This week, people with mental health challenges or substance use disorder often end up in jail. But crisis response teams offer another way. Also, one year after the Mountain Valley Pipeline went into service, people who live directly in the pipeline’s path have received compensation. But not everyone. And, the Sacred Harp songbook gets an update for the first time since the early 1990s.
Home » A Look Back at Early VISTA Workers in Appalachia
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A Look Back at Early VISTA Workers in Appalachia
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On Inside Appalachia this week, a look back at VISTA workers and the impact they had on our region in the 1960’s. They were Volunteers in Service to America. VISTA was started in December 1964 by President Lyndon B Johnson as part of his “War on Poverty”.
Most of the early VISTAs were middle or upper class college graduates in their early 20s. Like the Peace Corps which sent eager volunteers to foreign countries, VISTAS were sent to low income communities all over the U.S. Today VISTA is under the umbrella of AmeriCorps, begun by President Bill Clinton in the 1990’s.
And we’ll hear an excerpt from “Jay: A Rockefellers Journey” , a documentary that just won a regional Emmy Award. In it- former Senator Jay Rockefeller talks talk about his time in WV as a VISTA volunteer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emLZVNGRNLs
And we’ll hear from an Academy Award nominated film, called Before the Mountain was Moved, that’s based on the true story of the VISTAs who came to work along Coal River in 1966-1967.
Special thanks to Gibbs Kinderman for his help with this episode. A lot of the voices and sound material in this episode were first produced as a radio documentary called “Voices From the 60s“, produced by Gibbs Kinderman in 1988. Music in today’s show was provided by Billy Ed Wheeler with “Coal Tattoo” and “They Can’t Put it Back”, Montana Skies with “The Edge of Night”, Little Sparrow, and Michael Kline. Our What’s in a Name theme music is by Marteka and William with “Johnson Ridge Special”.
This week, people with mental health challenges or substance use disorder often end up in jail. But crisis response teams offer another way. Also, one year after the Mountain Valley Pipeline went into service, people who live directly in the pipeline’s path have received compensation. But not everyone. And, the Sacred Harp songbook gets an update for the first time since the early 1990s.
Dungeons & Dragons, or D&D for short, is a roleplaying game that allows players to inhabit characters in a fantasy setting. They work together to battle monsters, find treasure and tell a shared story in which they’re all the main characters. Youth Services Librarian Jeffrey Wood ran a recent session, guiding a group of young teenagers through an adventure involving a sheep, a dragon made of furniture and a few other creatures.
On this West Virginia Morning, we learn about efforts to clean up an important waterway, and examine the impact of prospective food benefit cuts on Appalachians in need.
