• Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective - A collective of advocates, yoga teachers, artists, therapists, lawyers, religious leaders, teachers, psychologists and activists committed to the emotional/mental health and healing of Black communities. Provides a Black Virtual Therapy Directory and Resource.
• Therapy for Black Girls - Podcast & Website. Dr. Joy Harden Bradford is a licensed psychologist, speaker and the host of the wildly popular mental health podcast, Therapy for Black Girls. Her work focuses on making mental health topics more relevant and accessible for Black women and she delights in using pop culture to illustrate psychological concepts.
• NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness)

COVID-19 and Appalachian Youth

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, existing inequalities are thrust into public consciousness.  Currently, young people in Appalachia are feeling the effects: missed graduations, trouble accessing the internet, significant layoffs, and lack of COVID testing. Health disparities in Appalachia have existed for decades, and many fear that when rural areas get hit, they will get hit hard. Jesse, a young person living in western North Carolina says, “that’s what terrifies me, is that we’re rural, so we’re going to see our peak after the cities do.” Not everyone, however, is concerned, as we’ve seen people ignoring health guidelines and gathering in public demonstrations to open the economy. Jesse fears the repercussions of opening back up; “People already aren’t listening: they are tired of the stay at home order.”

Jesse and his wife Sierra Asheworth, are both high risk for the virus. Sierra, a public health student, is extremely concerned about the lasting health implications of COVID-19, as research shows it could affect the body in unexpected ways like blood clots and permanently damage organs like the kidneys and lungs. The concern for their health and the health of their loved ones is palpable, even as we chat over zoom, as they discuss their preexisting conditions and family health history.

Sierra has lost her mother and aunt to cancer, and is potentially high risk herself. Jesse’s grandfather worked in a coal mine in West Virginia, and suffered from black lung. Jesse lives with both asthma and Ehler’s Danlos disease, a chronic illness that targets joints. The common national narrative is that COVID-19 only puts older folks at risk for getting sick, but the reality is many young people, especially in Appalachia, have preexisting health conditions that give this virus potential to cause serious damage to the body. Sierra says it all started to feel real to her when her childhood best friend, whom she grew up with, passed away from COVID-19 just a few weeks ago.

Young people across Appalachia are being effected by this, especially graduating high school and college seniors who no longer able to attend a graduation ceremony. Laura Helayne, a high school senior in rural Kentucky, is feeling the unique challenges of trying to stay connected with loved ones over the internet, taking care of older relatives, and missing out on a graduation ceremony. She knows that in her community, especially for people who won’t continue their education past high school, that celebration caried a heavy significance. Laura remarks, “And I’m the only person in my household who has actually graduated from highschool, so to not have that graduation really sucks.” Many high schools and colleges are having modified graduation ceremonies to awknowldege and celebrate the hard work of so many students.

• Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective - A collective of advocates, yoga teachers, artists, therapists, lawyers, religious leaders, teachers, psychologists and activists committed to the emotional/mental health and healing of Black communities. Provides a Black Virtual Therapy Directory and Resource.
• Therapy for Black Girls - Podcast & Website. Dr. Joy Harden Bradford is a licensed psychologist, speaker and the host of the wildly popular mental health podcast, Therapy for Black Girls. Her work focuses on making mental health topics more relevant and accessible for Black women and she delights in using pop culture to illustrate psychological concepts.
• NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness)

Young people living in Appalachia are struggling to thrive under the economic and social legacy of extractive industries like coal, gas, logging, tourism, etc. Those jobs broke people’s bodies and/or left and pharmaceutical companies flooded our region with opioids. Our local, state, and federal governments are trying to sell us prisons, small business, tourism, and downtown revitalization as the solution. We’ve got high rent and low wages because opportunities for youth are few, and often look like low-paid positions like Americorp/VISTA that exploit the labor of young people. We know that these are false solutions that rely on able-bodied workforces to work long/seasonal hours with low pay, little to no benefits, and that it will only replicate our current conditions and cause suffering, while lining the pockets of politicians and corporations. 

The economic and environmental issues we face are compounded by acts of homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and racism, from members of our own communities. Trying to survive and just be young under compounding oppressions, while living with the legacy of extraction, takes a toll on our mental and physical health. Not to mention our access to healthcare is disappearing with the closing of rural hospitals and absurd medical costs. Instead of real transformative solutions, we get policing by cops and ICE in our schools, our hills, our hoods, and our hollers.

We know that culture doesn't shift in a day or even an election cycle, and that come November, no matter who is the president, we will still have to fight for justice. We are in this for the long haul. We know that no one industry is going to save us, and that it will in fact take many people using a diversity of tactics in coordination across the region operating under shared principles to realize our vision of safe, sustainable, engaging, and inclusive Appalachian communities.

In 2020, the STAY Project is going to keep creating spaces to connect youth across urban and rural divides in Appalachia to build relationships, skills, political analysis, and a vision for how young people are gonna survive and thrive in our region. Our opportunities are in our relationships and our kin networks that transcend state & county lines. We know how to show up for each other. We are providing strength and refuge in each other–– our resources are our relationships. We know how to invest in those relationships and build each other up as leaders. 

In 2020, the STAY Project is solidifying our commitment to invest in Black youth leadership in our region. At the recommendation of the Black Youth Advisory Committee, we are making Black Appalachian Young & Rising a permanent program of the STAY Project. 

WE STAN THE CULTURAL AND CREATIVE POWER OF YOUNG PEOPLE. STAY members are out here making music, creating art, and celebrating despite the challenges. We are using our cultural and creative powers to inspire and live out a vision of just and sustainable communities in Appalachia. In 2020, the STAY Project is providing platforms for young people to share their talent with our first ever Appalachian Love Fest.

We know that young people have already been out here in these hills doing the work. STAY members are creating revolutionary gathering space, leading electoral campaigns, expanding reproductive healthcare access, redefining sex education, pushing other work to be better, supporting labor struggles, organizing and getting resources to our people, etc. And y'all are doing this with the absolute bare minimum. In 2020, the STAY Project is going to keep connecting y'all with opportunities to grow as leaders and resources through our gatherings, and through our member support fund.

We know that we do not have all the answers and that we are not the first to do this work. In 2020, the STAY Project is asking our community, our members, our alumni, and our elders to hold us accountable and give us guidance and support. We are in this for the long haul.

We love y'all so much. 

STAY tuned.  

solidarity & kinship,

The STAY Project staff & steering committee