Mountains of Hope Outreach open Outreach Community Center in Montgomery

MONTGOMERY, WV (WOWK) — The Mountains of Hope (MOH) Outreach team held their opening day Saturday for a new Outreach Community Center built from the old Montgomery High School building.

Dustin Cooper, founder of Mountains of Hope Outreach, said that they are tackling one of the biggest enemies of the state of West Virginia.

“What’s going on here today is we’re taking the fight to the enemy! Mental health, drug addiction, all things that a part of hurts, habits, and hang ups that have been wreaking havoc through these mountains for generations,” Cooper said.

Mountains of Hope is a team of people dedicated to handling the West Virginia addiction crisis, and the children affected by it, by taking them on outdoor adventures and getting them involved in extracurriculars, like sports.

In fact, the MOH team has established a softball team and a wrestling team that’s already found success.

“We had ten kids this year. We took eight kids to the Junior State Championships and placed seven of them. So, we did pretty good with a first year wrestling team,” Danny Smith, the Mountains of Hope Athletic Director, said.

Cooper has big plans for how to use their new brick and mortar establishment.

“It’s going to do everything. It’s a safe place to come. We can plug in after school programs. We can have wrestling practice here. We can have kids come and get to know us, maybe do their homework here, feed them out of here, I mean, anything and everything,” Cooper said.

Jana Cooper, the co-founder of MOH and wife of Dustin, spoke on how the new center is for everybody in the community, whether they’re looking to get involved or looking for a safe space.

“Everybody is welcome. Anybody who has a need, anybody who wants to help with the community, if you have a passion and just don’t know where to start, we’re a good place to start. We would love to have anybody on board that wants to come out and help,” Jana said.

Through faith-based mentorship, the MOH team pushes kids in a new direction and steers them away from destructive outlets. The group has the Bible verse Joshua 1:9 posted on their logo, which they quote for motivation.

“‘Have I not commanded you to be strong and courageous? Don’t be scared or dismayed, for the Lord God is with you wherever you go,'” Dustin said, quoting from scripture. “I love the fact that He isn’t asking, He is commanding. That’s what we’re doing out here, being strong and courageous in the community. It’s not easy serving Jesus, a lot of people look down on that. We’re going to take the fight to the enemy, be loud and proud about it.”

The Mountains of Hope team is continuing to host events like camping, hiking and fishing throughout the summer, with plans of beginning the after school program when the new school year begins in August.

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