In 2010, Olive Hill in Carter County was struck by not one, but two, 500-year floods.
The federal government uses terms like “100-year flood zone or 500-year flood zone” to refer to the likelihood a flood will occur in a particular area during a particular time period. For example, a 500-year flood has a 1-in-500 chance of happening each year.
With such rare chances, many communities do not plan for these floods when determining building permits and more. Olive Hill was no exception. However, after the two major floods in 2010, the community began the “Olive Hill Strong” movement and came together to rebuild and rethink their community.
When the FEMA-funded Olive Hill Council for Planning and Restoration gathered community input for a long-term recovery plan, youth involvement and development came to the top of the priority list.
In 2011, students from West Carter High School began brainstorming. Throughout 2012, they researched existing youth centers and surveyed community members, gathering feedback from 1,000 local youth and 100 adults. This eventually led to the formation of The Galaxy Project, Inc., whose mission is “Empowering youth to build a community.”
The Galaxy Project, Inc. has five areas of focus:
- Education services to provide tutoring, study areas, extracurricular scholarships and more
- Performing and visual arts areas where youth can try different forms of art
- Health and wellness areas to promote healthy living
- Youth leadership development
- Social and recreational areas featuring intramural sports, games and other activities
The Galaxy Project is open to middle and high school age students. Middle school members have an organized Galaxy Club with about 50 members each year; the high school members are less formally organized. The board includes multiple youth positions, with students from seventh grade to high school eligible to serve as board members.
The overall purpose of the Galaxy Project is to provide youth the voice, resources and direction they need to bring positive and impactful change to their community.
One of the early projects of the Galaxy Project was to design Casey Park, an area near downtown Olive Hill. Students have worked with designers from the Virginia Tech Community Design Assistance Center, and have drafted what they want the park to include. Their design includes multiple recreational areas and addresses flooding issues of Mills Branch & Tygart Creek that affect downtown and local housing areas. Construction is expected to begin in the next several months after the city wraps up a preceding project.
The Galaxy Club students at West Carter Middle School are developing a campaign to promote youth activity and fitness that is scheduled to launch in October 2019. The larger Galaxy Project will sponsor prizes, banners, leadership development and more for this campaign.
The Galaxy Project also supports other efforts by youth groups in the area, such as the Y-club and the resource center at the high school.
Project Director Chelsa Hamilton said, “My role is to continue listening to the students and their voice. Our goal is to have the youth working and becoming important builders of our community. One of our favorite comments from a local youth says it all, ‘This is why I love Galaxy. You listen to us!’”
Their largest fundraiser, the Galaxy Run 5k Run/Walk – which is now a part of the Olive Hill Trail Town’s Heritage Trails Spectacular – was held a few weeks ago. This year, the money went toward scholarships for extracurricular activities for students who cannot afford these expenses.
Coming together to build or rebuild a community, and making sure that youth are at the center of that work, is bringing Appalachia’s New Day to communities across Eastern Kentucky.
About: Appalachia’s New Day is a new storytelling effort offered by MACED to eastern Kentucky communities. We can work with you to help identify, shape and amplify stories about businesses, programs and initiatives in your community that are helping build a new economy in eastern Kentucky. Read more stories here. Contact us or sign up here if you would like more details.
