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The Meadow River Valley is made up of neighborhoods and communities in eastern Fayette and western Greenbrier Counties in West Virginia. In 2016, this region was hit hard by what is now known as the 1,000 Year Flood (read more about the flood here). During the flood, 23 people lost their lives, and more than 1,200 homes and businesses were damaged throughout West Virginia. This unfortunate disaster became a catalyst for bringing community members together in a time of need, leading to a surge of volunteers devoted to restoring infrastructure and homes across the region and supporting residents in crisis.
Community members banded together to build an official team that would come to be known as the Greater Greenbrier Long‐Term Recovery Committee. This community team (made up of individuals, communities, organizations, and agencies in the region) was dedicated to rebuilding parts of Greenbrier, Pocahontas, and Monroe counties, improving the post-flood infrastructure, and sourcing relief for survivors of the disaster.
West Virginia communities of all sizes are engaging in innovative work. Many of these communities exemplify our Rural Community Building Best Practices, guideposts identified through evidence-based research processes. By looking to these communities as models, we can work together to replicate small wins and major successes.
Matt Ford, a founding member of the Greater Greenbrier Long‐Term Recovery Committee, realized a gap in his community was being filled by the team–the flood had caused people to come together to think about the future of the community of Meadow River Valley and ways to make it even better. “Once these people started working together, we had to keep that going,” said Matt. In 2018, this led to the founding of the Meadow River Valley Association (MRVA), a community development nonprofit organization where Matt is now the President.
Working with a team of volunteers and partners, the MRVA approached residents to ask, “What other community issues do we have that we need to tackle as a group?” This led to projects focused on adding more recreation for residents, eradicating substance abuse, redeveloping buildings, and providing affordable health care and child care. MRVA has since formed a community team for the Blueprint Communities® program, and has completed a strategic plan with directions for how they will move forward to make these goals a reality.
Once these people started working together, we had to keep that going.
One way MRVA works to improve the quality of life of residents of the region is by providing space for outdoor recreation. MRVA has worked to build up and maintain the Meadow River Valley Community Park, where residents can access playgrounds, a boat launch, picnic areas, a stage for outdoor concerts, a wildflower garden, and lots of green space. MRVA has managed to fund the park entirely through grants and is building up the assets it provides over time–with the most recent one being the boat launch. The park is maintained by MRVA volunteers who regularly hold park clean-ups and help maintain the land. Community members donate their time to the maintenance of this park because they see the value that it brings to the area and are determined to see it grow.
In addition to community volunteers, the park is partially maintained by residents of a recovery center called God’s Way Home, which is located in Rainelle. God’s Way Home regularly partners with MRVA and is working to help their residents recognize that they are assets to their community. “[The indivudials in recovery] are going from what others think are hopeless people to entrepreneurs and business owners, and that’s amazing,” said Matt. God’s Way Home provides business coaching to residents in recovery, and the organization works to help their residents recognize opportunities to fill gaps in the community with their business ideas.
The Community Park is a valuable, but smaller-scale, project that brings value to the region, and the MRVA team is putting work in on a massive project that could soon transform the community.
MRVA acquired the former Rupert Elementary School, which will be repurposed as the Meadow River Valley Community Center. At the community center, residents of the region will gain access to affordable senior housing, a health care clinic, an early childhood learning center (the MARVEL Center), and recreation facilities–learn more about the community center here. Through a partnership with the Greenbrier Valley Economic Development Center, MRVA was able to bring a Hub-sponsored AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer In Service To America) to their team to work to move work on the community center forward.
Dara Vance is MRVA’s first-ever VISTA, and she’s working to make the community’s dreams of turning the Rupert Elementary School into the Meadow River Valley Community Center a reality. In 2020, Dara moved to Greenbrier County from Florida to take on the position. Though she’s not a West Virginia native, she easily found her place in the community. “COVID made me reconsider what’s important in life. I wanted some sort of meaningful work. What mattered to me is knowing that people appreciate what you’re doing everyday,” said Dara.
In her role, Dara is working to move forward the community center project by seeking and applying for funding, building relationships with partners, and bringing community members together across the entire multi-county region. “MRVA wanted to get away from the idea of east side and west side and focus more on inclusion than exclusion,” said Dara. Before it was Meadow River Valley, the community was known as the “West End,” as in, the community is west to the more affluent parts of Greenbrier County, like Lewisburg and White Sulphur Springs. The team at MRVA was determined to rebrand the area to move away from the negative history of its former name. As a result, Meadow River Valley came to be, shining a new light on positivity in the community’s reputation, reminding community members that their identity doesn’t have to be tied to which side of the county they live on.
We have persistence, but we also have a lot of patience.
Dara has brought together community members from all over the region by implementing the “MRVA Works” initiative, a series of community clean-up projects with the goal of increasing potential for economic development in the area. The community team agrees that curb appeal and beautification can make the community attractive to potential investors, and making a community more beautiful is something lots of people are willing to take part in. “This project is making economic development approachable and showing the community that anyone can do the work,” said Dara. The concept is much bigger than just cleaning up a park; Dara works to communicate in the framing of MRVA Works that these smaller projects will work to kickstart economic development, but are approachable to those who want to take part in the process and may not have experience in community and economic development. “When you start seeing other people get involved, it’s not as overwhelming,” said Dara.
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,