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Why I STAY in Appalachia
by Sav Miles Originally posted on OurFuture.org

Why would you ever go back?” “Why don’t you move to Los Angeles, or come out to Denver?” “Have you at least considered Birmingham?”

Whenever I told someone, be it a stranger or someone much closer to me, that after graduating from college I was planning to move back to my hometown of Gadsden, Alabama, these are the questions I faced. Even people who saw me spend my entire undergraduate career studying inequality in the rural South, even folks who had read my senior thesis – a model for community organizing in my hometown – could not understand why I would actually go back to put that knowledge to practice.

And over the last six months of living back home, I can’t say that I don’t ever question that decision, too. Exactly zero of my 1600 peers from Harvard’s Class of 2018 moved to Alabama after graduating. Most of my friends from high school either left to find work elsewhere or are locked up in multiple low-wage jobs.

Every time a college buddy tells me about the latest function on a New York City rooftop, with every new vegan café I try in my siblings’ respective cities and every queer couple on my Instagram feed looking proud and protected in their urban bubble, I wonder if I should have abandoned my dreams of making my home a better place and moved to a place that was better made for me.

Yet like any piece of clothing worth a damn, there are pockets of people across Alabama and Appalachia that remind me where I fit.

Last month I got to attend the Stay Together Appalachian Youth (STAY) Summer Institute, a gathering of young leaders, creators, and organizers across Appalachia dedicated to supporting one another in building inclusive and sustainable communities where we can and want to stay.

In between midnight swims in a starry lake, Appalachian love ballads, and meals of stuffed homegrown poblanos and fresh mint soda, we wrote ourselves into a people’s history of the region. We gathered as queer people, trans people, and people of color. We shared our stories and songs and skills and learned to love this land that doesn’t always love us back. We found common ground not just in the space we shared, but in the challenges we experienced and in the liberation we envisioned.

I cried the whole way home. I was a kid again: leaving summer camp, unsure of the fate of my newfound faraway friendships. I cried for the childhood camping trips and bluegrass festivals that took me from the north Alabama foothills through those curvy roads and rocky rivers of Central Appalachia.

Every time I rounded a bend and saw the setting sun’s rays spread out across those mountains, I cried for how they – and their people – have been so repeatedly dishonored. I cried over the harshest reality of growing older–realizing how the purest joys of my childhood have been tainted by corporate control, political partisanship, and liberal elitism.

At STAY I didn’t have to prove to anyone – not even myself – why I chose to come home. I found solidarity, strength, and understanding in the people who know that living here isn’t a sacrifice, but a source of power.

And even though we’re now separated by hills and hollers and highways, I am starting to see that power all around me. It bubbles up in the spring that fuels my favorite swimming hole. It’s drawn from the roots of my great-great grandfather’s fig tree. It’s flowing through the pipes of my $400/month two-bedroom. I hear it interwoven in the Southern drawls and Spanish dialects at the Trade Day flea market, in the banjo and guitar licks of Bluegrass Thursdays in my dad’s basement, in the silent acknowledgment at Walmart between another queer and myself (the “gay gaze,” I like to say).

Above all, I see that power in the leaders and members of Hometown Action and other groups in the People’s Action network. Much like the folks at STAY, we are determined to make small towns and rural communities happier, healthier, and more inclusive places to live.

I thank the heavens every day that I get to serve as Hometown Action’s Appalachian Region Lead Organizer, and I’m ready to fight like hell with anyone who wants to make this place somewhere we can and want to stay.

Sav Miles is a 2019-2020 recipient of the Priscilla Chan STRIDE Postgraduate Public Service Fellowship, which they will use to support work in Gadsden and across North Alabama as Appalachian Region Lead Organizer for Hometown Action, part of the People’s Action national network of grassroots groups.

A Word from STAY Project Staff & Steering Committee

Dear STAY Project family,

We hope your summer is treating you well! Last month, over 50 young people from across Appalachia gathered in Southwest Virginia for STAY's annual Summer Institute. It was a beautiful weekend and we are so grateful to everyone who showed up and created such powerful and welcoming space.

We want to say a special thank you to Appalachian Voices, Highlander, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, and Sierra Club for sponsoring this year's summer institute and to Becca & Joe with Pollinator Produce Partners for keeping us well fed all weekend long!

Stay tuned for exciting things coming up this fall like the Black, Appalachian, Young, and Rising Gathering which will be November 8th-10th (location to be announced soon)!

kinship & solidarity,

The STAY Project staff & steering committee

We have a membership call on Sunday, August 18th at 7:00pm!
Register for the call at bit.ly/staymembercall to talk about what's been going on since the STAY Summer Institute and what we have coming up next!

A Gathering for led by and for Black Appalachian Youth coming this November 8th-10th 2019! Click here to find out more about this gathering! There is a $10,000 goal to cover the event and to pay the Black youth who are doing the work to make it happen. STAY is asking you to invest in this important work by making a donation today.

Did y'all hear that STAY is now offering financial support to members who are organizing projects/events in their communities? We are able to offer up to $200 to support members’ projects that align with our mission and core beliefs. Specifically, we are hoping to support projects/events that further STAY’s work of providing space for young Appalachians to gather, learn with/from, create, and work together. To learn more and to request support, fill out this form!

Regional Happenings

Last week some of our STAY folks went over to the blockade in Cumberland, KY to support the miners who have blocked a train carrying coal that the miners have not been paid for mining from leaving. On July 1st Blackjewel Mining declared bankruptcy and withdrew paychecks from the workers’ accounts, pulling the rug out from under the miners and their families. Coal bosses have gotten away with stealing from workers for too long and we’re not gonna stand for it! There are STAY folks on site supporting the miners and their families with maintaining the blockade -they are often paying out of pocket to buy items that are necessary to keep blocking the railroad track. You can support this effort too! They are accepting donations through Venmo @shittyitalianguy or on Paypal motomiya_jun@hotmail.com or Cashapp $blackjewelminers

Photo:Lou Murrey

Southern Connected Communities Project has opened a Cyber Cafe in the Clearfork Valley!

Need to print something? Have research to do? Want to scroll the internet? Need to submit an application? Have a paper to write?
Come see us at Clearfork Community Institute (the old Eagan School)
Free services available; Scan, copy, print, and laptops

Staff available for basic computer assistance

Coffee, lattes, cappuccino and snacks will be sold

Beginning August 6, 2019 hours will be Tuesdays and Thursdays

9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Call 423-784-0095 for more information

Be a STAY Project Member!

Wanna join the STAY Project? We’ve added a membership form to our website! If you are between the ages of 14-30 and living in Appalachia and want to be a member of the STAY Project, head on over to our membership page and fill out the form.

If you are a current member go ahead and fill out the form to update your information.

Come be a part of the movement for youth and by youth that is working towards a just, sustainable, and equitable Appalachia!

When you give to the STAY Project you are nourishing a grassroots movement by youth and for youth in Appalachia. We could not do our work without the support of a community that believes in us. Thank you for believing in us!

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June 2019 Newsletter

6/25/2019

Learn more or Register for SSI Here!

Happy Summer Y'all!

It's pride month, the sun is out, and the 2019 STAY Summer Institute is less than a month away! We know June is the designated pride month but the STAY Project celebrates the beautiful and complex lives of queer youth in these hills, hoods, and hollers all year around. Be proud and gay every dang day y'all!

The STAY Project steering committee kicked off the summer season by gathering in Knoxville, TN for our quarterly meeting. The meeting opened with a youth hip-hop/ poetry open mic at the Phyllis Wheatley Center YWCA -the showcase was so much fun AND we were able to raise $200 for the Black Appalachian Young and Rising Gathering! Thank you so much to the Phyllis Wheatley Center for letting us use their space and our performers Kam, Geonovah! and Black Atticus for sharing their music with us!

The steering committee then spent the rest of the weekend working together to plan out the upcoming 2019 Summer Institute! We worked hard, cooked and shared meals together, laughed a lot, and emerged from the weekend with a truly beautiful agenda and theme for this year's institute- STAY Project 2019 Summer Institute: Challenging Power by Building Our Power! We chose this theme because as young people, we don't always feel like we have power to make change but we do -especially when we work together to flex our collective muscle.

We are so excited to be joined by our peers to build a shared understanding of the issues young people in our region face and a shared vision and plan for the future we want in Appalachia. We are excited for the skills y'all are going to bring, we are excited for the fun we are going to have, and we are definitely excited about the talent show!!! Register before July 12th to be a part of the 2019 STAY Summer Institute!

kinship & solidarity,

The STAY Project staff & steering committee

It's Here!! We are excited to announce the 2019 annual STAY Summer Institute July 18th-21st at Hungry Mother Lutheran Retreat Center in Marion, VA! We hope you can join us for what promises to be a weekend full of fun, friendship, collective learning and growth. Registration will close Monday, July 8th,.

The STAY Summer Institute (SSI) is STAY's largest gathering and is designed by youth for youth. This event is an autonomous space for 14-30 year old's from Central Appalachia (includes Eastern Kentucky, East Tennessee, West Virginia, Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina).

If you are not eligible to attend and still want to support this event, we are asking you to make a donation here to sponsor a young person to attend the STAY Summer Institute! No one is turned away from the summer institute for not having the money to attend. The STAY Project provides food, lodging, scholarships, and transportation assistance to all who need it and your donations make that happen!

A Gathering for led by and for Black Appalachian Youth coming this November 2019! Click here to find out more about this gathering! There is a $10,000 goal to cover the event and to pay the Black youth who are doing the work to make it happen. STAY is asking you to invest in this important work by making a donation today.

Regional Happenings

Be a STAY Project Member!

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May 2019 Newsletter

5/1/2019

Learn more or Register for SSI Here!

It's Here!! We are excited to announce the 2019 annual STAY Summer Institute July 18th-21st at Hungry Mother Lutheran Retreat Center in Marion, VA! We hope you can join us for what promises to be a weekend full of fun, friendship, collective learning and growth. Registration will close Monday, July 8th,.

The STAY Summer Institute (SSI) is STAY's largest gathering and is designed by youth for youth. This event is an autonomous space for 14-30 year old's from Central Appalachia (includes Eastern Kentucky, East Tennessee, West Virginia, Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina).

If you are not eligible to attend and still want to support this event, we are asking you to make a donation here to sponsor a young person to attend the STAY Summer Institute!No one is turned away from the summer institute for not having the money to attend. The STAY Project provides food, lodging, scholarships, and transportation assistance to all who need it and your donations make that happen!

Other Announcements!

Regional Happenings

The community of Minden, WV has been suffering from the impacts of industrial pollution and governmental neglect for decades. Since the Shaffer Equipment Company disposed of transformers containing toxic PCB chemicals, hundreds of Minden community members have suffered and died from cancers, neurological diseases, and other various health issues related to the long term impacts of PCB exposure. To this day, PCBS still infect the soil of this small, tight-knit, diverse community in rural West Virginia. Just this past year, in a town of less than 250, 15 Minden residents died of PCB-related illnesses. As a low income community, few people in Minden have the ability to move their families to safer, healthier locations. Today, Minden residents are demanding that the EPA and the US Congress fund remediation and relocation for all residents so that everyone has a chance to live out their lives in an environment that is healthy and safe. Many young people, including high-school students, are key leaders in this struggle and would deeply appreciate the support from peers and comrades across the region. On Saturday, June 8th, Minden residents will recreate a march that took place 30 years ago to demand justice for Minden and commemorate the lives that have already been lost to PCB exposure. The goal is to bring 1000 impacted community members and allies to the march to demonstrate the gravity of this issue. Will you join us in marching for a safe and healthy future for Minden residents?

Seedtime on the Cumberland 2019 is officially on the horizon!
Appalshop's annual music and cultural festival is a summer staple in these mountains, and this year's will be no exception.

FEAT Hubby Jenkins of the Carolina Chocolate Drops, Amythyst Kiah, Cornbread & Tortillas, Lee Sexton, and local greats Nate Polly, John Harrod & Friends, Joan Brannon, Tiffany Williams, John Haywood, Grits & Soul, Larah Helayne, and Sunrise Ridge; plus delicious wood-fired pizza by Smoke Signals Baking and brews by West Sixth Brewing!

Be sure to follow the Seedtime site for updates – more to come! http://www.seedtimefestival.org/ #Seedtime2019

Be a STAY Project Member!

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April 2019 Newsletter

5/1/2019

Dear STAY Project Family,

It has not been a quiet spring in Central Appalachia. As many of you already know, On March 29th, 2019, the Highlander Center's main office was burned down by white supremacists. Highlander is The STAY Project's fiscal sponsor, sometimes office space, and it is so much more…having been a midwife for the social justice movement across the South for 87 years. STAY is undoubtedly part of that legacy, with young people from Seeds of Fire being some of our founding members and with our first gathering and ten year anniversary celebration both being held at the Highlander Center. It is rare that young people are trusted enough to govern themselves, but Highlander has always trusted our vision and decision-making while still offering necessary support and guidance when it is asked for. The attack on Highlander, and the subsequent burning of three black churches across the South, was an attempt by people who are deeply invested in white christian supremacy—and are threatened by a southern freedom movement led by Black and LGBTQIA people—to harm and silence us. In our anger, fear, and grief, it is important to take the willingness of white supremacists to escalate violence seriously, and to do whatever we can to keep each other safe. As young people who are trying to create sustainable, just, and healthy communities throughout Appalachia, it is our work to keep being a threat to white supremacy and never stop. A better world is coming, and we are building it.

To our Highlander family-- we love y'all.

kinship & solidarity,

The Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project

STAY Project Member Spotlight with A'Nya Badger

Our group decided to work on better conditions in our local schools. This was in response to mass suspensions at Capital High School and unfair punishment. While Katelyn and I aren’t in a traditional Kanawha County Schools secondary school, we still have connections to it through friends and family. Through weekly meetings and partnership with Deanna McKinney, we went through the steps that come in activism.

First, we identified our issues with the schools. Just to name a few, these included disrespect of students, blatant disregard of student mental health, unequal application of the rules, and a student handbook so dense that it is nearly impossible to understand your rights as the student. After this, we came up with solutions we would like to see implemented in schools. These include restorative justice, disciplinary practices, fairness, respect, training, and support. We presented these proposals along with a few others at a forum with school officials. Among those in attendance, we had the ear of the superintendent and the principal of Capital High School.

Toward the end of this project, the dynamic became youth supported instead of youth lead. This led to some discontent and disappointment among our members. This was a wonderful growing experience. In the weeks following the forum, we discussed how we want adult allies to interact with us as leaders, reflection and took some time to regroup. It is always important to celebrate the end of an endeavor. We are learning facilitation tools and how to organize a group while in between projects. We would appreciate your support going forward to help better this area of Appalachia and empower young leaders.

You can reach out to me at asbadger01@gmail.com to find out how to plug in with us or to find out what we’re doing or just to chat (my birthday is 4/28)!

- A'Nya Badger

Upcoming STAY Project Work

All student debt should be forgiven and no one should have to go into debt to receive an education! Until that happens though let’s talk about ways you can navigate that debt without drowning in it.

Join us Sunday, April 28th at 7pm to talk about managing your student debt.

Register at bit.ly/STAYstudentloans

SAVE THE DATE Y'ALL! The 2019 STAY Project Summer Institute will be July 18th-21st at the Hungry Mother Lutheran Retreat Center in Marion, VA! Hit us up if you want to be a part of the planning team. More info soon!

A Gathering for led by and for Black Appalachian Youth coming this November 2019! Click here to find out more about this gathering! Use the donation link below to help make this happen.

ICYMI

STAY Project steering committee member, Jules Kessler has been working as a part of a student-organized movement at West Virginia Wesleyan College to hold college officials accountable for racist and misogynistic assertions and threats of violence toward students by some campus security staff. In March the group, which has called themselves Our Voice Among the Hills, held a press conference on the steps of WVWC's administration building to call out campus officials lack of action. Read more in theInter-Mountain

Regional Happenings

Knoxville's Black Mama Bailout fundraiser! The festival fundraiser will be on May 3rd @ 7pm at the Birdhouse's backyard (800 N. 4th Ave)! There will be a suggested donation of $10 towards our Bail Out fund to bail out Black mothers, caregivers, and guardians in Knoxville BUT come out with whatever you have to give! We gon' have vibes, Black femmes performing, food, and booths! Check the facebook event!
Lets get it!

Seedtime on the Cumberland 2019 is officially on the horizon!
Appalshop's annual music and cultural festival is a summer staple in these mountains, and this year's will be no exception.

Be a STAY Project Member!

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STAY Member Spotlight: A'Nya Badger talks about Rise up WV's youth-led work!

4/24/2019

A'Nya Badger - youth activist in Kanawha County, WV

Over the past few weeks in West Virginia, Katelyn Damron and I have been leading the Rise Up West Virginia: Youth Working Group (renaming in progress). We are the co-chairs of this working group and are being mentored by Savanna Lyons. This has been and continues to be, an amazing opportunity for us and young leadership in general. The purpose of our group is essentially leadership for young people by young people. Our group decided to work on better conditions in our local schools. This was in response to mass suspensions at Capital High School and unfair punishment. While Katelyn and I aren’t in a traditional Kanawha County Schools secondary school, we still have connections to it through friends and family. Through weekly meetings and partnership with Deanna McKinney, we went through the steps that come in activism.

First, we identified our issues with the schools. Just to name a few, these included disrespect of students, blatant disregard of student mental health, unequal application of the rules, and a student handbook so dense that it is nearly impossible to understand your rights as the student. After this, we came up with solutions we would like to see implemented in schools. These include restorative justice, disciplinary practices, fairness, respect, training, and support. We presented these proposals along with a few others at a forum with school officials. Among those in attendance, we had the ear of the superintendent and the principal of Capital High School.

Toward the end of this project, the dynamic became youth supported instead of youth lead. This led to some discontent and disappointment among our members. This was a wonderful growing experience. In the weeks following the forum, we discussed how we want adult allies to interact with us as leaders, reflection and took some time to regroup. It is always important to celebrate the end of an endeavor. We are learning facilitation tools and how to organize a group while in between projects. We would appreciate your support going forward to help better this area of Appalachia and empower young leaders.

You can reach out to me at Asbadger01@gmail.com to find out how to plug in with us or to find out what we’re doing or just to chat (my birthday is 4/28!).

- A'Nya Badger

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March 2019 Newsletter

3/28/2019

Greetings STAY Project Family!

It stays light past 6pm and the hillsides are flushed with the pink of redbuds which must mean that Spring is finally here!

All winter the STAY Project has been hunkering down, planning, organizing, and tending to the internal work necessary for us to be able to create and support youth-led spaces throughout the rest of the year. Now that it is spring we are unfurling like seedlings with our faces to the sun and growing into the work we have been germinating all winter long. We are eager to share with y'all what this year has in store!

This month, we held the first in a series of membership calls that are intended to be a place for our members to work together around a specific issue. The call focused on the rights that students have to start a Gay-Straight Alliance at their schools. Steering committee members Aria, Nolan and FJ did a ton of research and were able to share really useful information and experiences about different courses of action that students can take when they are getting resistance form school administration. This a conversation would like to continue so please contact us (stayproject@gmail.com) if you like to hear a recording of the call or would like to have access to the resource document or if you would like to share any information. Our next membership call will be on Sunday April 28th and the topic will be about dealing with student loans. Register for that call here.

Additionally, STAY is excited to announce that we will now be offering financial support to members who are organizing projects/events in their communities! We are able to offer up to $200 to support members’ projects that align with our mission and core beliefs. Specifically, we are hoping to support projects/events that further STAY’s work of providing space for young Appalachians to gather, learn with/from, create, and work together. To learn more and to request support, fill out this form!

Finally, we want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who chose to make the STAY Project their valentine by donating, sharing their #AppalachianLoveStory, or coming out to our ValentineSTAY Punk Show & Open Mic during Appalachian Love Week. We are so grateful for your commitment to the STAY Project! If you were not able to donate during Appalachian Love Week, don’t worry we still accept donations all year ‘round!

kinship & solidarity,

The Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project

In February at the ValentineSTAY Open Mic & Punk show we heard music from so many talented young people and got to close out the night with killer performances from LIPS and Spiders! Following the ValentineSTAY show, the STAY Project’s new steering committee met for two days to set the STAY Project’s 2019 work in motion. Thank you to Appalshop who let STAY use the Boone Youth Drop-in Center as a meeting space for the ValentineSTAY show and our meeting –providing access to physical space is one of the many ways that Appalshop supports youth-led work in our region.

Photo by Oakley Fugate

A Gathering for led by and for Black Appalachian Youth coming this November 2019! Click here to find out more about this gathering! Use the donation link below to help make this happen.

Regional Happenings

Seedtime on the Cumberland 2019 is officially on the horizon!
Appalshop's annual music and cultural festival is a summer staple in these mountains, and this year's will be no exception.

Be a STAY Project Member!

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Appalachian Love Week 2019!

2/13/2019

View this email in your browser

Dear STAY Project Family,

Happy Appalachian Love Week y’all!

Appalachian Love Week is The STAY Project’s annual fundraiser and storytelling week — a celebration of the beautiful and complex lives we lead here and an opportunity for us to ask for the support we need from our community to be to keep building spaces lead by youth for youth in Appalachia

Every Appalachian Love Week we invite folks to tell their #AppalachianLoveStory, and we ask you to be a part of ours. This story we are asking you to be a part of is about the kind of love that is necessary for us to STAY in Appalachia because it requires us to resist and unlearn everything that has been telling us that we do not “belong” here. It is the kind of love that makes room for young people to transform, to shed the behaviors, beliefs, and narratives that hold us back so that we can feel light enough to share the load of work left to do.

For over a decade, the love from community that believes in our work has made it possible for the STAY Project to hold spaces like our STAY Summer Institute where young people from across Appalachia are able to connect with each other, share skills, and build relationships. It is love that we carry with us when we return to our communities from STAY Project gatherings with a collective vision for a sustainable future and a network of young people to support us in making that vision a reality.

Envisioning and building an inclusive and sustainable future for Appalachia is a labor of love — intentional, purposeful, transformative love. We love Appalachia by celebrating our histories, culture, and experiences, and we transform Appalachia by working to dismantle the parts of our culture that perpetuate white supremacy and the narratives about our region that erase indigenous, black, and brown histories and realities from Appalachia. We believe that centering and supporting black youth leadership is a crucial part in bringing that transformative vision for our region to fruition. And so we are asking for the loving support of a community who believes in the vitalness of autonomous black youth space for connection, collective visioning, and power-building to help make possible the first regional Black Appalachian Youth gathering this fall.

Show the STAY Project some love this Appalachian Love Week by making a donation to support our labor of love. Make the STAY Project your valentine by becoming a sustaining giver so we can continue the work of strengthening this youth-led grassroots movement for a safe, sustainable, and equitable future in our Appalachian communities.

With deep love & solidarity,

The Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project
P.S. Save the dates July 18th-21st 2019 for the STAY Summer Institute

I want to make STAY my Valentine!

Don't Miss the ValentineSTAY Youth Open Mic & Punk Show!!!

Got a song or some poetry or even a comedy set you've been working on? No plans for Valentines Day weekend?

Make the STAY Project your Valentine this year and come share your talent and/or listen to talented folks at the ValentineSTAY Open Mic & Punk Show!

The Open Mic will start at 7:00pm and if you will be able to sign up for a 5 or 10 minute slot. After the Open Mic there will be a punk show with local bands like Lips, Slug Pit and Slut Pill!

Bring your friends! Bring a sweetie! And join us to close out our annual Appalachian Love Week fundraiser and celebration.

$5 Suggested Donation

This venue is wheelchair accessible.

Check out the Facebook Event

STAY on Mountain News & World Report!

Last year WMMT’s Rachel Garringer sat down in the studio with founding STAY member, Willa Johnson, current STAY coordinator Lou Murrey, and new STAY member Katelyn Damron- who joined by phone to talk about their annual #appalachianlovestory campaign. Listen to the whole story here.

I wanna be a member of the STAY Project!

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January 2019 Newsletter Meet the STAY Project Steering Committee!

1/16/2019

Donate to the STAY Project

SAY HELLO TO THE STAY PROJECT STEERING COMMITTEE!

Happy New Year STAY Project Family! We are absolutely thrilled to announce that Aria Taibi, Faith Johnson, Garett Nunley, Jules Kessler, Mabel Moon, Mekyah Davis, and Nolan Slone will be joining the STAY Project steering committee! Ari Baker and Katelyn Damron will also continue to serve as representatives on the committee.

Aria Taibi, 27
They/Them
East Tennessee

"My vision of the future of this region may be a little idealistic, but I see a lot of cooperative living and homesteading taking place where communities are close-knit, supportive and self-sustaining. I want to see more ecologically sustainable ways of living, particularly with regards to food and energy. Politically, I want to see leaders of color, women and LGBTQ people at the helm of our communities, making decisions that benefit everyone. I want our economies to be invested in what we can provide for each other, rather than extractive."

Faith Johnson, 16
Hillsboro, WV

"Appalachian liberation is a vision that I can feel, but sometimes can struggle seeing. When I’m in the presence of so many young, wise visionaries and makers, my vision of Appalachia is something I can see. Opportunities and freedom come with a legacy that is going to outlive you, I, and the trees. Our future is truly the present."

Garett Nunley, 20
He/Him/They/Them
Tazewell County, VA

"I want our leaders to be more accountable and responsive to their communities, where young people are heard and respected, where everyone is provided with resources to learn and grow to their fullest potential. I want to build an Appalachia where we can love and cherish each other, our culture, and our communities despite the trauma that has been imposed on many of us by the systems at place here."

Jules Kessler, 20
He/Him
Greenbrier County, WV

"I think that Appalachia always has and continues to be a uniquely apt context to build new structures that emphasize and prioritize our solidarity and freedom. I believe that we must no longer rely on the law, the lawmakers, and the state for our freedom, but must build our own systems and ways of knowing that offer us our freedom.That means new economies; that means health care and mental health care for all; that means deconstructing and reconstructing our understandings of gender, race, class, and government."

Mabel Moon, 18
She/Hers
Pocahontas County, WV/Staunton, VA

"My dream would be an end to extractive industries that have plagued Appalachia for too long that take everything from our coal to our children. I dream of a more sustainable future where our economy, government, and media is run by young people who have ties to the land and communities; People who give a damn whether or not there is toxic waste in our communities or what image the national media is spreading about Appalachia. When you are connected to the place you come from, you care more about what happens to it. The youth will rebuild Appalachia to satisfy their own needs and the needs of the earth. The future of Appalachia will composed of young folk standing in solidarity to form a more perfect union of cornbread, red bandanas, and raised fists."

Mekyah Davis, 22
He/Him
Big Stone Gap, VA

"I envision for our communities, the opportunity for youth to grow and be invested in at an early age. Ideally, there would be centers where youth could go to get counseling to deal with the trauma that some people could never imagine, that they have endured at such an early age. Multicultural centers with libraries where people can go to enjoy recreational activities designed for the betterment of their future, as well as give them a safe-haven from the world that can be oh so cruel at times. I want marginalized youth to know that they are somebody worthy of accomplishing anything they set their mind to, and most importantly they deserve respect."

Nolan Slone, 17
He/Him
Martin County, KY

"I envision a future in Appalachia where youth of any ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, cultural preference, etc. should feel safe and accepted in Appalachia. Youth will be able to stay in their hometowns if they wish and truly be able to openly be themselves in a way that they aren't right now. Appalachia needs to be a place of absolute equality, and opportunity."

Katelyn Damron, 20
She/Her
Tornado, WV

"I envision a future in Appalachia that is sustainable and independent. There is a day coming in our community when people will be able to truly live their best lives here. No one should have to suffer disproportionately because of where they come from, and no one should have to leave such a beautiful place because of fear of social ostracization or lack of economic stability."

Katelyn is serving her second year as a steering committee member!

Ari Baker, 29
They/Them
Maryville, TN

"I want young people in my community to feel at home right where they are, to have space to be loved as their whole selves, and have access to the tools they need to create a beautiful, meaningful life for themselves and their families."

Ari is serving their second year as a steering committee member!

As we welcome our new STAY leaders on board we also want to say goodbye to a few folks who rolled off the steering committee this December.

Please join us in saying thank you to Oakley Fugate, Lill Prosperino and Olivia Lowery for bringing their time, passion, love, humor, and skills to the STAY Project during their steering committee tenure. We love y'all and can't wait to continue working with y'all and supporting y'all's amazing work!

Coming up for the STAY Project

Be sure to check thecalendar page on our website to keep track of STAY Project happenings!

Hey y’all! On January 20th at 7:00pm we’ve got a membership call about what it means to be a member of STAY, what opportunities to engage are coming up and how STAY can support the projects you are already doing in your community. Hop on to learn a little and share a little!

Come hang out, listen to good music, and celebrate Appalachian Love Week with us at the Boone youth Drop-In Center in Whitesburg, KY.

Be a STAY Project Member!

When you give to the STAY Project this #GivingTuesday you are nourishing a grassroots movement by youth and for youth in Appalachia. We could not do our work without the support of a community that believes in us. Thank you for believing in us!

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STAY Project Steering Committee Elections & More Updates!

12/14/2018

Solstice Greetings Stay Project Family!

Tis' the season of short days and long nights, a perfect time for hunkering down to strategize and set intentions for the new year ––which is exactly what the STAY Project did this past weekend at the public workers union hall in Charleston, WV!

STAY Project members, steering committee, and staff came together to reaffirm our vision and core beliefs, to think through some big questions we've been asking about member engagement and governance, and to set priorities for 2019 and 2020! Some those priorities included making more spaces for members to engage in STAY's work in person and online, and a gathering just for youth of color in Appalachia.

With the help of an excellent facilitator, Cara Cooper, we were able to use the feedback from our members at the STAY Summer Institute and other STAY Project gatherings to set concrete next steps towards realizing our collective vision for making our communities in Appalachia places we can and want to STAY. While we are still in the process of cleaning up our notes to be released for all of STAY's membership, we just couldn't wait to share with y'all just a few of those next steps:

STAY is accepting nominations for the STAY Project Steering Committee! Find out more about that process in this newsletter! Also, be sure to read the letter from Lill about their experience being a STAY Project steering committee member.
We decided that one of the ways to create more opportunities for our members to engage, beyond attending the STAY Summer Institute, is that we will be having monthly membership calls that will focus on skill building and connecting our membership to the resources they need. The first call of 2019 will be about what it means to be a member of the STAY Project and what resources are available to our members and it will be on Sunday, January 20th at 7pm. Register for that call here http://bit.ly/staymembership.
To help us create more opportunities for our members to engage we need to know who y'all are! So if you have not filled out our membership form, please go ahead and do it today. If you have filled out the form but it has been awhile, go ahead and do it again to update your info.

These are just a few small ways we are working on realizing our vision, and the STAY Project incredibly excited about what will take shape from the priorities we set for 2019-2020. As STAY heads into this new year with these priorities we will move like water –flexible, resilient, powerful and ready for what will need to change shape.

Finally, we are so grateful for our STAY Project family for supporting and loving us in 2018 as we celebrated 10 years of building this Appalachian youth movement! The STAY Project wishes you a warm and restful December and don't forget that come winter solstice, each day will be a little lighter a little longer.

In kinship and struggle,

The Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project

Join the STAY Project Steering Committee!

We are looking for young folks between the ages of 14-30 from Appalachia who want to be a part of shaping the future of STAY! If you or someone you know is interested in applying for STAY’s Steering Committee, please take a moment to answer the questions in the document at the bottom of this page. We especially encourage youth of color, LGBTQ youth, and youth under 18 to apply. Go ahead and share this opportunity with other youth age 14-30 from Central Appalachia!

The STAY Steering Committee is two-year time commitment with monthly phone calls and four in-person meetings a year. Responsibilities of the Steering Committee include but are not limited to:

General Decision Making
Representing STAY in their communities
Planning the STAY Summer Institute
Supporting and guiding the work of the STAY Project Coordinator

The first Steering Committee Meeting of the year is February 15th -17th.

Apply here! Nominations are due by 11:59pm on Monday, January 7th, 2019.

A Letter from Lill

Dear STAY membership,

Two years (and one extra month!) later, it is my time to go. So much has changed since fall of 2016, when I was elected to serve on the Steering Committee for the STAY Project. I’ve taught and learned, healed and struggled, and mostly, I think, figured out exactly why a youth liberation movement in central Appalachia is and has been crucial to me for so long. I’ve learned what it’s like to be heard and invested in, I’ve also learned when to step back and let others lead the way. I’ve helped to create a workshop about combating white supremacy and collective liberation in Appalachia, and dream to build a whole curriculum about how we- mountain youth, are the ones we’ve been waiting for, and we will be the ones to get us free. I hope you will take what you need from the work we’ve done for the last two years and leave the rest. I hope you will add to our work and make it better, stronger, and more resilient. STAY is about creating space, it is also about more than space, it’s a feeling, a movement, a thing you can carry with you wherever you go and take pride in being a young person who is trying to stay in this place (or about how you can leave the mountains, but your legacy will always touch down on and inspire your comrades here at home).

I hope you will apply to join STAY’s Steering Committee because we need leaders like you NOW. I can’t wait to see what you’ll do.

With love and solidarity,

<3 Lill

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Giving Tuesday

11/27/2018

#GivingTuesday is a national day of giving as a charitable alternative to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Last year, $2.5 million was raised through charitable donations in just one day. This year we hope you will consider giving to the Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project!

I totally want to support the STAY Project!

The STAY Project is a diverse network of young people who are working together to create, advocate for, and participate in safe, sustainable, engaging and inclusive communities throughout Appalachia and beyond. For over a decade the STAY Project has been creating spaces, like our STAY Summer Institute, for young folks to gather, connect, play, share skills, and challenge each other so that together we can challenge systems of oppression and envision the world we want to build in Appalachia and beyond.

In just a few weeks STAY Project members will be coming together in Charleston, West Virginia at our strategic planning session to determine how the Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project will continue to grow and thrive. If you choose to donate to us, your gift will barriers like transportation, lodging, and food costs that might prevent a young person from Appalachia from being part of our strategic planning meeting.

In kinship & solidarity,

The Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project