Designed to help bridge the gap between selected Appalachian communities (17 control and 18 experimental Kentucky communities) and the more affluent U.S. society, the Appalachian Community Impact Project (ACIP) used indigenous paraprofessionals, backed by Extension personnel, to work at the community level. It was hypothesized that by using "community contacts" in an holistic approach for a period of 4 years (1969-72), communicative linkage would be established between professional resource people and local community leaders who, thereafter, would continue to solve community problems without benefit of liaisons. ACIP attempts at integration in the power structure included efforts to assure: broad administrative support; broad legitimization; interdisciplinary involvement; integrated community approaches; interdisciplinary references; and informal organizations. Utilizing the principles of communication and education which suggest that who expresses an idea is often as important as the idea itself, ACIP emphasized communicative skills. It was concluded that by design and action ACIP was successful, for an evaluation by non-Extension staff revealed that when compared with the control communities, the experimental communities made significant improvement in the social institutions and the economy, developing both self awareness and self-reliance. (JC)