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Christmas in Appalachia: Poverty Dims Holiday in Knox County
In Barbourville Kentucky the contrast of holiday displays and poverty is stark. Knox County ranks among the nation’s poorest, with many families living on food stamps and facing substandard housing. The Collins family of Coalport Hollow, unemployed father with illness and four children, embodies dire conditions. Elmer Roark, decades of illness and unreliable medical help, shares a cramped home with a crucifix, a stove, and failing matches. Eight year old Carlos Mills longs for a cowboy pistol but expects little else, as hunger and deprivation persist through the season.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Knox County Economic Opportunity Council
Henry
Viola Collins
Coalport Hollow
Collins
Knox County
Kentucky
Ture
Appalachian Hollows
Elmer Roark
Roark
University of Kentucky Medical School
Carlos