Owsley County Kentucky

Owsley County Action Team
Dedicated to providing the leadership to enable the citizens of Owsley County to achieve self-empowerment,
sustainable community development and an enriched quality of life.

Photo: Action Place, Old KY 11, Booneville

Who We Are

In 1992, a group of citizens interested in the quality of life and the economic future of Owsley County started meeting with guidance provided by the Redbird Ranger District, USDA Forest Service. After meeting for several months, this group obtained funding to conduct an economic diversification study and became the Owsley County Action Team. This study, entitled "Yes we Can", was completed in 1994, and as a result, the Action Team began a journey toward sustainable community development that continues today.

In 1996, the Owsley County Action Team became a partner in the Sustainable Communities Initative developed by the Berea-based Mountian Association for Community Economic Development (MACED). The program involved citizen-based Action Teams in Breathitt, Letcher and Owsley Counties creating a new development model where citizens respect the relationships between the economy, ecology, and equity when making wise choices about the future. The Owsley County Action Team continues this sustainable development initative today.

What We Do

The Owsley County Action Team builds local capacity through leadership development and exploring new ways to solve old problems. Members are encouraged to develop expertise in problem solving, visioning, fund-raising and organizing. Membership in the Owsley County Action Team is open to anyone willing to attend regular meetings and work toward a better future for Owsley County. The goal is to have a broadly representative group of people who are willing to work for the common good.

Through a joint project with the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development and the Waitt Family Foundation,the Action Team placed 100 new Gateway computers in the homes of low income women and high school seniors working to get a GED and planning to further their education, working and going to school college part time or graduating from high school and going for further education.

Community Initatives

Realizing that a plan is only useful if it leads to achievement, the Action Team is implementing "Yes We Can" through several initatives including:

Action Place - Provides public meeting space to a variety of civic organizations.

Owsley County Drug Awareness Council - A community effort aimed at the creation of a community "free of the abuse of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs".

Asset Building -Through a partnership with the East Kentucky Asset Building Coalition, volunteers prepare and electronically file income tax for low-income individuals in the area.

Partnership Housing, Inc. - Has as its mission, "To create a community in which all residents are housed in safe, quality housing regardless of household income".

Owsley County Fund for Excellence - A partnership of parents, teachers and community leaders who have joined together to find ways to help encourage our children stay in school.

Eastern Kentucky Goat Producers Association - A group interested in increasing profits by improving meat goat bloodlines and accessing new markets.

Booneville/Owsley County Industrial Authority - An organization working to improve the economy and create jobs. The board is made up of city and county officials and individuals finding ways to develop industry in Owsley County.

How We Are Funded
The Action Team is actively seeking to become sustainable and raises funding locally whenever possible. Local fund-raising includes membership dues, individual donations, rent from commercial property and support from Middlefork Insurance, Farmers State Bank, Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative, Farm Bureau Insurance, Image Entry, Owsley County Fiscal Court, the City of Booneville, Owsley County School System, Workers of Rural Kentucky, HOPE, and others. We also get a tremendous number of in-kind contributions.

The Action Team has received support from a wide variety of non-local funding sources: Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, Environmental Support Center, Christian Appalachian Project, Appalachian Regional Commission, Corporation for Enterprise Development, USDA Forest Service, United Health Insurance Company, MACED’s Sustainable Communities Initiative, the Waitt Family Foundation, the Center for Rural Development in Somerset, the Appalachian Community Fund, the Bluegrass Community, USDA Rural Development and others.

When We Meet
All meetings begin at 6:30 pm at the Action Place on the following dates:

September 16, 2010	January 20, 2011	May 19, 2011
October 21, 2010	February 17, 2011	June 17, 2010
November 18, 2010	March 17, 2011	July 15, 2010
December 16, 2010	April 21, 2011	August 19, 2010

For more information contact:
Molly Turner - Director of Community Development
Owsley County Action Team
P.O. Box 997 · Booneville, KY 41314
Phone: 606-593-7296 · Fax: 606-593-7781
Email: mturner@owsleycountykentucky.org