• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
  • Celebrating 50 years
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • TikTok
cropped 50 logo white.png

Mountain Association

Building a New Economy, Together.

    • Access expertise to grow your business or organization.

      Inquire about support

    • Start Here
      • Learn About Support
      • Inquire about Support
      • Success Stories
    • Resources
      • FAQ
      • Tools & Templates
    • Expand your impact with our flexible loans.

      Talk to Us About a Loan

    • Start Here
      • Learn About Loans
      • Start the Application Process
      • Success Stories
    • Resources
      • FAQs
      • Disaster Recovery Loans
    • Save money on your bills.

      Apply for an Energy Assessment

    • Start Here
      • Learn About Our Energy Program
      • Apply for a Free Energy Savings Assessment
      • Success Stories
    • Resources
      • FAQs
      • Solar Support
      • Energy Savings Microloan
    • Start something in your community.

      How We Can Help

    • Start Here
      • How We Support Communities
      • Success Stories
    • Hazard, KY
      • 479 Main Street Project
      • Long-Term Work
    • Share your story.

      Read Our Stories

    • Blog
      • Read Stories
      • Newsletter | Social Media
    • Communications
      • Press & Media
    • Building a new economy, together.

      (859) 986-2373

      info@mtassociation.org

      Sign Me Up for News

    • About Us
      • What We Do
      • A New Economy
        • How It’s Working
    • Our People
      • Team
      • Board of Directors
      • Careers
    • Impact
      • Our History
      • By the Numbers
      • Publications
  • (859) 986-2373

    info@mtassociation.org

     

    Building a new economy, together.

Stories of Appalachia

Together, we can change the narrative.

The images of Appalachia most often seen by national audiences are rooted in well-established stereotypes.

The Mountain Association and many of our partners have worked for decades to amplify and tell more truthful and more positive stories about Appalachia that are layered and complex. We work with local and national media to tell these stories, and regularly share pieces through our newsletter, social media outlets and community networks. We also engage in research and advocacy for policy change, pulling together and distilling information to help Eastern Kentuckians better understand how their everyday lives could be impacted by decisions at the state and federal level.

On this page, you will find stories about the Mountain Association’s clients and about ordinary Eastern Kentuckians doing extraordinary things to transform their communities with Appalachian youth and business owners leading the way. These pieces serve as a window into a more complex, and therefore more accurate, picture of Eastern Kentucky.

To learn more about this work, please contact Ariel Fugate, Communications Manager, at ariel@mtassociation.org.

tek center classes eastern kentucky Trades

Business Support

How TEK Center Is Tackling Eastern Kentucky’s Trades Shortage  

Four years after the devastating Eastern Kentucky floods of 2022, communities across the region are ... Read This Post

mountains nature

Communities

Data Center Resources for Kentuckians

The conversation around data centers in Eastern Kentucky has rapidly picked up pace since we first ... Read This Post

colson civic center food giveaway letcher county ky eastern

Energy

A Shuttered School Becomes a Place for Community in Colson, Kentucky 

For generations, children walked through the doors of the Colson school in Letcher County, Kentucky. ... Read This Post

Image (100)

Lending

Berea’s Old Jail Transforms into Golden Hour Salon

In Old Town Berea, one of the town’s oldest structures has been home to just about everything. Built ... Read This Post

Explore by:

  • Business Support
  • Communities
  • Energy
  • Lending
You are here: Home / Stories

Stories

tek center classes eastern kentucky Trades

Business Support

How TEK Center Is Tackling Eastern Kentucky’s Trades Shortage  

Four years after the devastating Eastern Kentucky floods of 2022, communities across the region are still rebuilding. While significant progress has ... Read This Post

colson civic center food giveaway letcher county ky eastern

Energy

A Shuttered School Becomes a Place for Community in Colson, Kentucky 

For generations, children walked through the doors of the Colson school in Letcher County, Kentucky. Among the teachers who helped shape those ... Read This Post

mountains nature

Communities

Data Center Resources for Kentuckians

The conversation around data centers in Eastern Kentucky has rapidly picked up pace since we first wrote about them in November 2025 and looked at the ... Read This Post


lend a hand knox county expands

Energy

Lend-A-Hand Grows Knox County Food Pantry with Solar Savings 

On a quiet stretch of land along Stinking Creek, deep in Knox County, Kentucky, the Lend‑A‑Hand Center began with two women who devoted their lives to ... Read This Post

Image (100)

Lending

Berea’s Old Jail Transforms into Golden Hour Salon

In Old Town Berea, one of the town’s oldest structures has been home to just about everything. Built in 1912 as a jail, it later became the city hall, ... Read This Post

eastern kentucky coffee grayson ky carter county goose bridle

Communities

Exploring Kentucky One Cup at a Time

A few weeks ago, I found myself driving through Grayson, Kentucky, the kind of small-town stop you don’t always plan but often ends up staying with ... Read This Post


476340726 9527318940621427 8416697778376882298 n

Energy

Pizza Rolls & Public Health: How Double Kwik Created a Solar-Powered Hub for Community Care

For 60 years, Double Kwik has provided Eastern Kentucky with gas, essentials, and homecooking, like their infamous pizza rolls. As a convenience store ... Read This Post

CommunitiesEnergy

Protect REAP, a federal program rural Kentucky can’t afford to lose

This op-ed ran in several Kentucky papers in May 2026. Over the past several decades, rural Kentucky has faced significant changes. In Eastern ... Read This Post

salyersville IGA solar

Energy

Solar Scams Back on the Rise

Thousands of Kentuckians across the state are saving money on their electric bills through rooftop solar installed by reputable local companies. But ... Read This Post


childcare providers eastern kentucky appalachia

Communities

Childcare Solutions Marked into Kentucky Law

As the Kentucky General Assembly winds down for the year, new legislation could reshape childcare access across Eastern Kentucky. What began in ... Read This Post

509356209 1061315632812901 192268924885713295 n

Business Support

How a Mother‑Daughter Team Reinvented their Kentucky Farm with Lavender 

In a time when everything feels heavy — from current events to stretched budgets — one Somerset farm invites visitors to slow down this summer. As ... Read This Post

original riverside christian flooded eastern kentucky

Energy

Riverside Christian School Standing Through the Storms

Lost Creek, Kentucky, sits deep in the hills of Breathitt County, and Troublesome Creek runs through the heart of the area. Along its ... Read This Post


  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 98
  • Go to Next Page »

Footer

cropped mountain association logo with copyright.png

Established in 1976. Prior to 2020, we were known as the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED).

Donate Now 1

Get the Newsletter

Sign Up Now

  • Programs
    • Business Support
    • Lending
    • Energy
    • Communities
    • Stories
  • About
    • What We Do
    • A New Economy
    • Team
    • Our History
    • By the Numbers
  • More
    • Donate
    • Careers
    • Board of Directors
    • Publications
    • Sponsorships

BEREA
(859) 986-2373
433 Chestnut Street
Berea, KY 40403

Meetings by appointment only

info@mtassociation.org

We are happy to make any accommodation
to better serve you. We have an on-staff
Spanish interpreter, and provide
additional free language/
interpretation services as needed.

If hearing or speech impaired,
please dial 7-1-1 for relay
services prior to calling.

HAZARD
(606) 439-0170
420 Main St
Hazard, KY 41701

PRESTONSBURG
(606) 264-5910
268 E Friend St, Ste 101
Prestonsburg, KY 41653

Copyright © 2026 Mountain Association | Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Non-profit Disclosures

made by P&P
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.