The Eastern Panhandle Empowerment Center (EPEC), which houses the only shelter for victims of violence in the area, has exponentially expanded its reach and impact over the years. Founded in 1977, it served less than 100 victims in its first year. Today it serves 1,400 victims annually. Read the Full Story >>
Public Health
Drug Take Back Day Gets an Upgrade in Shepherdstown
Across the U.S. every year, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day lands in cities and towns with the goal of providing a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications. Read the Full Story >>
WV Air National Guard Expands Student-Mentor Relationships in the Panhandle
Students in the Eastern Panhandle have recently gained exposure to uniformed soldiers in the hallways of their schools. The men and women of the West Virginia Air National Guard (WVANG) 167th Airlift Wing, the 130th Airlift Wing, and the Army National Guard have been diligently working to help combat the state’s opioid addiction crisis by offering various mentoring opportunities to elementary and middle school students. Read the Full Story >>
Addiction Community Embraces Yet Another Advocate
Hundreds of voluntary recovery coaches throughout the state of West Virginia are helping those in need of services that are often nonexistent or hard to access. Greater Recovery and Community Empowerment (GRaCE), founded by president Rev. John Unger, taps into the "foundational aspect of instilling hope.” Read the Full Story >>
Panhandle’s Newest Addiction Endeavor Secures Local Coordinator
Addiction does not discriminate. Bridging the divides in our polarized country is an essential way for people to work together to fight the opioid epidemic, which is what One America West Virginia is trying to do. Read the Full Story >>
Appalachia’s Suicide Rates Are Startlingly High. For Veterans, They’re Even Higher.
“You work for someone [in the military] who’s your boss, and you work with other people. Everyone needs something different,” said “Frank,” a veteran originally from Sistersville (WV) who worked in the Navy’s visual communications team on an aircraft carrier. “Sometimes [worry] can follow you your entire life; you wonder, Have I done something wrong?” Read the Full Story >>
Area Programs Focused on Feeding Local Food-Insecure Children
According to the USDA, more than 13 million children in the United States live in “food insecure” homes, which means those families don’t regularly have enough food to eat. Thankfully, there are two programs in Jefferson and Berkeley County that are making a difference to help end childhood hunger. Read the Full Story >>
Partnership in Martinsburg Adds Strength to Opioid Fight
The Martinsburg Initiative (TMI) is an innovative, multi-dimensional partnership that has developed a model solution to the crisis of Opioid Use Disorder and the general problems of other substance use, misuse, and substance use disorders. Read the Full Story >>
National Organization Arrives in Panhandle to Confront Opioid Epidemic
Established after the 2016 presidential election, The One America Movement’s (One America) mission is to build bridges and solve problems by bringing Americans together across racial, religious, political, and geographic divides in order to address pressing social problems like poverty, opioids, racial tension, and more. Read the Full Story >>
Out of the Darkness, Into the Light
This will be the third year that Shepherdstown and its surrounding communities will come together to shed some light on an important issue. The Shepherdstown ‘Out of the Darkness’ walk has been an event rapidly growing over the last two years, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is expecting an even larger turnout this year. Read the Full Story >>
Hunger in America: Hard to Deny and Closer Than You Think
Today, there are more than 48.8 million Americans (including 13 million children and 5 million seniors) struggling with food insecurity, according to Feeding America and the USDA. Poverty in America is the leading cause, with more than 40 million people currently living below the poverty line (over half end up being children—many of whom depend on schools for a daily meal). Read the Full Story >>
WV’s One Remaining Abortion Clinic Mirrors National Trend
The recent closing of the Kanawha (WV) Surgicenter, which left Charleston’s Women’s Health Center (WHC) the state’s only abortion provider, is part of an unnerving national movement decreasing access to women’s reproductive health, experts say. Read the Full Story >>
SNAP/WV FresHealthy Bucks Program Alive and Well
The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps, has expanded its benefits, and will now be accepted at local farmers markets in the Eastern Panhandle. Read the Full Story >>
I Lost My Brother to Mr. Brown
Mike Chalmers is a consulting editor and former editor-in-chief (2016-2020) for The Observer. — If we’re going to truly address the addiction epidemic, we’ve got to be brutally honest about it. I’ll go first. When we took over at the new Observer, we knew we wanted to place ourselves firmly within the emerging conversation surrounding Read the Full Story >>
It’s Here
Katie Spriggs remembers the first time she sheltered a sex-trafficked victim at the Shenandoah Women’s Center in Martinsburg—or rather, the first time she knew that the woman seeking refuge had been trafficked. Read the Full Story >>