AmeriCorps is sending more than $8 million to five programs across the state as part of its state and national grant program.
AmeriCorps is sending more than $8 million to five programs across the state as part of its state and national grant program.
The money will fund a literacy mentorship program at West Virginia University, an education and leadership program in Hillsboro, and an opioid prevention program for grade school students in Charleston.
Other programs receiving funding, but not related to education, include supporting the Appalachian Forest Heritage Area in Elkins and a program that addresses diet-related health disparities in underserved communities in Wheeling.
AmeriCorps separately announced $1,610,047 in funding for the National Council on Aging branch based in Wheeling Thursday. It’s set to place 72 senior AmeriCorps volunteers in the Northern Panhandle counties into the workforce by the end of its three-year grant cycle.
Volunteer West Virginia is also receiving nearly $1.7 million. The agency will use the money for more statewide resources during the next few months.
Funding comes from the American Rescue Plan Act, the federal stimulus bill passed in 2021. It will affect 555 AmeriCorps volunteers working in West Virginia.
The West Virginia Legislature recognized March as American Red Cross Month and the local region used Red Cross Day at the Capitol Wednesday as a chance to showcase the organization’s mission of saving lives through blood donations and the efforts of generous volunteers.
The West Virginia Legislature recognized March as American Red Cross Month and the local region used Red Cross Day at the Capitol Wednesday as a chance to showcase the organization’s mission of saving lives through blood donations and the efforts of generous volunteers.
Erica Mani serves as chief executive officer for the Central Appalachia Region of the American Red Cross. She said the Senate’s resolution not only recognizes the organization’s mission, but the mission’s founder and first president, Clara Barton, who, in 1881, turned her focus to helping people recover from accidents or disasters.
“We are bringing awareness to our mission to prevent and alleviate human suffering in the face of emergencies,” Mani said. “We do that through our volunteers and through our generous donors.”
Multiple educational booths and tables lined the hallway outside the upper rotunda, all drawing attention to the organization’s annual Capitol Blood drive. The goal: inspiring people to give of their time, money or blood.
“We’re receiving donations of blood today and it is a critical part of our mission to make sure that lifesaving blood is on the shelves of our hospitals,” she said. “So our local community members who come out and do this are true heroes.”
Mani said just one donor donating one pint of blood can save three lives.
Red Cross volunteers provide disaster relief assistance and health safety training and can take on leadership positions in disaster response, mental and emotional health services, or work as community educators.
“Our goal is to make sure our communities are resilient, whether that is with the blood on the shelves, whether that is with trained individuals, lifesaving CPR and First Aid skills, or whether that is following a disaster which we see all the time on the news, the big tornados, hurricanes, wildfires,” she said. “But one of the things that is most common that we don’t see as much of is that the Red Cross is responding to home fires every day in our communities across this region.”
The Red Cross responds to about 1,200 disaster events each year. In the first two months of 2023 the organization helped more than 500 people, most of whom were affected by home fires.
That includes a large apartment fire in Charleston in January that several dozen residents displaced or homeless. The Red Cross jumped into action and has since re-housed every single person affected by the fire.
In addition to disaster aid, the Red Cross serves active duty military and their families, training and blood collection services, international services, and free home installation of fire alarms.
Blood collection and donation top their crisis-related services and blood donors are always in demand.
Jason Harshbarger serves on the board of directors with the Red Cross in West Virginia and is a regular blood donor.
“You know we take blood and life for granted and when you are on the receiving end of it or when you have a loved one who needs blood it’s very vital to have that blood donation,” Harshbarger said. “One blood donation will save three lives and also it’s a product we can’t manufacture, we cannot manufacture in the laboratory to save lives so we definitely need volunteers to donate blood for those lifesaving aspects for the Red Cross and also for family needs when you’re in that situation.”
Harshbarger said, during the pandemic, donations fell off but the Red Cross is now ramping up its efforts to encourage volunteers to donate blood.
“I just look at it this way, you never know when you’re going to be on the other end of an emergency surgery, a car accident, or a health issue,” he said. “So if I can save one life by donating blood once every 10-12 weeks, it really means a lot to me.”
The American Red Cross Central Appalachia Region serves 77 counties in West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and Kentucky.
For as long as he can recall, Williamson resident John Burchett said that when you looked over the U.S. Highway 119 Bridge leading to Kentucky, all you’d see on the Tug Fork River were tires.
“For tire businesses, individuals, the river was easiest way to get rid of things,” said Burchett, also a local part-time firefighter. “And unfortunately, that’s what people did, and we’re paying the price now.”
While a growing number of communities along the river are increasingly touting the waterway as a draw for outdoor recreation, there’s still a lot of work to be done to make sure it’s clean and safe.
Last week, Burchett was one of several local volunteers behind the Williamson PK-8 school, where there’s an access point to the river, half a mile down from the bridge.
With help from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection and its Rehabilitation Environmental Action Plan (REAP), the volunteers removed more than 1,600 tires from a couple 100 yards of river over three days.
Credit Emily Allen / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Volunteers and state workers joined forces to remove more than 1,000 tires from a few hundred yards of the Tug Fork River in Williamson on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019.
According to REAP staff, the state has helped other river communities with tire clean-up projects, including those along the Coal and Elk rivers. The tires they remove go to the West Virginia Tire Disposal waste monofill in Summersville, a landfill exclusively for old tires.
“You know, if we’re going to be serious about tourism, growing that industry and helping our environment, this is what you have to do,” said Williamson Mayor Charles Hatfield. He was one of about eight volunteers present Monday morning, in addition to DEP employees and contracted workers, paid for by the DEP.
Other participants included Glen Allen Daugherty of Woodman, Kentucky, another Tug Fork River town about 30 miles downstream from Williamson.
Credit Emily Allen / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Last Summer, Glen Daugherty kayaked nearly the entire length of the Tug Fork River in eight days with his son. Their journey, shared via pictures on a Facebook group for the river, garnered attention for the waterway’s recreational opportunities.
Last summer, Daugherty — who says his friends call him Grizzly Allen — and his son kayaked nearly the entire length of the Tug Fork River, from Welch, McDowell County to Louisa in Kentucky.
“We had to pull the kayak, and we had about 150 pounds of gear, a little tent one-man tent and a one-man sleeping shelter,” Daugherty recalled. “And we went to survive, on our own, catching fish, eating ramen, camp.”
All the while, Daugherty was posting pictures of their journey to the Friends of the Tug Fork River Facebook group, which attracted attention to their trip. He said people began joining them, bought them food and let them sleep in local schools.
“It’s such a beautiful river, and there’s so much good fishing and stuff on it, and we don’t have to drive very far to enjoy it,” Daugherty said.
Daugherty said he’s showed up to help pick up tires in Williamson, to show support for the river and its future as a recreational waterway.
“I just wish we would have more people that would get involved in these events,” Daugherty said. “And I would like to see it spread from town to town and in between, because what’s here in six months will be down there.”
Creating A ‘Wide Open’ And ‘Unimpeded’ River
Mayor Hatfield said the town is also looking forward to building a spillway around a low head dam upstream from town that is used for the city’s water intake.
Credit Emily Allen / West Virginia Public Broadcasting
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West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Williamson Mayor Charles Hatfield helped remove tires from the Tug Fork River on Monday, Sept. 30, 2019.
That will allow the more than 150-mile river to flow unimpeded, an important factor for growing river-based recreation. The spillway could also alleviate dangerous conditions that can occur near the dam.
According to Hatfield, the dam’s only about five feet tall, but as water flows over it, it can reach about 10 feet on the other side, creating conditions that can be fatal.
“If you go over the dam and get caught … it will not let you escape,” said Burchett, the part-time firefighter. “It rolls you, until you’re just out of breath.”
With a grant from the National Coal Heritage Area Authority, Williamson has created a construction plan for the spillway.
“If we can get the construction money from that grant, to do this, then this river, all 159 miles of it, will be wide open, unimpeded for recreational navigation,” Burchett said.
Volunteers are scheduled to go out for a final day for tire removals on Wednesday, Oct. 2. Burchett said volunteers will gather behind the Williamson PK-8 school around 9 a.m.
Following the flooding in June, thousands of volunteers have been involved in recovery efforts in West Virginia. Long term, there will be more need for volunteers to help flood victims repair their homes and their communities. AmeriCorps is just one organization looking at training volunteers to serve flood victims.
The number of West Virginians signing up to join AmeriCorps has increased in the past year. People in this state sign up for AmeriCorps at a higher rate than 47 other states.
Part of the reason could be that so many people here volunteer as children, or watch their parents or grandparents helping in their community.
“West Virginia is kind of built on this culture of taking care of each other. I think that’s one of the things I love the most about our state,” said Heather Foster, executive director of Volunteer West Virginia, and a former AmeriCorps volunteer herself.
Volunteer West Virginia coordinates the various AmeriCorps programs in WV. Foster says the flooding has reinforced how willing West Virginians are to help out their neighbors. She says thousands have volunteered to help with the flood recovery.
AmeriCorps volunteers have been on the ground doing everything from mold assessment on flooded houses to helping children get help dealing with the emotional trauma.
But it’s not just the culture of helping that’s causing such an increase in the number of West Virginians signing up to join AmeriCorps. The poor economy here also means that a lot of people are looking for any kind of work they can find, even if it doesn’t pay much.
There are 1,000 AmeriCorps volunteers serving in West Virginia this year.
Foster says she’s not sure if they’ll receive a lot of additional funding for more AmeriCorps positions next year. But they are hoping to see an increase in the number of projects related to long-term flood recovery. For example, this fall, they’ll be working help remove debris in flood-impacted communities.
She’s also working to get AmeriCorps volunteers trained to do construction so they can help rebuild or repair homes.
Note, reporter Roxy Todd is a former AmeriCorps volunteer herself.
Court Appointed Special Advocate programs operate in many West Virginia counties, serving the victims of child abuse and neglect. As county program directors, board members and volunteers gather in Wheeling this week for an annual meeting, they’ll get to know Tracy Taylor, the new Executive Director of the program’s state umbrella organization. Taylor hopes to foster program stability and expansion.
Because, if they’re lucky, child abuse and neglect victims in West Virginia get their own special advocate: a volunteer, appointed by a judge, to watch over them as they make their way through the confusing – and often scary – court and human services systems. Tracy Taylor says these special advocates – “CASAs” – can make the difference for a child victim.
“The volunteers we have, they want to be involved in some way to help a child in need.” – Tracy Taylor
But most victims aren’t so lucky. Not every county has a CASA program and those that do don’t have enough volunteers to provide an advocate for each eligible child.
Child abuse and neglect victims face a maze of unfamiliar processes and a sea of unfamiliar adults – all of whom have an important role to play in addressing their situation:
There are law enforcement officers, health and human service workers, therapists, doctors, foster parents and attorneys. As a case winds its way through the system, those adults often come and go. The CASA may be the one constant adult presence in the child’s life.
Taylor says volunteers are not there to bring legal or social work expertise to the situation – but to provide a constant presence for the child and a special perspective to the court.
“You deal with DHHR, both parents’ attorney, guardian ad litem – the attorney appointed for the child, therapist or special assistance offered you get a full understanding of what the situation is and ultimately what you offer to the court and to the judge is a lay opinion of what’s in the best interest of this child.”
Taylor, a native of Fairmont, also volunteered as a CASA for nearly two years while going to school full-time at Fairmont State University. After earning her undergraduate degree, she went on to complete law school and worked in the legal profession for a number of years out of state. She has returned home and is excited to get started on the challenge of stabilizing the West Virginia CASA Association.
The county CASA programs operate independently, within National CASA guidelines. The role of the state organization is to provide technical support and training to the local programs and to help promote CASA across the state.
A big goal is to expand CASA’s reach. Taylor sees large unserved areas in West Virginia and would like to expand.
“We need a program in the southern counties of the state. This is Logan, Mingo, McDowell – high need area – but no program.”
Taylor has ideas for statewide fundraising and wants to establish a fund to provide seed money for expansion into new counties and to provide emergency assistance to existing programs.
Taylor sees another important role – helping the county programs network more effectively to support each other.
“It’s not just the folks down in Jackson County or up in Keyser that are working – you have a whole network of support here to help you with whatever you’re struggling with at your local program.”
Networking more effectively… Taylor sees this week’s statewide conference as a great opportunity to move that goal forward.
*In the interest of full disclosure, reporter Sarah Lowther Hensley has served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate and currently serves on the board of directors of the CASA program in Marion County.
Summertime is always the high season at animal shelters, and many homeless pets end up being put to sleep. The Kanawha Charleston Humane Association is trying to buck this trend. In the last 5 years the shelter has cut the number of animals it’s euthanized by almost 95%.
Two years ago, a group called Dog Bless began working to help foster dogs from the Kanawha Charleston Humane Association shelter. Some animals find permanent homes nearby. But each month about 50 others are transported to rescue groups in Philadelphia, Jersey City and New York City, where rescue groups have offered to help.
"If people don't adopt and foster, they will just continue to stack up here, and we would be forced to return to euthanizing for space."- Chelsea Staley, director Kanawha Charleston Humane Association Shelter
On Fridays, the trip up north begins here, at the edge of the parking lot of the shelter around 6:30 in the misty early morning. There are some tears today, as 22 dogs are loaded into the transport van, including Luke Skywalker, a black and tan shepherd who is saying goodbye to his foster mom, Debra Null.
This is Luke Skywalker
“I just want to help with the mission of keeping the dogs alive–the new mission of the shelter and not euthanizing them.”
That new mission began last September, when the Kanawha Charleston Humane Association changed its policies and started trying to save all adoptable animals. The KCHA could do that, in part, because of Dog Bless. Cathy McClung co-founded the volunteer-run organization.
“We started rescuing from the shelter when it was a high-kill shelter, and they allowed us to start pulling dogs for rescue. And now that the shelter has changed a lot of its practices, Dog Bless’s mission is still to reduce euthanasia at the shelter. And rescue is a part of that equation.”
In 2009 the KCHA euthanized 4,160 animals between January and June. This year the shelter has only euthanized 211. Dog Bless is part of the reason, but the shelter also made a difficult decision when it changed its policy. It reduced the number of animals it takes in–by half. All strays are automatically accepted, but owners wanting to surrender their pet are often put on a waiting list.
Credit Anthony Cassis
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Adam Batty, foster volunteer with Dog Bless
Credit Roxy Todd
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Credit Roxy Todd
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Pebbles is a one and a half-year-old beagle mix
The KCHA shelter isn’t exactly a nice place, but for about 278 animals it’s home. It’s loud with the cacophony of dogs barking, and even with the constant cleaning of the cages, it smells.
Even the director of the KCHA helps with the chores. Chelsea Staley is mopping the floor just before the shelter opens for the day.
“Our intentions are good. We want to save every animal that comes through our door. But we can’t do it. We can’t continue to hoard animals. So moving them out of here is absolutely key.”
Credit Roxy Todd
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Also, the KCHA now wants to be the last resort for people that need to surrender their pets–not the first option. Last month, the shelter adopted just over two-thirds of all the animals it did accept.
The shelter also still depends on Dog Bless to help get many dogs as possible to rescue groups across the country. Before they leave West Virginia, the dogs are placed into foster homes temporarily.
Chad and Angela are some of the most active of the foster families with Dog Bless. In addition to the three rescue dogs they already own, this month they are hosting 6 dogs from the shelter, including one mamma dog and her 1-week-old puppies.
Chad and Angela both work day jobs, but they spend their evenings, weekends and even their vacations with the dogs. They spend more money on dog food than on their own grocery bills.
Angela and Chad’s own dogs have served as role models to help socialize the fosters and get them ready for their new home.
“Yeah they help each other. And I think that’s what we’ve learned the most about having dogs is they help each other. And they help us. They fill a hole…that sometimes you don’t even know you have.”
Credit Anthony Cassis
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Foster volunteer Lindsay Smith
The Kanawha Charleston Humane Association hopes more people like Angela will be willing to open their hearts and their homes to these animals and increase their adoption rate. Shelter director Chelsea Staley says that increasing its local adoption rate is key to its success of shelter’s mission of reducing euthanasia.
“If people don’t adopt and foster, they will just continue to stack up here, and we would be forced to return to euthanizing for space. And we just certainly do not want to do that.”
For more information about Dog Bless, click here, or email them: dogblesswv@hotmail.com. To find out which dogs and cats are available for adoption in Charleston, click here, or call (304) 342-1576
Credit See spot rescued
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See Spot Rescued is a rescue group in Jersey City where many of the dogs are transported when they leave the Charleston shelter. Chibi found a home with the help of See Spot Rescued.
To see more photos from one of the rescue shelters in New Jersey that regularly finds homes for West Virginia dogs, visit See Spot Rescued’s facebook page.
