AFN August 2025 Newsletter

AUGUST AFN NEWS & UPDATES UPDATE: Medicaid Cuts Threaten Rural Health in Appalachia AFN members joined Zil Joyce Dixon Romero of the National Rural Health Association on August 7th to discuss impacts of medicaid cuts in Appalachia. Zil shared that The recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) is projected to cut $137 billion in federal Medicaid spending in rural areas, with Appalachian states like Kentucky, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, West Virginia, and Tennessee facing significant losses. These reductions could lead to higher uninsured rates, hospital closures, and decreased access to care. While the new Rural Health Transformation Fund offers partial relief, it will only offset about one-third of the cuts. We learned about these realities, turned over expectations, and dug into state specific data during our August 7th call. Click below to view a recording of this webinar, and/or dig into the resource rich slide deck shared with participants during the event.  Medicaid Cuts Blog Post Join us on the first Friday of every month at 10 AM EST for our Hurricane Helene Response Call — the only space where funders from across the region regularly connect. These calls are a vital opportunity to share updates, coordinate efforts, and organize around the long-term work of Helene recovery and community resilience. Use the button below to register and add the call to your calendar. We look forward to building with you. Register For Our Standing Calls  Visit the Response Microsite  UPCOMING GROUP MEETINGS We’re continuing to hold the same pre-existing time block for group meetings through the end of 2025. This time will now be used for members to convene, organize, and reflect on how they want their group to evolve under the new AFN structure. Place-Based | September 20 at 3:30 PM Energy and Natural Resources | September 3 at 2PM Creative Capital | TBD Arts & Culture | September 23rd at 2:00 PM Health | September 18th at 3:00 PM Press Forward Appalachia | Research Report Released This month, Press Forward Central Appalachia and the Rural News Fund released “The State of News Business in Central Appalachia: Models for Reinvesting”. The report, which analyzes the challenges and opportunities for news organizations in rural Central Appalachia, dives into the multitude of challenges (and opportunities) in our regional news and journalism ecosystem.  Read the report here Appalachian Big Ideas Fest "The Future is Local: Rooted, Connected, Empowered." This year's Big Ideas Festival is a multi-day virtual event, punctuated by in-person after parties, of connection and celebration, where communities, funders, artists, and institutions and practitioners come together to build a shared future grounded in local wisdom, healing, and joy. Led by practitioners, held with care, and open to all, this is a space for meaningful exchange, creative collaboration, and strategic visioning. The future begins here, by deepening roots and lifting voices. The Appalachia Funders Network is proud to be hosting a panel during the festival and encouraging everyone to participate. August 25th, 27th, and 29th | 9 AM - 2 PM Each Day. Learn more here. NETWORK UPDATES If you have news, an opportunity, grant, or webinar you would like for AFN to share in its next newsletter, please submit it here and contact Kalista Pepper at kalista@appalachiafunders.org with any questions. Invest Appalachia IA + the WVCDH launch an Appalachian Downtown Developers Initiative The ADDI Implementation Plan, developed by a coalition of dozens of regional organizations and downtown development experts, offers a strategic roadmap for a comprehensive program that links locally-rooted developers to the resources and support they need along every step of their journey, including training, technical assistance, capital solutions, peer mentorship, and more. Dogwood Health Trust Two Vice Presidents to Join Dogwood Health Trust Dogwood Health Trust is pleased to announce that after an extensive national search, Jehan Benton-Clark and Jerry Kenney will both join its Community Investment team as Vice Presidents. They will bring robust and complementary leadership to the foundation's programmatic strategy, grantmaking and impact investing.  Greater Clark Foundation The Greater Clark Foundation announces Timothy Johnson as their new President and CEO.  GCF's Board of Trustees unanimously selected Timothy Johnson following a national search that elicited over 300 applicants. He succeeds founding President and CEO Jen Algire, whose visionary leadership helped shape the Foundation's commitment to relational grant making and investing in the social determinants of health. NETWORK OPPORTUNITIES The Funders Network Pilot Funding Opportunity! The Partners for Places Jobs and Inclusive Infrastructure Initiative is aimed at supporting communities with investments and technical expertise to effectively implement equitable infrastructure projects. With this initiative, Partners for Places will award place-based grants to community partnerships advancing inclusive infrastructure projects, support cohort learning, and provide access to regional and national expertise to help communities achieve their goals.  The first round of investments will have a strong emphasis on place-based water-related projects.  The deadline to apply is on September 15, 2025 by 11:59pm, any time zone. Learn more and apply at https://library.fundersnetwork.org/folders/rwl6rh2i.  Foundation for Appalachian Kentucky Grant Opportunity Alert! Have you heard about this exciting grant opportunity for female entrepreneurs and educators in Floyd County? The Lillian Mae Taylor Grant is now open for applications through October 1! With this grant, the Lillian Mae Taylor Grant Committee chooses to honor the work of women who own and operate their own business, work as K-12 grade educators, or promote the health and wellness of women in Floyd County, KY (with preference given to those working in Prestonsburg). The purpose of this grant is to invest in these efforts to bridge divides for greater change and sustainable impact. Applications are due by October 1. Learn more and apply at https://www.grantinterface.com/Home/Logon?urlkey=aky. Foundation for Appalachian Ohio Grant Opportunity Alert! Applications open today for grants available through eight of our affiliate foundation partners. Funding – made possible by gifts to our affiliate foundation partners’ endowment funds – is available for nonprofits, schools and public organizations serving Guernsey, Lawrence, Meigs, Morgan, Noble, Perry and Vinton counties, as well as Nelsonville and the surrounding communities of Buchtel, Carbon Hill and Murray City. Grants will be awarded to projects and programs advancing opportunities across our Pillars of Prosperity: arts and culture, community and economic development, education, environmental stewardship, and health and human services. Applications are due by Sept. 9. Learn more and apply at https://lnkd.in/g6eiD7fY. Mountain BizWorks Webinar! Join Mountain BizWorks' Executive Director Matt Raker to dive deep into results from the 2025 local business Impact Survey. This valuable data helps contextualize the impact of Hurricane Helene on businesses and communities, expands on opportunities to address ongoing needs, and continues to celebrate the remarkable resilience of our region.  Webinar will take place on August 20th at 11 AM EST. Register here.  Dogwood Health Trust Webinar! The Next-Level Funding webinar series aims to provide guidance on how to proactively support long-term sustainability despite multiple challenges. Louise Mathias, Senior Partner at Innovate Funding Partners (IFP), and Susannah Williams, IFP Senior Grant Consultant, will detail a range of considerations, including financial, programmatic, and strategic, in order to bolster the ability of organizations to engage in strong sustainability planning. The next session, "Sustainability for Nonprofit Organizations: Considerations for Long-Term Success,” will be held on August 20, 2025 at noon. Register here.  Berea College Appalachian Fund Leadership Gathering! Jointly hosted by the Brushy Fork Leadership Institute and the Berea College Appalachian Fund, the 2025 Leadership Gathering is a regional event devoted to celebrating service-driven leadership, strengthening organizations, and empowering thriving communities across Central Appalachia. Formerly known as the Leadership Summit, this annual gathering brings together leaders, practitioners, and community builders of all experience levels. Whether you’re an executive leader of a nonprofit or a grassroots volunteer just stepping into leadership, you’ll find opportunities to connect, grow, and lead with purpose. Leadership gathering will be held September 17-18 on the Berea College campus.Find more information here.  AFN IN THE NEWS Inside Philanthropy | The 3 Pillars of a New Emerging Rural Funding Landscape As national philanthropy pools funding into rural-serving intermediaries, place-based regional foundations are organizing and coordinating rural-focused associations and networks. Standouts include the Appalachia Funders Network, Texas Rural Funders, and Delta Philanthropy Forum. These networks foster collaboration and innovation tailored to the unique challenges facing rural communities, including dynamic data and communications, curated grants and grant writer resources, targeted thematic grantmaking and cofounding pathways.  91.7 WVWXU | This Ohio city got federal money to revitalize public spaces with art. Then came cuts A new report from the Appalachia Funders Network found 30 counties across central Appalachia lack an active philanthropic foundation, and 66 have less than a dollar per person in philanthropic funds. Instead, nearly three-quarters of philanthropic investment in central Appalachia comes from funders outside the region. But the cancelled NEA grants come on the heels of cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.  ReImagine Appalachia | An opportunity to dig into data on philanthropic funding in Central Appalachia Brad R. Fulton and AFN’s Melody Lutz joined ReImagine Appalachia's Coalition Update on August 26th to share AFN's State of Funding in Appalachia dashboard and analysis on philanthropic funding patterns and gaps in the Central Appalachia region. Access the webinar recording here.  What's Good in Appalachia? 104 Years Since Blair Mountain: Reckoning Then and New      This August marks 104 years since the Battle of Blair Mountain - the largest labor uprising in U.S. history and one of the most defining moments in Appalachian resistance. Sparked by the assassination of pro-union Police Chief Sid Hatfield on the courthouse steps in Welch, West Virginia, over 10,000 miners rose up in 1921 to demand justice, dignity, and the right to self-determination in the face of unchecked corporate extraction and violent suppression.       While the mine wars are history, the forces behind them are not. Appalachia still contends with extraction - of resources, labor, and ideas - alongside persistent disinvestment and misrepresentation. But just as in 1921, Appalachians are organizing, resisting, and envisioning something now. As Cross Cultural Solidarity writes, “The true lesson of Blair mountain is that when people come together in a way that genuinely attempts to integrate different struggles, one of the most powerful social forces for change can be formed.”       Today, that same spirit - tenacious, creative, and unyielding - lives in the work of communities and networks like AFN. We stand at another inflection point. This time, the fight is for a just transition - one the miners of Appalachia deserved, and one that our region has earned. Let us not just remember the past - we must build the future they imagined.      There are troves of information about this incredibly important piece of Appalachian history, and you can begin (or continue) your learning journey with this Smithsonian article, on the U.S. Department of Labor blog, or by way of this contribution at the Economic Policy Institute. Additionally, you can view some helpful timeline visuals on the WV Mine Wars Museum website.   Other News That Caught Our Eye   Cardinal News | Southwest Virginia at the crossroads: Trump’s ARC cuts threaten region’s economic lifeline Lexington Herald-Leader | A $1B Eastern KY coal-to-solar project gets approval to start construction Lexington Herald-Leader | Not a rock, not a baked potato. Rare salamander spotted in Eastern Kentucky RAFT for America Experience | RAFT continues its 2025 series of events on August 24 on the Nantahala River in Bryson City, North Carolina. Experience the Nantahala Gorge while white water rafting down crystal clear water through rapids and bouncy waves surrounded by spectacular mountain scenery. AFN partner, Kenny Andejeski from why [here] matters, will lead this trip.  Teach for America Appalachia | Central Appalachia Leadership Lab The Chronicle of Philanthropy | McDowell County, Birthplace of Food Stamps, Faces a Disappearing Safety Net Virginia Mercury | After Congress cuts public media funding, a WV radio station looks for other support Our Contact Informationno-cont  *{{Organization Address}}* admin@appalachiafunders.org *{{Unsubscribe}}*