Messer's story is not so different from those of scores of poor West Virginians who can't seem to scratch out better lives. Most live near deep pockets of rich energy, but they don't own it. Generations have descended into the ground to haul out black nuggets of prosperity, but very few have gotten wealthy. One hundred years of coal mining, and West Virginia still has the second-highest unemployment rate in the country. Few are literally starving to death, but there's plenty of room for lives to improve.
People live in dilapidated houses and trailers.
They hope they won't break an arm because they don't have insurance. They pray their children learn enough in school to lead different, better lives. Alice Messer's extreme example of poverty epitomizes the hardships that prevent many West Virginians from fully enjoying their lives. Messer's family was never well off, and it may never be. Her grandfather, George Belcher, worked in the mines, lying flat on his back to load coal onto a buggy.