Rural Well-Being
National
Rural Democracy Initiative is the first funding collaborative building power toward a thriving democracy and shared prosperity across diverse communities in rural areas and small cities.
Aspen Institute's Thrive Rural Framework
The Thrive Rural Framework focuses on what needs to be true in local communities and in larger systems to produce things like shared thinking and fair-minded goals, the readiness of people and leadership to act, and the organizational structures to learn and act together. In short, the Thrive Rural Framework is grounded in the relationships and connections that underlie rural development: people, governments, and systems all working together and in parallel to achieve greater rural prosperity for all.
The Rural Health Information Hub is funded by the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy to be a national clearinghouse on rural health issues.
Brookings Institute's Reimagining Rural Policy
The Reimagining Rural Policy initiative provides analysis and recommendations to improve the effectiveness, coherence, and relevance of U.S. federal rural policy.
NFG’s Integrated Rural Strategies Group
NFG’s Integrated Rural Strategies Group (IRSG) is developing a shared understanding among funders at a national scale of what it takes to build community-led capacity to advance justice and equity for rural communities. Using a place-based approach, IRSG is bringing funders together to address local needs and gaps in rural organizing infrastructure and develop shared agendas to support rural organizing and justice-advancing efforts.
Partners for Rural Transformation
The Partners work collaboratively across geographies and cultures to collectively influence policy and simultaneously lead, advocate, innovate, and finance individual and community solutions to poverty so that our neighbors can build sustainable and promising futures.
“Life in Rural America” illustrates that rural Americans have strong ties to local communities and value life, family, and jobs in rural America. On one level, rural Americans express concern about challenges facing local communities, such as money/financial problems, health and health care, and in particular, drug addiction/abuse and troubled local economies.
USDA Rural America at a Glance
This report looks at recent population trends, the changing structure of economic sectors, the labor force, and job growth in rural areas.
Federal resources that can help rural communities become strong, healthy, prosperous, and resilient places to live and work
University of Michigan Poverty Solutions
Three of the nation’s top scholars – known for tackling key mysteries about poverty in America – turn their attention from the country’s poorest people to its poorest places. Based on a fresh, data-driven approach, they discover that America’s most disadvantaged communities are not the big cities that get the most notice. Instead, nearly all are rural. Little if any attention has been paid to these places or to the people who make their lives there.
Pew Research Center's What Unites and Divides Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities
Amid widening gaps in politics and demographics, Americans in urban, suburban and rural areas share many aspects of community life.
Brookings Institute's Rural dreams: Upward mobility in America's countryside
One of the defining features of the “American Dream” is the ability to succeed despite being born in disadvantaged circumstances. But upward mobility, in the sense of doing better than your parents, appears to be on the wane. There is however a great deal of variation across the nation in rates of upward mobility, and some of the greatest variation lies in the nation’s rural heartland.
Bridgespan's Social Mobility in Rural America
This field report by Bridgespan and National 4-H Council offers a firsthand account of economic mobility in rural America. Through the voices of local youth and community leaders, it identifies places whose young people are climbing the income ladder, as well as the factors that may be supporting their success.
Frameworks Institute Talking About Health Disparities in Rural Contexts
To ensure health and wellbeing for all, we must advance programs and policies that eliminate health disparities and address the underlying inequities that cause them. Yet the label for this concept of “health equity” has become politicized and distracting. In some states, public health agencies have been directed not to use the term. This chilling effect has, at times, made it difficult for practitioners and advocates to focus attention on their important work addressing health inequities, particularly in rural contexts, where many health inequities persist
Local
The mental health crisis in rural Missouri is more challenging than in urban communities, but may be particularly severe for the agricultural community. Recent
studies, media coverage and congressional action suggest the unique set of external challenges faced by farmers and ranchers are resulting in extremely adverse mental health outcomes in agricultural communities. Contributing to mental health challenges on the farm, recent extreme weather events, economic pressure and foreign trade policies have combined to produce a series of lean years for agricultural producers not seen since the farm crisis of the 1980s.
MO Rural Health Initiative Needs Assessment
Rural Missouri (ruMO) is dying. Citizens of the region consistently experience worse health outcomes in most areas of life. The rural population accounts for 1.5 million people who are overrepresented in every leading cause of death. Life expectancy is shortening, and there are not enough providers to meet healthcare needs. Overdose, suicide, and mental health outcomes are growing exponentially, resulting in devastating outcomes. The rural health crisis is overwhelming, complex, and in immediate need of intervention.
The Recovery Friendly Initiative empowers workplaces to support people affected by substance use disorders and those in recovery.
Illinois Farm Bureau Mental Health & Wellness
Resource clearinghouse
Rural Mental Health Recommendations To Improve Health In Illinois
Rural Illinois is in need of sustained, sweeping change to improve the social, economic and environmental factors which determine health outcomes. Illinois’ rural communities suffer from “The Five D’s:” Rural communities start at a DISADVANTAGE due to experiencing food, healthcare, social service and data DESERTS, as well as organizational and technological DISCONNECTION. Rural regions experience similar DISPARITIES to low-income urban areas but experience even fewer DEVELOPMENT opportunities than their urban counterparts. These recommendations aim to improve health equity in rural Illinois.
St. Louis Federal Reserve's Investing in Rural
Rural communities throughout the United States are vibrant places with great people, rich culture and heritage, and deep social ties. But many rural communities have been buffeted by the increasing prominence of automation and the knowledge-based economy, along with long-term challenges arising from lower educational levels, remoteness and other factors. As a result, many communities are at a crossroads, wondering which direction will lead to prosperity for all. Investing in Rural Prosperity seeks to help people living in rural areas navigate the challenges and opportunities they face to achieve a prosperous future.
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