PAWV
  • Give to PAWV
    • Give Online
    • Become a Partner
    • Planned Gifts
    • Volunteer
    • Kroger Community Rewards
    • Shop at AmazonSmile
  • Resources
    • Funding
    • Consultants and Contractors
    • Preservation Techniques >
      • Historic Building Assessment
      • Window Rehabilitation
      • Mothballing Property
    • Educational Resources
  • Programs
    • Advocacy
    • Annual Awards
    • Endangered Property >
      • Endangered Properties List
    • Biennial Conference >
      • 2018 Conference
    • Historic Preservation Loan Fund
    • Workshops
    • West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail
  • AmeriCorps
    • About Preserve WV
    • Preserve WV Stories
    • Preserve WV Members
    • Join AmeriCorps
    • Sponsor a Member
    • Preserve WV Alumni
  • About Us
    • Contact PAWV
    • Our Team
    • Our Story
    • News and Notes
    • Forms and Documents

MEET THE PRESERVE WV AMERICORPS – AMANDA

9/29/2016

 
I was born and raised in Morgantown, WV. I am a 2006 graduate of Morgantown High School and a 2013 alumna of WVU, where I received a B.A. in International Studies with emphases on Latin American government, culture and history and a Spanish minor. This is my 2nd AmeriCorps year; I completed my first year of service in August 2015 with High Rocks Educational Corporation in Pocahontas County, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit whose mission is to educate, empower, and inspire young people in West Virginia.
Picture
​My educational and life experience has so much to do with food and farming. I lived and worked in Charlottesville, Virginia as an intern at Farmstead Ferments and later at a food co-op in Knoxville, Tennessee. I moved back to West Virginia to work in exchange for room and board as a caretaker on a Monroe County farm in 2014, and founded Lobelia Understory Edibles in 2015, a one-acre farm and ferment business named after the native herb and community in the Greenbrier Valley that specialized in organic value-added products such as sauerkraut, mushrooms, wild-flower bouquets, and sourdough bread. If I’m not eating, growing food or fermenting, you can find me reading, writing or on my yoga mat.

I accepted a Preserve WV AmeriCorps position with Main Street Morgantown in September 2016. Our mission is to continue the revitalization of downtown Morgantown and the Wharf District through historic preservation and economic development. My AmeriCorps position consists of identifying, researching, and promoting art enhancement projects as well as implementing an art mural series, parking meter murals, utility box wraps and other beautification projects. Overall, our goal is to ensure the downtown and Wharf become certified arts districts. In addition, one project I would like to prioritize this year would be the creation of a certified collective kitchen in the Wharf District for struggling small-business owners to utilize. Overarching issues such as rent prices, health department mandates and cottage food laws create despair and ultimately the surrender of small start-ups, particularly those attempting to strengthen our local food economy. Established businesses often cannot accommodate usage requests due to the constraints of daily ebb and flow within their own operations.

My decision to stay in West Virginia is based on the belief that the Mountain State’s potential to produce a thriving local economy will only happen if we invest our time and energy in healing what’s been broken for too long. Unless this state implements alternative economic models that attract young, vibrant entrepreneurs who intend on staying and surviving, our population will steadily decline. If Morgantown could develop a space in the Wharf District similar to West Edge, the Coalfield Development Corporation’s renovation of an abandoned garment factory turned creative hub in Kenova, West Virginia, what would that mean for local innovators?

Another local initiative I’m excited to be a part of is Zackquill: an unapologetically pro-Morgantown media platform utilizing the tools of journalism for the unity, growth, and flourishing of our community. Our intention is to establish an alternative news source similar to Miburg, Elkinite, Weelunk, and Huntiful in Martinsburg, Elkins, Wheeling and Huntington, respectively. Our official launch happens November 1, so look out for its release!

Comments are closed.

    Preserve WV Stories

    Picture

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Improvement Projects
    Learn Something New
    Meet The AmeriCorps
    Recruitment
    Support Preserve WV
    Volunteering

    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016

Get Involved

  • Give Online
  • Become a Partner
  • Volunteer
  • Join AmeriCorps 
  • ​​Sponsor a Member
  • ​Subscribe
  • Kroger Community Rewards
  • Shop with Amazon Smile
  • Contact Us

Programs

  • Our Latest Newsletter
  • Our Latest E-News
  • Preserve WV AmeriCorps
  • Advocacy
  • ​Preservation Awards
  • Endangered Properties List
  • Biennial Conferences
  • Historic Preservation Loan Fund
  • WV Historic Theatre Trail

Contact Us

Preservation Alliance of West Virginia
​421 Davis Avenue, #4  |  Elkins, WV 26241
​Email: info@pawv.org
Phone: ​304-345-6005
Give Now

PAWV Logo
© COPYRIGHT 2017 - PRESERVATION ALLIANCE OF WEST VIRGINIA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
  • Give to PAWV
    • Give Online
    • Become a Partner
    • Planned Gifts
    • Volunteer
    • Kroger Community Rewards
    • Shop at AmazonSmile
  • Resources
    • Funding
    • Consultants and Contractors
    • Preservation Techniques >
      • Historic Building Assessment
      • Window Rehabilitation
      • Mothballing Property
    • Educational Resources
  • Programs
    • Advocacy
    • Annual Awards
    • Endangered Property >
      • Endangered Properties List
    • Biennial Conference >
      • 2018 Conference
    • Historic Preservation Loan Fund
    • Workshops
    • West Virginia Historic Theatre Trail
  • AmeriCorps
    • About Preserve WV
    • Preserve WV Stories
    • Preserve WV Members
    • Join AmeriCorps
    • Sponsor a Member
    • Preserve WV Alumni
  • About Us
    • Contact PAWV
    • Our Team
    • Our Story
    • News and Notes
    • Forms and Documents
✕