Leslie County is located in the eastern coalfield region of Kentucky. Hyden is the county seat. In 1982, the Student Health Coalition had a special project working with the Concerned Citizens of Leslie County (CCLC) helping to collect data to identify controlling interests of land and money in the county. Through interviews with local officials, and review of old and new tax manuals, the students were able to provide the group with an outline of large landholders and financial interests in the county so that the CCLC could begin to address those issues.
A second special project was conducted in Hyden, where Mary Breckenridge, on horseback, began offering nursing services to the isolated community members in 1925. From this, the Frontier Nursing Service was developed. FNS now has a nursing school and a hospital and continues to serve the people of this region. The special project in August of 1982 involved two nursing students who spent two weeks volunteering at the hospital gaining exposure to nursing practice in rural areas.
See the 1982 SHC Annual Report for more information.