The Central Appalachian Network strives to maximize the impact of collective work by fostering peer-to-peer learning and economic opportunities.

Central Appalachia Resiliency Exchange (CARE)

Check out our new Community Resilience Resource Hub

Why Our network?
“ We’re able to reach local communities in impactful and significant ways through the relationships that our practitioner organizations bring and have cultivated over decades of deep local community work”

Autumn Long

Director, Solar Finance Fund
CAN Participant &
Former Energy Working Group Co-chair

Who We Are

CAN is a network of networks led by a Leadership Team comprising a cohort of mentor organizations alongside the co-chairs of each Working Group. The Working Groups are sector-focused networks that coordinate regional analysis and strategies in areas such as Energy; Food and Sustainable Agricultural Systems; Reuse (Materials management and circular economy); Community Resilience; and Ecological Restoration. The larger Central Appalachian Network includes the participants of these sector-based Working Groups, along with an open invitation to those that wish to engage CAN in their own work and community.

Our network of practitioner partners includes nearly 100 different organizations working on community economic development, including: nonprofits, local government agencies, lenders, community groups, social enterprises, and academic institutions. These networks are creating economic opportunities that are building on our cultural assets, natural resources, and meeting the needs of our region’s people.

How We Work

CAN is a network of practitioners across economic sectors in Central Appalachia with particularly significant representation of non-profit organizations.

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Our Framework

We are growing, the past few years of reflection and restructuring have supported the evolution that enables CAN to adapt to the changing needs of the Network.

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How to get involved

As an active participant in CAN , you have an incredible opportunity to serve your community, region, and fellow practitioners in powerful ways.

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CAN’S OBJECTIVES

Promote community resilience, wealth, & wellness.

  • Connect regional organizations and community practitioners
  • Empower the next generation of leaders through peer-to-peer learning
  • Synergize efforts to maximize collective impacts

Working Groups

Working Groups are a key element of the Central Appalachian Network (CAN).
They advance priority sectors in the region to build capacity, foster peer learning,
and implement collaborative strategies.  Learn more about the working groups here.

Close-up of a person planting seeds in soil, emphasizing gardening and cultivation.
Beginning Farmers
Close-up of diverse hands forming a connection, symbolizing teamwork and unity outdoors.
Community Resilience
A young sapling held in hands symbolizes growth and sustainability.
Ecological Restoration
Worker in safety gear installing solar panels on a rooftop.
Energy
A customer exchanges an apple with a vendor at a vibrant farmers market.
Healthy Food Access
Man delivering groceries from van in sunny Portugal, showcasing fresh produce.
Food Processing
Close-up of hands writing a motivational 'Reduce Reuse Recycle' note on paper with a pen, surrounded by office items.
Reuse
Colleagues discussing data and strategy in an office meeting.
Workforce
Our events

Find out more
about our events

All Events

What participants
are saying

Our participants foster deep collaboration throughout the region.

  • CAN facilitates a space for problem-solving and resource sharing which means real projects can take place in our communities.
    Robert Kell
    Community Resiliency & Adaptation Working Group
  • Just as the land is shifting and regenerating under our feet so should our mycelium Network be in our Appalachian regions. Our collaborations and shared resources are vital services needed to carry our sacred values into the future. 
    sophia L. Buggs
    Beginning Farmers Working Group Co-chair

Central Appalachia Resiliency Exchange (CARE)

Explore our resource hub that contains information curated for use in the region to cut through the noise and allow our communities to move towards implementation and resilience building. This toolkit is organized topically by potential users and is focused on those resources that are ready for implementation by communities, local businesses, households, farmers, and other organizations. Resources are all publicly available.

Who can benefit from these resources:

  • Homeowners & Residents
  • Community Groups & Non-profits
  • Business & Commerce
  • Planners, Engineers & Emergency Managers
  • Local Government & Tribal Leaders
Central Appalachia Resilience Exchange (CARE)
Find out more here.
A group of diverse individuals join hands for teamwork in West Java, Indonesia.

Latest updates

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CAN joins in a climate conversation with Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI)

Listen in as our Network Coordinator along with Missy Allen, the Grants Director/Special Project at Floyd County Fiscal Court, speak with EESI about developing a plan for a community resilience hub in Floyd County, KY. This opportunity is being supported from a grant provided by Climate Smart Communites Initiative.

Listen Here

CAN PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS