PENNINGTON GAP, Va. — On a Saturday evening in June, people of this rural region gathered at the historic Lee Theatre to celebrate the founding of Higher Ground Women’s Recovery Residence.

Author Barbara Kingsolver opened the facility in January with royalties from her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, “ Demon Copperhead ,” whose plot revolves around Appalachia’s opioid crisis. The home offers a supportive place for people to stay while learning to live without drugs. Kingsolver had asked the women now living there to join her on stage. kAmz:?8D@=G6C[ H9@ 8C6H FA :? pAA2=249:2[ DF886DE65 E96 H@>6? D92C6 H:E9 E96 2F5:6?46 H92E E96J H6C6 >@DE AC@F5 @7 92G:?8 82:?65 7C@> E96:C 7:CDE H66<D 2E w:896C vC@F?5] qFE D96 =62C?65 E96J H6C6 >@C6 6286C E@ 3C28 @? @?6 2?@E96C]k^Am kAm$FAA@CE6CD D2J k2

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