Sometimes You Can Leave the Mountains Without the Mountains Ever Leaving You

Mountain Heart Ministries began long before it had a name.

Our founder grew up in Harlan County, Kentucky, in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains. Life there wasn’t always easy, but those mountains were home.

Eventually, life took her away from Kentucky. The years passed, a family was raised, careers came and went, and life moved forward.

But the mountains never really left.

Neither did the people.

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Looking Back Home

Over the years, trips back to Eastern Kentucky were reminders of both how much had changed—and how much had not.

The mountains were still beautiful. The communities were still filled with good, hardworking people. Families still looked after one another, churches still helped their neighbors, and people still found ways to make do with what they had.

But many of the struggles remained too.

Poverty. Limited opportunities. Seniors trying to get by on very little. Families struggling with the cost of everyday necessities. Children growing up without things other children take for granted.

And eventually a question became harder to ignore:

What can we do about it?

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From a Question to a Ministry

Mountain Heart Ministries grew from that question.

Not from the idea that one organization could fix every problem in Appalachia. We can’t.

And not from the belief that people in these communities need someone from the outside to come in and tell them what they need.

They don’t.

We believe the better place to begin is by listening.

Talk to the people who live there.

Talk to the schools, churches, food pantries, senior programs and organizations already doing the work.

Find the gaps.

Then determine whether Mountain Heart Ministries has the resources, relationships or ability to help fill them.

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Help That Preserves Dignity

From the beginning, one principle has been especially important to Mountain Heart Ministries:

Helping someone should never take away their dignity.

Sometimes a person simply needs help getting through a difficult time. There is nothing wrong with meeting that immediate need.

But whenever possible, we want to go one step further.

We want to ask whether there is something we can do that will make tomorrow a little different from today.

Perhaps that’s connecting someone with an existing resource. Perhaps it’s removing a barrier. Perhaps it’s helping a young person discover an opportunity they didn’t know existed. Perhaps it’s providing something that allows a family to become more stable or independent.

There won’t be one answer that works for everyone.

That’s why we intend to listen first.

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Why These Mountains?

Because they’re home.

Mountain Heart Ministries has chosen to serve specific Appalachian communities in Southeast Kentucky and Northeast Tennessee so that our resources can remain focused and our work can stay personal.

We would rather make a meaningful difference in the communities we know than become so broad that the people themselves disappear behind numbers and statistics.

VIEW THE COMMUNITIES WE SERVE

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The Story Is Just Beginning

Mountain Heart Ministries is still being built.

Right now, that means listening, making telephone calls, talking with people already working in these communities, identifying unmet needs, building relationships and developing the resources necessary to help responsibly.

There is much we don’t know yet.

And that’s okay.

We don’t want to decide what Appalachia needs from a distance.

We want the people who live and work in these communities to help us understand where Mountain Heart can make the greatest difference.

One conversation at a time.

One relationship at a time.

One need at a time.

And one mountain road at a time.

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Hope for Today. Help for Tomorrow. Faith for the Journey.

That’s where our story begins.

And we’re just getting started.