F r o n t   L i n e Mountain Outreach by Katie Dirks In the comfortable world of Harris Teeter and Bodo's Bagels here in Charlottesville, students can find it easy to remain unaware of the poverty struggles of rural America. It's hard to imagine that one of the most economically-challenged areas of the country lies only hours west of Albemarle County. Appalachia, a 200,000 square-mile region that follows the spine of the Appalachian Mountains, has gone from isolation to discovery, then exploitation to abandonment. This sense of desertion began to change in the 1960s, when President Lyndon Johnson's "war on poverty" targeted Appalachia and its need for regional support. In recent years, these efforts have truly come to fruition, as Appalachia has discovered its own form of activism. By combining local motivations with federal support, the region faces the opportunity to create a new economic and cultural atmosphere for its inhabitants. In the effort to support economic and social development in Appalachia, Congress established the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) in 1965. The legislation that created the ARC defined Appalachia as the Appalachian Mountain region that stretches from southern New York to northern Mississippi. About 22 million people live in the 399 counties of the Appalachian Region. Compared with 20 percent of the national population, 42 percent of the region's population is rural. The region suffers from poor economic fortunes, but many of its problems stem from events in the past. The extraction of natural resources and manufacturing dominated the economy and labor force for decades, but the modern economy is gradually diversifying. There is now a heavier emphasis on services, and areas where there are few other industries are beginning to develop tourism. Coal remains an important resource, but it is not the primary provider of jobs. Manufacturing also continues to contribute to the economy, but power and resources are no longer concentrated in a few major industries. The Appalachian Regional Commission consists of the governors of thirteen states, as well as a presidential appointee representing the federal government. This group directs federal funds for two programs, highways and area development. States then define their own objectives and projects, which are approved by the ARC. Local development districts provide grassroots participation through multi-county organizations with boards made up of elected officials, businesspeople, and other leaders. This partnership between state and federal government has proven to be very successful: since ARC was established, Appalachian employment has increased by 48 percent. Last year, 9,613 jobs were announced in West Virginia, which was a record level for the state's total job gain figures for a single year. Since 1993, the ARC has reduced its number of distressed counties, a statistic based on low per capita income and high rates of unemployment, from 115 to 98. In addition to these development achievements, the Commission has continued to support basic infrastructure development, funding 154 infrastructure projects in 1997 alone. Cecil H. Underwood, Governor of West Virginia, told Congress on March 26 that "the ARC has helped narrow the socio-economic gap between Appalachia and the rest of the nation -- by helping create jobs, raise education and skill levels, and provide basic services to our rural communities." In spite of the good news, however, some problems remain unsolved. Not all parts of the region have benefited equally from economic growth, particularly Central Appalachia. High school dropout and poverty rates are still high and per capita income levels are still low. According to Underwood, the combination of economic distress and welfare reform has been especially difficult for certain West Virginians. State and local governments, while redirecting funds to provide temporary relief to the more desperate cases, are now focusing on general problems and specific, potential solutions. The creation of new jobs, for example, is critical to the region's growth, as are retention and expansion of existing businesses and companies. Through the "small business incubator," states now support the establishment and growth of small and midsize businesses, a strong source of jobs in mostly rural Appalachia. Business incubators are large buildings with space for many small "starter" offices, providing new companies with low-cost office space, support services, and access to various kinds of business advice and assistance. Another problem still being faced is the relative isolation of some parts of rural Appalachia, making health services and access to technology and education hard to attain. Since 1995, when the ARC pronounced the internationalization of the economy as one of three main regional initiatives, technology has been a particular concern for Appalachia. States have tackled this problem by providing cutting-edge applications of technology to different facets of the community, such as the West Virginia-Kentucky initiative to develop integrated on-line commerce and marketing efforts for the business community, educational institutions, and nonprofit organizations. Another effort to address isolation has been the area development program. The Commission works with existing federal and state agencies to build a broad array of community and human development programs needed to correct the region's shortfalls in education, health care, and other services. The area development programs include primary-care clinics built within a 30-minute drive of every Appalachian adult and child, a network of vocational schools and technical and junior colleges, modern sewer systems for industry, and new and rehabilitated housing at low to moderate cost. One of the significant, if unexpected, effects of the Appalachian Regional Commission's work has been the development of leadership and civic organization on local levels. Towns and rural communities have now taken their own initiative in creating a civic infrastructure that will address individual needs and find the resources required to solve their problems. Dungannon, Virginia, for example, despite its population of 347, has demonstrated creative enterprise and powerful activism in fighting poverty. In the 1970s, the Dungannon Development Commission (DDC) was formed to gather community leaders to explore untapped economic resources and solve pressing problems. Past efforts have included sending representatives to Washington, D.C. to petition federal aid for rehabilitating and building new homes, as well as for fostering industries like tourism, a previously untapped source of income. The problems of education, poverty, and isolation still remain for Dungannon, but the DDC has successfully reached out to the area to give community members a sense of unity and a common purpose.

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