Dear Readers,
We began the Appalachia’s New Day campaign a little less than a year ago as a way to highlight some of the amazing stories of every day Eastern Kentuckians doing extraordinary things to transform their communities.
We’ve featured stories of local businesses and the ways in which the owners of those businesses are contributing to the rebirth of Main Streets across the region. We’ve brought you stories about creative placemaking, and about how the arts will be vital in any future economy. Stories about increasing food access and racial equity have been featured, as well as several stories about Appalachian youth leading the way.
Through nearly 60 stories, one constant is clear: Eastern Kentuckians know how to solve a problem, address a challenge and build beautiful things through it all. We know how to work together as a community to help each other through difficult times. That reality is baked into the culture of this place – it is our very ethos.
We are seeing that ethos of community care play out in incredible ways as we face perhaps the most daunting challenge of our lifetimes: the spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.
As Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear instructed schools to close through April, district leaders sprang into action immediately to care for their most vulnerable and at-risk students, and teachers and bus drivers began delivering freshly-prepared meals across districts twice a day. Every day Eastern Kentuckians have organized mutual aid support systems wherein neighbors can sign up to help their immune-compromised or elderly neighbors by buying groceries or offering other services they might need so those most at risk don’t have to inadvertently expose themselves to COVID-19 by leaving their homes.
People have been buying local by ordering online, or purchasing food for pick-up, trying to support local businesses who will struggle through this crisis. MACED, for its part, has offered to help our borrowers in several ways to help lighten the load and try to make sure these businesses survive.
We have seen, in just a few short weeks, how Eastern Kentuckians are facing this crisis through community care and determination. And in the weeks that follow, we’d like to use this space where once we spoke of the opportunity that was ahead for our region, to shift focus more onto those stories of hope, resilience and comfort as we all try our best to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Appalachia’s New Day began as a way to tell stories of hope about the region, and as we make this shift, that is exactly what this campaign will continue to be about. Hope in the knowledge that even though we are facing a great challenge, we will always find ways to care for each other and continue to build a brighter future, together.
Thank you,
Ivy Brashear
MACED Appalachian Transition Director
