My name is Tucker Riggleman and I am an AmeriCorps alumni who served with the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area during the 2019-2020 term. I spent my service year as the Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator for ArtSpring, a non-profit arts organization in the creative hub of Tucker County, WV.
AmeriCorps was my ticket back home when I needed it most. I left West Virginia in 2016 to move to Harrisonburg, VA. I fell on dark times and became incredibly homesick for the mountains, woods and water of my home state. After some encouragement from family and friends, I reached out to AFNHA and was accepted into the program. I found an isolated childhood home of a college friend to rent for cheap during my service year. It was directly in the Monongahela National Forest. I had no cell service or internet. The water for the house came from a waterfall in the woods out back through a system of pipes and a pump.
My AmeriCorps term brought me to this ideal situation. The personal growth and internal work that would occur during this time was transformative. I will always be grateful to AmeriCorps for being the vehicle to drive these changes in me.
Here are some things I did during my AmeriCorps term with my program and while volunteering with others:
Oversaw the day-to-day operations and volunteer management for an art gallery, curated and released a digital collection of poetry from WV writers, helped curate multiple art shows including one featuring two deceased Tucker County painters (one of whom never had an actual art show while she was alive), organized a Travelin’ Appalachians Revue performance, planted trees with Trout Unlimited to rehabilitate native brook trout streams, conducted stream surveys with Save Our Streams and TU, taught kids the Japanese art of fish printing (gyotaku) for a nature event, performed at Darden Fest in Elkins to raise money for local children’s art programs, volunteered to help with community events like Run For It, organized local music showcases, represented Tucker County at Arts Day at the Legislature in Charleston, and so much more.
I also got sober during this time while living in the Mon National Forest, writing poems and music and figuring out who I am and what is important to me. Some of the poems written during that time have been published in reputable books and collections. The songs I wrote during this time became an album that was well-received by critics and fans. None of that would have happened that way without AmeriCorps.
AmeriCorps programs are especially important in states like West Virginia where young people are leaving at record rates. Our state has also been wrecked by decades of extraction, leaving us with tourism, arts and culture as extremely vital means of economic growth. AmeriCorps members serve communities by helping with these initiatives. Their living stipends are meager, and what little they are afforded is given back to the rural economies where they live during their terms. To lose the service and economic boosts they provide would be extremely detrimental to our state on multiple levels.
I stand with AFNHA and AmeriCorps programs everywhere as a proud alumni and West Virginian. Please do not eliminate these important programs.
Sincerely,
Tucker G. Riggleman
