Almost Heaven, West Virginia isn’t just coal mines and country roads. Called the Birthplace of Rivers, the state sits on the Eastern Continental Divide, where 40 rivers and 56,000 miles of streams provide drinking water for millions of people from the Chesapeake Bay out to the Gulf of Mexico. 

And yet, while West Virginia serves the country with her pristine headwater streams, there are entire counties in the state that have been on boil water alerts for years, with wells contaminated by coal mining and fracking, with no infrastructure for clean drinking water, with no funding, and no real plan. Compounding that are issues of food insecurity, poverty, and addiction. With limited access to well-paying jobs, education, and broadband, West Virginia’s population continues to dwindle, and it leads the nation in opioid deaths. 

Where is the hope for a place like West Virginia? It’s in the people, and it's in the water, according to Angie Rosser, West Virginia’s Headwaters WaterKeeper and executive director of West Virginia Rivers Coalition. As Angie says, “We're well-positioned geographically, resource-wise, to have this paradigm shift around what it means to develop natural resources [...] as something to preserve and hold up, as something we are the keepers of. You can experience this and it will make meaning for your life, your family, your connection to nature and the bigger world around us. So I'm excited about that and that’s why I'm not leaving. I'm staying here.”

Join us for a delightful conversation on rivers, resilience, and restoration born in the hills of Appalachia on this season finale episode of HOPE.

Learn more about Angie Rosser and West Virginia Rivers Coalition at https://wvrivers.org/

If you liked this episode, listen next to Tim and Beth Reese: Building Small Town Resilience in West Virginia on HOPE Is My Middle Name season 2, episode 3. 

Follow Kate’s adventures through West Virginia on Made In America, now streaming on YouTube.com/ConsensusDigitalMedia

Connect with Kate on YouTube.com/KateTucker and instagram.com/katetuckermusic and please follow, rate, and review the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, it means a lot to us! 

Hosted and executive produced by Kate Tucker, Hope Is My Middle Name is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Terri Oyarzun can’t imagine life without goats. She grew up with goats, she met her husband out herding goats, and together they rescued 55 “Charlie Brown” goats and trained them to fight wildfires. Today, the 5,000 strong Goats R Us herd works with government agencies, universities, and communities to find innovative solutions for fire control and prevention, while advancing animal husbandry and livestock management in California’s increasingly challenging climate. “Fire season is twelve months out of the year now. The goats are protecting people. They're the four-legged firefighters of California.” Get ready for a fun and insightful conversation on goats–what we can learn from their many wonderful quirks and how they are helping us build a more resilient ecosystem.

See Terri and her goats at GoatsRUs.com

If you liked this episode, listen next to Bayou Dave: Cleaning Up Trash to Save the World, Hope Is My Middle Name season 2, episode 7.

Connect with Kate on instagram.com/katetuckermusic and please follow, rate, and review the show on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, it means a lot to us! 

Hosted and executive produced by Kate Tucker, Hope Is My Middle Name is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do you do when your hometown has been ranked in the top 4 US cities most vulnerable to coastal flooding? If you’re Nancy Metayer Bowen, you run for office. And you become the first Haitian-American to be elected to office in Coral Springs, Florida. Now as a city commissioner, Nancy is hard at work, what storms may come – hurricanes, Imposter Syndrome, sea level rise – building a more sustainable future for her family, her community, and the rich and diverse ecosystem of the South Florida Everglades. 

Join us for a courageous and enlivening conversation on finding hope to outlast the storm.

To learn more about Nancy and her work in Coral Springs, visit metayerbowen.com

If you liked this episode, listen next to Transforming a Toxic Wasteland into a Wildlife Haven with Sally Sears on HOPE Is My Middle Name season 3, episode 3. 

Connect with Kate on YouTube.com/KateTucker and instagram.com/katetuckermusic and please follow, rate, and review the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, it means a lot to us! 

Hosted and executive produced by Kate Tucker, Hope Is My Middle Name is a podcast by Consensus Digital Media in collaboration with Reasonable Volume.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.