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For residents of Mingo County, a mountainous, coal-rich rural area bordering eastern Kentucky, access to the outside world is limited. Many people don’t have reliable clean water or telephone service, and transportation to jobs is difficult for the large number of households that can’t afford to repair a car when it breaks down. 

According to 2019-2023 Census Department data:

• 38% of children under 18 live below the federal poverty line
• About a quarter of households have an income of under $15,000
• Only 8% of residents over 25 have a Bachelor’s degree

Mingo County has the dubious distinction of ranking last of 55 West Virginia counties for adverse health behaviors, including smoking, obesity, binge drinking, teenage births and motor vehicle crash deaths. Opioid addiction is rampant — in 2021 West Virginia had the highest rate of death due to drug overdoses of all 50 states.

Our community liaison in Kermit is Donald Bowen of Vineyard United Baptist Church, located just across the state line in nearby Inez, Kentucky. The Save-A-Lot store in Inez provides grocery gift cards to Family-to-Family’s sponsored families, which are distributed by Donald Bowen once a month. 

Community Contact
Donald Bowen
Vineyard United Baptist Church
PO Box 334
Inez, Kentucky 41224

Read more about Mingo County:

• Scrapping for a Living in Old Coal Country
• Mingo County – One of the Unhealthiest Counties in West Virginia, and the Nation
• Stirring the Waters – In Southern WV, Days Without Water are a Way of Life

Data Sources:
U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023

Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!

Once a booming auto manufacturing center, Flint today is a dying industrial town with high poverty and unemployment. The water crisis that exploded in 2014 has added even more expense and stress for the population, with the burden falling mostly on the poor. Although the state determined the water quality to be safe in 2017, community organizations continue to warn that Flint’s water is undrinkable in many parts of the city.  

In 1970, General Motors employed 80,000 people in Flint; by 2015, that number was 6,000. More recently, with GM focusing on truck manufacturing, Flint has been spared some of the sweeping layoffs announced for facilities in other parts of Michigan. Nonetheless, the city has lost a significant portion of its more affluent population in recent years, even though Flint is home to four institutions of higher learning, including Kettering University, an engineering school that is the fastest growing university in Michigan. Vacant school buildings dot the city, as do acres of concrete surrounded by barbed wire, marking the remains of the factories where tens of thousands of people once worked.

According to 2024 U.S. Census data, in Flint, MI:

• ~42% of households have an annual income of under $25,000
• 34% of residents and 46% of children under 18 live in poverty
• the median household income is $41,410

Family-to-Family’s partner in Flint is the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Flint, an organization that provides extensive afterschool programs for 1,500 area children ages 7 to 17, 70% of whom live at or below the poverty level. Programs include arts classes, literacy programs, sports, a homework center, computers, a video music production center and a game room. BGCGF serves 20,000 meals a year to area children as well.

Family-to-Family’s contacts at the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Flint identify Flint families in need for F-to-F and distribute the monthly food to the families. Food for sponsored families comes from The Food Bank of Eastern Michigan.

Community Partner:
Tauzzari Robinson
The Boys and Girls Club of Greater Flint
3701 North Averill Avenue
Flint, MI 48506

Sources: Censusreporter.org, U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS 1-year estimates, 2024)

Read more about Flint:

• The Flint Water Crisis: A Loss of Trust, June 17, 2018