Rural Action
Carol Kuhle, Executive Director
Ivars Balkits, Media Coordinator
PO Box 157
Trimble, Ohio 45782
(614) 767-4938
(614) 767-4957 fax
E-Mail: aa075@seorf.ohiou.edu

"We do so many things," says lanky, bearded Ivar Balkits, VISTA worker and media coordinator for Rural Action, "that I don't think I'm going to be able to tell you about them all."

It was only a slight exaggeration, as this 20-year-old activist organization has been involved in a huge number of social and environmental issues in its five-county rural, Appalachian region. Organized in the mid-'70s by a group of environmental activists, it began with a strong focus on environmental issues related to the coal industry that used to dominate the region's economy, taking on such challenges as putting a halt to destructive long-wall mining practices and eliminating the huge "gob piles" of mining tailings that leaked harmful compounds into area waterways, turning the rivers orange with acidic, fish-killing waste.

Over the years, moreover, Rural Action has moved into many other issues ranging from low-cost housing, sustainable agriculture and wellness to microeconomic development and job training for welfare recipients under Ohio's alternatives-to-welfare program. Described as a "member-based community development organization with projects in arts, agriculture, environmental restoration, housing, health care, heritage preservation and community renewal," Rural Action's 500 members set its goals and objectives, working through committees staffed by VISTA workers. With more than 30 VISTAs supplementing its staff of four and corps of local volunteers, Rural Action is said to be the nation's largest VISTA-staffed program. Operating out of a renovated, 105-year-old former Methodist Church in the tiny village of Trimble, plus satellite offices in Athens and smaller towns, Rural Action's annual budget is about $350,000. Here's a closer look at a few of its major current programs: