Pamela’s story from Lee County, Virginia I was moved to Lee County, my parents’ home place. Our first house was in Dryden. A fire took all we had. The people in the community rushed to help a family. My father died shortly after it of a heart attack. I was 9, my brother 7. Mother could not find work. We were at the mercy of strangers. First Baptist Church in Pennington Gap opened their doors asking for donations. My mother used everything we got. One thing was a Singer sewing

One of the reasons I created the Heartbeats of Appalachia project was because of the deep connection I feel to these mountain towns—and...