adventures in kentucky
Cranks is a small rural mining community in the southeast part of the state of Kentucky--in the Appalacian region. It is only about 10 miles from Virginia, and about 5 miles from Tennessee.Since 1983, an elderly couple has volunteered their time, directing a survival center on their property--a center in which people from all over the country come to volunteer with home building and repair, in order to help the town and its population of sub-standard housing.
The Center is hospitable and definitely "liveable," the directors' home--modest at best. A small ranch home here, one we might consider in need of "updating" or demolition, would be a luxury to people in the Cranks community. Many people live in trailers that are falling apart, some with multiple children or other family members, and only one or two bedrooms. 
The surrounding neighborhoods, however, are perhaps one of the most disheartening aspects of this small-town Kentucky atmosphere. People live along steep hillsides, on land that is owned by the mining companies. For most families, coal mining is not a choice, but a way of life.
Garbage bags and old furniture decorate most everyone's front lawn, dogs and wild foul roam the streets. The creek, in some places beautiful and seemingly clean, is polluted with chemicals from improper mining.
It is not uncommon to hear from those who have never even left Harlan County, the furthest some have travelled--the capital city of Frankfort, KY.
Broken glass and an uprooted cross decorate the facade of Cranks Holiness Church--a Baptist church up the road from the Center--which is free and open to everyone. We went for the cultural experience--a night that not only amazed me, but scared the Hell out of me, as well.
What is perhaps more interesting, is the magnitude of drug problems in Appalacia (especially among crystal meth users). And more often than not, these issues are swept under the rug. We met a number of people who were using, some who had gone to prison for dealing, and most everyone who either had a loved one in rehab, or had been to rehab themselves. The drug problems in the area provoke petty theft (something we experienced first-hand) and addiction, which only added to the depressing living conditions of the region.
I have seen poverty in other countries--some in areas so badly deprived, that crime, starvation, and homelessness is a way of life.
It was somewhat surreal to see this population in Harlan County, in which this community resides.
It is even more difficult to believe that anyone in this country has to growup in these conditions, let alone live inside this bubble of helplessness their entire life.
posted by Laurel @ 3/28/2006 10:00:00 PM
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