In Kentucky, we have a deep tradition of neighbors helping neighbors. When disaster strikes, local agencies, grassroots groups, and informal networks step up. But as floods and other disasters become more frequent, those resources are stretched thin.
Three small nonprofits in the Mountain Association’s SPARK Program have come together to strengthen community resilience in Eastern Kentucky and beyond. They’re addressing two key gaps: the need for better access to tools for disaster response and recovery, and the need to integrate arts and culture into every stage of that work.
Through EKYRebuilds, they’re creating a shared system for getting tools where they’re needed most, whether it’s for cleaning out homes or protecting streams before the next flood. Through CAReNet (Community Arts and Resilience Network), they’re connecting artists and cultural groups to support healing, preserve stories, and bring people together after disaster.
This work starts in Eastern Kentucky, but the vision is statewide: strong, connected communities that are ready to face what comes next.
EKY Rebuilds & CAReNet
Supported by funding from
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Disaster Recovery
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Special thanks to the consultants who worked on this project
Bugz Fraugg is an artist that has been responding to catastrophic disasters in a grassroots manner, worldwide for twenty years. In that time they have observed the spirit of mutual aid being the quality that carries relief efforts.
As climate instability unfolds - refining skills, fortifying regional and national networks and integrating the lessons that makes mutual aid networks more effective and energized will help fortify our communities.
To those ends, Bugz is passionate about nurturing networks of care through the arts, wellness work, and general labor during times of need, EKY Rebuilds, CARENet and Molecular Ecosystems are projects that emerge from these cares.
bugzfraugg@proton.me
Judy Sizemore is a poet, a teaching artist, and a consultant for Partners for Rural Impact, the Kentucky Arts Council, Kentucky Folklife Program, Kentucky Heritage Council, and Mountain Association. She focuses on building networks and helping to develop, discover, and share resources that allow those networks to thrive.
As part of the EKY Rebuilds team, she has leveraged her relationships with arts and cultural organizations and individual artists throughout eastern Kentucky to identify the unique needs and resources of the arts community and to advance the concept of peer-to-peer support throughout the disaster/resilience cycle. She is committed to the concept that the arts can help mitigate trauma and bring joy when joy seems far away.
jsizemore48@outlook.com
Leah Van Winkle is a community-based organizer, facilitator, and artist rooted in Eastern Kentucky. Her work weaves together creative practice, participatory design, and movement-building to support local resilience, justice, and self-determination.
As part of EKY Rebuilds, Leah Van Winkle serves as a regional coordinator and creative strategist, helping to shape community-centered responses to crisis and long-term recovery. She supports relationship-building across sectors and facilitates collaborative planning. Leah works to ensure local leadership, equity, and cultural resilience are at the heart of rebuilding efforts in Eastern Kentucky.
vanwinklel@berea.edu