to circulation. She enjoys using her writing skills, and encourages and coaches other CAP employees and volunteers in writing, as well. Katie studied liberal arts at Alice Lloyd College and is continuing

advocatesfo r area women.

her studies at Prestonsburg Community College. “I’m taking social welfare, business adminis­ tration and art,” Katie says. “There are so many things I’d like to do, but I’m really motivated by direct contact with people. “I like CAP’S diversity, and I like to laugh and to make work fun. When the bad times come, just roll with the punches, get up and go again. I really love my job — can you tell?” ^

The communities in which they are established are a crucial component o f the groups. When Katie sets up a group in a new area, she first tries to find a room where the ladies can meet at no cost, in a church fellowship hall, for example. “We like to have kitchen facilities, because nutri­ tion is such an important part. We have to have hands-on involve­ m ent,” Katie says. “If a recipe calls for something that the ladies have never seen, they won’t use it.” Katie finds that one o f the most interesting aspects o f her groups is the great cross-section o f women who are involved. While many o f the women come from low income households, others

March - April 1994

long event which is sponsored by CAP'S Community Health Advocates.

15

Around the Project Collaboration M eans New Hom e fo r M agoffin M an Last Christmas, Linda Best, a CAP outreach worker, was looking for a place where CAP could hold a Christmas service in Magoffin County. A small church offered its facility, but they wanted something in return. They asked Linda to drive out to Cow Creek and meet Henry Alsept. Perhaps, they said, CAP could do something to help him. Henry, a 50-year-old man who is developmental^ disabled, was living in one room that looked like it was about to fall in around him. "What he had wouldn’t even keep (H it the rain and the cold,” said Rose Price, assistant director for CAP’S programs in Martin. Ken Slone, another CAP worker, recalled that the first time he went to Henry’s home, the walls were propped up with two-by-fours. “It was the worst living conditions I’ve ever seen. When I walked up to the house, there was so much smoke coming out o f it, that I thought it was on fire.” But it wasn’t on fire; Henry was trying to keep warm. The house didn’t have electricity or water, but that wasn’t the primary concern. “The guy’s house was literally falling down.” Linda kept trying to help Henry. So did Ken, who took over Linda’s caseload when she finished her volunteer term. “He’s a likeable man and he likes to w ork,” Ken said. “He does odd jobs that are seasonal, like working in tobacco and cutting grass.” Although he could receive government assistance, Ken said Henry is a very proud man and prefers working to applying for a disabil­ ity check. Ken took Henry’s story to Rose hoping to find some money with which to help. Donations from a priest and a former volunteer gave him $ 1200 with which to work. Ken started searching for used

16

Christian Service International volunteers construct a homefo r Henry Alsept, a Magoffin County resident involved with CAP’S outreach program.

lumber he could use to repair the structure and worked to stay within budget constraints while finding shelter for Henry that would be stable and safe. But then, prayers were an­ swered by the Christian Service International. For three years, CSI has been bringing volunteers to help CAP. They usually divide their group and work on more than one project, but when they met Henry they decided to devote all o f their energy and money (about $1800) on this one en­ deavor. “Once they met Henry

and saw the situation, this was all they wanted to do,” Rose says. And so they did. Ken worked with them to find new materials to build a home for Henry. They even bought some pots and pans and hung curtains for him. “They fell in love with Henry; he was appreciative and wanted to help out when he could,” Rose said. In five days, Henry had a new home. Thanks to the joint efforts o f many caring people at CAP and CSI, Henry had a warm place to spend Christmas this year.

What Can I do to Help CAP? CAP supporters often ask what more they can do to eliminate suffering in Appalachia. First, you can tell others o f the problems in Appalachia which you learn about in The M ountain Spirit and other CAP publications. Please share this magazine with a friend and w e’ll send a replacement. Ask us about any o f the problems in Appalachia and we’ll be happy to share any knowledge we have or to refer you to another organiza­ tion that can help you. Secondly, you can give us a most valuable commodity —time. Since 1950, millions o f hours have

been donated to helping the people o f Appalachia help themselves. If you would like to volunteer three weeks or more, contact The M ountain Spirit and w e’ll pass the information to the volunteer office. Finally, our most powerful form o f assistance is prayer. We believe that if our supporters spend at least one minute a day praying for poor people everywhere, moun­ tains can be moved, the course of rivers changed. The CAP family forms a powerful prayer network reaching into Appalachia and across the nation.

The Mountain Spirit

around the project. . . continued Student Thanks Adult Learning Center The CAP Adult Learning Center recently received this letter;

how proud I was because they got to see their mom graduate.

To the CAP School,

First off, I want to say the school is great. I didn’t have the nerve to go back to school after thirty years so the school came to me. And that helped me to do something. I always wanted to do but didn’t get to. I graduated in June o f this year.

I give all the thanks to the school for coming to my home and my wonderful teacher, Liz Paulow. She was not only my teacher she was my friend. She kept telling me “you can do it.” And now I want to go to school once again to become a nurses’ aide and hopefully one day be a nurse and Liz once again said, “Millie you can do it.” And I know I can. Liz and the school helped me reach one goal I could never have done without them and now there are other goals out there for me to reach.

I went to my daughter and my sons’ graduation from high school and was very proud o f them. They had done something I had not. Then this year they got to see

I want to thank everyone so very much for what they have done for me. Sincerely, Mildred Artley

I have been wanting to write a letter to the school for a long time. Since I will be up there today. I’m going to write what is on my mind.

What You Don't Know About Wills Can Hurt Your Heirs.. . Find Out Why. Request Your Free Copy.

R ainbow R esp ite W orker R ecru its Volunteer When Emma Spivey began working at the Christian Appala­ chian Project Rainbow Respite Center, she never dreamed that her talent at meeting and talking to people would be such a great benefit to the program. Setting up a booth in various locations that give people information about education and services to people with disabilities has enabled Rainbow Respite to make great use o f Emma’s ability. Before owning the only travel agency in Laurel County, Emma had worked in several special needs programs, and decided to go back to that type o f work. She began working at Rainbow Respite in 1992, which provides care for people with disabilities. People Christian Appalachian Project is a participating agency in the Com bined Federal Cam ­ paign. Federal and m ilitary em ployees can contribute to CAP by designating #0898 on the CFCpledge card.

March - April 1994

can leave family members in the care o f Rainbow Respite workers, giving them time to take a needed break from the stress o f caring for a person with a disability. At a Kentucky Department o f Education conference in Louis­ ville, Emma spoke with a special education student from Austin Peay State University. After reading a couple o f Father Belting’s books and The M ountain Spirit, Laura Hoffman decided to volunteer six months to working at Rainbow Respite. “I hope to learn more about family issues by working here, so when I go into a teaching posi­ tion, I’ll have a better idea o f what families need,” Laura said. Although Laura had a full semester o f student teaching in special education, “you never have enough experience. This is a good experience out o f the public school system,” she said.

M uch o f what you know about wills may be misinformation that has been floating around for years. If you think, for example, that wills are primarily for rich people, or the elderly, you may be the victim o f a com m on misconcep­ tion. The helpful booklet offered here will explain how your will can save your heirs from costly delays and confusion. Send for your cop y today. dip and Mail

Christian Appalachian Project 322 Crab Orchard Road Lancaster, Kentucky 40446 Please send without obligation, your booklet, "37 Things People 'Know' About Wills That Aren't Really So." N a m e _________________________________ Address C i t y _____ State.

ZIP

around the project. . . continued

Colleges Com ing f o r W ork Fest CAP’S annual Spring Break Appalachian Work Fest, scheduled for the weeks o f March 6 and 13, promises to introduce benefits to all parties involved: Appalachian homeowners, the groups o f college students that will help them make their homes safe and comfortable, and finally, the CAP volunteer department that brings the two groups together. For the third year, groups o f students from colleges around the county will participate in a different kind o f spring break. While many o f their colleagues travel to beaches and ski slopes, 366 young people from 33 colleges will come to Appalachia to repair homes in Floyd and McCreary counties. Students working in Floyd County will stay at CAP’S Camp Shawnee. In the past, groups have worked in Jackson County and stayed at nearby Camp Andrew Jackson. This year, however, a group will work in McCreary County, one o f the neediest counties in Kentucky, and will be housed in DuPont Lodge at Cumberland Falls State Park. The students will spend their days in groups o f 10 to 12, adding rooms, mending insulation, and repairing roofs. Speakers, includ­

ing CAP founder Father Ralph Belting and Appalachian scholar Dr. James Still will speak to the groups in the evenings. A group o f women from Berea will speak to the group in McCreary County. “They all grew up around here and they’ve all gotten degrees from Berea College," said Carla Durand, volunteer program coordinator. She said that the women will give good insight on the joys and hardships o f growing up in Appalachia. The volunteer department held the first Work Fest in 1991 for a number o f reasons, Carla said. “First, we had lots o f requests from colleges that wanted to come to

work. An event like Work Fest was a good way to accommodate a lot o f them. Second, we saw it as a good way to get a lot o f work done in a short amount o f time. “It says a lot about to the people around here about Christian witness and service. Imagine what someone thinks when they know that someone has traveled hours and hours and hours in a van to come here and help them." Permanent volunteers will speak to the groups, telling them o f the intricacies o f the volunteer program. “We always have a lot interest in our program from college students,” Carla said. “We thought w e’d grab this opportu­ nity to do a recruiting push!”

School Bus Begins Traveling Knott County A second adult education program using a Little Red School Bus was opened by CAP in Knott County last October. Located at Topmost, instructor Bill Tussey is helping eight students prepare to take their GED exams. The teachers on the bus conduct literacy classes, tutor high school graduates wanting to take college or vocational school entrance exams and help people prepare to take the tests in reading, math, science, social

studies and literature needed to obtain a General Eqivilency Diploma. Classes are offered at no cost. People using these services are usually age 16 or older who have dropped out o f school for various reasons and now want to continue their education, according to Shari Pesce, program director o f adult education in Martin. The opening o f this center follows the success o f the first bus venture in Magoffin County. The mobile classroom concept was an answer to the difficulty of not always being able to hold classes in church buildings or community centers. Buses are able to park on roadsides, then move to other areas, as situations warrant. Service providers in Eastern Kentucky believe that by increasing their education levels, Appalachian people can make great progress in helping them­ selves out o f poverty.

CAP employees jo in Father Belting’s fam ily and several priests to wish him a hippy 70th birthday at a dinner at Boone Tavern in Berea.

18

Funding for the project, including equipment and refur­ bishing buses, comes to CAP from the Keith Miller Foundation.

The M ountain Spirit

around the project. . . continued Donations Matched by 84 Lumber During July o f 1993, thirteen 84 Lumber stores in Kentucky and West Virginia circulated informa­ tion about CAP, letting customers know that the company would match donations to CAP, dollar for dollar [see The M ounain Spirit, July-August 1993]. Judy Donahue, director o f public relations for the company, made the initial contact with CAP and devised the pilot program. “Our owner, Mr. Hardy, thinks CAP is great and he likes matching programs. I’m hoping we can spend a bunch o f his money."

When the promotion ended, CAP received $38,000 worth o f building materials from 84 Lumber Company. The materials were used in two home repair projects in Jackson County, which involved expand­ ing and enclosing a mobile home near Tyner and constructing a new house near Sand Gap. Joe Hardy visited Kentucky in September to present a check to Father Ralph Belting and to review the projects in which the materi­ als being used.

Attention Retirees! If you are a C A P donor, or are considering becom ing one, you may be eligible to double your gift through your past employer's matching gift program. M any companies today match monetary support to non-profit community service organizations that are sup­ ported by their past and present employees. Please write for your bro­ chure "D ouble Your Dollars," which lists participating companies and instructions. Send correspondence toTeresa M cAnly, C A P , 322 Crab Orchard Road, Lancaster, KY 40446.

Sim psons R eceive Ca rin g A w a rd

Fifteen 84 Lumber stores in Kentucky participated in matching donations to CAP made through their stores. Pictured here are Mike King, manager o f 84 Lumber in Lexington; Jo e Hardy, president o f 84 Lumber; and Father Beiting.

P A T P a r e n ts J o i n S u n sh in e C e n te r P a r e n ts The Sunshine Center’s Infant and Toddlers: Parent Connections program began experimenting with a new feature recently. Normally a homebased program, the new feature brings parents and infants into the center periodi­ cally, so that parents can also learn from each other. “W e’d like to do this at least once a m onth,” said Sunshine Center manager Becky Kana. “W e’re gearing all the activities to the kids right now, but eventually I’d like to see more sessions that deal with parenting skills and things like that.”

March - April 1994

Parents and children involved in Parents-Are-Teachers, CAP’S homebound program for children with disabilities joined the Sunshiners. “They’re a homebased program, too, and Suzann [Fenton, a PAT worker] thought it would be a good idea for her kids to have the experience o f playing in a group, and interacting with other children,” Becky said. Becky hopes that the experi­ ences in the center will ease some o f the separation anxiety that many children experience when they first begin attending the Sunshine Center.

A recipient o f CAP grants, both human development and Operation Sharing, received special recognition in 1993- Becky and Bobby Simpson, o f the Cranks’ Creek Center in Harlan County, were honored by the Caring Institute as two o f the most caring people in America, for their outreach work near the Virginia border. CAP founder Father Ralph Beiting was a Caring Institute Award recipient in 1990. CAP is proud o f its association with the Simpsons, and takes this opportunity to congratulate them. ^Respecting the wishes o f deceased loved ones or in honor o f them, families often request that memorials be sent to us. Memorial gifts live on to benefit others. Many also specify memorial gifts in their wills. Any size gift is welcome. Contact us for more ^information.

19

Christian Appalachian P ro ject

P eace Award P r e s e n t e d in Ho n o r o f

. Martin Luther King, Jr . George Duerson, recipient o f the 1994 Christian Appalachian Project Peace Award.

The Christian Appalachian Project honored the memory o f Dr. Martin Luther King in 1994 by presenting its second annual Peace Award. The award recognizes and supports people and groups who strive for justice and equality in peaceful yet purposeful protest; emphasizes that the commitment to justice requires social, spiritual, and economic response; pro­ motes a spirit o f understanding among all races throughout the area which CAP serves; and acknowledges that Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks to the human condition we universally share. By honor­ ing his memory CAP means to express Christ in living action. When CAP began collecting nominations for its the 1994 award, the committee received a letter from David Sawyer, executive director o f Students for Appala­ chia. “I commend to your attention an extraordinary candidate for the Peace Award in honor o f Martin Luther King, Jr. It is with the greatest respect that I nominate George Duerson for this impor­ tant award."

♦ 20

Story and photos by Glen Taul ♦

“This is a man who has spent years laboring quietly to improve the lives o f low income and minority peoples in Madison

The M ountain Spirit

County, laboring with few resources, with little recognition. He has been active in his church, been a literacy volunteer and board member, and has worked with Reward, Inc. as a volunteer and board member. “But in 1988, George Duerson began the work that is having such a powerful impact on the lives o f black youth in inner city Richmond and black college students at Berea College. In 1988 George Duerson started a program he called Partners in Prevention, or PEP. “Why? Because he looked at the prob­ lems o f African American youth and decided he needed to do something. He knew about the low self-esteem that leads to drugs, to violence, to teen pregnancy, to dropping out of school. He knew that these were not just problems in New York or Los Angeles. He knew they were problems in Richmond, Kentucky. Partners in Prevention. That was what he needed. He wanted to create partners to address these problems —to prevent these prob­ lems. “Since 1988, PIP has worked with over a hundred African American youth in Richmond. Two years ago Mr. Duerson found another partner in Berea College’s Students for Appalachia program. He asked SFA to develop a tutoring and mentoring component for PIP. In 1992 forty black Berea students went to Richmond twice weekly to help their young brothers and sisters keep their grades up —keep their chins up.

because in addition to Christian charity, he exemplifies Christian modesty. “But you need to know about him. We should hold up men like George Duerson as an example o f courage, ethics and hard work, o f ongoing dedication to the vision o f Martin Luther King, Jr ., to the vision o f all Americans o f good w ill, the vision o f interracial harmony, o f healthy young citizens, black and white, eager to enter the future o f their lives o f our democracy. “It is with the greatest conviction that I nominate an unsung American hero, George Duerson, for the Peace Award in honor o f Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr." The Peace Award committee concurred with David Sawyer, and recognized Mr. Duerson for his outstanding work among African American young people in Madison County. “George Duerson has taken the vision of Dr. Martin Luther K ing,” said Mike McLaughlin, CAP’S president, “and has translated it into practical activities that build up rather than tear down, that seeks the good in each, and that emphasizes the part we all play in the greater community in working for solutions to community problems. By combatting the low self­ esteem that looms so prominently with youth and their difficulties, Mr. Duerson is a true leader in the paths enunciated so eloquently by Dr. K ing.”

“Mr. Duerson also has a powerful vision o f interracial understanding. Following the lead o f Dr. King, he planned two major events, one in all white Jackson County and one in Richmond. Black and white youth joined together to discuss racial problems and work to understand each other better. This, in my view, was a courageous and visionary move on his part. “The world has not heard of George Duerson, who works quietly as a night auditor at Boone Tavern, and who dedicates his days to public service. The world will not know about George Duerson

March - April 1994

outstanding leader o f the African American community in Richmond.

People Believing

That lack o f self-esteem is because o f “their backgrounds, mostly,” says Sherry. “And what they’ve been told all their lives.

Themselves □

□

Residents and workers at Family Life Services give insight into causes and solutions to rural homelessness. ♦

Family Life Services, at the Family Life Center in Renfro Valley, assists people who are in transitional stages in their lives. For many o f them, homelessness is one o f the problems they are addressing. “People [who come here] don’t see themselves as very worthy," says program manager Liz Phelps. She and program coordinator Sherry Allen say that they consistently sees a lack o f self-esteem in the people who choose to make use o f their services.

in □

O r>c would think that people In rural areas would be more likely to recog­ nize the reality o f homelessness in those areas, but very often you find a similar lack o f perception in rural areas, even among low income people. “I know it’s happening all over the world," says Donna, a resident at the Christian Appalachian Project Family Life Services. “But I couldn’t put myself in that place. Not before I became homeless."

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Because they see themselves in this situation, they begin to think that what they've heard all their lives must be true." Donna believes that public perception of the homeless is a problem, and that government is on the brink o f broad changes. “I think Clinton is going to make a big issue out o f helping the poor, and I hope he does. Because it’s about time that the poor people had something, and the rich people don’t just stand around and look at us.” She recalled seeing three people hitch­ hiking from Mount Vernon to Berea the day before, and wondering where they were going, cm-indeed, if they were going anywhere. “I stayed on my knees for thirty minutes last night, praying for homeless people.” The misfortune which led to Donna’s homelessness began with a bad run of luck. After being hospitalized for several weeks, she fell behind on her trailer payments. When the trailer was repos­ sessed, a friend caught up the payments

and let Donna live there for a few weeks, until “Her mother said I was going to have to find me another place to live, so that left me homeless.” Through persistent inquiries o f agencies in Clinton County, her home, Donna learned about a CAP program in Rockcastle County that would be able to help her. Family Life Services offers far more to residents than just a place to stay and Donna has been working hard to stabilize her life.”We expect certain things when people come in here,” said Robyn Rebollo, a volunteer who works at FLS. “Donna is definately meeting those expectations. She has a meeting with vocational rehab to try and get into some vocational training. She’s a hard worker.” Robyn and Tina Clark, another volunteer who works at Family Life Services, have insight to share on the comparisons between urban and rural homelessness. Tina grew up in New M exico, another state with the problem o f rural homelessness. “We talked about homelessness in Albuquerque, but never anywhere else,” says Tina. “And until I got here, I didn’t think that much about it, either. I thought about homelessness as an urban prob­ lem. When I was looking into volunteering I was looking at volunteering in homeless shelters, but always in cities. “I think the problem is a lot harder in rural areas, just because o f

FLS workers estimate that ninety percent o f the people who enter their program have children living with them.

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transportation," Tina says. “If you’re homeless In a city you might be able to get to a shelter. But if you’re homeless here, out in the middle o f nowhere, often you don’t know where any resources are, and even if you do, you don’t have a car or any way to get to them. There’s a huge problem with rural homelessness that nobody seems to be that aware o f.” Robyn is from Washington, D .C ., and worked with homeless people during the time that she was in school. “Coming here, I’ve seen that there are many different kinds o f homelessness, but even people who have homes could very well be categorized as homeless or even worse off, because o f pride. They think that the conditions they’re living in are O K , but they’re horrendous. The house may be falling down, with no water, and no sanitary facilities.” Donna’s persistence led her to Family Life Services from Clinton County, an Appalachian county on the Tennessee border. “Everybody in Clinton County, just about, knew the situation I was in, but nobody wanted to help,” Donna says. “There was one person who came over from the welfare office to sec how I was

doing every day when I didn’t have electric and water. “The public needs to open their eyes and love the way God wants us to love. That’s what they do for you here [at Family Life Services]. They show you that you’re worth something.” Nicole, an FLS resident who has also lived at CAP’S Family Life Abuse Center, is trying to establish a home for herself and her 16 month-old son, Ethan. “If I wasn’t living here, I'd be homeless, because I wouldn’t have any other place to go. I’m trying right now, and this place is great.” She smiled at U na and Robyn. “These guys, they don’t know how much help they are. If it wasn’t for them, I’d be out on the streets right now .” Nicole is trying to find an apartment in Rockcastle or her native Jackson County. Pointing to Ethan as he toddles about the room, she says, “Would you believe that this is the tenth home he’s had?” Nicole begins reciting the number o f places they’ve lived in the last year or so, and the list goes one for quite a while. “I’ve lived with my mother-in-law, my father-inlaw, my husband’s aunt, my mom and dad, my aunt. W e’ve had four houses and two trailers, and we lived in his uncle’s house and his aunt’s house. Plus we lived with his sister. “It seems like every other month I’m saying, ‘Ethan, w e’ve got to go bye-bye.’ I’ll tell him this is going to be our home, and that’ll be for about a month. Then his daddy says w e’ve got to go. “It drives you crazy —it really does. You pack all his stuff again, and about the time you think you’re situated, you have to start the routine over and over.” Just in the few months that Ethan has lived at FLS, Nicole says that she can see tremendous progress in his behavior and development. “He had a couple o f cousins that he played w ith, but now he plays with Michael [the son o f another FLS resident]. He would have to be Ethan’s best friend, now. I think Michael’s had a lot to do with Ethan’s development skills."

Family Life Services program coordinator Sherry Allen.

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Robyn remembers when Nicole and Ethan first came to Family Life Services and she, too, says that Ethan’s development has been dramatic since then. “He was really clingy, because his mom was the only

The M ountain Spirit

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stable thing for him. W ith all that moving around, Nicole was the only thing he could count on,” Robyn says. “He threw a fit every time Nicole left the house. We had to hold him at the window and let him watch her walk over for counseling. The whole time he was traumatized, but he’s gotten much more comfortable now, knowing that things here stay the same for a long time. He’s more secure now, and a lot happier. And his relationship with his mom is bound to improve now that that clinginess is gone. She won’t be as frus­ trated with him climbing all over her all the time, and crying.” Nicole hopes Ethan has no memory of his first two years. “He doesn’t know what a home really is. All he knows is getting adjusted to a place and then having to move again.” At Family Life Services, Nicole is learning ways that she can take control o f her life. She plans to find an apartment in the area where she grew up, and go back to school, so she can find a job that will support her and her son. “Robyn talked to me this morning about going into word process­ ing. I’m really interested in that —I took a year o f computers and a year o f word processing in high school, so maybe I can get a job doing that.” In the time that they’ve worked at FLS, Tina and Robyn have observed the effect that insecurity concerning their home has on children. “It’s sad —the kids don’t develop independence or security. They establish no ties, and have no sense of home. They’re constantly having to make new friends, but once you’re comfortable someplace you have to pick up and leave. And it screws up your education as w ell,” Robyn said. “It affects kids differently at every age,” Tina said. “If they’re little like Ethan, they might not remember being moved around, but it will still affect him. W e’ve had kids here that were school-aged, and they’re affected completely differently because they always have to leave their friends behind. They get angry, or take it out in different ways. They’ll be resentful and angry and feel like they can’t trust. It’s hard on the moms, too, to have to do that to their children.” Tina spoke o f a resident who fit the stereotype of a homeless person walking along a road with all o f her possessions in a

March - April 1994

Family Life Services program manager Liz Phelps.

bag. “Our resident was like that, except she had four kids, age six to fourteen. All o f them were carrying bags, had every­ thing that they could carry out o f the house and were walking down the road with no place to go. She ended up stop­ ping at a church for some water, and stayed there until someone could do something for them. Seeing all those kids is even more heartbreaking than seeing one person walking down the road. “Donna is resourceful and strong —she would have found something even if she hadn’t ended up here,” Tina says. “But when you’ve also got four or five kids, that makes it so much harder. If someone had come here a couple weeks ago with kids, we wouldn’t have had space for them. It’s hard to turn someone away when you know there aren’t that many resources for them to turn to .” Tina and Robyn speak with great respect o f the Family Life Services residents, o f the difficulties they have faced and o f their efforts to make changes in their lives and lives o f their families. “It’s not easy to live in a place like this. A lot o f your freedom is taken away, and you don’t have much social life with people on

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the outside,” Robyn says. “It depends on who your friends were in the past. Some­ times people are trying to cut ties with their past, depending on the kind of lifestyle they lived before. Sometimes they’ll opt to start all over and make new friends.” The rural isolation o f Family Life Services is an advantage to the program in some ways, and a disadvantage in others. Liz Phelps says that they would like to be able to make use o f some o f the opportunities o f an urban setting, but that they take a back seat to no one when it comes to the opportunities for education. “We stress the importance o f taking care o f yourself, of nutrition, exercise, how all that’s tied in together in taking care of the total person,” Liz says. As different as the problems o f the residents might be, Liz and Sherry find that they all have one trait in common. “People don’t see themselves as very worthy. And really that’s the whole basis o f this pro­ gram —to get people to believe in them­ selves. “The issue follows them when they move out, even after they get their apart­ ment. All o f a sudden they don’t see us that

often. They might hear from us every once in a while, but they start to doubt their selfworth again,” Liz says. In keeping in touch with former resi­ dents, Liz and her staff must strike a balance. Friendships that spring up between residents and staff are often instrumental in the increased self-esteem that many FLS residents experience. While it is important to maintain those friend­ ships, staff must be careful to see that an unhealthy dependence does not result. Residents must know they can make it on their own. Although the outward problems o f all of the FLS residents may differ, most lack the security o f a home and according to Liz, all lack the self-esteem they need to wrestle the problems they face in their lives. “They don’t feel worthy o f themselves, and the basis for this whole program is getting these people to believe in them­ selves.” Although it is simplistic to believe that getting people to just believe in themselves is going to solve the overwhelming problem o f homelessness in both rural and urban areas, in talking to Liz, Sherry, Robyn, Tina and the residents at Family Life Services one begins to realize that when people believe in them­ selves and believe that that have a right to a good and decent home, it is the first step on the road to recovery.

While staying at Fam ily Life Services children attend school and partici­ pate in activities with other children in the residence.

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Many People Make a House Possible for the Fox Family At CAP we know almost anything can be accomplished when folks work together. Gene Hensley will attest to that when he tells of his effort in coordinating construction of a house for Dennis and Connie Fox, of Lee County. Dennis and Connie had been planning and dreaming of adding to their small home, but a car accident disabled Dennis, leaving the family unsure where to turn for help. Paul Neeley of the Lee County Health Department contacted Gene, who recently began working in home repair in Jackson County, in addition to his work with CAP wreath factory, and Anna Jean Tackett of the Kentucky Housing Corporation. Other organizations — Lee County Habitat for Humanity, HOMES, Inc., and the Kentucky Hous­ ing Foundation — added to the project as well. Everyone involved decided repair was not possible; the family needed a new home. Working through CAP, Kentucky Housing lent the family the money needed for con­ struction. CAP invested some capital In the project and Gene coordinated labor from all available sources, including members of his own family. "Danny and Finley Hensley donated substantial labor in sub-zero weather," Gene said. Construction is still underway, but Connie and Dennis know that working together, CAP and the other organizations will continue until their new house is completed. All of us at CAP know, too, that CAP donors are an important part of this equa­ tion, and by working together all members of the CAP family will make substantial changes in Appalachia. Will you continue to work with us? A gift of $10 . . . $15---- $20-more, if you're able-for wherever it's needed most will demonstrate over and over again, that when we work together anything is possible.

Gene Hensley confers with Connie Fox on construction of her family's new home.

Inadequate Housing Equals Rural Homelessness In one area served by the Christian Appalachian Project the median value of homes is $24,100. The median value of a home in Kentucky is just over $50,000; in the U.S. the median value is $78,500. In areas that CAP serves with daily programs, as many as 16.8% of the households do not have plumbing facilities. The percentage for the U.S. is 1.1%. In areas that CAP serves with daily programs, as many as 24.8% of the households do not have a telephone. In the U.S. 5.2% of the households do not have a telephone. The lack of a phone poses a particular hardship for families with children and elderly people. The use of wood or coal burning stoves as a heat source is common in the areas CAP serves. In one area, 28.7% of the homes use coal, which is dirty and a major cause of house fires. Data Source: 1990 U.S. Census

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