Calhoun County
Restoring hope to a beloved hometown.
All it takes is a kernel of an idea. From there, a Possibilitarian can turn frustration to hope, stagnation to vitality, “Why bother?” to “How can I help?”
That’s what you’ll see in these stories: West Virginians whose love for their communities turns out to be fertile ground where ideas sprout, thrive, and fertilize the imaginations of those around them. Sometimes to their own surprise, their purposeful action is catalyzing lasting change.
Crystal Mersh left Calhoun County after graduating from high school in 1982. She traveled the world, made her home in many different places, and cultivated a long career in the pharmaceutical industry. She eventually started her own company, which grew rapidly.
But Mersh never forgot her Calhoun County roots. So, in 2021, she and her family started the 1982 Foundation to give back to the community that made her what she is. Its first project? Purchasing and transforming the old Calhoun County High School—a beautiful building that has long sat vacant—into a community center for all to enjoy. “The school was the lightning bolt for everything we’re doing,” Mersh says.
As the 1982 Foundation’s website reminds visitors, when rural high schools close due to drops in the local population, the folks who remain don’t just lose a school—they lose an essential hub where they once could gather, socialize, host programs, and more. Mersh and the 1982 Foundation, with the help of outside funding they’re securing through donations and grants, aim to revitalize the school and return it to the community as a mixed-use space boasting eateries, Airbnb rentals, office spaces, a children’s learning center, a fitness center, and even a swimming pool.
Mersh started a Facebook page in the early stages of planning to learn what the community could really use. “I wanted to listen to people,” she says. “I just asked questions, you know? What’s going good here? And what’s not so good?” She says she consistently heard that things in Calhoun County were stagnant because residents were “apathetic,” but that didn’t sit right with her. “The people I know from this county were anything but apathetic,” she continues. “They were grounded in right and wrong, they had extremely strong work ethics, they were intelligent. And so the apathetic thing didn’t square with me. And the more I talked to people, it became obvious that it wasn’t apathy, but they had lost their hope. They still cared, but they had lost their hope.”
That dialogue led to a plan for a community center that is carefully designed to be self-sufficient, to cater to the needs the community members themselves are voicing, and to be a haven for generations to come. Mersh hopes that the revitalization of the school, with construction beginning this spring, will be a spark of inspiration that people can place their hope in and build upon in the future. It appears to be working: Since the foundation’s inception, its volunteer base has reached around 150 people, all looking to make their home a bit brighter for themselves and their neighbors.
Mersh has other big hopes for Calhoun County as a whole as well, believing it can be a hub for business, recreation, and more. “Building a building is the easy part,” she says. “It’s about revitalizing this community back to what it was, so that the children can stay here when they graduate or come back from college if they want to stay here.” The new building may not be the be-all and end-all of a total county transformation, but it is the first step in reminding the community what it’s capable of when its members come together for a cause. “We’ve really got a lot of people excited and energized and doing the work,” she says. “We’re steadily getting there.”
Mersh’s leadership has given this project life, but it means just as much to her to be able to come together with friends new and old to achieve a common goal in the place where they all grew up. “No matter where I’ve lived, when people ask me where my home is, I always say West Virginia,” Mersh says. “This will always be home to me.”
READ MORE ARTICLES FROM WV LIVING’S SPRING 2023 ISSUE
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