20/20

[Dixie Luvr 98]

I thought they said last night that the coal miners make like $60,000. I thought that was an astronomical wage for that area. Maybe I misheard.

These days coal miners can make darn good money. My brother-in-law works for a mine in PA and makes six figures. He works a lot of overtime, but that's still a good living by anyones standards.

 

[disneyjunkie]

I thought they said last night that the coal miners make like $60,000. I thought that was an astronomical wage for that area. Maybe I misheard.

I was also wondering about that.

 

[Dixie Luvr 98]

I was also wondering about that.

Here is a link to a USA Today article that lists the average wage as $64,000.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/employment/2006-02-14-miners-cover-usat_x.htm

 

[hereyago]

60,000 isn't going to help you when you get black lung or an explosion in the mine happens. My DGF=died before I was born was a coal miner had black lung. My DF worked in the mines for a couple years then went into the Army and was the only one who made something of himself. He would send money back home to his DM and 8 other siblings.

DF"s mother-she wasn't grand nor motherly, literally lived in a shack, the last time I saw her I was 17 and it was a shack, with an outhouse in the back.

 

[TeresaBelle]

Did I hear it right, did Diane say the the football players mother had 3 children, 8 grandchildren and was 36 YEARS OLD!???

 

[sunnyday123]

They made some of the adults take GED classes so they could get their GEDs. The one mom showed us her certificate at the end and she was very proud of herself because it meant she could apply for jobs that she otherwise would not be qualified for.



You know....they showed going back to the 60's where Robert Kennedy visited the area and tried to/started to bring awareness about the living conditions... so many decades later... did ANYTHING or ANYONE really offer them any REAL help? It doesn't seem so.

They also said that the people of Appalachia had lost the most % of their population to wars.... the most of any other area of the entire country. These people were the pioneers of the country... I don't know...it's just really sad that these hard-working, tough people have come to down to this kind of a legacy.

I remember someone else doing a story on this area, years ago. And everytime I hear of someone going to another country and helping out ( which I think is wonderful) I always wonder why no one goes to help these people.

 

[disneyjunkie]

Did I hear it right, did Diane say the the football players mother had 3 children, 8 grandchildren and was 36 YEARS OLD!???

yeah

 

[nana2tots]

That was sooooooo Sad, I would love to have 1 or 2 of those kids to live w/ us, that was horrible conditions.

 

[troobabiee7]

I was like the entire time I watched this... I can't even imagine! I felt so bad for those kids, especially the older boy who graduated from high school - he had a free ride through college and a ticket out of there but he just couldn't deal with it all. And when they showed his family, where the kids were running around barefoot and half naked drinking Mountain Dew while the father stumbled around drunk and cursing, and the half-brother molested the sister. HORRIBLE conditions for children, obviously. The baby drinking coke out of her sippy cup broke my heart. It's just a really bad cycle. So sad.

And I'm another one who wondered why ABC didn't offer any assistance? Maybe they did behind the scenes? You obviously can't just hand over money to these people or they'll just add to their drug/Mountain Dew supply rolleyes but a pair of boots for the girl who liked Hannah Montana, or a computer for the little blonde girl who got her grades up would have been nice... even an old, cheap car for the couple who walked 8-miles each way every day for GED classes. My heart definitely goes out to them all.

 

[TaraPA]

I think I found what I was looking for - has anyone else ever participated in this? Here's a clip from their website:

'"Since 1962, The Box Project has been working to help people living in America's worst areas of rural poverty. We seek to alleviate the effects of poverty and increase mutual understanding through direct, people-to-people assistance. With the help of our referring agencies, we seek families who want to better themselves... by getting an education or better job skills, and by working on ways to improve their lives. Sponsors, in concert with The Box Project, provide support for the growth and success of recipient families, with the goal of alleviating suffering and increasing self sufficiency. The Box Project, Inc. is a national, not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization, and all contributions to the organization are tax deductible as allowed by law."

I'm going to read their website (and comments on here) before I decide to do/not do anything.

 

[The Mayor]

That was really an eye opener...I was so impressed with Dr. Edwin Smith starting the Mobile Dental Clinic with $150,000 of his own money, that I found his website and sent a donation. Here's the link:

http://www.kidsfirstdental.org/

 

[xoprincessmomxo]

It is so important that these people are not just forgotten and neglected. This is a critical problem, not just in the Appalachia area but elsewhere. So many young people are being jeopardized by the lack of education, money, and adequate parental guidance. It's an absolute shame.

http://www.davidschool.org/

This link is for a school in Kentucky that helps at risk and high school dropouts succeed in an alternative school setting. PBS had a wonderful documentary about it a few years ago.

 

[arminnie]

I understand. It's the same way with inner city communities.

Many of us living here are college educated, middle class... If you listen to the media, you’ll think we’re all collecting welfare, dealing/using drugs, don’t care about education.

Try being from New Orleans. Especially if you are African-American - which I am not but have many friends who are. The stereotypes are appalling.

Maybe this program helped some realize that extreme poverty crosses all racial boundaries.

 

[suevee]

Please correct me if I am wrong. I understood that the young man did get a scholarship but it did not include living expenses. Without any family help he just could not provide for his basic needs like food, while coping with a freshman courseload and honoring his football commitment. I think he was set up for failure. Which is tragic after he worked so hard just to complete high school.

Also sad is that soda is a lot cheaper than milk, junk food is cheaper than fruits and vegetables. When a child is hungry you feed them what you can afford to buy.

Finally, I wondered who bought the prescription drugs that were so expensive? If one pill goes for $115, how could they afford it?

 

[qtwns]

Why should ABC directly help financially? It is a news program. I think they helped a great deal in educating the rest of us about the needs in that area of the country. That is the purpose of the news--to inform and educate-- and I think they did a great job. Look how it has gotten us talking! Look how on just his thread alone, there are those of us looking for a way to help that we may never have even thought of before. That is what good, responsible journalism does. Now...don't get me started on irresponsible, line-your-bird-cage journalism!

 

[sunnyday123]

Please correct me if I am wrong. I understood that the young man did get a scholarship but it did not include living expenses. Without any family help he just could not provide for his basic needs like food, while coping with a freshman courseload and honoring his football commitment. I think he was set up for failure. Which is tragic after he worked so hard just to complete high school.

Also sad is that soda is a lot cheaper than milk, junk food is cheaper than fruits and vegetables. When a child is hungry you feed them what you can afford to buy.

Finally, I wondered who bought the prescription drugs that were so expensive? If one pill goes for $115, how could they afford it?

I fell asleep so I didn't see where he went on to college. I felt so bad for him though, he was really trying to better himself and I can so understand how sosme people just give up trying. I hope he finds a way. And I wish I could do more than donate a little money.

I was wondering about the food deal too. I guess there aren't many food banks around there but maybe someone could suggest planting a garden and showing them how to store them for the winter? Did they have electricity?

 

[Kycha]

Hmmmm, both of my grandmothers had the strength and ambition to improve their lot in life and their children's while staying right here. I don't think that leaving the area in and of itself is the solution to people's problems.

Well, I'm glad your grandmothers had the ability to stay. But, you don't know my family. You don't know how they lived. My grandmother was told by her father that it was a waste of time and money to send her to school because she was just going to end up barefoot and pregnant anyway. That was when she was 10. She defied her father and continued to go to school. But, she paid a price. And believe me, my grandmother didn't have it much easier when she finally moved out.

Besides, I never said that leaving the area was the solution to peoples problems. It was the right thing for my grandmother.

My sister's DH roots are in Kentucky. They are near "Butcher Holler" of Loretta Lynn fame.

Some of his realtives were in the movie as the "pie scene" was filmed in their town with the townies.

My sister said that it was damned scary to go up on the Hollers. They had "a guide"(relative, an uncle I think) otherwise they could have been shot.

She brought us back some coal and made them into Christmas ornaments.

Here in MO and IL we have alot of people from Kentucky, Tennesse. It is a different mentality. My BIL is laid back.

Agree with the alcoholism. Rampant in his family.

"Coal Miner's Daughter" is such a great movie! I'm jealous that your sister and family got to be in it. And you're right. It is a whole different mentality in the hollers.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Try being from New Orleans. Especially if you are African-American - which I am not but have many friends who are. The stereotypes are appalling.

Maybe this program helped some realize that extreme poverty crosses all racial boundaries.

I totally agree. There are so many parallels between the Appalachian areas problems and the same types of difficulties that occur in cities across the nation. I just want people to understand that we are not all that way. Just like the mother of that darling little girl who couldn't afford to keep food in the house but she was sitting out on the porch smoking her cigs. Those 2 packs a day could be given up and the money used for food. It is a cycle of bad decisions.

Yes, miners are paid good wages now and have been for many years. Many of the ones I know have great benefits too, much better than what DH and I have. My dad was a school teacher for many years and was paid MUCH less than a miner, but he and my mother managed to feed my sister and I, build a house and have a few extras while others who were paid much more did not end up with the same.

You have to be able to make good decisions, and that goes for anywhere in this country, not just here. Those of you from cities just need to look around to your economically depressed areas to see the same situations that were on 20/20 last night, right in your own backyard.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Well, I'm glad your grandmothers had the ability to stay. But, you don't know my family. You don't know how they lived. My grandmother was told by her father that it was a waste of time and money to send her to school because she was just going to end up barefoot and pregnant anyway. That was when she was 10. She defied her father and continued to go to school. But, she paid a price. And believe me, my grandmother didn't have it much easier when she finally moved out.

Besides, I never said that leaving the area was the solution to peoples problems. It was the right thing for my grandmother.



"Coal Miner's Daughter" is such a great movie! I'm jealous that your sister and family got to be in it. And you're right. It is a whole different mentality in the hollers.

No, I don't know the family situation. The problems she faced sounds like a family problem, not an Appalachian problem. And you did say "Fortunately my grandmother had enough strength and ambition to get herself out." which could lead some to think that it is best to "get out". It was for her, but some places here are still nice spots to live, whether people who have these preconcieved notions about it, believe it or not.

Coal Miner's Daughter is a great movie. My Dad's family had a store that you can see in the scene where Loretta tells Doo that she is pregnant. And that movie shows what life here was like in the 1940's but things have changed.

 

[tasha99]

Please correct me if I am wrong. I understood that the young man did get a scholarship but it did not include living expenses. Without any family help he just could not provide for his basic needs like food, while coping with a freshman courseload and honoring his football commitment. I think he was set up for failure. Which is tragic after he worked so hard just to complete high school.

Also sad is that soda is a lot cheaper than milk, junk food is cheaper than fruits and vegetables. When a child is hungry you feed them what you can afford to buy.

Finally, I wondered who bought the prescription drugs that were so expensive? If one pill goes for $115, how could they afford it?

I may be wrong, but my take was that it wasn't a financial problem for him, no matter what the report said. At his family's income level, he would have qualified for things like Pell Grants and student loans to cover what his scholarship did not. I thought perhaps he was struggling both academically but even more, socially. If he'd never been anywhere else except his home, he might have found college and the change in culture just overwhelming.

The $115 is street value, not what the pills cost from the pharmacy.

Anyhow, I just watched this today and it brought back some strong memories. My ex was born in a hollow in West Virginia and moved to Eastern Kentucky as a kid. He got out via the military. We went back to visit family often, and actually bought a house there (big mistake). One of my friends kept squirrels in her freezer. . . I'm kind of sorry I never had her cook one for me, because that would have been a cultural culinary experience. Her sister, however, lived in the kind of poverty like on the show--no running water in a mobile home up on a hill.

There was a single wide trailer in my ex's home town that had a second story started on it. Not finished--but one of those 10 year works in progress. I thought it was kind of interesting.