This blog is a place to find and share stories and resources related to economic transition and community economic development work in Appalachia. You’ll find everything from personal perspectives to research reports to informational webinars. You can also contribute stories or resources from your work that you think can benefit others, using the guest post option. If you’re looking for a particular post or interested in a sector or topic, you can search or sort by category in the toolbar on the right.
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We met Gina Gabriel last year when she came to an ACEnet small business class at the Glouster Library. She told us that she had bought some land, and had begun selling plants. Here, in her own words, she explained her start to the present:
The fifth of these healthy food access case studies is Healthy Families – Family Farms, a program of Appalachian Sustainable Development.
The third of these healthy food access case studies is Farmacy, a program of Community Farm Alliance, the Mountain Comprehensive Health Corporation, and the University of Kentucky.
The second of these healthy food access case studies is My Mobile Market, a program of Williamson Health & Williamson Center and the Williamson Farmers Market.
The Central Appalachian Network (CAN) and its partners have been working to improve access to healthy food for individuals and families in the Central Appalachian region through local initiatives in their communities. Over the past year, six of these healthy food access initiatives have been published as case studies through a partnership between CAN […]
COMMUNITY PAINT MURAL WITH ART CAMP KIDS Let us introduce ourselves; we are Mindy and Dan Click, volunteers with the Grayson Gallery & Art Center. In May of 2011, we approached the Grayson Tourism & Convention Commission with a request… could we open an art gallery in the former Grayson Fire Station building during […]
A Seat at the Table is a series of community dinners that bring people together to share meals and lives. Previous dinners have centered on topics such as economic development, LGBTQ history and rights, and cultural diversity. This series of four dinners will focus on communities that have often been marginalized in Perry County, and will include oral histories and heritage cooking classes. We held our first event on May 1st, with a tamale making class, and 2nd, with a community dinner.
In November of 2018 the Central Appalachian Network held its first Regional Peer-to-Peer Convening at Tamarack in Beckley, West Virginia. Approximately 115 people attended the event, including economic development practitioners, community change makers, funders, and sector experts working in the Central Appalachian region. Discussions were focused on individual sectors and topics, and on cross-cutting issues affecting the equitable transition of the Central Appalachian region. The three concurrent session tracks focused on the three topics of CAN’s working groups: Food and Agriculture Systems, Clean Energy, and Creative Placemaking.