Our Story
Appalachia Reach Out (ARO) began as an independent mission outreach to the people of Martin County. ARO became a non-profit organization on June 7th, 1972, but had its beginning many years before that date, beginning with the work and calling of Miss Jo Boomsma (right).
Today, over fifty years later, the impact of her calling is still being felt, as ARO’s mission is still "to be Christ’s love in Action through being His hands, His feet, His heart, and His mission" each day, every day, in all we do. We believe it’s through our acts of kindness, goodwill, love, and support that people will come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Christ, through His example of love, grace and mercy, opened up doors with others through relationships. Our prayer is to do the same.​ ARO is now recognized as a Nazarene Compassionate Ministry in the Church of the Nazarene, and also partners with a variety of churches from different denominations and has multiple denominations represented on its board. To understand the rich heritage that ARO has in Martin County, and how it has come to be what it is today, requires looking back to the origin of ARO.
Our Beginnings
Starting in the mid 1950's, an educator from Michigan, Miss Jo Boomsma, felt the call to work for the Lord in Kentucky. As the years went by, the call became stronger. In the summer of 1969, Miss Boomsma and a friend made a survey of the Appalachian area of Kentucky under the sponsorship of the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee. They visited many settlements, schools, and missions, and interviewed residents. In the Summer of 1970, Miss Jo packed her car with all the necessities for living alone in Kentucky and started out, not knowing where she was going to live. We know that this was a radical calling from the Lord!
The Lord in His divine and mysterious providence led her to Martin County, Kentucky, nestled in the Appalachians with its tree-covered mountains and winding hollows. ​At that time, Martin County was the most depressed area in the United States and there was no mission outreach. Just a few years prior in 1964, this was the place where President Lyndon B. Johnson declared the War on Poverty.
.jpg)
The way Miss Jo was accepted in Martin County was miraculous. The Lord opened homes and used the County Superintendent of Schools to open a door for her to the schools. She was given the opportunity to use her skills as a reading consultant in the summer reading program, working with children to test and diagnose reading problems and conducting teacher workshops. This helped her to become acquainted with many children and teachers in the county. The ministers and members of various churches also accepted her and were helpful in teaching her about the culture and the needs of Martin County. She accompanied the county health nurse as she made calls in homes in the hollers, giving her an opportunity to become even more acquainted with families in the county.
Miss Jo returned to her teaching position in Michigan that Fall and organized a Christmas Family Adoption Program at the request of one of the Martin County teachers. Churches and schools provided names of families needing help. Through this program, churches, individuals, and families from Michigan and Indiana supported her efforts that Christmas, and many after. She returned to Martin County again the summers of '71 and '72 to learn more about the needs of the area and to discuss ideas and plans for developing a Christian organization which could best help the people spiritually and physically.
On June 7th, 1972, the non-profit "Appalachia Reach Out" was established, the articles of Incorporation and By-Laws were adopted, and the board was formed. ​In the Fall and Winter months, when returning to Michigan, Miss Jo spoke to many schools, churches, and organizations about the needs of the people of Martin County. In the Spring of '73, she resigned herposition as Reading Director of Jenison Public Schools, making her final commitment to the work of Appalachia Reach Out. When she returned that summer, she had several others come to volunteer their services. Follow-up calls were made to the families helped during the '72 Christmas program and an ARO Clothing Center was established. The store was originally located in an upstairs apartment in a store building on Main Street in Inez, and was moved down Old Rte 3 in December 1980.
The people who visited the clothing center soon discovered that Miss Boomsma had a listening ear and was a caring person. She listened to their problems, counseled them, helped them, and shared the gospel message. This is where she affectionately became known as "Miss Jo." ARO began hosting Vacation Bible Schools in the Summer of 1974. In addition to songs, Bible stories, and crafts, they also taught reading to the children. In the afternoons, volunteers would take the time to visit the elderly. Marilyn, one of our Martin County Work & Witness coordinators, says this was known as "Granny Calling." At Thanksgiving, boxes of fruit and other food were provided for those in the area as a token of love. Miss Jo also began a ministry of driving people to the doctor and to hospitals in Lexington, Ashland, Huntington, and Paintsville. Back then, it was an all-day trip! Miss Jo also had a good working relationship with the Health Department and Social Services. During the summers of '74 and '75, young people came to help volunteer and host the summer bible school programming. The Food Pantry was opened when a new space was built and furnished in 1984. Volunteers would come down at various times during the year to help with any construction and would help in the community as well. These volunteers became known as "work groups" and would help repair, build, and paint homes in the community or do work around the ARO campus.​ That legacy continued for the next several decades, with ARO's operations ebbing and flowing with the needs of the community.
Fast-forward to today, and ARO still maintains great working relationships with other organizations and community leaders such as, but not limited to, the Martin County Health Department, several county officials like the County Tourism board, the local courts, the County Attorney's office, local churches, the water authority board, the Martin County FRYSCs, the Martin County Board of Education, and many more! We know that many families here in Appalachia have been affected by addiction and work closely with Addiction Recovery Care, (White Oak Hill and Karen's Place Maternity Center), Thrive Community Coalition, Mountain Comprehensive Care's Serenity House, and Martin County's Celebrate Recovery Program. ARO continues to host multiple Vacation Bible Schools during the summers, partnering with Warfield Community Park and Inez Free Will Baptist. We have grown over the years adding additional ministry sites. All of this has been very organic and God-led. In 2024, ARO hosted a total of 40 Work and Witness groups. We attribute all our success to Jesus Christ and the good work He graciously does through us.
ARO's ministries have remained much the same as they were developed in the early years of its existence, with the exception that God has expanded what we do. Under the direction of Dwayne Mills, God has been answering a prayer that those who travel to serve on work teams with ARO would see the needs of their own communities back home, and step in to be the "hands and the feet" of Christ wherever they live. While Miss Jo was a visionary and obeyed a radical call to serve in Martin County, her means of ministry were ordinary: love neighbors. Teach children. Reach out to widows. These are the ordinary yet transformative ways in which lives are changed and communities thrive. Praise God that this vision has spread to other ministry sites where ARO now hosts Work and Witness teams under the direction of site coordinators who have felt this same call.