As we wrap up 2021 and look to see what 2022 holds, many of us are thinking about resolutions or goals. There seems to be a moment of urgency in West Virginia, and in our communities, to bring real, tangible change. If improving your community is one of your goals for 2022, we have several tools, resources, and opportunities for connection to help you!
Last June, we launched Kickstart Communities, a virtual learning platform that provides community members with the tools they need to get started or grow their skills to help create community change. We have continued to release lessons throughout the year, and have many more to release in 2022. We recognize that these lessons are only one part of the equation; community leaders need to connect, collaborate, and talk with others around this work.
Throughout 2022, we will be providing space for that connection with our Community Conversations. Each conversation will highlight a different Kickstart Communities Virtual Learning Lesson and local community leaders who can talk about their journey in West Virginia.
You’ll hear from our entire staff at The Hub throughout the series. We will each host conversations that resonate with us, which means these conversations will come from a place of passion, excitement, and enthusiasm for the message we are sharing. Our guests will be folks like you: people who are working in their own communities to bring change. They will share the lessons they’ve learned, the wins they’ve had, and the hurdles and obstacles they’ve overcome along the way.
You can access our Virtual Learning Lessons at any time (click here!). After you download the lessons, one of our coaches will reach out to you to offer help or support. You’ll also have the opportunity to connect with our coaches, staff, and community champions at our Community Conversations. Go ahead, dream big for your community! Set goals and put them into action. We’ll be here to cheer you on, walk with you, and support you in your endeavors!
Here is what is upcoming in 2022 for Community Conversations:
Getting Started with Zoom (and Virtual Meetings) hosted by Erin Susman:
Erin is our resident tech expert at The Hub, who has countless tips and tricks that are helpful when you need to connect virtually and engage your community from afar. Learn best practices and how to be a Zoom pro like Erin.
Getting Started with Data hosted by Katie Loudin: How can you get started in your community if you don’t understand what people want? Gathering data (with a little “d”! We promise this isn’t rocket science!) is an important part of the community building process. Anyone can gather data through surveys and interviews, and it can be a fun process to get to know others and build relationships that may be crucial in the future.
Getting Started with Projects hosted by Stacy Thomas: Learn how to stop just talking about projects and get started with them! Learn where to start, who to get to help, and how to build community support with Stacy, a Hub community coach who started her career journey as a HubCAP team member.
Getting Started with Building Relationships hosted by Amanda Workman Scott: Amanda will bring her wealth of knowledge in relationship building from her eight years at The Hub to help you learn how to build meaningful relationships for your community work. Learn activities to help bring community volunteers together and successfully work toward common goals.
Getting Started with Community Storytelling hosted by Emma Pepper: Telling your community story is powerful, important, and not always easy. Emma will share her wisdom, insight, and tools from her experiences in helping West Virginia’s communities tell their story and tips for engaging media.
Engaging your Core Team hosted by Stacy Thomas: Who are your “go to” people? Learn who you need on your team, how to get them to be involved, and how to build an effective team that will be able to bring change to your community.
Creating an Equitable Team hosted by Kalyn Obiozor: Does your community team represent everyone in your community? Is your team accessible to many different kinds of people from diverse backgrounds who all feel welcome? Kalyn will talk about how to make your team inclusive, welcoming, and accessible to all.
The West Virginia Community Development Hub (The Hub) is proud to announce that Executive Director Stephanie Tyree is a steering committee member for the newly launched Green Bank for Appalachia, Energy Communities, and Underserved Rural America (Green Bank for Rural America).
Cultivate WV focuses on helping communities build sustainable models of engagement through workshops, project-planning, and more.
The Hub is excited to announce Cohort 2 of the Building Resilient Economies in Coal Communities (BRECC) Action Challenge.
Our work is made possible thanks to incredible partnerships with other community development organizations across the state. From local economic development authorities (EDAs) to state level nonprofits working to uplift communities, all of our partners are crucial in making West Virginia the best it can possibly be by working together.One partner that made our work truly profound this year is Coalfield Development. For years, Coalfield Development has worked to rebuild Appalachian communities by inspiring the courage to grow, activating the creativity to innovate, and cultivating communities of opportunity in central Appalachia.We are proud to be part of Coalfield Development’s ACT Now Coalition, a broad network of organizations working hand-in-hand to uplift communities throughout Southern West Virginia. The ACT Now Coalition is infusing more than $63 million into programs to help communities using business development, building revitalization, and so much more.The Hub is leading the Community and Business Resilience Initiative as part of the larger ACT Now Coalition to bring other partners with us to build up community and business resilience in the Coalition’s footprint.“For decades, we’ve known the economy of southern West Virginia needs diversification. Some progress has been made on this goal, but not nearly enough,” Brandon Dennison, CEO of Coalfield Development, said about the ACT Now Coalition. “ACT Now constitutes a tangible opportunity to take a major leap forward in this generational challenge to become a vibrant, growing, diversified economy. In the wake of continued coal-job losses, nothing could be more important for our region.”Our partnership with Coalfield Development is giving us a chance to take our work to new communities and to build upon our years of experience. Working alongside Coalfield Development in this large undertaking to bring $63.8 million to communities in Southern West Virginia is validation that the work happening to uplift West Virginia communities continues to grow.
The Hub works alongside communities across West Virginia coaching community teams as they come together to make transformative changes in their towns. In 2022, one town stands out for its continued work and unwavering commitment to making its community a place where people want to live, work, play, and visit.Petersburg, located in Grant County at the northernmost point of the Mon Forest, is filled with community members who want to make their town a destination. Not only have businesses opened, and stayed open, the town has transformed the way they present to the world through rebranding and outdoor recreational development.As part of the HubCAP IV program, Petersburg utilized its technical assistance to push forward with projects to bring transformative change to its community. Part of the work Petersburg worked towards was creating plans to pave a hike and bike trail that runs along the Petersburg dike. The proposed trail will run approximately three miles along the Petersburg dike and will include multiple entrances for walkers and bikers. The group secured a $25,000 grant from Senator Hamilton, which was matched locally by the City of Petersburg, the County Commission, and the Board of Education, each adding an equal share to bring the total to $50,000.This year, Petersburg witnessed a major upgrade to one of the town’s most iconic and historic structures: The Hermitage Inn. The hotel, which dates back to 1841, has been renovated and once again welcomes guests to stay the night and have a nice dinner in the restaurant.The Hermitage Inn is the first project initiated and completed as part of the Downtown Appalachia: Revitalizing Recreational Economies (DARRE) program. Seeing the old hotel returned to its majesty has been an incredible development for Petersburg adding another jewel to the downtown area.Seeing Hub communities come together to create transformative change thrills us. Community members are the subject matter experts on what their towns need. Our commitment to accompaniment and walking alongside communities as they do the hard work guides us in our work. Celebrating their victories with them gives us a moment to uplift those making the work happen.
Since 2018, The Hub has been working diligently to bring Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion into our work. For years, the organization has been working internally to expand on one of our core values: “We believe diversity creates strength.”We believe that now is a time when we must work from the ground up to commit to long-term efforts to build power through leadership development, programmatic strategies, and partnerships that commit to building power and advancing racial equity.Looking back at our organizational history, we acknowledge that our work in rural communities with populations of less than 15,000 has not reached a diverse cross-section of people in West Virginia. Because of this, we began to ask, “Who isn’t here?” when examining our involvement in communities. The social unrest in 2020 led us to examine our role in white supremacy, ableism, classism, and gender discrimination, and the ways we have perpetuated unjust systems in our communities and across West Virginia.Since 2020, our equity journey has included a staff racial equity learning series, making internal commitments to increasing our hiring and retainment of diverse staff including creating full-time Racial Equity Fellowship and VISTA positions, committing to increased coaching for rural communities of color across the state, and tackling the inherent challenges of advancing equity across the community development field within a highly rural, majority white state where Black and brown leadership has been historically marginalized and under-invested.Our belief in the power of local people to see the value and the potential of their place, and of each other, is at the core of our belief in the potential we have to build power in West Virginia to advance racial equity, inclusion, and accessibility while disrupting systems that have historically excluded some communities.We are committed to engaging in conversations to uplift communities and leaders of color to move from talk to action on why race matters in West Virginia as we work to disrupt these systems. We will support investment in Black-led organizations and rural Black leadership. And we are committed to driving public and private investments into these spaces, both organizational and geographic.
A core team led by Unleash Tygart, Inc participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support a community development project located in an Opportunity Zone.
Core teams led by Thundercloud, Inc. and the City of Huntington participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support community development projects located in Opportunity Zones.
A core team led by Crawford Holdings, LLC participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support a community development project located in an Opportunity Zone.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies.
A core team led by Woodlands Development Group also participated in Opportunity Appalachia, receiving technical assistance to support a community development project located in an Opportunity Zone.
Residents participated in round 4 of The Hub’s capstone Communities of Achievement program with a focus on building local recreational economies. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Watch their community documentary.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.
Residents participated in the Blueprint Communities* program to engage their neighbors and co-create strategic plans for their future.
Residents participated in the Cultivate WV program to kickstart community and economy building. Read their community case study.
Residents participated in the Cultivate WV program to kickstart community and economy building. Read their community case study.
It has been a year of abundant opportunities and partnerships across the state, and a year that has pushed all of us to work harder, faster, and smarter – together.At The Hub, we say that “the work works when you put in the work.” This means that our approach to community-based development, and individual leadership development, really does transform local communities, especially when we all work together for the same goal, and stay committed to working together for the long haul.In 2023, we continued to be amazed at the local leadership, drive and innovation we saw in communities throughout the state that are building locally-driven development from the ground up. Our network of community leaders, partners and opportunities keeps growing and shows no signs of slowing in 2024!
We extend our deepest gratitude to everyone for being part of the larger Hub community as we reflect on this year’s deep impact in West Virginia communities through our work. We are thrilled to have champions who believe in our mission that every community in West Virginia can achieve economic growth when they are supported with the tools and training they need to lead and spark positive change.
We believe strongly in the fact that putting in the work yourself to improve your neighborhood, your town, and our state is where true transformational change happens. With strategic partners and thought leaders like you in the work with us, we continue to be able to walk alongside community teams as they do the work to uplift their communities.Thank you to all of the community teams and leaders who are brave enough to keep showing up every day, and putting in thousands of hours of volunteer time to support your communities and the entire state. Your determination in the face of difficult work and far-off successes is something to applaud yourself for – and to celebrate.Whether you’re volunteering on the ground in your community, sharing our stories of hope with your friends and neighbors, or attending a virtual event with The Hub, your participation in our work is what keeps it going. Thank you for all your work and support this past year, and we are excited to continue in the work with you in 2024!In Continued Accompaniment,
