Funded by a new two-year grant from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, the Fulcrum Project connects 20 communities with WVU teams to complete identified projects that will enhance local economies and the quality of life therein.
The following communities were selected for the first round of projects:
• Grafton
• Hinton
• Kimball
• Kingwood
• New Martinsville
• Rupert
• Richwood
• Mullens
These are places that have struggled with economic transitions, natural disasters, crumbling public infrastructure and decreasing state revenues. The Fulcrum Project is an opportunity to integrate design and community development techniques to help the communities rise from the economic and social issues that embattle the state.
At the onset, Peter Butler, project lead and director of the School of Design and Community Development, and Morgan Haas, program coordinator, prepared opportunities for students to engage with communities face-to-face – and then a pandemic hit.
Without students on campus and social distancing measures in place, it looked as though these problems might not be ameliorated - even with the influx of resources provided by the Fulcrum Project.
As a land-grant institution, service to the state of West Virginia and its people is part of WVU’s core mission. That doesn’t change even in a pandemic.
With masks in hand, Butler and Haas toured the communities over the summer, staying outdoors as much as possible and maintaining safe distances from others while they collected information needed for students and faculty to move forward on the project.
“One of the most significant aspects of that trip was that we had to prepare for students who can’t be there,” Haas said. “We had to make sure we gathered enough pictures and documentation to help us and our students better understand what the communities want out of their projects. We had to better understand the communities themselves.”
In general, communities are hoping to grow business opportunities and community engagement
activities to enhance economies and quality life. Projects include beautification
in Grafton, building redevelopment in Rupert, trail development in Kingwood, wayfinding
in New Martinsville and community center projects like farmers markets in Richwood.
Hope in hard times
Hope in certain areas of West Virginia is hard to come by and even harder to hold
onto.
“Momentum in these communities was building, but COVID-19 hit and they had to pause. That’s not any different from anywhere else, but it can feel magnified in these communities. They gain so much momentum, and then they have to start over - again and again,” Haas lamented.
Even with the pandemic the communities wanted to move forward with the Fulcrum Project.
“They see it as a real opportunity to build their capacities toward positive change, so they didn’t want to wait a year. We’re going ahead with the projects in not ideal circumstances with the same goals and objectives in mind,” Butler said.
Although students won’t get the opportunity to visit the towns and experience their potential as Butler and Haas did, they’re using software to create a collaborative space online where community members, faculty and students can draw on an aerial view of the project site and facilitate the design process virtually.
Haas sees the lack of in-person connections as a moot point and believes the timing of the pandemic may be to their advantage.
“The one benefit that we have is that we’ve been remote for a while now,” she said. “These communities have been forced to conduct their work virtually, and our students have had Zoom experience and know how to interact virtually. Everyone is acclimated to this.”
Haas is determined that the students will feel the hope, optimism and possibility anyway.
“These projects are so powerful and meeting with these people has been so impactful for me. Now it’s my duty to make sure the students experience that same impactful experience with the communities,” she said. “Visiting these communities, I wanted to drop everything. I wanted to quit my job and help all of them. I can’t, but that's the feeling I got. I hope just by interacting with these people, the students get that same excitement and motivation.”
Once an undergraduate student herself, Haas thinks she can relate to the student mindset and shift it.
“Many students do not realize their own power and ability to be effective in the community simply as a student,” she said. “My hope is that these projects will empower them to think outside the university walls and see their roles as students as impactful.”
Seeing is believing
Much of what the students will do is help build a community’s capacity through visualization, Butler explained.
“If the communities don’t have a plan that’s drawn and beautiful and articulate, then they have difficulty gaining the funding to support its implementation. What we produce will hopefully provide them the ability to pitch the project and then to fund the project,” he said.
Students will develop proposals for design concepts and present them to the respective community, integrating the design multiple times before the final product is ready.
Though they didn’t necessarily see where the communities began, they’ll hopefully get to see where they go.
“For me, this was one of my first experiences exploring southern West Virginia. Prior to the site visits, it was really hard for me to conceptualize everything, to differentiate each community and what their project significance was. Nothing was tangible to me,” Haas said.
Never having been to Richwood, she was surprised by the artwork in the square, tiny Wifi towers throughout town, the Whistle Punk restaurant and a local coffee roasting company.
“Richwood was a town that I didn’t really know anything about, and it’s a town I will return to. It’s close to the Cranberry River and the scenic highway. It was just one of those towns you didn't know about and you say, ‘I can’t believe this is here!’
The local high school – the town’s gathering place – and middle school were destroyed by floods in 2016. Community members now want to use the vacant lots to build a covered stage, host farmers’ markets and drive-in movies. All things that will uplift and bring their community together.
“Momentum in these communities was building, but COVID-19 hit and they had to pause. That’s not any different from anywhere else, but it can feel magnified in these communities. They gain so much momentum, and then they have to start over - again and again,” Haas lamented.
Even with the pandemic the communities wanted to move forward with the Fulcrum Project.
“They see it as a real opportunity to build their capacities toward positive change, so they didn’t want to wait a year. We’re going ahead with the projects in not ideal circumstances with the same goals and objectives in mind,” Butler said.
Although students won’t get the opportunity to visit the towns and experience their potential as Butler and Haas did, they’re using software to create a collaborative space online where community members, faculty and students can draw on an aerial view of the project site and facilitate the design process virtually.
Haas sees the lack of in-person connections as a moot point and believes the timing of the pandemic may be to their advantage.
“The one benefit that we have is that we’ve been remote for a while now,” she said. “These communities have been forced to conduct their work virtually, and our students have had Zoom experience and know how to interact virtually. Everyone is acclimated to this.”
Haas is determined that the students will feel the hope, optimism and possibility anyway.
“These projects are so powerful and meeting with these people has been so impactful for me. Now it’s my duty to make sure the students experience that same impactful experience with the communities,” she said. “Visiting these communities, I wanted to drop everything. I wanted to quit my job and help all of them. I can’t, but that's the feeling I got. I hope just by interacting with these people, the students get that same excitement and motivation.”
Once an undergraduate student herself, Haas thinks she can relate to the student mindset and shift it.
“Many students do not realize their own power and ability to be effective in the community simply as a student,” she said. “My hope is that these projects will empower them to think outside the university walls and see their roles as students as impactful.”
Seeing is believing
Much of what the students will do is help build a community’s capacity through visualization, Butler explained.
“If the communities don’t have a plan that’s drawn and beautiful and articulate, then they have difficulty gaining the funding to support its implementation. What we produce will hopefully provide them the ability to pitch the project and then to fund the project,” he said.
Students will develop proposals for design concepts and present them to the respective community, integrating the design multiple times before the final product is ready.
Though they didn’t necessarily see where the communities began, they’ll hopefully get to see where they go.
“For me, this was one of my first experiences exploring southern West Virginia. Prior to the site visits, it was really hard for me to conceptualize everything, to differentiate each community and what their project significance was. Nothing was tangible to me,” Haas said.
Never having been to Richwood, she was surprised by the artwork in the square, tiny Wifi towers throughout town, the Whistle Punk restaurant and a local coffee roasting company.
“Richwood was a town that I didn’t really know anything about, and it’s a town I will return to. It’s close to the Cranberry River and the scenic highway. It was just one of those towns you didn't know about and you say, ‘I can’t believe this is here!’
The local high school – the town’s gathering place – and middle school were destroyed by floods in 2016. Community members now want to use the vacant lots to build a covered stage, host farmers’ markets and drive-in movies. All things that will uplift and bring their community together.
A mobile home park in Kimball was literally swept away by a 2001 flood; however, there might be a silver lining in even the worst of rain clouds.
A trail in the town directly connect to the Hatfield McCoy trails, a system that has increased in popularity and is largely seen as having the potential to be economically impactful statewide.
“I noticed going into Kimball that there are no accommodations for the trails,” she said. “But there’s a huge tourism piece right there.”
Community leaders hope to construct a large recreational vehicle park in the area that once housed mobile homes.
Haas said it’s an attainable project with design help from the students and faculty.
“It’s a two second drive from the main street of Kimball and very close to the trail connector. It could bring a pretty big boost to their local economy,” she said.
Appalachian strong
Floods may be an unfortunate and near universal tragedy in the Mountain State, but
resourcefulness may be a collective Appalachian trait.
In Rupert, the elementary school was badly damaged in the 2016 floods. Since then, the community has been determined not to let the structure fall into disrepair and decay. They’ve kept the utilities on, biding time and waiting for the right moment and the right people to repurpose it.
In Rupert, the elementary school was badly damaged in the 2016 floods. Since then, the community has been determined not to let the structure fall into disrepair and decay. They’ve kept the utilities on, biding time and waiting for the right moment and the right people to repurpose it.
“Their hope is to bring younger and older community members together to form mutually beneficial relationships,” Haas said. “The children may not sit down and eat dinner with their families every night at home, but they’ll have the opportunity to do that with the seniors living in this little community. There are so many different stakeholders involved, and they all intertwine and benefit each other.”
A will and a way
Each one of the 10 communities Haas and Butler visited had passionate people at the
reigns.
Some people had grown up in those places, left and came back hoping to better and bolster their home and their people. Doing so isn’t a one-man job and it isn’t even a one-community job. For anyone who sees the potential of these Appalachian towns, it becomes a responsibility to help.
If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a state to raise up a town.
“I’m hoping these projects are a good jumping off point for these communities to get going again post-COVID. I think this is good timing to bring in a land grant university’s resources to help them build that momentum again,” Haas said.
Some people had grown up in those places, left and came back hoping to better and bolster their home and their people. Doing so isn’t a one-man job and it isn’t even a one-community job. For anyone who sees the potential of these Appalachian towns, it becomes a responsibility to help.
If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a state to raise up a town.
“I’m hoping these projects are a good jumping off point for these communities to get going again post-COVID. I think this is good timing to bring in a land grant university’s resources to help them build that momentum again,” Haas said.