Jackson Area Ministries was and is intentionally located within the Appalachian counties of Ohio. While there has been significant advancements in the quality of living within our region, meeting the basic needs of people/families remains chronic. We are attaching several graphs that will document the situation. In summary, Appalachia Ohio continues to lag behind the rest of the state in median income, education, employment, health delivery, and housing along with access to a majority of basic needs of individuals/families. Counties in our service area continue to lead the state in economic indicators such as poor housing stock, aging population, quality medical care, living wage jobs, educational opportunities and many others. Two of our service area counties (Athens and Morgan) have the highest unemployment and largest percent of persons living in poverty. With each generation traditional cultural values of Appalachia are significantly diminishing leaving the region with limited unifying traditions and/or values. This reality degrades a sense of community within our churches and their communities.