Poverty in Appalachia: Third World Living Conditions in America?
How Amazing that This Exists in America..
Here I wish to give you a first-hand account of the living conditions in poverty-stricken Appalachia, so that you will be able to see what I saw. Through understanding problems like these, we will better be able to help and combat the conditions that have led Appalachia to its current condition.
Poverty in Appalachia: The Broken Homes
By "broken homes" I do not mean divorce and infidelity (though the residents of Appalachia informed me that both are very prevalent in the region). The homes that I refer to as being broken are the Appalachian residents' physical homes.
While in Appalachia, those I was traveling with and I worked on repairing homes and other structures. The homes for the poor residents of Appalachia are little more than trailers that have been turned into permanent dwellings and shacks built by people who do not understand building construction very well.
The wet climate of the Appalachian Mountains in Kentucky has caused rot to settle into the majority of the wood in many of these homes. As we worked to fix walls, decks, and roofs, many of the repairs we attempted had to be abandoned because the wood of the house was to rotten to support new wood or construction.
The varying degrees of disrepair in these homes show the poverty of Appalachia prominently. Rot, termite infestations, holes, cracked and broken foundations, and the like have rendered many of these homes beyond repair.
Poverty in Appalachia: The Failing Health
One of the residents of a home we worked on, a woman named Marsha, told the typical story of health in Appalachia in a way that truly touched my heart.
As we worked on repairing her doors and windows, she was seen crying inside her home. One of our workers asked her what was the matter, and she told her that it was the anniversary of the death of her son, who would have been 9 years old. Her son was born with a condition that could have been treated by the medical community, but her poverty prevented her from seeking treatment for her ailing child.
Marsha blames herself for not being able to afford treatment for her son.
Many in this region of Appalachia echo this story. Jobs are almost non-existent, and most people live off government welfare checks to get by. As these people attempt to scrape by with what little money they have and no hope of jobs, their health takes a back seat to surviving.
Throughout this poverty-stricken region of Appalachia the drinking water is suspect, children simply deal with lice infestations in their hair, animals and creeks carry disease to their homes, and people are forced to live with varying degrees of congenital issues caused by the coal and strip mining in the area. When a culture of alcoholism and substance abuse is added to the mix, the results are demoralizing, to say the least.
Poverty in Appalachia: The Hopeless Future
The people we met in Appalachia were mostly third generation hopelessness. These people grew up in a culture of extreme poverty, and believe that there is no hope for a future with anything but the same extreme poverty. Lack of jobs outside the dangerous and dead-end coal mining threatens to hold these poor people in the grip of poverty for generations to come.
Before Appalachia can become a sustainable community, there must be an influx of jobs and commerce to the region. Until then, any help these people receive will be merely a small bandage on a severed limb.
Published by Erik Wesley
A minister, teacher, and all-around curious personality has made Erik into the "knower of things." As the knower, Erik likes to share. Therefore Erik is the knower, sharer, and learner of all things. Ok... View profile
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21 Comments
Post a CommentI live in Arizona and am wondering where I can send clothes to? If anyone has an address, please send it to azthunder9@hotmail.com. I would be more than happy to help out. I have alot of mens pants,shirts, and shoes that I'll never use. It's about time we start helping out our own people right here in the U.S.A..
I just wanted to thank you for your article. I am originally from Johnson County, Kentucky and I spent my entire childhood and early adulthood in Appalachia. People from Appalachia (at least those who are decently well off) tend to get defensive when someone writes an article or makes a documentary about this issue. I think the defensiveness just adds to the problem: the Appalachian middle class, in general, wants to ignore the fact that extreme poverty exists in the region because they are offended by the idea that the rest of the world perceives Appalachians as toothless, ignorant hillbillies. I never was able to understand why more middle class families in the region do not reach out to others who are less fortunate. Granted, part of what causes poverty in Appalachia is that many people who live there are simply too lazy to work and are content living off welfare and teaching their children to do the same. I still don't think this excuses the region's lack of interest
I agree that there are those in Appalachia who are decently well off, and there are even millionaires who have benefited from being the owners or inheritors of mining or union operations. And it would be wrong to ignore that fact. In fact, Pike County is the richest county in Kentucky consistently. But it is also a fact that it has the largest percentage of the population below what is considered the poverty level in the U.S. These people should not be ignored just because there is a fear of perpetuating damaging national stereotypes of Appalchian people. It is a region where neighbor helps neighbor in extraordinary ways, and we are not close-fisted in any sense. But yes, this extreme poverty still exists. I have often compared it to third-world conditions for these unfortunate souls despite having lived in eastern Kentucky my entire life, and I am not ashamed to do so. I call it as I see it. And I find it refreshing that someone else is willing to acknowledge it as well.
No this is not an isolated issue, but it is still an issue. We always picture this kind of poverty in 3rd world countries. Embarrassing that the wealthiest nation in the world allows this to happen.
You obviously have only seen a small portion of Appalachia, yes their are many families suffering from poverty...but look at the rest of America this is not an isolated issue! The people of Appalachia are no different from the rest of the country!
Just returned from a mission trip to Hazard, KY, Perry county. We went to Hardburly Community. Gave away coats, blankets, toys, fruit, food, and bibles. We had 196 families, with 944 people in those families. Working on a trailer load of clothes to take to Leslie Co. in KY. Thankful to serve the people of Appalachian.
Our church is in the midst of a clothing drive right now to help a priest with a mission in Appalachia. His stories are unbelievably tragic. I've seen the really bad areas of Kentucky. There's almost no way these people can help themselves out of this situation.
This is a wonderful article and arouses the spirit of compassion. Our world needs more of this.
I grew up in West Virginia, and although I was fortunate to be comfortable as a college professor's kid, I did not fail to see the more desperate conditions in some areas. People who think crushing poverty is a problem only in third-world countries need to be enlightened, and I hope they read your excellent article!
And not only in Appalachia and growing more and more dramatic and ubiquitous by the day. I fear that the golden age of capitalism and the encouragement of greed and acquisition for their own sakes is coming to a crashing conclusion. Appalachia may have been at the cutting edge of where our culture may well be heading.