Fahe envisions a future where Appalachian people and communities are empowered with the resources, opportunities, and tools they need to build a better life.
To work toward this future, we seek funding from mission-driven private investors, federal agencies, and philanthropic organizations.
Fahe’s Network of more than 50 community-based Member organizations makes us uniquely equipped to use our funders’ money effectively.
Our Members are located all over Appalachia, giving us the ability to assess broader needs across the region and build solutions on a large scale. Staffed by people who live in the communities they serve, our Members possess a wealth of place-based community development expertise. As our boots on the ground, they are best positioned to understand the needs of their communities and make change within them.
Since 1980, our Member organizations have facilitated the flow of $1.36 billion of direct investment into Appalachia. This funding has supported affordable mortgage loans, disaster recovery efforts, assistance for people with substance use disorders, and loans for the development of essential community facilities, such as hospitals, libraries, food pantries, and child care centers.
Through collaboration with our Member organizations, Fahe is expanding and changing the nature of investment in Appalachia’s community infrastructure, while also advocating for policy reform to increase the flow of place-sensitive resources into the region. Due in part to a long history of resource extraction and underinvestment, the region faces unique challenges, but it also has a great deal of untapped potential.
Fahe is nurturing that potential by growing a cooperative ecosystem of commercial, non-profit, and public sector stakeholders, united by their shared commitment to prosperity for all.