Big Creek People in Action

When Tammy Lambert graduated from a rural West Virginia high school in 1993, college seemed an impossible dream. Six years later, as a wife and the mother of a 3-year-old son, she began to reconsider. But the nearest college was two hours away from her home in Bartley, and hiring a baby sitter was too expensive.

The Caretta Community Center in nearby Caretta provided a solution: an affordable preschool program with flexible hours.

“When I discovered that the daycare was available, it gave me an opportunity to go to college and expand my horizons, as well as give Robert an opportunity to socialize and learn with other children,” she says. “It’s taken me four years to get a two-year degree, but it wouldn’t be at all possible without the daycare program.”

Lambert—along with her pending associate’s degree in business and accounting—is counted among the success stories of Big Creek People in Action, the local nonprofit organization operating the community center. Their mission: “to foster a community in which people learn, work, play, and grow together, and prepare themselves for success in the 21st century.”

“It’s a lofty goal,” concedes Frances Rutherford, director.

But she agrees with Kim Short, director of the Strong Families program, who sees a brighter future for her town, “This place still has promise, and someone’s got to fight for it.”

That promise was challenged when many of the local coal mines closed in the 1980s, and citizens were left with few prospects. The mountainous terrain is unsuitable for most other industries, so people had to seek work elsewhere. Even the local elementary school was forced to close as the population dwindled, and the students were bused to a neighboring town’s school.

But as the empty school building deteriorated, a new vision began to take shape. Rutherford and other concerned citizens rallied to put the building back into community service, and in 1990, Big Creek People in Action bought the school for one dollar.

For three years, volunteers worked to restore the structure and raise funds, first with hot dog sales and spaghetti dinners, then with actual grant-writing. They hired staff and began planning programs, and now offer a variety of services—including high school equivalency diploma classes, literacy programs, computer training, and career counseling.

“One of the things that I think is neat about this center is that it was developed around the resources and needs of people who live in this community, and as those resources and needs change, so does this center,” Rutherford says.

That’s why, when the area suffered a series of floods in July which left up to 1,500 homeless, “there was no question about whether or not we were going to put crews together to help,” she says. Staff members immediately joined the Red Cross and other disaster-relief agencies to assist the affected families.

The center still depends on volunteers. Church groups and college students often spend weeks or months helping with everything from tutoring to painting walls. An urban planning student recently spent part of his summer break evaluating the building for maximum community impact. He left them with a binder full of suggestions on incorporating murals, displays, photography, storytelling, and music into the design.

“We wanted to make sure that a celebration of our culture and our heritage is worked into this building, along with the work and training space,” Rutherford says.

Big Creek also receives help from welfare-to-work programs, through which they hire many reliable employees. A couple of years ago, participant Scottie Perez was placed in general maintenance at the center. Today, he’s a full-time employee with a job description going beyond maintenance into transportation, and even mentoring.

“I like it a lot,” he says of his varied duties. “I get to travel to places I’ve never been before, and I have a real good relationship with the other employees.”

Creating jobs for people like 28-year-old Perez is a major focus of the center. Through their Young Leaders Action Council, they help high school students prepare for college, then work to create opportunities for them to return to the area.

Short’s feelings about her own teenage daughter’s future echo the philosophy: “She’s a talented artist, but I don’t want her to take those talents and leave here. I want her to stay. I want her to fight.”

Kara Carden is a regular contributor to American Profile.

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