A (very) brief update on the state of Hometown Stories

(Well, I woke up early yesterday morning thinking it was Sunday. So I published this week’s edition of Hometown Stories yesterday. Lol. If you missed it somehow, you can easily find it on the site: Bentalley.substack.com or Hometownstories.com)

Numbers aren’t everything to me. Personal relationships are. I like building relationships with readers and making actual friendships. With this column, I feel we are truly able to do that with our over 600 current subscribers.

Money is not everything to me either. Again, personal relationships are. If a person cannot afford the $5 a month to subscribe to Hometown Stories, I always comp them in anyway. Some of you may have noticed that. :)

However, if you are a “paid” subscriber, please know that you are helping me help needy families in Bristol. That is where ALL subscription money goes. My life experiences teaching at the jail, working directly with the homeless, and teaching elementary school allow me to know (perhaps as well as anyone in Bristol, if I may say so) where such needs lie hidden.

I look at this newsletter/column as a “mission”; with the goal of bringing the community closer together and highlighting "the good” in humanity, all while sharing local Appalachian stories - stories that you’ll never read or hear about anywhere else under the sun.

(Please feel free to “share” the stories each week with your own unique circle of friends. There is always a “share” button imbedded within each story, each week. There is also a “gift” button for those who’d like to give Hometown Stories as a gift to a friend.)

Thank you all for making this journey with me - of bringing light to darkness and hope to humanity.