24 to watch in 2024: A grassroots community works to lift up Eastern Kentuckians

The Lexington Herald-Leader is profiling 24 individuals this month that you should be keeping an eye on in 2024. The selected group represents a cross-section of industries, political parties, missions and the state itself. We believe each is notable for their contributions to Kentucky, as well as their plans for the next 12 months.

Who: Misty Skaggs, organizer and author.

Background: The Appalachian artist and author has been the most public facing member of the EKY Mutual Aid Facebook page, which she helped create in 2020 when the group was initially focused on distributing local aid amid the COVID pandemic. The grassroots community group has ballooned to over 7,000 members and has since done everything from paying someone’s monthly electric bill to raising over $127,000 for direct monetary aid for survivors of the deadly July 2022 floods. All anyone locally needs to do to receive aid is ask and someone else in the community could help with money, expertise or a real, physical helping hand.

“We’re just hillbillies helping hillbillies,” said Skaggs, of the donation-fueled group that doesn’t have regular donors but rather relies on sometimes strangers trying to pull others up in their moment of need. In 2024, that community spirit will be crucial in a region where the rising cost of living will continue to create hardship for those living in the worst circumstances. “I hate to be the voice of cynicism, but we expect to see more people hurting,” Skaggs said.

Skaggs’ main goal for the year will be to obtain a physical location that can function as a sort of “free thrift store meets community space.” Having a central location will also help in organizing the group as well as offering a place for social outings. Getting more able-bodied, physical volunteers will also be crucial.

Why do you think she will be successful in 2024? “It’s not a top-down situation,” said Olivia Qualls, who has been a moderator for EKY Mutual Aid since 2020. “It’s just us talking to each other and seeing what resources we already have, what knowledge we already have amongst us, amongst each other and just being like, ‘I understand where you’re coming from.’”

Why is 2024 such an important year for you or your organization? “I wish I could say we expect to see this huge improvement but we expect to see our people suffering,” Skaggs said. “And we expect to just keep trying to help. Just trying to emphasize kindness and empathy in Eastern Kentucky and all across the state. It’s really one of our number one priorities.”

This story was originally published January 12, 2024 at 10:00 AM.

Rick Childress

Lexington Herald-Leader

502-219-6483

Rick Childress covers Eastern Kentucky for the Herald-Leader. The Lexington native and University of Kentucky graduate first joined the paper in 2016 as an agate desk clerk in the sports section and in 2020 covered higher education during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He spent much of 2021 covering news and sports for the Klamath Falls Herald and News in rural southern Oregon before returning to Kentucky in 2022.