Connecting Southern Appalachian communities with volunteer design & planning professionals to support locally led planning, recovery, and resilience.
The Appalachian Design Center (ADC) brings volunteer design professionals together to support Southern Appalachian communities with limited access to design resources. ADC combines local knowledge with technical expertise to help small towns, rural areas, and underserved neighborhoods address community challenges through a listening-first, community-driven process. By working closely with residents and local leaders, ADC develops conceptual designs and engagement plans that reflect community values and capacity—creating a strong foundation for implementation, investment, and equitable, healthy places.
ADC works by invitation and offers its services pro bono.
Each project begins with listening. Our design teams engage residents, business owners, and local leaders through a community-driven design process that centers local knowledge and lived experience. The result is practical, place-specific plans that communities can use to guide decision-making, pursue funding, and advance projects aligned with their goals.
Not every community has access to professional design support. ADC focuses its work in small towns, rural areas, and underserved communities across Southern Appalachia—particularly where technical or administrative capacity is limited.
Current and recent partnerships include:
Communities may work with ADC on more than one project over time, based on local priorities and needs.
If your community is navigating recovery, planning, or long-term resilience and would like to explore working with the Appalachian Design Center, we’d like to hear from you.
The Appalachian Design Center team connects communities with volunteer design professionals and guides each project from engagement through delivery.
Our team works closely with local partners to coordinate community engagement, direct the design process, and deliver tailored, community-driven plans. ADC remains engaged beyond plan delivery, supporting communities as they identify funding opportunities, build partnerships, and move projects toward implementation.
ADC volunteer teams include architects, engineers, planners, landscape architects, graphic designers, community facilitators, and other professionals whose skills support community-driven recovery and resilience across Southern Appalachia.
Each project brings together a multidisciplinary team of volunteers to produce practical, inclusive solutions grounded in both local knowledge and professional expertise.
There are many ways to contribute—whether your strengths are technical, creative, organizational, or people-centered.
View current volunteer opportunities. (Coming soon)
Communities: Request support or nominate a community for future projects
Professionals: Share your skills and explore volunteer opportunities
Jane Margaret Bell AICP, Water Resources Planner at Land of Sky Regional Council
Emily Coleman-Wolf AIA, LFA, LEED APBD+C, Project Manager for Wolf & Associates
Duncan McPherson AIA, LEED AP, Principal at Altura Architects
Betsy del Monte AIA, LFA, LEED APBD+C, Architect and Consultant at Cameron Macallister, and Lecturer at Clemson School of Architecture
Joel Osgood RLA + ASLA, Founder and Principal at Osgood Landscape Architecture
This support helps communities facing complex recovery challenges access the capacity and expertise needed to navigate recovery and plan for resilience.
