Vision Appalachia
   
  
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World Vision is working in concert with World Servants, Appalachia Community Care, and Young Life to break the cycle of poverty in Appalachia. We focus our efforts in West Virginia, where 40 percent of those 25 and older have not completed high school and 18 percent of adults are unemployed. Our goal is to help communities help themselves by developing a vision and building the framework to support that vision with the end result of alleviating poverty and infusing hope and dignity.
Short-term Mission Trips to Appalachia
Your group is invited to participate in this transformation in West Virginia, where communities welcome partners like you to join them as they work to improve their lives. Click here for an application.
This unique experience is designed by World Vision, a global Christian leader in empowering under-resourced communities. Vision Trip 2003 will inspire young people to reach new heights in their own growth as they serve alongside the community.
Youth participating in this dynamic week will be challenged and changed as they:
- Serve alongside Appalachian youth and adults to construct facilities critical to the community’s future success.
- Gain new insights into qualities such as servanthood and leadership—and are challenged to apply them to their lives.
- Break down assumptions and stereotypes as they build valuable relationships with people they would not otherwise meet.
- Establish relationships with the community that can last for years.
Vision Youth
Vision Appalachia works with volunteers from local churches and community centers to pair students who are struggling academically with caring, adult tutors. These mentors provide not only scholastic, but also spiritual nourishment for these children. Parents are encouraged to participate and help their children develop a vision for their future while they gain the skills needed to lead successful, fulfilling lives. As children grow, Vision Appalachia continues to walk alongside them, as outreach workers lead positive social activities, assist students in garnering the help they need in educational and life skills, and provide spiritual as well as psychological nurture.
The Storehouse
World Vision’s Gifts-in-Kind ministries keep The Storehouse filled with building supplies that are distributed to partner churches and community organizations that make affordable housing one of their goals. Many of the homes in Barbour and Taylor counties have rusty pipes, inadequate wired, sagging roofs or insecure foundations. These supplies can make a life-changing difference to families and give children a warm, secure home in which to thrive.
The Storehouse also provides basic necessities to meet everyday needs, such as shoes and clothing to personal care, household item. The Storehouse also keeps the shelves at the Kids in Need Resource Center filled. Schools that serve children low-income neighborhoods can stock up on everything from books, pencils, pens, paper, art supplies, binders, backpacks and more. Teachers no longer have to spend their own money on supplies, and their students don’t have to go without valuable learning tools.
Tools for Transformation
Vision Appalachia empowers churches and community organizations to serve the poor by helping them to build outreach ministries and networks that support them. Vision Appalachia works through community centers in Brownton, Chestnut Ridge, Flemington, and Rosedale, providing resources and expertise. A Ministry Resource and Training Center in Flemington helps those interested in helping their neighbors gain the skills they need to build and sustain outreach ministries.
