07/06/2026
To my FoA family,
Welcome home. ❤️
The trailers are unpacked. The tools are put away. Everyone is back to work, back to summer vacation, and back to everyday life.
This trip wasn’t just about building wheelchair ramps, repairing bathrooms, replacing siding, or making homes warmer, safer, and drier. Those are the things we can see. The things we can’t see are what matter most.
A homeowner who felt forgotten now knows someone cares. A family who had lost hope found a reason to smile again.
A volunteer discovered they are capable of far more than they ever imagined.
That’s why we do this.
This was our 15th Friends of Appalachia trip, and standing back this week, I realized something that has nothing to do with the number.
I watched people who barely knew each other become family.
I watched experienced volunteers invest in the next generation, teaching them the skills, confidence, and heart that have always been the foundation of FoA..
I watched teenagers put down their phones and pick up drills.
You build it by choosing people over comfort, every one of you made that choice.
To every donor and supporter: thank you for believing in something bigger than yourselves. None of this happens without you.
Friends of Appalachia has never been about the number of homes we’ve repaired.
It’s about the people we’ve met. The friendships we’ve made. The lives that have changed—including our own.
If this was your very first trip, I hope you know something…
You didn’t just volunteer with us.
You became family.
And once you’re part of this family, you’ll always have a place here.
So wear that FoA shirt proudly. Not because it tells people where you went, but because it reminds you of who you became while you were there.
Never forget the laughter around the tables.
Never forget the tears when it was time to say goodbye.
And never forget why we do this.
Because home is more than four walls.
Hope is more than a feeling.
And love is something you build with your own two hands.
Where ever we go. We are Friends of Appalachia.
15 trips. Countless lives changed. One family.
Can’t wait to see what mountain we move next!
With ❤️,
Floater Kyle
