Assistance Programs

Human Resource Development and Employment, Inc. (HRDE) was incorporated in the State of West Virginia on January 20, 1976. Chartered as a private non-profit corporation, HRDE aspires to provide safe and affordable housing for income-eligible persons with disabilities, the elderly, and families throughout West Virginia.

HRDE also operates educational and skills development programs that effectively improve the employability of the unemployed, under-employed, dislocated workers, older individuals, adults, youth, persons with disabilities, and (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) TANF recipients in West Virginia.

In 1964, West Virginia's first Labor Federation President, Miles Stanley, founded the Appalachian Council. At the present time, AFL-CIO Appalachian Council, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation whose Board of Directors consists of thirteen state AFL-CIO executive officers, representing the Appalachian states of Alabama, Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland-D.C., Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Historically, the Council has operated major employment and training programs through the Department of Labor and Job Corps as well as, to a lesser degree, state-funded programs including employee assistance programs. Currently, the Council operates Head Start programs funded and administered by the Administration for Children and Families of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The Appalachian Council Head Start Program provides diverse services to meet the educational, health, parent, community, and social service needs of income-eligible three- and four-year-old children and their families, including children with disabilities.

The Council's West Virginia Head Start Program operates classrooms at personal sites, located in the counties of Boone, Clay, Jackson, Wood, and Roane. Additionally, the Council operates classrooms through collaboration with West Virginia County Boards of Education in the counties of Boone, Clay, Putnam, Jackson, Roane, Wood, Calhoun, Doddridge, Pleasants, Tyler, and Wirt.