Today we meet Jeff Goodson, Vice Chair of Forge Appalachia, and the man behind the original vision for our nonprofit.

A native of the Appalachian Mountains, Jeff Goodson is most at home when he’s working with his hands. As a young child he was extremely introverted and found solace in making things. Growing up poor, he learned that if you wanted to have anything you made it yourself. He would sit quietly and pay close attention to the elders that he respected. He watched them carve, blacksmith, repair tools and build just about anything from scratch.
His wife bought him a small table top lathe for Christmas one year and his passion came to life. Now working on a much larger lathe he creates from the love of wood. The wood speaks to Jeff in ways that allows him to work in relationship with it and create what the wood wants to be.
He holds deep respect for the old ways and makes a conscious effort to create from that space.