WVU Health Affairs awarded RWJF grant to strengthen census data and community resources in rural West Virginia

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has awarded WVU Health Affairs Institute (HAI) a grant to study McDowell County’s population and housing in support of the U.S. CENSUS Bureau’s 2030 Decennial Census.

From September 2025 to August 2026, the Study of Housing and Population Erosion (SHAPE) will work to identify discrepancies in official address lists and actual housing units in McDowell and serve as a pilot for other local governments and stakeholders nationwide.

West Virginia’s southernmost county, McDowell has faced population collapse, infrastructure degradation, and recurring natural disasters since its population peaked in 1950. In the wake of these issues, housing units can become unlisted or incorrectly documented in USPS Computerized Delivery Sequence file (CDS) and Census Bureau address lists. Topography and other factors can render address list correction techniques like satellite imagery ineffective, further complicating tracking efforts.

This potentially inaccurate documentation can impact McDowell’s representation in federal counts and the support that relies on these counts: emergency services, disaster recovery, and funding for community needs (e.g., health and education). These gaps disproportionately impact already marginalized populations, according to researchers.

“SHAPE is a great example of how HAI is working to improve lives through the use of progressive data analytics and public impact research,” said HAI Director Jeff Coben, MD. “We need to make sure that every West Virginian is counted and represented so appropriate federal resources can be allocated to help meet our health needs.”

Best known in its prime as the nation’s coal power source, McDowell County once drove the steel industry and made weapons and ships during World War II. After this boom, mechanization of mining reduced the number of laborers needed in coal production, leading to a steady population decline over the years. Periodic flooding has exacerbated economic issues, with floods in 2001 and 2002 nearly destroying the county seat Welch altogether. Earlier this year, natural disaster hit Welch once again as severe flooding led to loss of life and devastation to the city’s infrastructure.

Ultimately, SHAPE aligns with efforts to promote fairness in federal, state, and local data systems and enhance rural disaster recovery capacity. The project will test scalable methods for updating address lists in advance of the 2030 Local Update of Census Addresses (LUCA).

The project will be led by HAI’s Bryce Weaver, Associate Director of Survey Analytics, and Brandon Marsh, Director of IT, Data Integrity, and Compliance. Applying a mixed-methods approach, SHAPE will integrate spatial analysis, administrative data review, and field-based observation. Results will be shared via webinars, toolkits, and national presentations, with HAI leading dissemination and coordination.

West Virginia’s public health institute, West Virginia University (WVU) Health Affairs Institute provides expert services in progressive health data analytics, public impact research, and program implementation and evaluation in collaboration with government agencies, foundations, and nonprofits to inform the advancement of health at the local, state, and national levels.

The photo at the top is courtesy of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

-WVU-

MEDIA CONTACT: Shelly Davidov

Director of Marketing and Communications

WVU Health Affairs Institute

304-282-8153; sdavidov@hsc.wvu.edu