Mayor, AT&T Kick Off Believe Appalachia in Charleston

Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin today joined AT&T West Virginia President Andy Feeney to announce Believe AppalachiaSM in Charleston. During the February 3, 2020 Charleston City Council meeting, Council voted to allow the City to accept donated money from AT&T for home demolitions, the purchase of new mattresses for first responders and funding for an afterschool program.

“We are grateful for AT&T and the Believe AppalachiaSM campaign for joining us in making Charleston a vibrant, more robust community,” said Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin. “These funds will help demolish vacant, dilapidated structures that cause unnecessary risk to our first responders and the public and will support those that encounter this epidemic on a daily basis.”

AT&T is donating $45,000 to the City as part of its Believe AppalachiaSM initiative. This campaign is focused on helping first responders combat the opioid epidemic in the Appalachian region. Funds will help demolish abandoned homes ($32,000), purchase mattresses for fire stations across the city ($8,000) and fund an afterschool program ($5,000). They are also donating $5,000 to the YWCA Domestic Violence Program.

“On behalf of our many employees who call Charleston home I want to thank Mayor Goodwin for her leadership on the opioid addiction crisis.  AT&T Believes in Appalachia. AT&T Believes in Charleston. And most of all, AT&T Believes in our first responders,” said Andy Feeney, AT&T West Virginia President. “To Charleston's finest, the men and women in uniform and those who serve in the emergency services community, it is our profound honor to be a part of “helping the helpers" and to thank you for all you do for us.”

The abandoned structure demolition today, located at 844 Indiana Avenue, is the first in a series of four. As part of today’s event, AT&T employees also took part in a neighborhood clean-up around Indiana Avenue.