T he Magazine of the Christian Appalachian Project
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Ja.nuary-Februa.ry 1 9 9 7
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January - February 1997 Vol. XVI, No. 1
ountain The Magazine of the Christian Appalachian Project
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CAP Helps Habitat fo r Humanity by Jim Trammel
/ fa Operation Sharing: Operation Clean-up by Margaret Gabriel
] $ Building Bridges by Melissa Sanders-Johnson Julie Otto guides an electric saw, while Betsy Olson holds steady at Corbin clean-up, p. 16. D >
24 Dean Cornett by Beth Dotson
5 m
CD
Departments 3 Random Thoughts
Building Bridges, p. 18.
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Around the Project
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Letters to the Editor The CAP Closeup
It Works Best With Partners The Christian Appalachian Project counts on partners at every turn. Only by working together can we hope to accomplish our goal of helping the people of Appala chia to help themselves. We like to think of ourselves as partners with those who participate in our programs, as we encourage them to take the lead in making decisions that will enable them to make the life changes they seek. Our partnerships with other agencies and organizations are most important to getting the job done, as you can read on page four. Jim Trammel reports on the partnership that is taking place between CAP and Habitat for Humanity as preparations are made for an Appalachian work project in the spring of 1997. Melissa Sanders-Johnson explores CAP’s partners in programs for people with disabilities on page eighteen. With other service providers and educators, CAP helps people with disabilities to reach their fullest potential. Finally, you’ll meet Dean Cornett, founder of Friends of Paint Lick. Beth Dotson found an energetic partner for getting things done in a big way! On the cover, Marjorie Hendron, a Friends of Paint Lick volunteer, reads to some young friends.
Published by the Christian Appalachian Project. Editor: Margaret Gabriel. Graphic Design: Karen Frances Spivey. Circulation: Linda Grider East. Advisory Board: Father Ralph W. Beiting, Mike McLaughlin, Bill Begley, Carla Durand, Teresa McAnly. The Mountain Spirit is published six times a year. The annual subscription price is $6.00. Subscriptions and other correspondence should be sent to The Mountain Spirit, Christian Appalachian Project, 322 Crab Orchard Road, Lancaster, KY 40446. Copyright, 1996, 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 themselves is the best approach to Appalachian poverty. A summary of the registration and financial documents filed by this organization can be obtained by contacting: in New York, Secretary of State, Office of Charities Registration, 162 Washington Ave., Albany, NY 12231; in Maryland, for the cost of copies and postage, the Secretary of State, State House, Annapolis, MD 21401; in NEW JERSEY, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, 202-626-4380; in NORTH CAROLINA, A COPY OF THE LICENSE TO SOLICIT CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTIONS AS A CHARITABLE ORGANIZATION OR SPONSOR AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES, SOLICITATION LICENSING BRANCH, BY CALLING (919) 733-4510; in Pennsylvania, residents may call the Pennsylvania Department of State at 1-800-732-0999; for West Virginia residents, the Secretary of State, State Capitol, Charleston, WV 25305; in Virginia, the State Division of Consumer Affairs, PO Box 1163, Richmond, VA 23209; Washington State residents may obtain a copy of the last report filed with the Washington Secretary of State by calling toll free within Washington, 1-800-332-4483; IN FLORIDA, RESIDENTS MAY CALL THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES AT 1-800-HELP FLA or by writing to Christian Appalachian Project, 322 Crab Orchard Road, Lancaster, KY 40446. Our license number in Michigan is MICS 9933. Registration with any of the above government agencies does not imply endorsement by the state.
The Mountain Spirit
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Random Thoughts Ike Adams GABRIEL
D
f you feel like dancing when the music is soft and low but nobody else is around, you can waltz with your shadow, or even a broom, and get some satisfaction. Most of us, though, prefer to dance with a partner. After all, “It
When I commence analyzing CAP to figure out what makes our work successful and growing, I keep getting back to the partnerships that keep us going. Thousands of Americans partner with us every time they send a donation. Nobody is forced to support CAP, so when they do, they are telling us they want to join the dance. Through Operation Sharing, our gifts-in-kind distribution program, dozens of corporations have donated nearly two hundred million dollars’ worth of food, clothing, educational material, household supplies, building material, health aids and a wide range of other goods over the last ten years because they believe that CAP can get them to folks who need them most. Operation Sharing partners with over fourteen hundred organizations in Appalachia to distribute those goods. In that same time, CAP has made human development grants, more than a million dollars in cash support, to more than 100 community-based organizations whose goals and efforts, like ours, work to help others help themselves. The parents who bring their young ones to our childhood development centers want a partner to help assure that life will be better for their children than it has been for them. The hundreds of folks who sign up for classes at our adult education centers are our partners in building a better-prepared work force. The same is true of the teenagers who enroll in our youth leadership initiative and do their homework at our youth centers. We trust each other and share common goals. As the 21 st century looms, it is apparent to me that partnerships among government agencies, churches, schools, service organizations, economic development groups and private individuals and January - February 1997
Ike Adams
corporations are more crucial than ever. As it becomes apparent that the government cannot afford to solve every problem in society, it becomes equally apparent that we will have to solve them some other way. I don’t believe that any single organization has much of a chance at creating change by acting alone. Instead of quarreling about turf battles, we have to start focusing on partnerships and figuring ways we can work together. That’s much easier said than done, but as our founder, Father Beiting, frequently points out, the primary partnership is the family. When family members work in harmony they solve their problems. When they begin to break up, they have problems that need outside attention. Those of us who live and work in Appalachia need to start thinking of ourselves as one big family and if we are to grow and prosper, we’re going to have to do it together. Before a mountain square dance is over everybody in the building has danced with everybody else. But it all begins when you ask a single person to be your partner. And it’s a lot more fun than waltzing with your shadow or the broom. A native o f Letcher County, Kentucky, Ike Adams is the director o f CAP’s marketing and public relations department. 3
CAP Helps Habitat Next summer a
for Humanity
building blitz will hit the Kentucky Appalachians as volunteers hammer,
saw and nail to create decent housing in
Wield the
a flurry of activity in seven Appalachian locations (six in Kentucky, one in Tennessee). Up to 180 Appalachian families will move from sub-standard
Housing
housing into safe, decent, affordable homes because of the efforts of a network of talented people, including
Hammer by JimTiammel
many current and former CAP employees and volunteers — and CAP president Mike Sanders.
etween two and three thousand volunteers will descend on seven Appalachian communities, six of them in Kentucky, next summer to build affordable housing for up to 180 families.
part of the massive summer project — Christian Appalachian Project President Mike Sanders, whose organizational efforts have included contributions of money, materials, resources, time and talent CAP has made to the Habitat project.
Habitat For Humanity’s 1997 Jimmy Carter Work Project (JCWP) will draw hundreds of volunteers and the world’s attention to Appalachia and Habitat’s mission to eliminate poverty housing from the world.
Eloquent Photos
B
The 1997 JCWP will bring former President and Mrs. Carter to the Appalachian mountains of Kentucky and Tennessee for the construction of at least 54 new homes during one week in June, 1997. The $4.1 million project is funded by individuals, churches, corporations, foundations, non profit housing grants and civic organizations. In addition, the Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises (FAHE) will build 50 to 80 new homes in Appalachian Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia in a month-long building effort in June, 1997. The total effort will house 150 to 180 families in safe, decent, affordable new homes, removing them from their current sub standard housing. President Carter will visit one of the Kentucky building sites, near the town of Phelps. When President Carter arrives at Phelps, he will meet another president that has also been a key January - February 1997
CAP was there to help Habitat right from the proposal stages of the 1997 Jimmy Carter Work Project (JCWP), also called “Hammering In The Hills.” Photographs furnished by a CAP’S I publications department helped persuade the international directors of Habitat (based in Americus, Ga.) to approve the project in Appalachia.
mostly efforts outside the United States, remembers Mike McLaughlin, former CAP president and now director of CAP’S in-kind distribution program, Operation Sharing. Habitat efforts in Kentucky largely existed in the state’s two urban areas, Louisville and Lexington. Actor Paul Newman visited Lexington about seven years ago to publicize a 40-house “blitz build” (Habitat’s term for a concentrated build of several
Mindy Shannon-Phelps, spokesperson for the Kentucky Habitat organization, said CAP’s photos demonstrated the need for Volunteers are considered invaluable labor. Here they complete a Appalachian project deep in a Floyd County holler. housing “very convincingly.” Habitat used the photos in brochures recruiting for complete houses in a week’s the JCWP. time). At the time Newman was As natural as Habitat’s presence in Appalachia might seem, it took several years for Habitat to bring efforts to this area. Habitat’s early years saw
in the headlines, a Christian Appalachian Project associate was behind the scenes helping lay the groundwork to expand Habitat’s efforts into the rural part of the state.
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A consulting firm to CAP, the William A. Mercer Co., employed Lyle Hannah, a volunteer with the Lexington Habitat chapter. Hannah later became state Habitat chair.
1980 to various Habitat groups. CAP has been contributing to Habitat programs on a local level since 1980, Mike said.
Under Hannah, CAP funded a Habitat position which established the eastern chapters which are now sponsoring the JCWP.
As the Habitat programs became more well known and the rural Habitat affiliate chapters developed, CAP’S role grew into furnishing materials, labor and office support as well as money. Early successful projects CAP backed in Appalachia had a role in helping convince the Habitat international organization to sponsor the JCWP.
A History of Support
The first Habitat group in rural Kentucky was established in Phelps, a community in Pike County, Mike said. CAP gave a human development grant to a group of Catholic sisters to improve community housing. It was one of a series of ten grants per year ranging from $2,000 to $22,000 CAP had made since
CAP has donated $75,000 to the Phelps area project, where Mike will meet President Carter
High atop a roof in Owsley County, workers assist in securing suitable housing.
For next summer’s project, CAP is furnishing vital warehouse space near Corbin. The Corbin space represents the only warehouse facility Habitat has along the 1-75 corridor north of Georgia, Mindy said. Habitat will use the warehouse during the JCWP as a place where building materials can be delivered, bundled and shipped to the seven work sites. Mindy said rigid insulation donated by Dow Chemical and Owens-Coming will be handled through CAP’S warehouse. “CAP has been a wonderful partner” in this and many other ways, Mindy said. CAP hopes to establish more contact with the construction and building supplies industries during the project, perhaps enhancing participation by these
industries in CAP’S in-kind gifts program, Operation Sharing, Mike said. Help From The Top
The Christian Appalachian Project’s commitment to Habitat’s success begins at the top. President Mike Sanders is a member of the 40-person steering committee that has been involved in planning the JCWP for several months now. The steering committee is made up of experts in safety, security, food service, and other aspects of a materials-heavy, multi-city building effort. Mike contributes from his experience with past CAP home repair projects. The committee, Mike says, has worked with local Habitat chapters in each county which are The Mountain Spirit
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and well-oiled” to make next summer’s work go well.
HABITAI CHAPTERS are:
Plkevllle, Ky. (Sandy Valley Habitat]
Lee County, Ky. (lee County Habitat)
Madison Comity, Ky. (Madison County Habitat)
Phelps, Ky. (Phelps Area Habitat)
Leslie County, Ky. (Daniel Boone Habitat)
MerebeaHKy. (Morehead Area Habitat)
Robbins, Tenn. (Appalachia Habitat]
d #
GABRIEL
Kentucky Habitat spokesperson Mindy Shannon-Phelps said, “Mike’s experience with non-profit housing has helped us immensely in the steering committee’s planning.”
mThe project sites and host
Mm *
FAHE, a coalition of 22 non profit housing groups in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia, has committed to the construction of 50 additional homes during the summer 1997 building blitz. Complementary Missions
It has worked out well that CAP’s and Habitat’s missions don’t cast them in the role of competitors. The problem of substandard housing in Appalachia is so massive that everyone’s effort is needed, said Mike McLaughlin. Teamwork is an important ingredient in completing the projects.
CAP has donated $75,000 to the Phelps area project, where Mike will meet President Carter when the project unfolds. Mike is from neighboring Majestic; as a young man he went to school in Phelps. Mike said he is looking forward to meeting former President Carter at the Phelps project. As a financial sponsor of the Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises, Inc. (FAHE), CAP is helping make possible an expansion of the original Habitat project. January - February 1997
CAP and Habitat have similar but complementary traditional roles in combating the housing problem. CAP has historically done home repair rather than complete building of new houses. CAP has built the occasional complete house, but never in a one-week blitz, said Ken Stuber, Habitat coordinator in Berea and a former CAP employee and volunteer.
And CAP has worked behind the scenes for successful administration of Habitat projects. Ken recalls a 1996 Habitat build that involved replacing a family’s house in which CAP arranged lodging for the affected family for the two months between the demolition of the old house and the completion of the new one. Mike Sanders said CAP has helped residents meet income standards for Habitat projects when the families couldn’t afford even the reduced-rate mortgages Habitat makes possible.
Helping hands of these volunteers provided comfort to some Jackson Countyfamilies.
CAP and
Habitat requires their families to invest “sweat equity” in their construction and purchase the homes built for them. The mortgages are low-interest, and usually lowprincipal because they don’t take into account the cost of the donated labor. Helping a family meet Habitat’s requirements “gives a family hope,” Mike said, so it isn’t considered a handout, which CAP’Smission statement forbids. Or, as Ed Bolles puts it, CAP and Habitat “work essentially parallel paths.” Since Habitat’s volunteers come and go while CAP’S are stationed in an area, the groups can cooperate for volunteers. Indeed, the revolving door between CAP and Habitat has seen volunteers from one group become employees of the other group with regularity, most recently Bolles himself. (See side story this page.) The best thing about the two groups working together is that they help each other fulfill their ministries, said Habitat spokesperson Mindy ShannonPhelps. “CAP is a ministry like Habitat. It’s hard to measure success quantitatively, but it’s tangible nevertheless.”
Jim Trammel writes from Lexington, Kentucky.
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have often spent — such a vital task that the international office did it themselves during the last project. But Ed has Habitat experience that comes from three years he spent as a “loaned executive” to Habitat courtesy of CAP. Ed warmed up for these large JCWP responsibilities by serving on the steering committee for the Kentucky Homecoming 1994 project, a $3.1 million effort that built over 100 homes all over Kentucky. Ed Bolles
Ed Bolles was a CAP home repair lead worker in McCreary County, and a former CAP volunteer. Last November he moved into a crucial position with Habitat, as volunteer coordinator for the entire “Hammering in the Hills” project.
“I enjoy the administrative end of things as long as I feel like I’m accomplishing something,” Ed said. After he places all the volunteers of the JCWP and the
Ed must quickly review an estimated 10,000 applications from prospective JCWP volunteers. He will scan for probably fewer than 3,000 that he can accept, and direct as many remaining applicants as he can toward other Habitat projects. Volunteer selection and assignment is crucial to the JCWP Jim Lynn
The Mountain Spirit The Mountain Spirit
Habitat employees time as past or present volunteers for the other group. coordination, he said, is intensified during a blitz build; having to wait three hours for materials takes a large percentage out of your work time if you have to build the house in a week. Guy Patrick was a CAP employee and a Habitat volunteer in Berea; now he is a Habitat employee.
project begins, he will tour the work sites, reporting back to international headquarters on how the volunteer effort went. It’s noteworthy that Habitat turned to a CAP-trained person to fill this vital role. Jim Lynn, CAP’s Home Repair program manager, has worked for the Habitat chapter in Casey County, Ky., whose president is pastor of the Christian Church. Ken Stuber will coordinate materials distribution during the JCWP for the three houses to be built in Berea, and will assist with materials for the three houses to be built in Richmond. The pressure of materials
January - February 1997
Barbara Dempsey, a former volunteer who worked in the Attic and CAP Child Development Center in Berea, dropped in for a visit recently with her husband, Frank, who worked in CAP’s home repair program. After volunteering with CAP, they started on another adventure. Five years ago, Barbara and Frank hit the road as one of 15 nationwide building teams converging on Columbus, Ohio. Each team built one house every week at every stop for 15 weeks, sleeping in church halls,
arranging helpers as they went, and living as nomads with tool belts. Barbara has volunteered with Habitat in Madison County. (She has to miss this year’s JCWP because of a granddaughter’s high school graduation.) Wanda Penman, a CAP outreach worker in Lincoln County, is a volunteer member of the Lincoln County Habitat board. CAP donated the land on which the Lincoln County Habitat chapter built its first house.
----- Around the P ro ject-----Father Beiting Recognized by Governor For Leadership in Economic Development Appalachian Development Corporation, a for-profit subsidiary of CAP, whose purpose is to buy existing businesses or begin new ones, and locate them in underdeveloped areas of eastern Kentucky. Judges also commended Father Beiting’s current efforts to raise a $ 10 million endowment, which will be used to create a permanent investment fund to provide employment in Appalachia. “Successful economic
GREENE
Kentucky Governor Paul E. Patton recently recognized four distinguished Kentuckians with the first annual Governor’s Economic Development Leadership Conference and Awards Dinner held in Erlanger, Kentucky. Father Ralph Beiting, founder of the Christian Appalahcian Project, was honored for the work he has done to provide employment opportunities for the people of Appalachia. Specifically cited was the
Award He was nominated by the East Kentucky Corporation.
“The Visionaries to Air Nationwide ”
CAP has been notified of the broadcast schedule of “The Visionaries,” the public broadcasting documentary series, which includes a story of Father Ralph Beiting and his work in Appalachia. Over 175 stations have expressed interest in the series, and many have committed to broadcasting. For information
about times and dates in your area, please call CAP or your local public broadcasting station. Labeled “good news television,” CAP has received many good comments about its treatment in the series, which features CAP adult education programs, child development, the counseling service and an interview with Father Beiting
development is dependent on people,” said Governor Patton. “The effectiveness of a marketable product and strong assistance programs are diminished if good leadership skills are not available to capitalize on them. These honorées have greatly improved Kentucky’s economy and have inspired others to become leaders in economic development.” “Economic development is highly competitive,” added Gene Strong, Secretary of the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development. “Effective leaders are a key ingredient. Tonight, we honor four excellent leaders.” Award recipients also included Jerry A. Rickett of Corbin, President and CEO of Kentucky Highlands Investment Corporation; Patricia M. Morris of Hopkinsville, Executive Director of the Minority Economic Development Initiative; and William M. Lear, managing partner of Stoll, Keenon & Park, a Lexington law firm. Recipients were chosen from nominations received from throughout the state and reviewed by an independent, out-of-state judging panel. The nominees were judged on how they had established a vision, created change and unleashed talent. “All four of these people have seen a specific need to create opportunities, and they’ve worked to fill that need,” noted Governor Patton, “and for that, we owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude.” The Mountain Spirit
around the p ro ject. . . continued
Emmaus Christian Life Center Closes Doors in Berea One expansion, respite care for family caregivers, is already underway. Peggy Patrick, program manager said, “CAP has subsidized this program for fourteen-and-a-half years in such a way as to provide high quality services that enabled people to remain independently in the community in a unique way. Actually, we were on the forefront of the assisted living
Former Victim T hanks CAP CAP’s employees and board of directors recently got an opportunity to shake hands with someone they had previously met only through the pages of The Mountain Spirit. Barbara Marks, author of several articles which tell the story of how CAP helped her to start a new life after years of domestic violence, addressed the board of directors and workers at the Lancaster office, thanking everyone for the vital part they had played in her life.
SPIVEY
The Christian Appalachian Project recently decided to close the Emmaus Christian Life Center in Berea, which has served as a long-term residential facility for elderly people since 1983. Operations will end when remaining residents have been placed in suitable homes. Moe Mercier, CAP’s vice president for human development, said that the decision was based on the belief that “many elderly folks can function more independently and with greater self-satisfaction in their own homes or with family and other available community support services. We believe the future for CAP’s elderly programs can be more effective in supporting this effort.” Since the 1960s CAP has provided visitation, advocacy, transportation, socialization opportunities and home repair to thousands of eastern Kentucky’s isolated elderly people. “CAP will continue to operate and expand that effort,” Moe said.
Fifth graders from Jackson County experience the Science Maze at Camp AJ. 1,500 students participated in the science exhibit and hands-on learning lab. January - February 1997
trend that has become so important in the long-term care continuum of the elderly. While the closing is painful and efforts were made to permit other agencies to continue the program, we have recognized that CAP’s long-term goals in serving the elderly are moving in new directions.” Peggy added a personal note, saying, “I would like to thank the many marvelous elderly, the dedicated staff and the Berea community for the many ways that all have contributed to the Emmaus Center.”
To a spellbound audience Barbara described the horror of a marriage defined by violence directed at her and her two daughters, and the struggles of poverty and abuse. After nearly eight years, Barbara found the strength to leave for good, and she told her audiences how the staff at Bethany House, family Life Services, Family Life Counseling and the Adult Learning Center helped her to redirect her life. Today, Barbara is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University, with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications. She recently wrote: “Now Eve come full circle. I attend fundraisers for Christian Appalachian Project and show supporters what CAP has done in our lives. I can’t begin to give back what I took with me, but I can spread the word. And I can never give enough thanks for their hard work and endless efforts to help save me. It was all because more than 40 years ago, Father Beiting somehow heard me crying.”
around the p ro ject. . . continued
Food Plus Instructions: CAP Hosts Super Pantry in Johnson County
5rRespecting — the wishes oj
L i
îleceased loved ones, or in honor of 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.
GABRIEL
When Trish Joseph and Angie Hall, Christian Appalachian Project community health advocates, heard about “Super Pantries,” they knew it sounded like something right up CAP’S alley: a program that doesn’t just give folks a bag of groceries and a fond farewell. Super Pantry, a program of God’s Pantry Food Bank, is designed to address some of the root causes of hunger and poverty by providing no-cost personal development workshops on nutrition, health education and life skills to low income pregnant women and women with dependent children. CAP workers hosted Super Pantry sessions for women in Johnson and Magoffin counties. Trish and Angie arranged for the speakers for each of six weekly sessions. Using such resources as the local extension agency, hospitals and other CAP workers, Trish and Angie invited speakers who addressed such topics as health issues, food safety, budgeting and self-esteem. Danielle Tussey, a God’s Pantry Food Bank worker, has conducted ten Super Pantries in
Women from Johnson and Magoffin County share lunch preparation chores during the “Super Pantry ” which was sponsored by CAP and God ’s Pantry Food Bank. central and eastern Kentucky this Danielle said that although year. She said, “We like to teach some of the women were people about the resources in the apprehensive about the program area, about the help they can get if at first, now they seem to have a they need it. We talk about how to good time every week. As for her cook inexpensively, and introduce own enjoyment, “It’s the best job some life skills.” in the world,” Danielle said. “I During each Super Pantry love helping people.” session, after the speakers and The Super Pantry in Johnson presentations, participants prepare County had a grand finale at the and share a lunch, and take home end of the six-week session, when a bag of groceries that includes all Clyde Conover from Skybound the ingredients necessary to Ministries in Louisville donated prepare the same meal at home. Thanksgiving turkey food baskets The six menus that Danielle has to each of the participants. prepared for the Super Pantries Outreach manager Judy Crum include such entrees as turkey said that the Super Pantry has chili, barbecued pork sandwiches been a great service to the women and tamale pie, vegetable and who participated. “They relaxed starch side dishes and desserts. “I together and enjoyed the had some students cost out our company. There were times when meals, and most of them came in I was sitting in my office and at about 80 cents per person, heard a lot of laughter coming which is what the food stamp from upstairs. It makes people program allots per meal,” feel good to share and learn Danielle said. together.” The Mountain Spirit
around the p ro ject. . . continued Need a Job in Louisa? Tune in To C AP’S Radio Program A partnership between the Christian Appalachian Project and WSAC 93.2 is providing employment services in Lawrence County, through a radio show that gives people information about available jobs in the area. “We get listings from Ashland, Prestonsburg and Huntington [West Virginia], for cooks and waitresses, and we’ve even had listings for public school teachers,” said Albert Bloomfied, a CAP outreach manager. “Salaries range from $4.75 an hour to $28,000 a year.” The official unemployment rate in the region is about 13 percent, Albert said, and the unofficial rate, made up of discouraged workers who can’t find jobs and those that have fallen off the unemployment insurance rolls, is much higher. Albert mentioned the idea of the radio show to assistant director Richard Ginn, and after they stopped laughing, he went by the radio station to talk to the program manager. “After I told her about my idea she said she
didn’t know why they weren’t already doing it.” The 30-minute program began airing on Monday mornings in mid-September, and has about 9,000 listeners, according to station surveys, Albert said. The program begins with a tento twelve-minute interview with a CAP program manager, moves to a public service announcement about one of CAP’s programs, then Albert reads his job listings. “Sometimes we’ll have people from here in Louisa call in live, with a job.” Albert plans to record PSAs about all of CAP’s programs that will also air during other times during the day. Every program manager will appear as a guest on the show. “So far we’ve had managers from our youth center, adult education program and Operation Sharing. When we’ve featured all the CAP programs, we’re planning to introduce other social services in the area. We’ll branch out so that everyone knows what’s available in our county.”
W hat Y< iu Don't Know A bout W ills Ca n H u rt Your He irs . . Find Out Why. " m Request Your Free Cop V""
Much of 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 of a common mis conception. The helpful booklet offered here will explain how your will can save your heirs from costly delays and confusion. Send for your copy today. Clip 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 am e______ ______________ _ Address.____________________ C ity________________________
Albert Bloomfield, manager of CAP outreach in Louisa, hosts a radio program which informs listeners of job openings.
State,ZIP____________________
January - February 1997 13
around the p ro ject. . . continued
State Employees Raise Record Funds As participating charities, CAP, the Combined Health Appeal and the United Ways of Kentucky hosted a “Victory Celebration” in Frankfort to thank the state employees for their work
as the Kentucky Employees’ Charitable Campaign concluded. The employees were proud to learn that the $604,000 raised was greater than any previous campaign.
Devona Hensley tells an assembly of state employees of the assistance she has receivedfrom CAP. Later, she presented a token of appreciation to Governor and Mrs. Paul Patton.
Devona Hensley, a young mother who has participated in several CAP programs, was selected to present a token of appreciation to Governor and Mrs. Paul Patton, co-chairs of the state campaign. “She assisted by giving testimony about the help she’s received from CAP. The people with United Ways of Kentucky were impressed with her and asked her to present the award,” said Teresa McAnly, CAP’S KECC coordinator. “The state employees really enjoyed meeting someone that has benefitted from their donations.” Although CAP receives support from throughout the United States, it is good to know that support also comes from within the border of the Commonwealth of Kentucky through the KECC.
Gun Fees to Help Fund Domestic Violence Education M aterials
M o ving ? Please notify us of any change of address to make sure you receive every issue of The Mountain Spirit. Please print
O ld A ddress
N ew A ddress
Mail to: The Mountain Spirit 322 Crab Orchard Road Lancaster, Kentucky 40446
In Floyd County, one third of the $75 fee required for a training course for Kentuckians who apply to carry a concealed deadly weapon will be used for educational materials at the Christian Appalachian Project’s Big Sandy Family Abuse Shelter. The funds are given directly to court advocate Helen Bowen, a CAP employee who spends three days each week working at the Floyd County courthouse, according to program manager Donna Turner. “She’ll use the money for office supplies, and for educational materials,” Donna said. The shelter is one of two that is operated by CAP. The Big Sandy Abuse Shelter receives excellent support from both the public and private sectors of the community, Donna said.
“One of the men from Lancaster came to see us, and none of our neighbors would tell him where the house was. They didn’t know him, and they were just watching out for us, the way we would watch out for them.” During Domestic Violence Awareness Month, all five of the county judges in the area served by the Big Sandy Abuse Shelter signed proclamations, and the local merchants supplied purple ribbons to be worn in support of the awareness month. “I’m sure their support, and the support of law enforcement makes a big difference in the incidence of domestic violence in the area,” Donna said. “I have to give the Kentucky State Police, and our county and city police an A+ for their support — they’re just great.” The Mountain Spirit
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around the p ro ject. . . continued
Have an Adventure in Beautiful Appalachia! Volunteer for a year or a summer with the Christian Appalachian Project. We are in need of energetic, open-minded people to staff our many human service programs here in eastern Kentucky. Volun teers live together, sharing meals, prayer and the challenge of fighting poverty as they support each other through their strong Christian motiva tion to serve people. Oneyear volunteers receive room and board, a
monthly stipend, health insurance and loan defer ment information. We need one-year volunteers (age 21 or older) to serve in child development, adult education, home repair, elderly programs, respite care, outreach, spouse shelters, youth and teen cen ters and more. Join others from around the country by putting your faith into
action to fulfill a dream for Appalachia. For more information, call 1-800755-5322.
W hat Can I Do to Help the Christian Appalachian Project? Christian Appalachian Project supporters often ask what more they can do to help eliminate suffering in Appalachia. First, we tell them, you can tell others of the problems in Appalachia which you learn about in The Mountain Spirit and other CAP publications. You might want to share this magazine with a friend, for example. If you’d like, drop us a line and we’ll send you a replacement copy. Ask us about any of the problems in Appalachia and we’ll be happy to share any knowledge we have or to refer you to another organization that can help you. Secondly, you can give us a most valuable commodity — time. Since 1950, thousands of people have worked millions of
hours, donating time to helping the people of Appalachia help themselves and their families out of poverty. If you would like to volunteer a year or a summer to working in Appalachia, please contact The Mountain Spirit, 322 Crab Orchard Road, Lancaster, Ky., 40446. We will see that you receive information about CAP’s volunteer program. Finally, our most powerful form of assistance is prayer. We believe that if our supporters spend at least one minute a day praying for poor people every where, mountains can be moved, the course of rivers can be changed. The CAP family forms a powerful prayer network reaching into Appalachia and across the nation.
DOUBLE Your D o lla rs ls a If you are a CAP donor, or are considering becoming one, you may be eligible to double your gift through your employer’s matching gift program. Many companies today match monetary support to non-profit community service organizations that are supported by their employees. Many of these companies match the gifts that are made by their retirees as well. Please write for your brochure “Double Your Dollars,” which lists participat ing companies and instruc tions. Send correspondence to:
Teresa McAnly - CAP 322 Crab Orchard Road Lancaster, KY 40446
January - February 1997 15
Charlie Deaton, manager of Operation Sharing, displays a 1995 wall calendar in his office, and declines offers of newer, more functional models. “John Van Hengel gave it to me. He started the first food bank in the United States and has been responsible for food banks in
other countries.” Charlie has a great fondness for Van Hengel both for the work he has done to distribute in-kind donations to people in need, and for a role he played in Operation Sharing’s earliest days. “He read a story about CAP’S first in-kind
by Margaret Gabriel The Mountain Spirit
Mike and others estimate that over 120 people traveled to Corbin to participate in the clean-up. Those who stayed behind picked up the slack, making it possible for others to go.
Danny Purcell, Mike McLaughlin, Moe Mercier, Marvin House and Jim Lynn converse about setting up a strategy for the Corbin clean-up.
donation, and introduced me to other donors, and told them about who we were and what we were doing. That introduction started several of our partnerships.” It is difficult to talk about partnership without talking about Operation Sharing, CAP’s in-kind donation distribution program. In 1996 Operation Sharing provided such items as books, clothing, food, and health care items to people in all thirteen Appalachian states through 1438 organizations. Operation Sharing has steadily increased its number of partners during its ten years, although many groups in Kentucky have been a part of the program since the beginning. Bobby Simpson and the folks at the Cranks Creek Survival Center, in Harlan County, for example, have been receiving Operation Sharing materials since the mid-1980s. Nearly 600 volunteers a year work on home repair projects through Cranks Creek, and many of their supplies come from Operation Sharing.
To help Operation Sharing continue expanding, CAP recently bought a warehouse in Corbin, Kentucky. The increased space will allow the program to distribute $50 million worth of materials by the year 2000.
“It was great. It reminded me of my volunteer days,” said Kathleen Leavell of the clean-up day. Today Kathleen writes grants to raise support for CAP’s work, but as a volunteer over twenty years ago, Kathleen spent more than her share of time cleaning floors and driving trucks. Speaking as someone no longer accustomed to hard labor, Kathleen noted, “I was so tired at the end of the day that I could hardly drive home, but it was that good kind of tired you feel when you know you’ve done a good job.”
Partnership was the by-word when the CAP workforce recently spent two days cleaning and clearing debris from the new warehouse. “We thought it would be a good picker-upper for people to work together on this project,” said CAP President Mike Sanders. “The warehouse became a program of all CAP, not just Operation Sharing.” “It’s amazing the amount of work that we got done in just two days. It would have taken sub-contractors three weeks, and now it’s all ready for the more technical work to be done,” Mike said.
The demolition crew included Barb Delmonico and Carla Durand, equipped with crowbars, gloves and masks, who made careful aim of their target.
January - February 1997 17
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Iptlpi W RM I
m
“We couldn’t make it without First Steps, and at least in this part of the state, I don’t think First Steps could make it without CAP,” said Selena Ford, program manager for Parents Are Teachers.
The Mountain Spirit
Ir jig« arcnts Arc Teachers is an early intervention program for families of children with physical or developmental disabilities based in Stanford, Kentucky. Selena says the goal of the program is to teach parents to become advocates for their young children, and to teach them the skills they will need to enhance their child’s development. By becoming partners with Bluegrass First Steps, a statewide program funded by federal and state grants, Selena believes parents and children involved with the program get the best of both worlds. “Sometimes parents are overwhelmed or intimidated by large state agencies,” Selena said, “but in this part of the state people feel comfortable coming to us with questions or concerns about their child’s development.” If such a situation arises, Parents Are Teachers will make the initial call to First Steps to get the ball rolling. From there, First Steps sets up an evaluation for the child, and if any physical, mental, or developmental delay is detected, First Steps arranges for any kind of therapy the evaluation suggests, in consultation with the parents. “It’s kind of like one-stop shopping,” Selena said. “Parents don’t have to worry about where they should take their child for an evaluation or call around to find out which therapists are available. First Steps takes some of the burden off the parents’ shoulders.” In turn, First Steps contracts with Parents Are Teachers for developmental intervention work January - February 1997
with families their agency helps. Selena says because First Steps is able to reach people on a larger scale, by working with them, Parents Are Teachers is able to touch families they otherwise wouldn’t have known.
says sometimes Parents Are Teachers will go into the pre school and work with teachers to make sure they are prepared to work with a child who has a physical or developmental disability.
Another positive aspect of the partnership is that no child will fall through the cracks. In order to qualify for assistance through First Steps, a child must meet certain criteria. If the child does not qualify for the program, he or she is referred to Parents Are Teachers. In a case like this, even if a child’s developmental delay is minor, help will still be available.
Selena hopes as parents leave the program they take away the feeling that they have regained control of their lives. “When you find out your child has a disability, parents often feel their lives are no longer their own,” Selena said. “They must now
Because both CAP and First Steps believe in early intervention, they begin working with children as young as three months old. Once contact is made, work begins to get both the parents and child ready for the first day of school. Parents Are Teachers encourages parents to enroll their child in a pre-school or CAPRICE workers travel throughout southeastern Head Start program by age Kentucky helping adults with disabilities to improve three, but the ultimate independent living skills. decision is left up to the share their lives with doctors, parents. “We know how hard it is for all parents to send a child to therapists, and interventionists. school for the first time, not just They have to share things with parents of children with their child’s school that you disabilities,” Selena said. “We normally wouldn’t share. First would never force parents into Steps shares our philosophy of making a decision they aren’t giving control to the parents. comfortable with, we just make After all, they are ultimately sure they are aware of all their responsible for their child.” options.” Parents Are Teachers is not the only Christian Appalachian But when the child is enrolled in pre-school, the connection Project program to work in doesn’t always end there. Selena partnership to help touch people
on a larger scale. CAPRICE (Christian Appalachian Project Resources for Independence in Community and Employment), located in London, Kentucky, found that by joining resources and staff power with the University of Kentucky Human Development Institute, a weekend retreat could be an event to remember. Every year, through a grant from the State Development Disabilities Council, UK’s Human Development Institute holds a retreat for families of children with disabilities. In the past, CAP has sent a representative to the retreats which are held alternately in Louisville and Lexington. Bobbie Wesley, manager of CAPRICE, attended some of UK’s retreats and said they were full of valuable information, but registration cost was high, and because they were held only in Louisville and Lexington, many families could not afford to make the trip.
In-home Rainbow Respite Care worker Pat Thompson watches Whitney eat lunch with helpfrom her mom.
Bobbie spoke with Carrie Stith, of UK’s Human Development Institute, and told her about CAPRICE’S family retreat, which is sponsored yearly by CAP. “Both retreats offered workshops and support groups for parents, and respite for the children, so I asked why the two couldn’t be combined.”
Stith agreed that by combining the retreats, cost could be kept down and they could reach families from a different part of the state. Both organizations pooled their resources, and during the first weekend in Many CAPRICE participants are supported employment October, they workers. CAPRICE helps them tofind jobs in the community, to held a family learn the job, and provides on-going support.
retreat at London’s First Assembly of God Church. “We decided we would be able to accommodate 40 families,” Bobbie said, “and that number was reached well before the retreat began.” The ages of the sons and daughters participating in the retreat ranged from five months to 40 years. UK’s Human Development Institute paid hotel and meal expenses and provided guest speakers. CAPRICE and CAP’s Rainbow Respite Care Center provided staff and respite care for the event. “In the past UK had to operate the retreat with few staff members because guest speakers and quality respite care cost so much,” Bobbie said. “It was a big plus to have a large staff and professional respite providers from CAP on hand.” Families came from across the state to hear this year’s guest speaker, Darcey Elks. Darcey The Mountain Spirit
20
came from Pennsylvania to share her obstacles and triumphs as a parent of a child with Down Syndrome. Bobbie says she feels the greatest success of the retreat came from the encouragement older parents were able to give the younger ones. “In the early stages of the retreat, young parents of children with disabilities would express how tempting it is to just give up sometimes,” Bobbie. “But after hearing about the struggles some older parents faced years ago, with school systems and doctors, the younger parents left feeling more hopeful.” Bobbie also expressed that the families were not the only ones to benefit from the retreat. “This was the first contact with CAP for many families,” Bobbie said. It was a positive experience for people who have children with disabilities to meet, she said. Bobbie said a meeting is already in the works to discuss the possibility of another collaborative retreat. The University of Kentucky is only one of the universities with which CAP collaborates. Gloria Jordan, manager of the Rainbow Respite Care Center, located in Renfro Valley, Kentucky, said for the past three years their program has worked with Occupational Therapy students from Eastern Kentucky University. Rainbow Respite provides short-term care for families with children or adults with physical or mental disabilities. The staff provides activities that stress socialization, recreation, and basic life skills specifically designed for
Care Center and was afeatured speaker at CAP’s 1995 Family Retreat. each resident. Gloria says that an extra hand is always appreciated, and by working with OT students, not only do they get that extra hand, but the students and staff are able to share knowledge and ideas. “The collaboration keeps us from thinking we are the only ones with the answers,” Gloria said. “Students bring in new ideas all the time.” Many of the students have never worked first-hand with a person with a physical or mental disability. By gaining practiced experience with Rainbow Respite, students can decide if this is the field they want to go into. “We have received many letters from students who have worked with us in the past, thanking staff members for the positive experience they had here,” Gloria said. While the family of a child with a disability needs moral and emotional support to ease their burden, those with physical disabilities must have the necessary medical equipment just
to get by. This is where CAP’s outreach program, in Johnson County comes in. Judy Crum, manager of the outreach program, says that by working with the Kentucky Assistive Technology Network (KATS), CAP workers are put in direct contact with those in need of medical equipment. “Many people in our region don’t have insurance that will pay for these items,” Judy said, “but by working with KATS, we are able to keep people from falling through the cracks and get them the equipment they need.” KATS is a non-profit organization based in Frankfort, Kentucky, that links people and organizations who have medical equipment to sell or donate to those in need of assistive technology. Each month, KATS circulates a flier, statewide, listing the available items along with the name and phone number of the person who owns the item. “Most people on the KATS mailing list are low income,”
January - February 1997 21
outreach program tries to help with delivery whenever possible. Judy even recalls a time when a KATS employee stopped to visit the outreach office and she turned him into a delivery man. “For days we had been trying to figure out a way to deliver a wheelchair to a woman in Louisville who found us through the KATS network,” Judy recalled. Lvdia, a participant in both CAPRICE and Rainbow Respite, is “Then, out of pictured here during an independent living skills class. the blue, Michael Joe Daniels from KATS came by to visit us on his way to Judy said, “so even though some Louisville. I looked at the other people charge for the items they people in the office and said list in the flier, CAP always lists ‘See, miracles do happen!’ the items we have free of charge.” Michael Joe gladly delivered the chair to Louisville. ” The KATS flier lists everything from Braille computer printers People and groups in the and telephones for the hearing private sector are not the only impaired to handicap accessible ones to benefit from the cars and even homes. Everything outreach/KATS partnership. you find in the flier is available Judy said she was recently free or at a reduced price. approached by a Johnson County Family Resource Center. A Once an item is promised to a student there had a disability that person, it is usually up to that wouldn’t allow him to sit up for person to pick up the medical an extended period of time, and equipment, but Judy says CAP’s
they wanted to know if they could have one of the hospital beds advertised in the KATS network flier. Judy agreed right away, and the young boy’s days at school were made a little easier. Since outreach began its partnership with the KATS network, they have given away one electric wheelchair, two walkers, five hospital beds, and various other items to improve the lives of those living at home with a disability. “If it weren’t for the KATS network advertising donated items a lot of people would have to do without medical equipment they desperately need,” Judy said. Mike Sanders, CAP’S president, believes collaboration and networking are necessary for almost all of CAP’s programs. “When we partnership with other agencies, not only do we share resources, but it also gives us the opportunity to get more people involved and excited about CAP’s mission,” Mike said. Working in partnership with other groups allows Christian Appalachian Project to reach out and help families they may not have otherwise known, it allows programs with a limited staff or budget to grow. And in return, CAP is able to lend a hand and strengthen other agencies and build bridges in a community.
Melissa Sanders-Jolmson, is a senior journalism student at Morehead State University and grew up in Floyd County.
The Mountain Spirit 22
Letters to the Editor I enjoy reading about your work in the southeastern United States and I do contribute occasionally in cash throughout the year. Your pie graph shows, I think, extremely wise use of contributed income. Nothing is more admirable, to me, than helping someone to be able to help themselves. Bravo to you.
Eight dollars is a small price for any reading material today and I find The Mountain Spirit very informative. For me it is educational, as I have never been in your part of our country. Keep up your work and may God continue to bless you as I am certain He will. I keep you in my prayers.
Myra Hall LaGrange, Ind.
Shirley Corning Portsmouth, N.H.
I enjoy receiving and reading The Mountain Spirit. I also wanted to thank you for the book you recently sent. It’s very inspiring and moving. The articles in The Mountain Spirit are uplifting because it’s wonderful to see people helping themselves and others.
I really enjoy receiving my copy of The Mountain Spirit. My mom and dad were from Kentucky; they grew up on a farm so they know about hardships. That is why they had to move to make a life for themselves. Ms. Patricia G. Wilkerson Westfield, Ind.
Carmen Brocke Rough and Ready, Cal.
The Mountain Spirit is truly God’s gift. I enjoy reading about all the good people, maybe they’re poor in worldly goods, but so rich because of the love and care they practice in their hearts for their fellow men. God bless all your efforts. L. Fennen Cincinnati, Ohio
January - February 1997
I enjoy reading The Mountain Spirit. I always look to see if there is anyone I have met in the Spirit. I have volunteered at the Child Development Center in Berea and cooked for Work Fest at Camp Andrew Jackson. I enjoy every minute of the work, all the people are so warm and loving. Mrs. Norma J. Conner Brackettville, Texas
I enjoy Rev. Beiting’s books also. Can’t lay them down, until finished, then pass them on. I’m a 79-year-young widow and can understand your worries of not being able to finish all the work to be done, but God will pick someone to carry on when we can’t. Mrs. Janet L. Heuer Sanford, Fla.
As a former CAP volunteer, I really enjoy The Mountain Spirit. It captures the people, and the places. Mrs. Kathryn Kirk-Malters Brainerd, Minn.
God bless you and your work. In three months I will be 96 and read every word of The Mountain Spirit and if I were 20 years younger I would be on your list of volunteers. I keep you in my daily prayers. You are the real home missionaries. I love to read about all the young people who give their vacation time to help their own fellow USA country men, women and children to have homes and all other programs. Sister Francesca Bercher Fond du Lac, Wise.
fjjf he place looks like grandma’s living room on the day she packed boxes with clothes she wants to give away. As the students come in, they remove books and bags and other odds and ends from the couch or a chair in which they want to sit. It certainly isn’t like walking into a university classroom and wedging into a hard desk for a two-hour lecture. Just outside on the front step, two students are doing some last minute cramming for the anthropology test. They’re worried about how they will do. Inside, the air is lighter, full of chatter. One student shares her study method — her daughter quizzed her. Another isn’t concerned about the test. What’s
on her mind is the topic of her upcoming paper— swinging bridges. She can’t find information about them. In the middle of it all is Dean Cornett. She’s not a student looking for credit or the teacher, at least not in the formal sense of the word. She’s more like the principal, the dean, the superintendent of the Friends of Paint Lick school. She’ll say she’s an old woman and ought to be in a nursing home, then in the next breath she’s on the telephone trying to find money for a couple who needs $ 100 to get an apartment. They’re living in an old house without water and electricity and snow is predicted for the weekend. All of her life, Dean has been helping people. At age 78, she still stands steady in the center of activity. She’s connecting with agencies, volunteers and foundations to provide education and opportunity to anyone who cares to drop by. It isn’t hard to get those people she works with to talk about Dean Cornett. Mention her name and they smile. The shortstatured woman who wears glasses and a baseball cap is legendary among Kentuckians who
have met her. It’s quite possible that someone at the White House even remembers her. She was there in 1990 to receive a “Points of Light” of award on behalf of the Friends of Paint Lick, a community action organization, from President George Bush.
She’ll say she’s an old woman and ought to be in a nursing home, then in the next breath she’s on the telephone trying to find money for a couple who needs $100 to get an apartment. To tell about the work she does, Dean doesn’t talk about herself. She talks about all of her partners who have made Friends of Paint Lick a place where anyone can take a painting class, study for a General Equivalency Diploma (GED) or earn credits in a college course. CAP supplies
January - February 1997 25
Katie is doing things she never Dean with used clothing people thought she could do before. She might need. The Garrard County works as Paint Lick’s assistant Public Library helps her with a postmaster and volunteers with summer reading program. the Friends of Paint Lick. She’s Harvard and Johns Hopkins also working toward a degree in universities, among others, have sociology from Eastern Kentucky sent short-term volunteers. The University (EKU). people who know and care about one small town’s A poem by Linda Caldwell efforts to improve itself are You Have To Have A Black China Heart spread across the country, for Dean Cornett and even across the world. Dean has hosted dignitaries She carries the weight of the world, from as far away as the but steps lightly Cook Islands.
until she is by herself, driving a hard road.
Regardless of how Dean tries to deflect recognition for the work she does, her partners don’t talk about what they have given to her — they talk about what she has given to them. Her determination and genuine love for humanity have inspired her partners and the people who participate in the programs at the Friends of Paint Lick building.
She does not see my hand waving because she is alone with an unseen hoard, both living and dead.
because everyone who attends in Paint Lick has a strong desire to learn. They also know one another and can call a classmate for help when they don’t understand something or need to study for a test. Student Marie Bonner has taken five classes at the Friends of Paint Lick. “I’m just doing this for me,” Marie said, adding that she might go to school full time and get a degree when she retires. “It’s been good for all of us. We probably wouldn’t have a chance to further our education if not for Dean.”
She is not afraid to look poverty in the eye.
Marie works as an outreach case worker for and she questions, “I do good, don’t I?” CAP. Her job keeps her in A litany of chores and miracles bursts forth. contact with Dean, who calls And 1 say, “Don’t tell me. I am a believer.” when she has a special need that CAP could help with. She doubts my faith and altar tending On her part, Marie keeps an for all candles burn low in the shadow of her fire eye out for items at the CAP warehouse that she thinks the Friends of Paint Lick could Dean had to do a lot of use, like clothes or books. persuasive talking to convince the Surpassing Expectations president at EKU, which is a 20In the fall, Marie was working minute drive from Paint Lick, to Katie Rollins laughs when she with a CAP program participant offer one class a semester in the remembers the first time she met who had a gas cooking stove to Friends of Paint Lick building. Dean. “She gave me my first give away. Most of the people Most of the students had never bra,” Katie said. “Since then Marie worked with had electric taken a college class before they she’s fixed everything else.” hookups and couldn’t use the were offered there. In the comfort Dean helped Katie gain the stove, so she called Dean. It of the familiar home-away-fromconfidence to get her GED, earn wasn’t long before she found home setting, they prepare for 48 hours of college credit, write a someone who needed it. That’s this semester’s anthropology newspaper column and stand in the kind of personal partnership class, poised with pens and front of local and national groups Dean has built with people notebooks. One even carries a to tell her story. throughout the entire recorder to tape the lecture. They community. take tests and write papers just as “Now she isn’t shy and speaks they would if they were on the fluently,” Dean said, looking at “She has been in service to university campus. Katie. “You put her on her feet others her whole life,” Marie and put her in front of a bunch of said. “She just gives her whole Katie believes this experience people and ask her to tell a story life to helping other people. is different from how classes of thus and so and she tells it She’s a servant of God.” would be on campus, though, well. She’s beautiful.” Sometimes the deceit of others breaks over her
The Mountain Spirit
People have called Dean mentor, mother and miracle worker. She began the Friends of Paint Lick in 1988 after eighth grader, Kevin Brown, asked for help with a community service project he needed to do for school. Dean said she didn’t have the time but it wasn’t hard for Kevin to convince her to work with him. The next year. Dean and Kevin were at the bank signing a deed for a building she and other “Friends of Paint Lick” bought to headquarter their venture. It has become the place where friends and strangers know they can stop for conversation, books, clothes or anything else they might need. “Pretty much she’ll come in thinking she’ll do one thing and 15 other things erupt,” said Linda Caldwell, who has known Dean since she was a child. Linda is one of the volunteers who works with Dean. They went together to Washington, D.C., to receive the Point of Light Award. She also helped her prepare for an interview with CBS television. Dean has never seen the segment they taped. While Friends of Paint Lick board members were hosting a breakfast to watch the show when it aired, Dean was teaching Sunday school. Dean likes to share stories of the people who have touched her. She searches the walls and piles of mementos in the packed Friends of Paint Lick room to find the picture a 10-year-old Mexican girl gave her for Christmas. The girl’s parents told her she could buy two Christmas gifts. The child decided on one for her grandmother and one for Dean, who had given her clothes and a quilt to keep her warm in the winter.
The girl’s innocent eyes touched Dean as the child told her the story of choosing her special Christmas gift. “It was a million dollar speech to me,” Dean said. “If I had a million dollars I would give it to her.” Helping Visitors
That respect for people who live in Marie Bonner, CAP outreach worker, and Dean Cornett. even the most dire circumstances has helped visitors to the Friends of Paint Lick gain Before he left her that day, a better understanding of poverty Frank learned, “She wanted to in Appalachia. With her stories take absolutely no credit for and the people she introduces, everything and she wanted to Dean helps people understand share all of that credit with the what it’s like to live outside the people who were on the board economic mainstream in the and with the young student at that United States. If they stay long time, Kevin.” enough, she puts them to work fixing her building, sorting Frank’s visits with Dean clothes or teaching a class. She continued, even when they didn’t has created a network of people have papers to look at or official who give to the center and take business to conduct. “It was from it, never forgetting what important for me at MACED to they’ve learned there. keep going back there and that was because she gave me such Frank Taylor is one such grounding, and Paint Lick did as person. Frank was a wellwell, through her. Because it’s traveled journalist and author one thing to sit at MACED and when he took a job in Berea, talk and think about policy Kentucky, as president of the formulation, and grant seeking Mountain Association of and technical assistance and all of Community Economic that, but Paint Lick, like so many Development (MACED) in other wonderful small towns in 1989. He first met Dean when eastern Kentucky, is where the she was trying to file papers to real life is, is where the hopes and give the Friends of Paint Lick the aspirations of the people are. nonprofit status. It’s where the problems are, so it was always a way for me to keep “It was just really love at first my feet on the ground and sight with this character,” he therefore to make what we were recalled. “I realized there was doing at MACED more relevant.” this wonderful spunkiness and irreverence, almost a sassiness, One of the lessons Frank that I just adored.” learned from spending his
January - February 1997 27
unmarried union and past drug problems. Dean pointed out to him that those are exactly the kind of people who need to feel God’s mercy. Through Dean, many people have encountered a kind of compassion that they have found nowhere else. Frank didn’t forget Dean and Paint Lick when he went to work for the Kellogg Foundation Thefuture Friends of Paint Lick read during stoiytime. in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1994. “I call Dean when I get back from Saturdays at the Friends of Paint Africa or Latin America to tell her Lick was that some people who what I’ve done and where I’ve are materially poor are quite rich been and what I’ve learned,” Frank in other ways. “I’ve never been said. “She’s just like Moses on the able to use that term (poor) again mountain. She’s got so much ever since I learned those lessons wisdom and she’s so willing to there because Dean showed me listen.” how even people without education, or sometimes even She also knows how to use without a job, can have such a money in a way that would expand wealth of spirit.” its impact. That’s one of the reasons the Friends of Paint Lick He also learned from the way received a grant for $32,550 from she related to the people who the Kellogg Foundation. “A little stopped by. “She treated them all bit of money in her hands goes with such dignity as if they were such a long way. I’ve always been all royalty. I think that made such impressed at how she can squeeze a difference to those people in the a dollar bill until the eagle way that they then felt about screams,” Frank said. The money themselves because she treated paid off the mortgage on the them so respectfully and so Friends of Paint Lick building. warmly and affectionately.” Dean recalls a couple who needed her help finding a decent place to live. They were unmarried and the man had been through rehabilitation for problems with drugs. One man criticized Dean for trying to help the couple because of the
Dean’s current desire is to bring a health clinic to Paint Lick. “People don’t take their blood pressure because they have to go all the way to town or they have to wait or they have to have an appointment and you have to get your husband in the notion. And to
just walk across the street and take it, wouldn’t that be wonderful?” Dean said. The health initiative is just the latest in Dean’s attempts to help build strong families in a world that she says sometimes spends money on foolishness instead of people. Even without much money, the Friends of Paint Lick have been able to create a community that nurtures hidden dreams and nudges undiscovered talents. When she starts talking about the Saturday painting class at the Friends of Paint Lick. Dean will hold up a beautiful scenic painting done by Clara Dean Carpenter. Clara Dean began as a student in the class six years ago and now teaches it. Dean turns over the frame to examine the “canvas” on which it is painted. It is actually an old curtain. And the paints, Dean assures, were not all professional oil paints. Clara Dean used whatever she could find to make her picture, including old housepaint. Alma Rose has also been in the class since its inception. She had never before had the opportunity to learn to paint. “It’s a good place to come and sit and talk together and paint. We just enjoy sitting around together, talking and painting,” Alma Rose said. And so the room is again transformed into a place of learning, sharing and growing for anyone who cares to walk through the front doors. Whether they are from down the road or an island in the Pacific, they’ll never be the same again. Beth Dotson, aformer CAP volunteer, is afreelance writer who lives in Lancaster. The Mountain Spirit
28
unì ou Mike Sanders
“/ don’t feel that the president runs everything, ” Mike said.
“Iwas a team
player before, and Pm ateam player
n ow . . .
How many of us can say that we’ve never had a boring moment in over twelve years? Mike Sanders would make such an admission, and as he assumes the position of president of the Christian Appalachian Project, Mike will tell you that he doesn’t expect any, either. When he was asked to act as CAP’S interim president, and later hired as for the position, “I was very happy and satisfied with what I was doing [as senior
Mike Sanders: President of Christian Appalachian Project.
director of Martin Operations], I was very honored that Father Beiting and the board of directors had the faith in me that I could do the job,” Mike said. “Father Beiting has been a real inspiration to me. He puts in so many hours, and can’t say no to people. I’ve been envious of someone who does so much.” People who have worked for Mike in the years that he has served CAP will tell you that he assumes that people know their
jobs, and that they will do them well. He carries these assumptions into the president’s office. “I don’t feel that the president runs everything,” Mike said. “I was a team player before, and I’m a team player now, dedicated to serving the people of Appalachia.” The people of Appalachia are Mike’s people, as he was bom and raised in a coal mining family
♦ Story and photos by M argaret Gabriel ♦ January - February 1997 29
in Pike County in the 1950s. “Coal was in a bust period then, and my dad was laid off from his mining job for about five years,” Mike said. “That helped me to see what’s important. It’s not money, it’s family.” Family is the cornerstone of Mike’s life. His greatest desire for CAP programming is to result in strong families, and his family shapes his own goals. “We were poor, but material things didn’t mean anything to us. Mom and Dad always met our needs. When I was growing up, I heard a lot of my friends say, ‘I want to give my kids all the things I never had.’ “I was the opposite. I told them I wanted to give my kids all the things I had. My parents were always there to give and to care. They didn’t have money, but they gave us support, and that’s the real strength in family. It’s always been my goal to be half as good a parent to my kids as my parents were to me.” Mike’s concept of family has expanded to include the people and programs of the Christian Appalachian Project, and he proudly points to the growth of the project in the last ten years. He plans to foster cooperation between CAP programs and others in the community to further develop assistance to the people of Appalachia. “I’d like to see us more involved with training,” Mike said. “We have people with expertise running top-notch programs, and I’d like to see them sharing their knowledge and experience with other people in
the mountains. They can start programs and mm them over to the others in the community to run.” Mike points out that Bethany House, a CAP spouse abuse shelter, and several Attic Mike rolls up his sleeves to a variety of work details. stores have become community programs in the last several around here. Like a lot of people years. “Some of those people around here, we don’t see it, or are running Attics a lot better don’t want to see it. We just get than we ever did. They’re involved with our own lives.” helping people with food, as well as clothing.” If he could overnight eliminate one problem in Appalachia, Mike believes that CAP can Mike, without hesitation said, “I both operate programs and train would heal all the hurt in all the others in the community to help families. If I could do that, we’d stretch resources. “That's when see the change in the future. We God puts pressure on us. We’ve wouldn’t see poverty continuing got X amount of money, and from generation to generation.” we’ve got to do more with it. Working with others in the After 15 years in Floyd County, community is how we do that, Mike, his wife, Jackie, and their and at the same time, it draws three children felt some very deep roots for the first time. But, when out a Christian attitude.” Mike was asked to serve as CAP His work with CAP is president, it meant moving to teaching Mike how deep his Lancaster, the location of CAP’S Appalachian roots grow. Just headquarters, over 100 miles out of high school, Mike served away. “Jackie misses her friends, three years in the Army, but she really likes Lancaster now, working in equipment and Kelly [Mike’s youngest child] education. After tours in is doing really well, too.” Vietnam and Germany, Mike returned to Pikeville, but left They didn’t decided on their and returned several times. own to move, though. “We prayed “Until I met Father Beiting and about it a lot, and it all worked the volunteers, I never out. I’ve always put my faith in understood deep roots. I never God, and I’ve never seen Him let really understood the poverty me down.” The Mountain Spirit
Assortment of Families Combines Interesting Mix At FLS \ r olunteer Sue Henry describes the
tail, but always aware of his effect. His
partnership that she found at Family Life
facade of confidence was rather thin, and
Services, which provides shelter and
one soon saw a thorough ‘people-pleaser.’
guidance for adults in transition:
Just the addition of two single men made
“Now this was a conglomeration! Diversity was too mild a term; this group went beyond that. “There was a middle-aged woman:
the mixture more interesting. A glance in the last room bespoke of boys, a room where a mother lived with her two elementary school-aged boys whose
spiritual, thinking, less sure of her next step
primary interest was football, an interest
than she needed to be. With her was a
that consumed much of their energy. Their
three-and-a-half-year old son: very
mother seemed torn between being a
energetic, on occasions very loud, on other
mother and a typical young adult with lots
occasions responsive and loving.
of social interests.
“There was a very attractive young
How does such a mix ever work in a
woman who appeared reasonably settled,
constructive, productive way? They are
purposeful, and consistently attentive to her
family. In much the same way any family
little two-year-old son. Like lots of two-year-
does, they support each other. They are
olds, he had an appealing smile, a boy-
bonded, probably because they are all
active manner, and lungs that must be very
hurting and very vulnerable. Certainly,
strong.
there are misunderstandings, there are
“Next door, there was another young mother. ‘Young’ was not just a chronological
hurts, but deep down they care about each other.”
description. She had three boys, but they
Each of these people, in partnership with
had not given her the sense of responsibility
the staff at Family Life Services, is working
one might think. She was a friendly, kind,
to make significant life changes. But it’s
young woman with little sense of herself.
easy to see that in living together, they are
She was eager to please but she made
partners with each other, as well. No one
limited efforts toward others in the house.
makes it alone, they learn, and while they
She gave lip service to how much she loved
are just as capable of extending help to
her guys, but manifesting this love with time
another as they are at receiving help
and attention was difficult for her.
themselves.
“The other side of the house added to the
The vital partner at Family Life Services,
mix. There was a middle-aged man who
is the CAP donor. Without partners that
experienced periods of depression. When
provide support through prayer and
not depressed, he was very caring and very
resources, much of the work of CAP would
interested in each individual. With him was
remain undone. Your gift of $10, $25 or $50
a young, very ‘cool’ guy — sometimes with
to use where it is needed most, will assure
dreadlocks, sometimes with a high pony
that our partnerships remain strong.
January - February 1997
Operation S h a r in g —
19 9 6 • The program distributed in-kind donations to 1,438 churches, schools and community agencies in all thirteen Appalachian states. • These groups served 884,208 people. • Materials including books, clothing, paper and computer software were received from 76 donors. • The gifts totaled $21.5 million. • The new Operation Sharing warehouse in Corbin ____ measures 69,000 square feet. Shaded area indicates the boundaries of the Appalachian region
CHRISTIAN APPALACHIAN PROJECT 322 CRAB ORCHARD ROAD LANCASTER, KY 40446 THE MOUNTAIN SPIRiT
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION U.S. POSTAGE PAID Christian Appalachian Project
Address Correction Requested