ABLE Families

Affirming • Believing • Learning • Empowering

ABLE Families in the News

ABLE Families featured at new online project

ABLE Families is featured prominently at OurMountainState.org, a new online project that highlights significant community development efforts throughout West Virginia! The website is a collaborative effort by three state community development organizations: the West Virginia HUB, the West Virginia Prevention Resource Center, and Dream Catcher Creative. You can watch the 3-minute video on ABLE Families that the group produced here.

Dreama McNeal

2011 West Virginia Teacher of the Year, Drema McNeal, talks to ABLE Families children about being a writer and reading books.

W. Va. Teacher of the Year visits ABLE Families Afterschool

2011 West Virginia Teacher of the Year, Drema McNeal, talks to ABLE Families children about being a writer and reading books.

Williamson Daily News, February 16, 2011 — The 2011 West Virginia Teacher of the Year, Drema McNeal, was the special guest recently at the ABLE Families Afterschool program in Kermit. She talked to the children about being a writer and reading books, and she read to them from a book that she wrote herself. Read More.

ABLE Families earns national recognition for youth service

Williamson Daily News, December 12, 2010 — ABLE Families, a Kermit-based nonprofit agency, announced this week that it has been designated a national “Promise Place” by the Washington, DC-based America’s Promise Alliance. Read More.

Kermit summer camp draws more kids than ever before

Williamson Daily News, June 27, 2010 — Kids in northern Mingo County may be limited when it comes to choices for summer activities that are organized, safe, and enriching. But that doesn’t mean they’ll have nothing to do, thanks to the annual summer camps that one local agency has offered for more than a decade now. Read More.

ABLE Families named one of “55 Good Things about West Virginia” by The State Journal

The State Journal, May 14, 2010 — ABLE Families and Christian Help of Kermit have been proividing a helping hand under the same roof to those in need for the past 16 years. Read More.

Baptist churches collect millions of pennies for at-risk kids

The Christian Post, April 17, 2010 — American Baptist churches have collected more than 2 million pennies in an effort to raise awareness of the extent of child poverty throughout the United States and Puerto Rico…. The donations in Kermit will be directed to to ABLE Families, a local Catholic agency that runs a free afterschool program for the children of low-income families.Read More.

In West Virginia: An Inspired Literacy Effort

The Nonprofit Quarterly, April 5, 2010 — ABLE Families, a small nonprofit in Mingo County, West Virginia, has introduced an “Authors After School Program.” This program brings in local children’s book authors to interact with children after they have received copies of and gotten the chance to read their books. Read More.

Anna Smucker

Author Anna Smucker autographs her book for a young fan on a March 25 visit to ABLE Families.

Mingo nonprofit builds literacy through innovative program

Author Anna Smucker autographs her book for a young fan on a March 25 visit to ABLE Families.

Huntington Herald-Dispatch, April 5, 2010 –In a county where illiteracy rates soar, local children will meet several noted authors.Read More.

Local nonprofit celebrates 15 years

Williamson Daily News, February 24, 2010 — ABLE Families marked 15 years of assisting people living in poverty in Mingo County on February 19.  Read More.

It’s ‘Sister’s Day’ in Mingo County
Conlon, Peterworth named ‘Hometown Heroes’

Williamson Daily News, December 5, 2009 — Sisters Brendan Conlon and Janet Peterworth were honored today by West Virginia television station WSAZ NewsChannel3 as “Hometown Heroes.” The station recognized the nuns for their work in assisting Mingo Countians in need in a segment that will air several times later this month. Read More.

Finding Hope Amid the Chains of Poverty

The State Journal, November 13, 2009 — As the current recession continues to strain financial and mental well-being, other residents are realizing for the first time the harsh realities of living in poverty. Read More.

Program Keeps Lights on After School

The Williamson Daily News, October 29, 2009 — Children, parents, and community leaders gathered at ABLE Families last Thursday night for a Lights On Afterschool rally. The gathering was one of 7,500 such events held across the nation, emphasizing the importance of keeping the lights on and the doors open for afterschool programs. Read More.

Sister Peterworth Recognized for Work with ABLE Families in Mingo County

The Catholic Spirit, June, 2009 — Ursuline Sister Janet M. Peterworth, director of ABLE (Affirming, Believing, Learning, Empowering) Families in Kermit, Mingo County, was presented The American Institute for Public Service’s Jefferson Award by Gov. Joe Manchin at a luncheon at the University of Charleston June 3. Read More.