“Appalachia is one of the poorest regions in the United States and
is a label for a 200,000 square mile area running along the spine of Appalachian
Mountains from southern New York to northern Mississippi. It includes all of
West Virginia and parts of 12 other states: Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland,
Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,
Tennessee and Virginia. Among these, Appalachian Ohio, where Good Works is
based, has a population of 1.4 million and is one of the poorest regions in
the United States. In 2005, nearly one-fifth of the families in Appalachian
Ohio lived in poverty, earning $15,000 or less per year for a family of three.
Despite the local presence of Ohio University in Athens, Ohio, the college-going
rate for Appalachian Ohio is 30 percent, compared to 62 percent for the US.” (Page
208)“Ironically, the largest federal housing program in the United States is the entitlement to deduct mortgage interest from one’s income tax. For every dollar the U.S. spends on low income housing programs, the Federal treasury loses $4 to lost revenues from tax breaks. Over 75% of this tax benefit is reaped by the top 20% of wealth Americans in the U.S. In essence, Federal housing policy disproportionately benefits wealthy Americans” (page 230)