From the Hills and Hollers: INHERITANCE with Kelly Hatas

Viewing: November 13,2025

Watch Trailer Director: Matt Moyer
Awards: 1st Prize Documentary Feature - AIFVF

Join us on Thursday, November 13th as our Appalachian Stories Film Series explores the generational effects of the opioid epidemic on the region!

This event will include a pre-show presentation by Kelly Hatas

Admission is FREE – Tickets are required

About the film

The opioid epidemic that has ravaged America for over a decade has been well documented in the media – countless books, news stories, and films have exposed the devastating impacts and seemingly-insurmountable challenges this unfortunate crisis has had on our society. The documentary film Inheritance, however, offers a new perspective on the epidemic by allowing us to see the true nature of things through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy. Curtis is your typical kid – intelligent, well-loved, and eager for his future – but, his life is complicated by the fact that a large portion of his family are all struggling with addiction to opioids and the societal side-effects like unemployment, poverty, and alienation that add a whole other dimension to this serious problem.

About the speaker

Kelly Hatas is the Executive Director of Hocking Athens Perry Community Action (HAPCAP), an antipoverty nonprofit organization headquartered in Athens County. She earned her BA in International Relations from Shawnee State University in 2007 and went on to serve as an AmeriCorps*VISTA for three years there. That experience led to her interest in the nonprofit sector, and she earned her Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service at Ohio University in 2012. She has spent the rest of her professional career with HAPCAP, one of 1,000 Community Action Agencies that were established across the country as part of then President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. Kelly grew up in Southwest Ohio, and will talk about how her perspective shifted after moving to, and choosing to stay in Appalachia. She lives in Athens County with her wife and two dogs.