In the heart of Eastern Kentucky, where rolling hills meet economic challenges, a tenacious spirit of community action is taking root. Annette Hines, a lifelong resident of the region, embodies this spirit. Her story is one of resilience, creativity, and unwavering commitment to improving life for her neighbors in Morehead, a small city of about 7,000 residents that swells to 20,000 when the local college is in session.
For over a century, Eastern Kentucky has been a land of stark contrasts – rich in natural resources yet plagued by economic hardship. The region’s history is marked by the tenacious hard work of its people and the exploitation by corporations that have long sought to profit from its abundant coal and timber. Despite these challenges, the people of Eastern Kentucky have always been known for their strong sense of community and their commitment to caring for one another.
Today, this deeply ingrained ethos of hard work and mutual support is evolving. Community activists like Annette Hines are channeling the region’s resilient spirit into rebuilding people power to slow the extraction of resources, profit, and people from the region. Hines’s journey of ever-increasing community service, from educator to housing rights advocate, exemplifies this transformation.
Hines’s most recent step came after a shocking discovery. She uncovered a staggering 8,000% increase in eviction rates in Morehead between 2015 and 2020. Her immediate response encapsulated the traditional values of her community: “We just don’t do that to people here. You don’t sue people. You try to work things out.”
As Hines took stock of the changing landscape of her community – rising eviction rates, increasing homelessness, the opioid crisis, and a weakening of community relationships and care – she realized that education alone wasn’t enough to address the deepening issues her neighbors faced. In a bold move that demonstrated her unwavering commitment to her community, Hines took a significant personal risk.
After two decades of stable employment helping low-income, first-generation students access higher education through the federally-funded TRIO programs, she made the difficult decision to leave her job. This wasn’t just a career change; it was a leap of faith into full-time community organizing, focusing on housing justice and tenant rights.
The decision to walk away from a steady paycheck and benefits was not an easy one. It meant sacrificing personal financial security for the greater good of her community. But for Hines, the choice was clear. The foundation of a stable life – safe, affordable housing – was crumbling for many in her community, and she felt compelled to act.
“Everything’s changing,” Hines observed, her voice tinged with both concern and determination. “There’s not a family here that hasn’t been affected by the drug problem…and we don’t have several houses like they would in Louisville or a big city. that serve different populations. We have one homeless shelter that serves families so they have to have rules.”
While some communities do everything they can to push struggling populations out, Hines takes a different approach true to her deep-rooted commitment to her neighbors. It’s a testament to the selfless spirit that has long thrived in rural communities, where people look out for one another in times of need.
Hines’s background is deeply intertwined with the challenges faced by her community. Growing up in one of the poorest counties in the United States, she experienced the realities of unstable housing and limited resources. These firsthand experiences shaped her unwavering determination to help others and inspired her to take this significant risk for her community.
Undeterred by the scale of the challenge, Hines and her colleagues at Kentucky Tenants began chipping away at the issues. They launched three main campaigns: addressing mold in student housing, pushing for proactive rental inspections, and perhaps most ambitiously, working to establish a community land trust.
The concept of a community land trust particularly excites Hines. Inspired by successful models in places like Vienna and other U.S. cities, she sees it as a return to the communal, intergenerational living that once characterized Eastern Kentucky. “Capitalism has got us away from that, made us more individualized,” Hines reflects. “And that’s not how we used to be in Eastern Kentucky. We used to take care of families, and we used to take care of each other, too.”
What sets Hines’s approach apart is her ability to bring diverse groups together around these issues. From college students to LGBTQ groups, from local artists to bus garage mechanics, she’s creating a broad coalition of support. Her secret? Persistence, personal connection, and providing opportunities for meaningful involvement.
“We try to do one-on-ones, get to know people on a public level,” Hines explains. “People like to share their stories, and it’s how you become passionate and motivated.” She then offers concrete ways for people to contribute, always playing to their interests and strengths. This approach has led to unexpected alliances and innovative ideas, like a group of mechanics starting a Facebook group to discuss community land trusts after participating in a quilting workshop.
Hines’s work isn’t without its challenges. Limited funding, entrenched politics, and a lack of resources and information are constant hurdles. But she and her team are strategic, focusing on winnable battles that build credibility and momentum. Their efforts are paying off: they’ve secured a seat on the local housing committee, influenced the city’s approach to rental inspections, and are making progress towards establishing a community land trust.
For Hines, this work is about more than just housing – it’s about empowering her community. “Sometimes you let power oppress you,” she says, reflecting on the hesitancy many low-income individuals feel when engaging with authority figures. Through trainings and hands-on experience, she’s helping people realize their own power and potential for creating change.
As for the future, Hines dreams of expanding their work to other rural communities. “Rural communities deserve help too,” she insists. “We deserve to have organizations and people fight for us.” Her message to others in small towns and rural areas is clear: get involved, no matter how small the issue might seem. “You can make changes. It takes time, but you can make change if you organize together.”
Annette Hines’s story is a powerful reminder of the impact one dedicated individual can have. Her willingness to sacrifice personal stability for the greater good of her community exemplifies the tenacious spirit of rural activism. In the face of significant challenges, she and others like her are proving that rural communities have the power to shape their own destinies. Through persistence, creativity, and a deep commitment to their neighbors, they’re building a brighter future for Eastern Kentucky, one small victory at a time.
In many ways, Hines and activists like her represent a new chapter in Eastern Kentucky’s long history of resilience. They are taking the same determination and community spirit that sustained the region through decades of hardship and redirecting it towards grassroots organizing and mutual aid. By doing so, they’re not just addressing immediate needs, but also rebuilding the people power necessary to create lasting change in their communities.
