The Highland Educational Project

The Highland Educational Project (HEP) has been an outreach ministry of the Diocese of West Virginia for more than 70 years.  It is located in Welch in McDowell County, in one of the most impoverished areas of the country. 

 

In 1950, McDowell County, West Virginia, was the top coal-producing county in the United States. Business was thriving, and so were many residents of McDowell County. In the 1950 census, the population of McDowell County numbered around 100,000 people. Snapshots of the county seat, Welch, show streets packed with shiny automobiles, crowds filling sidewalks, and neon marquees lighting up the downtown.

 

Fast forward to the present day. What was once a prosperous place has been in steady decline for nearly seventy years. By the 2020 census, the population of McDowell County had dwindled to around 19,000. Thirty-two percent of the population lives below the federal poverty line, the median household income is $26,000, life expectancy is far below the national average, and drug-related deaths outpace the national average almost ten-fold.

 

The Highland Educational Project (HEP), a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of West Virginia, seeks to enrich the lives of the residents of McDowell County by partnering with service groups and by offering programming for local residents, including reading camps and other literacy efforts. While HEP’s name includes the word “educational,” HEP isn’t just helping educate the residents of McDowell County; HEP strives for mutual learning and service, wherein mission groups and McDowell County residents alike are both teaching and learning from one another.