Meet Our Team
In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson declared a "War on Poverty" while visiting Appalachia. After six decades, how's it going?
Anyone who knows Appalachia, knows the economy here was founded upon our natural resources–primarily coal, timber, and natural gas. Unfortunately, after declaring the “War on Poverty”, the U.S. government declared war on the economic drivers of the region, effectively increasing joblessness, poverty, and an outflow of people, businesses, and opportunities.
We’ve created a unique plan to reverse this. Here’s how:
Our Missions
Mission #1: Acquire/Rehab/Preserve Historic Structures
Due to the vast number of people and businesses which have left the Appalachian Region, there are thousands of historic buildings/structures currently sitting vacant and in various stages of disrepair.
We will acquire these structures in our targeted areas and repair/rehabilitate them to their original condition–while incorporating commercial, civic, and residential spaces into those buildings.
Mission #2: Use the respective areas of these buildings for their intended purposes
Once these buildings are rehabbed, the civic areas will be available to government, civic/community, and educational/social groups at little to no cost for their activities. One of our goals is to strengthen the communities where we are located, in addition to strengthening the economy–these civic spaces are one of the ways we’ll do this.
The commercial areas will be offered at no cost (certain conditions apply) to companies looking to expand/relocate into Appalachia, as well as local individuals looking to start/expand their business(es). We understand many companies fail within the first two to five years of being in operation and Appalachia is more difficult for new businesses due to the difficulties the region has faced over the last several decades. By offering free commercial space, we will give businesses the best chance to start, expand, and thrive in the United States.
The residential spaces will consist of various residential options and sizes and will consist of multiple types of occupancy: low income rental options, “workforce housing” (both rental and for sale), standard and custom residential for sale, and investment opportunities (residential spaces will be offered by both our non-profit organization AND a separate “for profit” corporation, to be announced later).
Mission #3: Use these buildings/businesses for job training for military veterans & at risk youth
The civic spaces in these buildings will be used by Rebuilding Appalachia and affiliated organizations to provide classroom job training, computer labs, and other educational opportunities for military veterans and the local population.
Furthermore, those businesses receiving free rent will be required to ensure 25% of their workforce, to the extent possible, are composed of military veterans and local “at risk” youth, prioritizing those who undergo the job training provided by our organization.
The job training, and prioritized hiring for those who undergo it, for military veterans and “at risk” local youth will serve several secondary purposes and address the current challenges facing those two groups. It will decrease the epidemic of veteran suicides, diminish the use of drugs and homelessness from both those demographics, and break the cycle of dependency on government welfare programs.
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Our Partners
