Appalachia Heart travels with visual artist Charmaine Wheatley on a year-long project to paint portraits of people affected by the opioid crisis in two rural Eastern Kentucky communities, connecting us by our common humanity. Appalachian communities continue to experience more than double the national average for opioid addition and overdose deaths. The fight for recovery in these communities is directly tied to addressing the stigma which becomes a huge obstacle addicts face in recovery. The film documents the initial painting of the portraits, finishing and final display. Charmaine's portraits not only show the likeness of her subjects, but capture moments of conversations that occur while the portraits are being created. Sharing these thoughts and feelings connects us through our common humanity and hopefully helps to reduce stigma by seeing them as people with meaningful lives and not simply defining them by a diagnosis.
—Don Casper