Rural Project Examples: Appalachia
Other Project Examples
First Day Forward

Added March 2024
- Need: Enhanced support for people with substance use disorders leaving jail and reentering communities in rural northeastern Kentucky.
- Intervention: A reentry program that uses peer support specialists to teach cognitive life skills, obtain essential identification documents, and help people create and follow personalized case plans before and after their release.
- Results: More than 420 people have been served by First Day Forward, with recidivism rates significantly lower among people who successfully completed the program.
School-Based Drug Misuse Prevention Program
Updated/reviewed July 2023
- Need: School-based drug misuse prevention program in Appalachian Ohio, a need triggered by a high school student's overdose death.
- Intervention: Implementation of the HOPE curriculum, an age-appropriate K through 12th grade drug abuse prevention program.
- Results: No further drug overdose deaths after curriculum initiated.
MIST: Mothers and Infants Sober Together

Updated/reviewed May 2023
- Need: To address the needs of pregnant women who are using substances and infants born into drug-positive families.
- Intervention: The Mothers and Infants Sober Together (MIST) program assisted mothers who used substances get treatment and provide a safe, drug-free home for themselves and their newborn.
- Results: MIST has helped mothers find treatment and education and has helped children grow up in safe and healthy homes.
Garrett County Regional Cancer Patient Navigator Program

Updated/reviewed March 2020
- Need: Comprehensive cancer services for residents of an 8-county, 3-state area in Appalachia.
- Intervention: Using a Cancer Patient Navigation Tool Kit, a Maryland acute care facility led a multidisciplinary collaboration that provided the area's patients with expanded cancer treatment services.
- Results: In addition to several new cancer-related programs, expanded services are now available for cancer patients, families, and cancer survivors.
For examples from other sources, see: