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  31. <title>Arizona Rural Grassroots Organizers Take on Industrial Developers, Aided by Urban Allies</title>
  32. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/arizona-rural-grassroots-organizers-take-on-industrial-developers-aided-by-urban-allies/2025/10/03/</link>
  33. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/arizona-rural-grassroots-organizers-take-on-industrial-developers-aided-by-urban-allies/2025/10/03/#comments</comments>
  35. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia Tilton]]></dc:creator>
  36. <pubDate>Fri, 03 Oct 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  37. <category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
  38. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  39. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233447</guid>
  40.  
  41. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="568" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?fit=1024%2C568&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" fetchpriority="high" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?w=1170&amp;ssl=1 1170w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?resize=760%2C422&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?resize=768%2C426&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?resize=1024%2C568&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?resize=780%2C433&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?resize=400%2C222&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?resize=706%2C392&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?fit=1024%2C568&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  42. <p>On the evening of August 21, 2025, Chris Giokaris hopped on the interstate heading southeast from his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. His destination was Benson, a town of about 5,500 people located 50 miles away. The small town is known as the gateway to the San Pedro Valley, in large part for the San Pedro [&#8230;]</p>
  43. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/arizona-rural-grassroots-organizers-take-on-industrial-developers-aided-by-urban-allies/2025/10/03/">Arizona Rural Grassroots Organizers Take on Industrial Developers, Aided by Urban Allies</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  44. ]]></description>
  45. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="568" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?fit=1024%2C568&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?w=1170&amp;ssl=1 1170w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?resize=760%2C422&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?resize=768%2C426&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?resize=1024%2C568&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?resize=780%2C433&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?resize=400%2C222&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?resize=706%2C392&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/LEDE_Ashlyn-Bloom_09082025.jpg?fit=1024%2C568&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  46. <p>On the evening of August 21, 2025, Chris Giokaris hopped on the interstate heading southeast from his hometown of Tucson, Arizona. His destination was Benson, a town of about 5,500 people located 50 miles away. The small town is known as the gateway to the San Pedro Valley, in large part for the San Pedro River that winds its way north from Mexico as one of the last undammed rivers in the Sonoran Desert.&nbsp;</p>
  47.  
  48.  
  49.  
  50. <p>Now, Benson residents worry their region’s environment could soon be jeopardized by plans for a 200-acre aluminum recycling plant operated by Aluminum Dynamics, Inc., a subsidiary of Steel Dynamics, Inc., one of the United States’ largest steel producers and metals recyclers. The proposed development has garnered outcry from residents concerned about the facility’s location, projected emissions, and potential adverse effects on the water supply.&nbsp;</p>
  51.  
  52.  
  53.  
  54. <p>It was this outcry that motivated Giokaris to take a road trip to Benson in an act of solidarity with the community. Despite growing up in Tucson, Giokaris had only visited Benson twice before this summer. Then, in June 2025, he got involved in local politics.&nbsp;</p>
  55.  
  56.  
  57.  
  58. <p>Giokaris joined the No Desert Data Center Coalition (NDDCC), a grassroots group that organized against <a href="https://www.pima.gov/3552/Project-Blue-FAQ">Project Blue</a>, an Amazon-backed data center complex that evoked frustration from Tucson locals over the development’s planned water and power usage. Data centers are notorious for consuming large volumes of <a href="https://theconversation.com/data-centers-consume-massive-amounts-of-water-companies-rarely-tell-the-public-exactly-how-much-262901">water</a> and <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/this-rural-community-fought-the-countrys-second-biggest-gas-powered-data-center-and-won/2025/06/17/">energy</a> as part of the air conditioning process necessary to keep their warehouses full of computers from overheating.&nbsp;</p>
  59.  
  60.  
  61.  
  62. <p>On his drive out of town, Giokaris passed the exit for the Pima County Fairgrounds, the proposed Project Blue site, sitting just outside Tucson city limits. Over the summer, NDDCC played a key role in opposing Beale Infrastructure, Project Blue’s developer, at the city level.&nbsp;</p>
  63.  
  64.  
  65.  
  66. <p>Tucson’s City Council voted <a href="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona/2025/08/07/tucson-city-council-rejects-project-blue-proposal/85551559007/?gnt-cfr=1&amp;gca-cat=p&amp;gca-uir=true&amp;gca-epti=z11xx63p119350c119350e001100v11xx63b0050xxd005065&amp;gca-ft=146&amp;gca-ds=sophi">against</a> Beale’s request for the city to annex the fairgrounds, which would have granted Project Blue access to Tucson’s water supply, on August 6. Though Beale is <a href="https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/091725_pima_project_blue/project-blue-developer-tells-county-theyre-still-building-tucson-data-center/">continuing</a> to push the development through at the county level, many in Tucson see the city council vote as a win for local activism. By mid-August, NDDCC was getting messages from nearby communities asking for advice on organizing against other resource-intensive developments.&nbsp;</p>
  67.  
  68.  
  69.  
  70. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote"><blockquote><p>“Within all of these fights, there’s this common thread of these billion-dollar companies coming to our communities, taking what they want and leaving us to pick up the pieces” </p></blockquote></figure>
  71.  
  72.  
  73.  
  74. <p>That’s when the coalition expanded its efforts across southern Arizona.&nbsp;</p>
  75.  
  76.  
  77.  
  78. <p>“We&#8217;re not trying to lead their causes, but just support their causes in any way that we can,” said Giokaris.&nbsp;</p>
  79.  
  80.  
  81.  
  82. <p>Giokaris had seen a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DNjxfYpRbAw/?igsh=MXNjODJyb2JycjVyZw==">social media post</a> from a Benson-based opposition group about an August 21 public meeting scheduled by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) as part of the air permitting process for the proposed aluminum plant. He decided to drive down in the hopes of meeting local organizers and finding ways for NDDCC to help.&nbsp;</p>
  83.  
  84.  
  85.  
  86. <p>While driving past the Pima County Fairgrounds, the Santa Rita Mountains south of the interstate caught the late afternoon sun on Giokaris’ route toward Benson. There, in the Santa Rita foothills, residents of Corona de Tucson are involved in a years-long<a href="https://www.kgun9.com/news/community-inspired-journalism/vail/residents-near-proposed-copper-mine-raise-health-and-safety-concerns-at-community-meeting"> opposition</a> against Hudbay’s proposed <a href="https://www.copperworldaz.com/">Copper World project</a>, a 20-year mine whose first phase is projected to produce an average of 85,000 metric tons of copper per year, making it one of the largest copper producers in the U.S.&nbsp;</p>
  87.  
  88.  
  89.  
  90. <p>Organizers from Corona de Tucson got in touch with NDDCC after the Tucson City Council voted against annexing land for Project Blue. Though the proposed copper mine is just 30 miles from Tucson, Giokaris hadn’t been aware of the development or its opposition.</p>
  91.  
  92.  
  93.  
  94. <p>He said the experience was eye-opening for his understanding of his place in southern Arizona’s broader community. “It&#8217;s almost life-changing, because I never knew about any of this kind of stuff, but now that I&#8217;m in it — doing it — for the rest of my life, I don&#8217;t see how I&#8217;m not going to be involved in some sort of community stuff.”</p>
  95.  
  96.  
  97.  
  98. <p>Chantelle Khambholja is a Tucsonan and member of NDDCC who is also now involved with organizing efforts in Benson. She shared Giokaris’ positive sentiments about the experience of working alongside the nearby rural community.&nbsp;</p>
  99.  
  100.  
  101.  
  102. <p>“We&#8217;ve always been neighbors, and now we&#8217;re actually becoming friends,” said Khambholja.</p>
  103.  
  104.  
  105.  
  106. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Leaving the Town High and Dry</strong></h3>
  107.  
  108.  
  109.  
  110. <p>By the time Giokaris made it to Benson, more than 250 locals were gathered at the high school for the ADEQ meeting. The August 21 event was the second in a series of listening sessions hosted by the state agency as part of its process to grant Aluminum Dynamics the air permit it needs to comply with the Clean Air Act.&nbsp;</p>
  111.  
  112.  
  113.  
  114. <p>To recycle aluminum, the facility will take scrap metal and melt it down in large furnaces before recasting it into large slabs of aluminum. Those slabs will then be sold to other companies making products ranging from phone cables to car parts. That remelting process will emit air contaminants including coarse particulate matter (PM10), fine particulate matter, and nitrous oxides, according to the <a href="https://static.azdeq.gov/pn/aq_adi_app.pdf">permit application</a> Aluminum Dynamics submitted to ADEQ.&nbsp;</p>
  115.  
  116.  
  117.  
  118. <p>Some Benson residents have expressed concern about the pollution given the plant’s proximity to an elderly care facility and elementary school, as well as its location along the banks of the San Pedro River. Public health research has established that even short-term exposure to particulate matter is unsafe, and the <a href="https://www.who.int/teams/environment-climate-change-and-health/air-quality-and-health/health-impacts/types-of-pollutants">World Health Organization</a> lists the pollutant as a cause of lung cancer. Aluminum Dynamics projects it will emit 61.7 tons per year of PM10 and 52.2 tons per year of PM2.5.&nbsp;</p>
  119.  
  120.  
  121.  
  122. <p>Elizabeth Bechard is the public health manager for Moms Clean Air Force, a national nonprofit organization that advocates for protecting children from air pollution. She agreed with Benson residents’ concerns about the plant being located near a school.</p>
  123.  
  124.  
  125.  
  126. <p>“We know that children&#8217;s lungs are still developing, and so any kind of pollution that they&#8217;re exposed to as their lungs are developing can have potentially long term impacts on their lung function,” said Bechard.</p>
  127.  
  128.  
  129.  
  130. <p>The permit also notes the facility will emit more than 100 tons of Hazardous Air Pollutants annually. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) <a href="https://www.epa.gov/haps/what-are-hazardous-air-pollutants">categorizes</a> Hazardous Air Pollutants as those known or suspected to cause cancer. Bechard said this category of pollutants is also linked to neurological damage and potentially developmental damage in growing children.</p>
  131.  
  132.  
  133.  
  134. <p>In addition to air pollution, some Benson residents are worried about the proposed facility’s water usage. The permit application notes that the plant’s two cooling towers can handle up to 5,000 gallons of water a minute. But in a July 16 <a href="https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1144370411061255&amp;id=100064649201135&amp;mibextid=wwXIfr&amp;rdid=XVskPdZIMz6yaQKQ#">Facebook post</a>, the City of Benson stated that Aluminum Dynamics had requested a meter for the plant that would provide a maximum of 388 gallons of water per minute. </p>
  135.  
  136.  
  137.  
  138. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="439" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-rendering-2.png?resize=780%2C439&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233451" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-rendering-2.png?resize=1296%2C729&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-rendering-2.png?resize=760%2C427&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-rendering-2.png?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-rendering-2.png?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-rendering-2.png?resize=1200%2C675&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-rendering-2.png?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-rendering-2.png?resize=780%2C439&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-rendering-2.png?resize=400%2C225&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-rendering-2.png?resize=706%2C397&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-rendering-2.png?w=1938&amp;ssl=1 1938w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-rendering-2-1296x729.png?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong><em>A rendering of the proposed aluminum recycling plant provided by Aluminum Dynamics to the City of Benson’s Planning and Zoning Commission. As part of the recycling process, the facility will melt scrap metal and then recast it into slabs of aluminum. (Source: City of Benson / Aluminum Dynamics)</em></strong></figcaption></figure>
  139.  
  140.  
  141.  
  142. <p>Ashlyn Bloom is a local beef rancher and co-founder of Health Over Wealth Benson, a nonprofit group that emerged from the local opposition to Aluminum Dynamics. Bloom looked at Benson’s yearly water usage to calculate the impact that Aluminum Dynamics’ water request would have on the town. She said that the 388 gallons per minute would nearly double the city’s daily water usage.</p>
  143.  
  144.  
  145.  
  146. <p>In footage of a <a href="https://webgen1files1.revize.com/cityofbensonaz/Document%20Center/Agendas%20and%20Minutes/City%20Council/Minutes/2025/7-14-25%20Regular%20Meeting.pdf?t=202508121440480&amp;t=202508121440480">July 14 meeting</a> of Benson’s City Council shared with the Daily Yonder, Benson resident Micah Lee broke down the cooling towers’ overall water usage, beyond what would be sourced from the city, in a public comment. Based on the cooling towers’ total capacity for water, he calculated that the Aluminum Dynamics plant would use 4.6 times more water annually than the City of Benson used in 2024.&nbsp;</p>
  147.  
  148.  
  149.  
  150. <p>While Aluminum Dynamics has stated some of that water will be recirculated, Bloom said she’s worried about how the aluminum plant will affect already-scarce water resources in the Sonoran Desert.&nbsp;</p>
  151.  
  152.  
  153.  
  154. <p>“Part of the reason I love being out here is because I can have my cows and my sheep and everything. The land provides my resources,” said Bloom. “If we don’t have water, I don’t know if we could be a place that gets our water trucked in.”</p>
  155.  
  156.  
  157.  
  158. <p>Arizona is in the midst of a <a href="https://www.azwater.gov/drought">drought</a> that began in the 1990s, and Cochise County, where Benson is located, has spent the <a href="https://www.azwater.gov/drought/drought-data-dashboard">majority of 2025</a> thus far with either an Exceptional or Extreme Drought designation, the two most severe drought levels.&nbsp;</p>
  159.  
  160.  
  161.  
  162. <p>In 2024, the <a href="https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/122024_willcox_water/arizona-moves-regulate-rural-groundwater-pumping-near-willcox/#:~:text=The%20Willcox%20Basin%20provides%20water%20to%20more,large%2C%20out%2Dof%2Dstate%20corporations%20from%20over%20pumping%20groundwater">overpumping of groundwater</a> in Cochise County prompted the Arizona Department of Water Resources to declare an <a href="https://www.azwater.gov/sites/default/files/2024-12/Willcox-AMA-Map-for-order.jpg">Active Management Area</a> to curb large corporations’ ability to draw water from the Willcox Basin without limit. Though Benson lies within the neighboring San Pedro watershed, some water experts are worried the overpumping problem could repeat itself with the construction of the Aluminum Dynamics development.</p>
  163.  
  164.  
  165.  
  166. <p>“They&#8217;re going to be putting unnecessary stress on the San Pedro watershed,” said Valerisa Gaddy, Navajo (Diné), Community Conservation Director at the nonprofit Watershed Management Group, which is based in Tucson. Gaddy has her Ph.D. in environmental science and microbiology with a focus on southern Arizona. She said there are currently “no sufficient safeguards” in place from the state to protect the San Pedro watershed.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  167.  
  168.  
  169.  
  170. <p>“We need to start looking at water as not just a resource we can use, but as being an entity, and that comes from my own upbringing coming from the Navajo Nation,” Gaddy said. “[We] look at water as more of a holistic approach, as opposed to something that we can tap into and just use for our consumption.</p>
  171.  
  172.  
  173.  
  174. <figure class="wp-block-pullquote"><blockquote><p>“We&#8217;ve always been neighbors, and now we&#8217;re actually becoming friends&#8221; <br></p></blockquote></figure>
  175.  
  176.  
  177.  
  178. <p>Khambholja said water usage was a rallying point for the anti-Project Blue activists in Tucson to understand and support Benson residents’ struggle against the aluminum plant.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  179.  
  180.  
  181.  
  182. <p>“In the Sonoran Desert, water is life. Clean water is life, and we cannot survive without it,” she said. Though she sees striking similarities between the Project Blue development and the aluminum plant in terms of water usage, Khambholja said the solidarity between the two communities goes beyond water alone.</p>
  183.  
  184.  
  185.  
  186. <p>“Within all of these fights, there’s this common thread of these billion-dollar companies coming to our communities, taking what they want and leaving us to pick up the pieces,” she said.&nbsp;</p>
  187.  
  188.  
  189.  
  190. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Transparency Issues</h3>
  191.  
  192.  
  193.  
  194. <p>In Benson, as in Tucson, residents are frustrated with the lack of transparency about the proposed development. Following Project Blue’s use of nondisclosure agreements in Pima County, both Tucson and Pima County governments are pursuing the adoption of <a href="https://azluminaria.org/2025/09/09/following-pima-county-tucson-moves-to-create-new-policy-for-ndas/">stricter transparency rules</a> tied to developers.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  195.  
  196.  
  197.  
  198. <p>The city of Benson <a href="https://webgen1files1.revize.com/cityofbensonaz/Minutes-%2011-6-2024.pdf?t=202506271343250&amp;t=202506271343250">granted</a> Aluminum Dynamics a conditional use permit during a November 6, 2024, Planning and Zoning Commission meeting. That permit authorized them to begin developing the land around the site, which Union Pacific Railroad confirmed to the Daily Yonder that it currently owns.&nbsp;</p>
  199.  
  200.  
  201.  
  202. <p>Bloom said Benson residents were not given adequate notice before the meeting last fall. A paper notice was posted on City Hall premises, and an announcement ran in the Sierra Vista Herald and Bisbee Observer, two subscription print and online newspapers based 30 and 50 miles south of Benson, respectively.&nbsp;</p>
  203.  
  204.  
  205.  
  206. <p>“That was a red flag to me,” Bloom said. “Why are you being so quiet about this? What do you not want us to find out?”</p>
  207.  
  208.  
  209. <div class="wp-block-image">
  210. <figure class="alignright size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="1040" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new.jpg?resize=780%2C1040&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233457" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=972%2C1296&amp;ssl=1 972w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=570%2C760&amp;ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=900%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C800&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C1600&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C2667&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C1040&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C533&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C941&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-scaled.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_9850_new-972x1296.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong><em>On July 19, 2025, members of Health Over Wealth Benson hosted a booth to raise awareness about their opposition to the Aluminum Dynamics plant at Pioneer Days, an annual event held in the neighboring community of St. David. (Photo courtesy of Ashlyn Bloom)</em></strong></figcaption></figure></div>
  211.  
  212.  
  213. <p>On August 29, 2025, Health Over Wealth Benson filed a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DOJxwSwku9_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&amp;igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">lawsuit</a> against Aluminum Dynamics and members of Benson’s Planning and Zoning Commission for what they claim was an illegally granted conditional use permit. Their argument alleges that the Planning and Zoning Commission failed to follow proper procedure under Arizona state law. Instead of issuing a conditional use permit for the site, the plaintiffs argue that the city should have issued a height variance, something which the Board of Adjustments typically oversees rather than the Planning and Zoning Commission.</p>
  214.  
  215.  
  216.  
  217. <p>“It just feels very shady the way that they went about it,” Bloom said, noting that before Aluminum Dynamics’ application in Benson, the company had filed a similar application with the neighboring community of Gila Bend, population 1,800. Gila Bend’s City Council <a href="https://www.gilabendaz.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_07092024-439">voted down</a> the request during a public meeting on July 9, 2024. Aluminum Dynamics has since filed a lawsuit against the City of Gila Bend for lost investment.&nbsp;</p>
  218.  
  219.  
  220.  
  221. <p>Aluminum Dynamics did not respond to the Daily Yonder’s questions about the plant’s proposed water usage, projected emissions, or Benson residents’ transparency concerns.&nbsp;</p>
  222.  
  223.  
  224.  
  225. <p>While members of Health Over Wealth Benson wait for a court date from Cochise County Superior Court, they are not letting up on their pressure against the city, county, and state. After holding public meetings in Benson over the summer as part of the air permitting process, ADEQ extended its public comment period by one month, ending acceptance of additional comments on September 16. Health Over Wealth Benson posted resources on its website to help members of the public craft submissions that meet ADEQ’s <a href="https://www.protectbensonaz.org/updated-information/forming-a-solid-adeq-comment">requirements</a> for being fact-based and grounded in law.</p>
  226.  
  227.  
  228.  
  229. <p>In a statement to the Daily Yonder, ADEQ said it had received a total of 814 public comments on the draft permit during the comment period. The agency will now review the comments and release a responsiveness summary before submitting the proposed final permit to the EPA, which will then have a 45-day review period to make objections. If the EPA has no issues with the draft permit, ADEQ will then issue the final permit to Aluminum Dynamics. If the EPA does have objections, ADEQ will need to resolve them within 90 days before it can issue the final permit.&nbsp;</p>
  230.  
  231.  
  232.  
  233. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="583" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow.png?resize=780%2C583&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233452" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow.png?resize=1296%2C969&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow.png?resize=760%2C568&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow.png?resize=768%2C574&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow.png?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow.png?resize=400%2C299&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow.png?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow.png?resize=1200%2C897&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow.png?resize=1024%2C765&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow.png?resize=780%2C583&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow.png?resize=706%2C528&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow.png?w=1512&amp;ssl=1 1512w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/ADI-site-drone-photos_PZ-Slideshow-1296x969.png?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong><em>An aerial shot of the proposed site for the Aluminum Dynamics recycling plant. The property is close to the San Pedro River, and its groundwater lies within the San Pedro watershed. (Source: City of Benson)</em></strong></figcaption></figure>
  234.  
  235.  
  236.  
  237. <p>While the number of comments alone won’t influence ADEQ’s actions, the evaluation of the comments could prompt changes to the permit. ADEQ may change permit conditions based on comments “to ensure a permit is as protective as possible,” wrote ADEQ spokesperson Caroline Oppleman in a statement to the Daily Yonder.</p>
  238.  
  239.  
  240.  
  241. <p>During the comment period, Tucsonans involved in the fight against Project Blue saw a chance to lift up their counterparts’ work in Benson.&nbsp;</p>
  242.  
  243.  
  244.  
  245. <p>Julie Dittmer, a born and raised Tucsonan who works as an independent researcher in law and policy, submitted comments to ADEQ and Benson’s City Council in August expressing concerns around the transparency, public accountability, and long-term community impacts of the proposed aluminum plant.</p>
  246.  
  247.  
  248.  
  249. <p>“Questions have emerged around timing of hearings, adequacy of public process, and whether agencies are prioritizing corporate timelines over public oversight,” she wrote.</p>
  250.  
  251.  
  252.  
  253. <p>Chantelle Khambholja also submitted comments to ADEQ. An avid birder, she said that what’s playing out in Benson is a shared struggle for all who live in the region. Should the aluminum plant be built, Khambholja said she worries what could become of the San Pedro River ecosystem, which has long been a favorite spot of hers for spotting migratory birds, since <a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/san-pedro-river/#:~:text=Description,undammed%20rivers%20in%20the%20Southwest.">millions</a> make their way through the valley annually on their journey across the continent.</p>
  254.  
  255.  
  256.  
  257. <p>“These issues of extractive industries coming into communities like ours unite us beyond so many other things that would have otherwise potentially divided us,” Khambholja said. “They unite us across political boundaries. They unite us across socio-economic boundaries.”</p>
  258. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/arizona-rural-grassroots-organizers-take-on-industrial-developers-aided-by-urban-allies/2025/10/03/">Arizona Rural Grassroots Organizers Take on Industrial Developers, Aided by Urban Allies</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  259. ]]></content:encoded>
  261. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/arizona-rural-grassroots-organizers-take-on-industrial-developers-aided-by-urban-allies/2025/10/03/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  262. <slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
  265. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233447</post-id> </item>
  266. <item>
  267. <title>Q&#038;A: Talking ‘Trash’ With Cedar Monroe</title>
  268. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/qa-talking-trash-with-cedar-monroe/2025/10/03/</link>
  269. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/qa-talking-trash-with-cedar-monroe/2025/10/03/#respond</comments>
  271. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Betsy Froiland]]></dc:creator>
  272. <pubDate>Fri, 03 Oct 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  273. <category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
  274. <category><![CDATA[Rural Life]]></category>
  275. <category><![CDATA[Path Finders]]></category>
  276. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233383</guid>
  277.  
  278. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="766" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C766&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=760%2C569&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=1296%2C969&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=768%2C575&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=1536%2C1149&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=400%2C299&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C898&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C766&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=2000%2C1496&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=780%2C583&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=706%2C528&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C766&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  279. <p>Editor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&#38;A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Like what you see here? You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article and receive more conversations like this in your inbox each week. [&#8230;]</p>
  280. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-talking-trash-with-cedar-monroe/2025/10/03/">Q&#038;A: Talking ‘Trash’ With Cedar Monroe</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  281. ]]></description>
  282. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="766" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C766&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=760%2C569&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=1296%2C969&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=768%2C575&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=1536%2C1149&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=400%2C299&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=1200%2C898&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C766&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=2000%2C1496&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=780%2C583&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?resize=706%2C528&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Cedar-Monroe-Headshot-by-Iryna-Stavynska-1.jpg?fit=1024%2C766&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  283. <p><em>Editor’s Note: This interview first appeared in <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/path-finders/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Path Finders</a>, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&amp;A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Like what you see here? You can <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-appalachian-potter-josh-copus-has-mud-in-the-blood/2025/06/20/#signup">join the mailing list at the bottom of this article</a> and receive more conversations like this in your inbox each week.</em></p>
  284.  
  285.  
  286.  
  287. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  288.  
  289.  
  290.  
  291. <p>Cedar Monroe grew up in rural Grays Harbor County, Washington. For about a decade, he worked as an activist and interfaith chaplain in Grays Harbor, facilitating street and prison ministry for some of the county’s most underserved residents. In 2013, he co-founded faith-based activism movement <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/an-old-timber-towns-freedom-church-of-the-poor/2025/08/29/">Chaplains on the Harbor,</a> a group he has since left that continues to serve marginalized folks in Grays Harbor. In 2024, he published his book <a href="https://www.cedarmonroe.com/book/"><em>Trash: A Poor White Journey</em></a>, which delves into white supremacist narratives around poverty in America. Now, he is earning a PhD through the University College Cork, studying nature-based religion as a motivator for change. Enjoy our conversation about rural poverty, the forces that manufactured it, and the blaming narratives that try to justify it.&nbsp;</p>
  292.  
  293.  
  294.  
  295. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  296.  
  297.  
  298.  
  299. <p class="has-text-align-center"><em>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.</em></p>
  300.  
  301.  
  302.  
  303. <p><strong>Betsy Froiland, The Daily Yonder: </strong>Can you talk a little bit about the history of Grays Harbor County?</p>
  304.  
  305.  
  306.  
  307. <p><strong>Cedar Monroe:</strong> After the Puget Sound War, the U.S. government seized the majority of land in Grays Harbor, at that time from Indigenous people. Then, the land was sold for six dollars an acre to Weyerhaeuser [logging company] in the very early 20th century. It was very much a timber economy, very much an extractive economy that was the basis for jobs there for almost a century. Then, the timber industry in the region started declining in the 70s and 80s. Coming out of that, I grew up in the 90s, when the industry was imploding: there was more and more unemployment, more and more poverty. And then really, really high rates of homelessness. It&#8217;s a majority white community, but it also has a significant presence of Indigenous people. Quinault Indian Nation is just north, and then Shoalwater Bay and Chehalis on either side. And so a significant number of homeless people are also Indigenous in the region.&nbsp;</p>
  308.  
  309.  
  310.  
  311. <p><strong>DY: </strong>You mentioned that Grays Harbor is a predominantly white county. In <em>Trash</em>, you discuss how white supremacist narratives hurt everyone, including – particularly poor – white people. What were you observing in Grays Harbor that brought you to that conclusion?</p>
  312.  
  313.  
  314.  
  315. <p><strong>CM:</strong> One thing I noticed in Grays Harbor was that there were all of these systems that were designed to keep people in their place. And all of these messagings that were telling people that they were inadequate – that their poverty was their fault. That they were just too lazy, too stupid, too uneducated to make it. And this is also very much coming out of a lot of religious messaging as well. A lot of local religious groups who were providing charity or support saw people as problems and suffering from a crisis of their own making. You&#8217;re poor because you don&#8217;t love Jesus enough.&nbsp;</p>
  316.  
  317.  
  318.  
  319. <p>This is where my analysis of white supremacy comes in. There is this assumption that if you are white, you should make it. Embedded within white supremacy is a blaming of poor white people for their own poverty because they&#8217;re failed white people. White supremacy teaches the superiority of whiteness. And here they are, people who can&#8217;t make it. And so all of these messages of blame was something that really kind of struck me more than anything else. Because if you step back, it&#8217;s so clear that this is a manufactured crisis. But whole populations, whole cities of people are being told that this is their fault – that it&#8217;s their failure. And so I think I wrote the book in large part to reverse that discussion. And to challenge that dominant narrative. I think J.D. Vance&#8217;s book, <em>Hillbilly Elegy</em>, is very much a look at poor white communities as failed communities. And they&#8217;re failing because they&#8217;re lazy and they don&#8217;t go to work on time and they don&#8217;t have a good work ethic and they are prone to addiction and all of these things. And I think it&#8217;s – in Vance&#8217;s campy kind of way – a <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-in-his-tales-of-appalachian-life-jd-vance-ignores-people-like-me/2024/07/24/">message of blame</a>. And I wanted to present a different narrative.&nbsp;</p>
  320.  
  321.  
  322.  
  323. <p><strong>DY: </strong>You bring up J.D. Vance – <em>Trash</em> was published in March of 2024, before the re-election of Donald Trump that fall. Now, with Trump in office again, and white supremacy and Christian nationalism continuing to surge across the country, do you see what’s happening in America as more of the same thing that you wrote about in your book? Or is it different this time?</p>
  324.  
  325.  
  326.  
  327. <p><strong>CM:</strong> I think we&#8217;re seeing not only the living out – or the result – of this idea that poor people are to blame for their own poverty, but also measures that are going to immeasurably increase people&#8217;s suffering. There&#8217;s such a tremendous amount of suffering and unnecessary death, right, that comes with this enforced poverty, this withholding of resources from poor communities, this theft of resources from poor communities. And I think the Trump administration has shown that it&#8217;s not only going to continue, but accelerate that process. It&#8217;s going to continue to destroy anything that&#8217;s left of any kind of social safety nets, any kind of social programs, any kind of support systems that are left – which is very, very little in the American system. We have this narrative in the United States that, you know, you need to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps – you need to just work hard and not be lazy and everything will be fine. But that isn&#8217;t true for an increasing majority of Americans. There was just a study that said that 60% of Americans struggle to meet their basic needs. So we&#8217;re seeing this increased concentration of resources into the hands of fewer and fewer people. And at the same time, this cutting off any kind of whatever little bits of social services were left for people.&nbsp;</p>
  328.  
  329.  
  330.  
  331. <p>In Grays Harbor, people&#8217;s demands were really clear. Their demands were for housing and for medical care and for treatment centers and their demands for their basic needs to be met. And there&#8217;s no reason why our society can&#8217;t provide those things. There&#8217;s no reason why our tax dollars can&#8217;t provide these things. There&#8217;s no reason why the richest country in the world can&#8217;t provide for its people. There are many alarming things about the Trump administration, but one of the things that&#8217;s broken my heart the most is seeing the rollback of access to Medicaid and access to food stamps as the last safety nets for people who are already completely on the edge.&nbsp;</p>
  332.  
  333.  
  334.  
  335. <p><strong>DY: </strong>You brought up how Christianity has been used in these blaming narratives – in your street and prison ministry, did you see your work as trying to undo those logics?</p>
  336.  
  337.  
  338.  
  339. <p><strong>CM:</strong> Yes, absolutely. I think that was very much my goal. I did interfaith work, so I wasn&#8217;t particularly interested in telling people what they should or shouldn&#8217;t believe. And there&#8217;s a very wide range of religious beliefs in Grays Harbor. But I think what was really important to me was for people to be, first of all, treated with dignity and respect. I think the most important counter to white Christian nationalism, or at least one of them, is the dignity of every human being. And this is something that does exist right within Christian theology. I wanted people to see that in the Christian paradigm, that they’re a child of God, that they&#8217;re valued, that they&#8217;re worthy. Because everything around poor people is telling them that they&#8217;re not.&nbsp;</p>
  340.  
  341.  
  342.  
  343. <p>I also did a lot of direct work with folks who are engaged in white nationalist groups, because prisons in the U.S. are full of white nationalist messaging among white inmates. I had a lot of conversations around what the value of poor people uniting across race in the U.S. would be in resisting and ending poverty. And the importance of coming together, and pushing back against the narratives that are dividing us and that are keeping us fighting each other and pitted against each other instead of directing our energy and organization against the theft of our resources and our people and our lives. I came very much from a liberation theology perspective – that God was on the side of the poor and that Jesus was a poor person who organized other poor people and was targeted by a powerful and wealthy empire. Regardless of your own faith or religious affiliation, I think that that&#8217;s a powerful story. And one that’s really important for this moment.</p>
  344.  
  345.  
  346.  
  347. <p><strong>DY: </strong>I want to talk about your interfaith work, specifically with Indigenous people in Grays Harbor. What did you learn from Indigenous people in the course of your ministry?</p>
  348.  
  349.  
  350.  
  351. <p>There were people across all sorts of faith traditions. But I think the one thing that was important in my book and important for me to learn was the history of Indigenous resistance in that region. Colonization – or at least direct colonization – came much later to that Pacific Northwest in the U.S., and there was a long history and tradition in that region of a very different way of living. A culture rooted in ideas of generosity and sharing and abundance– very, very, very different than the colonial capitalist economy that now exists. And even though Indigenous people, through boarding schools, and conquest, and the reservation system, and Dawes Act, were separated from their traditions in many ways, there&#8217;s a huge effort in the Pacific Northwest and in the Quinault Indian Nation and Shoalwater Bay and Chehalis – which were the groups that I interacted with – to revitalize language and culture and tradition. On the ground, I think that probably radicalized me more than anything else. It was really easy as a white person coming from a poor white community – working in a poor white community, experiencing poverty myself – to see things like the messaging of white supremacy and trying to overturn that. But it was harder for me to see a path out without encountering the fact that Indigenous people were already creating ways around and out of the system that we&#8217;re currently in. Not saying that Indigenous people don&#8217;t hear the same messages, and don&#8217;t internalize the same kind of shame. But there is cultural resistance to that. And a sense of communal solidarity that doesn&#8217;t really exist in white and poor white communities. That was really valuable to see.&nbsp;</p>
  352.  
  353.  
  354.  
  355. <p><strong>DY:</strong> We’ve talked about the internalized effects of this white supremacist messaging around poverty. What about the externalized effects? How does it compel people to treat each other?</p>
  356.  
  357.  
  358.  
  359. <p><strong>CM: </strong>There&#8217;s always tension on the ground between poor white people and Indigenous people, particularly in the Northwest around fishing rights. Because Indigenous nations in Washington state, with the <a href="https://www.cascadepbs.org/indigenous-affairs/2024/02/boldt-decisions-impact-indigenous-rights-50-years-later/#:~:text=Boldt's%20ruling%20upheld%20the%20validity,the%20available%20fish%20every%20year.">Boldt Decision</a>, control 50% of Washington&#8217;s fisheries and the resources themselves, which was an amazing bid for Indigenous sovereignty. But poor white people are often very resentful of this for all sorts of reasons. I remember having a conversation with a young white man who was homeless and who was active on fishing boats. During the fishing season, he would work, and then, like many other people his age, would end up homeless during the off season. And there&#8217;s a lot of myths in poor white communities around how Indigenous people get payouts from their tribes, or how they get better fishing and make more money. And so, this man was just going off like a lot of white fishermen do. And I remember saying, what if we all got to live in a system where our government – in this case, like tribal governments – were actually invested in our care? What if they actually shared resources? What if there was a system that could work for everyone? There’s an instinct to be resentful about your perceived loss (which is statistically untrue – Indigenous communities in Washington state are far poorer than even poor white communities) and there’s a perceived sense that Indigenous people are being cared for by their tribal governments while white people are not.&nbsp;</p>
  360.  
  361.  
  362.  
  363. <p>So I was like, what if we all got cared for? What if we created systems of care for everyone? And he just kind of stopped for a minute. And he was just like, well, that&#8217;d be nice. Imagine.</p>
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  380. <p>This interview first appeared in <strong>Path Finders</strong>, a weekly email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each Monday, Path Finders features a Q&amp;A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Join the mailing list today, to have these illuminating conversations delivered straight to your inbox. </p>
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  418. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-talking-trash-with-cedar-monroe/2025/10/03/">Q&#038;A: Talking ‘Trash’ With Cedar Monroe</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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  425. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233383</post-id> </item>
  426. <item>
  427. <title> A Centuries-Old Appalachian Hymn Singing Tradition is Still Soothing Souls</title>
  428. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/a-centuries-old-appalachian-hymn-singing-tradition-is-still-soothing-souls/2025/10/02/</link>
  429. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/a-centuries-old-appalachian-hymn-singing-tradition-is-still-soothing-souls/2025/10/02/#respond</comments>
  431. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Zack Harold]]></dc:creator>
  432. <pubDate>Thu, 02 Oct 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  433. <category><![CDATA[Religion & Faith]]></category>
  434. <category><![CDATA[Living Traditions]]></category>
  435. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233435</guid>
  436.  
  437. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?w=1999&amp;ssl=1 1999w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=1536%2C1153&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  438. <p>It’s one of the most distinctive sounds in country and bluegrass music. You can hear it in the singing of Patty Loveless, Keith Whitley and Ricky Skaggs. The way these Appalachian-born singers bend and glide and flip over their melodies—it can stir your soul and break your heart at the same time. You can trace [&#8230;]</p>
  439. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/a-centuries-old-appalachian-hymn-singing-tradition-is-still-soothing-souls/2025/10/02/"> A Centuries-Old Appalachian Hymn Singing Tradition is Still Soothing Souls</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  440. ]]></description>
  441. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?w=1999&amp;ssl=1 1999w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=1536%2C1153&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/lede-image-hymnal.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  442. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-spotify wp-block-embed-spotify wp-embed-aspect-21-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  443. <iframe title="Spotify Embed: A Centuries-Old Appalachian Hymn Singing Tradition is Still Soothing Souls" style="border-radius: 12px" width="100%" height="152" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/55VYWzN9rdogkcG7oBNs8Q?si=e0CzOSmORsivti2tAQVqhA&#038;nd=1&#038;dlsi=1718ff7f4f1d49a1&#038;utm_source=oembed"></iframe>
  444. </div></figure>
  445.  
  446.  
  447.  
  448. <p>It’s one of the most distinctive sounds in country and bluegrass music. You can hear it in the singing of Patty Loveless, Keith Whitley and Ricky Skaggs.</p>
  449.  
  450.  
  451.  
  452. <p>The way these Appalachian-born singers bend and glide and flip over their melodies—it can stir your soul and break your heart at the same time. You can trace this style of singing back to bluegrass legends like Ralph Stanley. But the roots of this sound go even deeper, back to the Primitive and Old Regular Baptist churches where folks like Stanley were raised.&nbsp;</p>
  453.  
  454.  
  455.  
  456. <p>The acapella music tradition of these churches provided the soundtrack to singer Ginny Hawker’s childhood. She grew up near Chincoteague, Virginia where her father worked construction. But every opportunity the family got, they’d take the ferry across the Chesapeake Bay and head to Danville, Virginia where Hawker’s grandfather, James, still lived.</p>
  457.  
  458.  
  459.  
  460. <p>“Even though we weren’t living near my grandfather, we spent every minute that we could get free over there with him,” Hawker said.</p>
  461.  
  462.  
  463.  
  464. <p>And when they visited grandpa, they went to grandpa’s church: Old Mill Primitive Baptist. It was far different than the Methodist congregation Hawker attended back home. For one thing, the services were much less formal.</p>
  465.  
  466.  
  467.  
  468. <p>“There is no choir, there is no leader, there is no printed order…of what’s going to be done,” she said.</p>
  469.  
  470.  
  471.  
  472. <p>In her Methodist church, people sang from a shape note hymnal with the four-part harmonies all spelled out. The choir was accompanied by a piano and organ. At her grandpa’s church, there were no instruments. There were no harmonies. All the hymns were sung in unison—everybody on the same note.</p>
  473.  
  474.  
  475.  
  476. <p>“Sometimes the women would sing an octave higher, up there. And if some guy had a really low, really bass voice, he might sing down there. All in unison but in three octaves,” Hawker said.</p>
  477.  
  478.  
  479.  
  480. <p>And often the hymns were sung in a call-and-response style where the “caller” would “line out” a phrase before the rest of the congregation repeated it back.</p>
  481.  
  482.  
  483.  
  484. <p>“It wasn’t like a performance. This was a prayer,” Hawker said.</p>
  485.  
  486.  
  487.  
  488. <p>It’s an old tradition found throughout Appalachia and the South, brought to this part of the world from the British Isles. But as can be the case with the things we grow up around, Hawker said she took this musical tradition for granted.&nbsp;</p>
  489.  
  490.  
  491.  
  492. <p>That changed in 1986 when Hawker came to Elkins, West Virginia for the <a href="https://augustaartsandculture.org/">Augusta Heritage Festival</a>. She took a class taught by the legendary West Virginia bluegrass singer-songwriter Hazel Dickens.</p>
  493.  
  494.  
  495.  
  496. <p>“I took a songwriting class, like I would ever write songs. But I just wanted to be around her,” Hawker said.</p>
  497.  
  498.  
  499.  
  500. <p>Hawker knew Dickens had also grown up in the Primitive Baptist tradition and one day, she screwed up the courage to make a request. She asked Dickens to sing the hymn “A Few More Years to Roll.”</p>
  501.  
  502.  
  503.  
  504. <p>“She said ‘Not hardly anybody asks me to sing that one in class. Did you grow up Primitive Baptist?’ So the word was out,” Hawker said.</p>
  505.  
  506.  
  507.  
  508. <p>At the end of the week, Hawker attended a gospel sing Augusta was hosting at a city park. Dickens was there too, and the organizers invited her onstage to sit with other instructors.</p>
  509.  
  510.  
  511.  
  512. <p>“Hazel said, ‘I&#8217;ll come up and sit if Ginny can come up and sit with me. I said, ‘Hazel, I haven&#8217;t sung in a microphone since I was 18,” Hawker remembered.</p>
  513.  
  514.  
  515.  
  516. <p>But Dickens put Hawker beside her onstage, held onto the back of her chair and spoke into her ear: “Sing your grandfather’s song and put them in his church.”</p>
  517.  
  518.  
  519.  
  520. <p>“I could feel her knuckles in my back, holding onto my chair,” Hawker said.</p>
  521.  
  522.  
  523.  
  524. <p>Hawker was so nervous she has no memory of what song she sang that day. But nervous as she was, this proved to be a pivot point in Hawker’s life. The next year she was back at Augusta—this time as an instructor. That led to appearances at other folk festivals around the country, where Hawker both performed and taught Primitive Baptist singing.</p>
  525.  
  526.  
  527.  
  528. <p>Everywhere she went, Hawker carried along her most prized possession, a little black book: <em>Lloyd’s Primitive Baptist Hymns</em>.</p>
  529.  
  530.  
  531.  
  532. <p>Not long after she started spreading the gospel of Primitive Baptist singing, she went to visit her aunt Annie Maud Puckett in a nursing home. Puckett had also grown up in the Primitive Baptist church.</p>
  533.  
  534.  
  535.  
  536. <p>“She said, ‘I heard you’re singing those old hymns,’ and I said, ‘Yes, when I am in a place where people are listening,” Hawker said.</p>
  537.  
  538.  
  539.  
  540. <p>Though Hawker wasn’t always singing the Primitive Baptist songs in religious spaces, she was careful to only bring them out when they’d get the reverence they deserved from the audience.&nbsp;</p>
  541.  
  542.  
  543.  
  544. <p>“She said, ‘Well, go over there on the dresser and take that little black book. That&#8217;s for you,” Hawker said.</p>
  545.  
  546.  
  547.  
  548. <p>Hawker left that day with Puckett’s copy of <em>Lloyd’s Primitive Baptist Hymns</em>. And that battered old hymnbook still carries the mark of her aunt’s time working in tobacco fields.</p>
  549.  
  550.  
  551.  
  552. <p>“All my aunts and uncles worked in tobacco: handling leaves, pulling tobacco out of the fields and everything. The thumbprints with tobacco on them are pretty obvious,” she said.</p>
  553.  
  554.  
  555.  
  556. <p>It was this worn-out, tobacco-stained hymnal that accompanied Hawker to West Virginia University a few years ago. Music professor Travis Stimeling invited her to speak—and sing—at a class.&nbsp;</p>
  557.  
  558.  
  559.  
  560. <p>“We see this short lady walk in, her hair all done up. She just sits there really quietly and all of a sudden she starts singing and you can feel the wall of sound,” said Mary Linscheid, who was in attendance that day. “It was like, whoa, she’s a powerhouse. I wanna be like her.”</p>
  561.  
  562.  
  563.  
  564. <p>Linscheid had grown up around music. Her parents are both classical musicians, and her dad was also a big fan of southern gospel and bluegrass music. Linscheid herself had grown up playing classical violin before getting into old-time music. But she’d never heard anything like Hawker.</p>
  565.  
  566.  
  567.  
  568. <p>“There’s just something about the sound of that singing that reaches deeper than words. That just grabs you,” Linscheid said.</p>
  569.  
  570.  
  571.  
  572. <p>After Hawker’s visit, Linscheid reached out to Stimeling and asked if Hawker would teach her to sing in the Primitive Baptist style. It was perfect timing for Hawker’s part.</p>
  573.  
  574.  
  575.  
  576. <p>This was 2021 and, though the Covid-19 vaccine had been released, people still were not gathering.</p>
  577.  
  578.  
  579.  
  580. <p>“Nobody wanted to get anybody my age sick,” Hawker said. “It was so nice every Thursday to see [Mary’s] face. It saved my life that winter. I&#8217;ve loved her ever since. She&#8217;s my rock.”</p>
  581.  
  582.  
  583.  
  584. <p>Their first lesson was “Amazing Grace”—a classic old hymn, sung by lots of churches but none like the Primitive Baptists.</p>
  585.  
  586.  
  587.  
  588. <p>“Mary was the first and only student I&#8217;ve ever had that could really hear that, the first time,” Hawker said.</p>
  589.  
  590.  
  591.  
  592. <p>What Linscheid heard was something she didn’t find in the classical music she grew up playing.</p>
  593.  
  594.  
  595.  
  596. <p>“There&#8217;s a lot of faking it in classical music. Move your body in this way to fake emotion while you’re playing,” she said.</p>
  597.  
  598.  
  599.  
  600. <p>It’s even something that was lacking in the Baptist church where her family attended and Linscheid played in the worship band.</p>
  601.  
  602.  
  603.  
  604. <p>“They had a fair amount of traditional hymns they would do, and that was mixed in with the modern praise and worship music. And I always hated that,” Linscheid said.</p>
  605.  
  606.  
  607.  
  608. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="585" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=780%2C585&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233437" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=1536%2C1153&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny.jpg?w=1999&amp;ssl=1 1999w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/mary-and-ginny-1296x972.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ginny Hawker and her apprentice, Mary Linscheid, sing traditional Primitive Baptist hymns in the parlor of Hawker’s Elkins, West Virginia home. (Photo by Zack Harold)
  609. </figcaption></figure>
  610.  
  611.  
  612.  
  613. <p>Those other styles might have been more polished. But for Linscheid, they couldn’t beat Primitive Baptist singing in conviction<em>.&nbsp;</em></p>
  614.  
  615.  
  616.  
  617. <p>“Ginny always says, ‘Good singing is better than pretty singing any day.’ So it was a huge, mind-opening experience,” Linscheid said. “You can hear it soothing their own soul, so it’s kind of contagious in that way.”</p>
  618.  
  619.  
  620.  
  621. <p>Over the years, the influence of more popular musical styles have creeped into many congregations, changing the sound Hawker remembers from childhood.</p>
  622.  
  623.  
  624.  
  625. <p>“Even if you went back to my grandpa’s church, where my cousins still go, there’s liable to be somebody in there singing harmony. Because they hear it on the radio,” Hawker said.</p>
  626.  
  627.  
  628.  
  629. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="1040" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=780%2C1040&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233438" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=972%2C1296&amp;ssl=1 972w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=570%2C760&amp;ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=1153%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1153w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=900%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=600%2C800&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=1200%2C1599&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=780%2C1039&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=400%2C533&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?resize=706%2C941&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal.jpg?w=1500&amp;ssl=1 1500w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/signed-hymnal-972x1296.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ginny Hawker’s hymnbook, which she received from her aunt Annie Maud Puckett, beside the copy she gave to her apprentice, Mary Linscheid. (Photo by Zack Harold)</figcaption></figure>
  630.  
  631.  
  632.  
  633. <p>In 2024, Hawker and Linscheid became part of the <a href="https://wvhumanities.org/folklifeapprenticeships/">Folklife Apprenticeship Program at the West Virginia Humanities Council</a>—a program that provides a stipend and other support to tradition-bearers and the apprentices who want to learn their craft. As part of that, Hawker wants to take Linscheid to the places where this music is still being sung the way it was when Hawker was growing up. And because every singer needs a songbook, Hawker has also gifted Linscheid a brand new copy of <em>Lloyd’s Primitive Baptist Hymns</em>.&nbsp;</p>
  634.  
  635.  
  636.  
  637. <p>“But hers is all new. I wish I could put some tobacco stains in it,” Hawker said.</p>
  638.  
  639.  
  640.  
  641. <p>There may be no tobacco stains, but the soul of Primitive Baptist singing was never on paper anyway.</p>
  642.  
  643.  
  644.  
  645. <p>The melodies come from whoever taught you the song. And the stories—of Hawker’s grandfather, and her dad, her Aunt Annie, now of her and Linscheid—live in the space between those long, lilting notes.</p>
  646.  
  647.  
  648.  
  649. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  650.  
  651.  
  652.  
  653. <p><em>&nbsp;Zach Harold is a ninth-generation West Virginian, foster dad, bluegrass musician and an award-winning freelance writer, radio producer and documentary filmmaker based in Charleston, West Virginia.&nbsp; In his spare time, he continues his quest for the perfect hot dog.</em></p>
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  678. <p>This article is part of the <strong>Living Traditions</strong> project, featuring an assortment of stories and podcasts about folklife in central Appalachia.</p>
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  726. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/a-centuries-old-appalachian-hymn-singing-tradition-is-still-soothing-souls/2025/10/02/"> A Centuries-Old Appalachian Hymn Singing Tradition is Still Soothing Souls</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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  733. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233435</post-id> </item>
  734. <item>
  735. <title>&#8216;Untamed,&#8217; &#8216;Ransom Canyon,&#8217; and Two Other Recent Shows for Your Watchlist</title>
  736. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/rural-tv-roundup-untamed-ransom-canyon-netflix-blue-ridge-western-bound-prime-video/2025/10/02/</link>
  737. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/rural-tv-roundup-untamed-ransom-canyon-netflix-blue-ridge-western-bound-prime-video/2025/10/02/#respond</comments>
  739. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Keith Roysdon]]></dc:creator>
  740. <pubDate>Thu, 02 Oct 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  741. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  742. <category><![CDATA[The Good, the Bad, and the Elegy]]></category>
  743. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233349</guid>
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  745. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="512" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/MV5BYTU0NmIzMDMtNDdhMi00ZTZkLTk4MzQtMmM3ZWZkM2QxNWJmXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C512&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="two park rangers ride horseback with a lake and majestic mountains behind them" decoding="async" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  746. <p>Our latest TV roundup features more small-town dramas, murder mysteries, and even a reality show about rural game wardens.</p>
  747. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/rural-tv-roundup-untamed-ransom-canyon-netflix-blue-ridge-western-bound-prime-video/2025/10/02/">&#8216;Untamed,&#8217; &#8216;Ransom Canyon,&#8217; and Two Other Recent Shows for Your Watchlist</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  748. ]]></description>
  749. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="512" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/MV5BYTU0NmIzMDMtNDdhMi00ZTZkLTk4MzQtMmM3ZWZkM2QxNWJmXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C512&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="two park rangers ride horseback with a lake and majestic mountains behind them" decoding="async" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  750. <p style="font-size:14px"><em>Editor’s Note: A version of this story also appeared in The Good, the Bad, and the Elegy, a newsletter from the Daily Yonder focused on the best, and worst, in rural media, entertainment, and culture. Every other Thursday, it features reviews, retrospectives, recommendations, and more. You can </em><a href="#signup"><em>join the mailing list at the bottom of this article</em></a><em> to receive future editions in your inbox</em>.</p>
  751.  
  752.  
  753.  
  754. <p>Some of the most intriguing stories set in rural places are those that reflect the loneliness of the main character. There’s a lot of appeal to watching someone working to tame or preserve – or just survive – the wild, while the effort is undermined or undone by disappointment, ambition, or jealousy. “Yellowstone” is the most prominent example of this seen on TV in recent years.</p>
  755.  
  756.  
  757.  
  758. <p>But a new crop of dramas set in the most remote reaches of America provide another take on that trusty storyline of humankind striving in the wild, and the best of them are those that play up the loneliness both within and around the central character.</p>
  759.  
  760.  
  761.  
  762. <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-left">Untamed</h2>
  763.  
  764.  
  765.  
  766. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  767. <iframe title="UNTAMED | Official Trailer | Netflix" width="780" height="439" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eRwV1k-abZo?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  768. </div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An official trailer for &#8220;Untamed&#8221; (via Netflix on YouTube). </figcaption></figure>
  769.  
  770.  
  771.  
  772. <p>There are few characters more remote inside and out than Kyle Turner, the lead of the new mystery drama “Untamed,” which released on Netflix in July. “Untamed” is billed as a “limited” series and it certainly is that with only six episodes in the season.</p>
  773.  
  774.  
  775.  
  776. <p>Turner, played by Eric Bana, is a National Park Service (NPS) investigator. His job exists above and separate from the NPS rangers working in Yosemite National Park. We’re told that early on by another ranger who is, understandably, jealous of Turner or perhaps just put off by his unfriendly manner. That’s understandable too: Turner has a way of disregarding most people.</p>
  777.  
  778.  
  779.  
  780. <p>Turner is brought in to investigate when a woman’s body falls from the towering El Capitan rock face. The dead woman, who very nearly takes two climbers into the afterlife with her when she gets tangled in their lines, has injuries that Turner believes were not suffered in the fall and not consistent with an animal attack. Wildlife injuries are a real possibility, as in a jolting moment early on when a cabin door is opened and a bear is on the other side, trying to get in. But Turner’s instincts and observational skills lead him to think the woman’s death is not an accident, an animal attack, or even a case of a person in a drunken or drugged state falling from the top of El Capitan.</p>
  781.  
  782.  
  783.  
  784. <p>Turner reluctantly expands his investigation to involve his mentor, Chief Ranger Paul Souter (Sam Neill, always a welcome presence), and Naya Vasquez (Lily Santiago), a rookie ranger.</p>
  785.  
  786.  
  787.  
  788. <p>Turner is quiet and uncommunicative, and his standoffishness is a manifestation of a personal tragedy from six years earlier. Jill Bodwin (Rosemarie DeWitt), Turner’s ex-wife, is also there to share the grief and complicate his personal life. </p>
  789.  
  790.  
  791.  
  792. <p>If you’ve been to Yosemite, you know its wild beauty. Like the <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/jack-reacher-joe-pickett-walt-longmire-lawmen-of-the-small-screen/2024/01/11/">2021 streaming series “Joe Pickett</a>,” “Untamed” emphasizes the deadliest aspects of the wild and the challenges for law enforcement and investigators who work there.</p>
  793.  
  794.  
  795.  
  796. <p><em>Untamed is <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81575641">streaming on Netflix</a>.</em></p>
  797.  
  798.  
  799.  
  800. <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-left">Ransom Canyon</h2>
  801.  
  802.  
  803.  
  804. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  805. <iframe title="Ransom Canyon | Official Trailer | Netflix" width="780" height="439" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xbRmjVSrSpY?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  806. </div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An official trailer for &#8220;Ransom Canyon&#8221; (via Netflix on YouTube).</figcaption></figure>
  807.  
  808.  
  809.  
  810. <p>There’s plenty of heartache to go around in these new series. In “Ransom Canyon,” Staten Kirkland (Josh Duhamel, sporting the same gray, grizzled look favored by Eric Bana in “Untamed’), lost two members of his family in just a couple of years. Kirkland turns his grief inward (mostly), quietly working his ranch and fighting off a power company’s efforts to take control of a nearby natural water source, a move that would devastate the town and ranches like Kirkland’s.</p>
  811.  
  812.  
  813.  
  814. <p>“Ransom Canyon” is the kind of series that doesn’t spend a lot of time coloring in shades of gray until you’re not sure who is good and bad. Sure, Kirkland can be hot-tempered and impetuous, but the bad guys are bad enough that we don’t have to wonder who to root for.</p>
  815.  
  816.  
  817.  
  818. <p>“Ransom Canyon” is also the kind of show that reminds viewers incessantly who the characters are, repeatedly invoking their full names in bits of dialogue. “Staten Kirkland, you have a lot of nerve coming here half-drunk and depressed.” “I hate to be the one to tell you, but my world doesn’t revolve around you, Staten Kirkland.” I wish I had a dollar for every time Quinn O’Grady (Minka Kelly of “Friday Night Lights”), refers to Kirkland as “Staten Kirkland.” If I did, I might have enough money to buy the water rights in Ransom Canyon.</p>
  819.  
  820.  
  821.  
  822. <p>The series is, like “Yellowstone,” about the struggle to preserve a way of life. And the show acknowledges, as “Yellowstone” did, that the ranchers – including Staten Kirkland himself – are relatively well off, at least on paper.</p>
  823.  
  824.  
  825.  
  826. <p>It might be hard to figure out who “Ransom Canyon” is pitched toward, viewers of the same age as Duhamel and Kelly’s characters, or the high schoolers who take up a lot of the running time of the early episodes. </p>
  827.  
  828.  
  829.  
  830. <p>It’s probably not aimed at lifetime fans of James Brolin, who plays Cap Fuller, a grizzled and sometimes inscrutable old rancher. Maybe they’re counting on Brolin bringing in some of his followers from “Marcus Welby M.D.,” which aired from 1969 to 1976.</p>
  831.  
  832.  
  833.  
  834. <p><em>Ransom Canyon is <a href="https://www.netflix.com/title/81459107">streaming on Netflix</a>. </em></p>
  835.  
  836.  
  837.  
  838. <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-left">Blue Ridge and Wardens of the North</h2>
  839.  
  840.  
  841.  
  842. <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
  843. <iframe title="Blue Ridge: The Series | Official Trailer (2024)" width="780" height="439" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PlmzqeBKtP8?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
  844. </div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An official trailer for &#8220;Blue Ridge&#8221; (via Western Bound on YouTube).</figcaption></figure>
  845.  
  846.  
  847.  
  848. <p>While we’re talking about remote – in two senses of the word – grizzled heroes, we’d be remiss if we didn’t include Johnathon Schaech, the one-time “That Thing You Do” actor who stars in “Blue Ridge,” a show about a sheriff and his deputies working in the wilderness and small towns on the Appalachian end of the Blue Ridge Mountains.</p>
  849.  
  850.  
  851.  
  852. <p>“Blue Ridge” has had a few incarnations already, including a 2020 TV movie of that title that introduced Schaech as Sheriff Justin Wise, followed by a 2024 series that began on the Cowboy Way Channel (since rebranded to Western Bound). It’s now watchable on streaming services including Prime Video, which is where I watched it recently. A second season was greenlit and set for release in 2025.</p>
  853.  
  854.  
  855.  
  856. <p>There’s less of an outright serialized story here and more in the way of “cases of the week” that Wise and his deputies must deal with. Two families vying to dominate the town’s criminal element, the Wades and the McGraths, provide good background tension while creating problems for Wise.</p>
  857.  
  858.  
  859.  
  860. <p>Schaech is good and so is Avianna Mynhier as Deputy Maxx. Best of all is the presence of veteran actor A Martinez, who at 76 has a history that datesback to “The Cowboys,” the 1972 John Wayne movie, and a ton of series like “Dark Winds” and “Longmire,” a similar rural yarn based on author Craig Johnson’s Walt Longmire mystery novels.</p>
  861.  
  862.  
  863.  
  864. <p>Almost as a footnote, I’ll mention “Wardens of the North,” which fits the “law enforcement in remote places” theme of “Untamed” and “Blue Ridge,” although it’s a reality show, unlike those fictional series. The show, available on HBO Max and Animal Planet, is a “Cops”-inspired take on rural law enforcement, with each episode following game wardens as they tool around the many bodies of water and shorelines of Michigan, keeping people out of trouble. A good part of the series details the game wardens’ efforts to ensure boaters have lifejackets and aren’t getting blind drunk on the water, but there’s intrigue with hunters and poachers too. It might seem like mundane stuff compared to “Untamed” and “Blue Ridge,” but “Wardens of the North” emphasizes how many people die from not having lifejackets available.</p>
  865.  
  866.  
  867.  
  868. <p><em>Blue Ridge is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.39430f8d-296e-48a6-b8dc-cb1567bc4b30?autoplay=0&amp;ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb">streaming on Prime Video</a> and <a href="https://westernbound.com/whats-on/">Western Bound</a>. Wardens of the North airs on <a href="https://www.animalplanet.com/show/wardens-of-the-north-animal-planet-atve-us">Animal Planet</a> and is <a href="https://www.hbomax.com/shows/wardens-of-the-north/6718cb2d-b991-472c-91d1-6604e26e7da6">streaming on HBO Max</a>. </em></p>
  869.  
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  885. <p>This article first appeared in&nbsp;<strong>The Good, the Bad, and the Elegy</strong>, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder focused on the best, and worst, in rural media, entertainment, and culture. Every other Thursday, it features reviews, recommendations, retrospectives, and more. <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/contact-us/subscribe-daily-yonder/#good-bad-elegy">Join the mailing list</a> today to have future editions delivered straight to your inbox.</p>
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  927. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  928. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/rural-tv-roundup-untamed-ransom-canyon-netflix-blue-ridge-western-bound-prime-video/2025/10/02/">&#8216;Untamed,&#8217; &#8216;Ransom Canyon,&#8217; and Two Other Recent Shows for Your Watchlist</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  929. ]]></content:encoded>
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  935. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233349</post-id> </item>
  936. <item>
  937. <title>What Do Vacancies Tell Us About Rural Housing Costs? It’s Complicated.</title>
  938. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/what-do-vacancies-tell-us-about-rural-housing-costs-its-complicated/2025/10/01/</link>
  939. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/what-do-vacancies-tell-us-about-rural-housing-costs-its-complicated/2025/10/01/#respond</comments>
  941. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Sarah Melotte]]></dc:creator>
  942. <pubDate>Wed, 01 Oct 2025 09:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
  943. <category><![CDATA[Housing]]></category>
  944. <category><![CDATA[The Rural Index]]></category>
  945. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233401</guid>
  946.  
  947. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="905" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?fit=1024%2C905&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?w=1240&amp;ssl=1 1240w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=760%2C672&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=768%2C679&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=1200%2C1061&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=1024%2C905&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=780%2C689&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=400%2C354&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=706%2C624&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?fit=1024%2C905&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  948. <p>Editor’s Note: This post is from our data newsletter, the Rural Index, headed by Sarah Melotte, the Daily Yonder’s data reporter. Subscribe to get a weekly map or graph straight to your inbox. Experts often use housing vacancy rates as one of several measures to examine the state of an area’s housing market. In rural [&#8230;]</p>
  949. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/what-do-vacancies-tell-us-about-rural-housing-costs-its-complicated/2025/10/01/">What Do Vacancies Tell Us About Rural Housing Costs? It’s Complicated.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  950. ]]></description>
  951. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="905" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?fit=1024%2C905&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?w=1240&amp;ssl=1 1240w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=760%2C672&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=768%2C679&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=1200%2C1061&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=1024%2C905&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=780%2C689&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=400%2C354&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=706%2C624&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?fit=1024%2C905&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  952. <p><em>Editor’s Note: This post is from our data newsletter, the Rural Index, headed by Sarah Melotte, the Daily Yonder’s data reporter. </em><a href="https://dailyyonder.com/contact-us/subscribe-daily-yonder/"><em>Subscribe</em></a><em> to get a weekly map or graph straight to your inbox.</em><br></p>
  953.  
  954.  
  955.  
  956. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  957.  
  958.  
  959.  
  960. <p>Experts often use housing vacancy rates as one of several measures to examine the state of an area’s housing market. In rural America, a high vacancy rate can point to low housing demand and therefore lower housing costs, but that’s not always the case. Let’s take a look at what the data says.</p>
  961.  
  962.  
  963.  
  964. <p>An estimated 19% of all housing units in nonmetropolitan, or rural, counties are vacant, compared to only 8% in metropolitan areas and 10% in the United States at large, according to my analysis of <a href="https://data.census.gov/advanced?t=Vacancy+Characteristics&amp;g=010XX00US$0500000">data from the Census Bureau</a>.</p>
  965.  
  966.  
  967.  
  968. <p>The intuitive relationship between housing vacancies and costs is that prices tend to rise as vacancies fall. This pattern is often seen in metropolitan areas, where high demand from growing populations drives competition for limited housing. Low vacancy rates in cities can signal shortages and, consequently, higher prices. However, this relationship does not always hold, and the connection can be more complex than it appears, especially in rural areas.</p>
  969.  
  970.  
  971.  
  972. <p>In nonmetro counties with economies dependent on recreation, a larger percentage of the housing stock is allocated towards seasonal use compared to rural counties with economies dependent on other industries. In rural recreation areas, <a href="https://headwaterseconomics.org/economic-development/equity/housing-affordability-recreation-counties/">housing costs, measured as the share of one’s earnings spent on mortgages or rent, </a>are higher, despite the relatively high housing vacancy rates.</p>
  973.  
  974.  
  975.  
  976. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="689" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=780%2C689&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233399" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?w=1240&amp;ssl=1 1240w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=760%2C672&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=768%2C679&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=1200%2C1061&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=1024%2C905&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=780%2C689&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=400%2C354&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?resize=706%2C624&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/3toxl-housing-vacancy-in-rural-america.png?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /></figure>
  977.  
  978.  
  979.  
  980. <p>This map shows the estimated share of housing units that are vacant in nonmetropolitan, or rural, counties. States that have popular rural recreation destinations, like Massachusetts, Colorado, Michigan, and Alaska, have some of the highest housing vacancy rates. In rural Massachusetts, for example, the vacancy rate in rural counties is nearly 32%.&nbsp;</p>
  981.  
  982.  
  983.  
  984. <p>This data is from the American Community Survey’s five year estimates between 2018 and 2023. In this dataset, vacancy can refer to houses that are either chronically or temporarily vacant, including those that are strictly for seasonal use and those that are temporarily vacant while they sit on the market.</p>
  985.  
  986.  
  987.  
  988. <p>(I aggregated the nonmetro data into a state-level map because many rural counties have high margins of error, making much of the individual county data unusable.)</p>
  989.  
  990.  
  991.  
  992. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Does Second Homeownership Drive Housing Costs?</h2>
  993.  
  994.  
  995.  
  996. <p>In rural amenity-rich destinations, high vacancy rates often point to high rates of second homeownership and therefore local desirability. In these places, high vacancy rates are not signs of economic stagnation and population decline, but often just the opposite.&nbsp;</p>
  997.  
  998.  
  999.  
  1000. <p>While 27% of the vacant units are second homes in metro counties, 47% of the vacant units in nonmetro counties are second homes. Keep in mind that second homes can vary by use, value, and size. Second homes can range from one-room hunting cabins to multi-million dollar beach houses.</p>
  1001.  
  1002.  
  1003.  
  1004. <p>I live in western North Carolina, an area known for outdoor amenities like hiking, biking, rafting, and fly fishing, among other things. I often hear fellow renters like myself complain about the lack of long-term rentals on the market while million-dollar log cabins sit empty for half the year or more. And while this is a valid concern, the research on rural second homeownership shows that the relationship between housing costs and second homes is not as straightforward as one might think.&nbsp;</p>
  1005.  
  1006.  
  1007.  
  1008. <p>In May of 2020, <a href="https://headwaterseconomics.org/">Headwaters Economics</a>, an independent nonprofit research organization, <a href="https://headwaterseconomics.org/wp-content/uploads/HE_Housing-Affordability-Recreation-Counties-Methods_2020-05.pdf">published a report </a>that explored the complex relationship between second homeownership and housing affordability. The authors measured housing affordability by taking monthly housing costs and dividing it by monthly earnings.&nbsp;</p>
  1009.  
  1010.  
  1011.  
  1012. <p>While the Headwaters report does point to a statistically significant relationship between second homes and earnings spent on mortgages or rent, the effect was small. A 10% increase in the share of housing units that are second homes only resulted in a 0.4% increase in earnings spent on mortgages and a 0.3% increase in earnings spent on rent in nonmetropolitan counties.&nbsp;</p>
  1013.  
  1014.  
  1015.  
  1016. <p>But it’s unclear to me which way the relationship is moving. Do second homeowners increase housing costs by increasing housing demand? Or are second homeowners already attracted to places that tend to have higher demand? I’m not quite sure.&nbsp;</p>
  1017.  
  1018.  
  1019.  
  1020. <p>The Headwaters report found that the rate of net migration, not the rate of second homeownership, was the variable with the strongest effect on monthly earnings spent on rent and mortgage: 10% and 7%, respectively.</p>
  1021.  
  1022.  
  1023.  
  1024. <p>“This study demonstrates that less affordable housing often goes hand-in-hand with economic growth and prosperity,” wrote Megan Lawson, the author of the report.</p>
  1025.  
  1026.  
  1027.  
  1028. <p>As rural places develop robust economies that drive prosperity and growth, they become more desirable to everyone – second homeowners and long-term residents alike. This economic activity and population growth contributes to less housing affordability.</p>
  1029. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/what-do-vacancies-tell-us-about-rural-housing-costs-its-complicated/2025/10/01/">What Do Vacancies Tell Us About Rural Housing Costs? It’s Complicated.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1030. ]]></content:encoded>
  1032. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/what-do-vacancies-tell-us-about-rural-housing-costs-its-complicated/2025/10/01/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  1033. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1036. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233401</post-id> </item>
  1037. <item>
  1038. <title>Weathering the Storm Together: Community Resiliency Hubs Hold the Promise of Local Self-Sufficiency and Supportive Mutual Aid</title>
  1039. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/weathering-the-storm-together-community-resiliency-hubs-hold-the-promise-of-local-self-sufficiency-and-supportive-mutual-aid/2025/09/30/</link>
  1040. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/weathering-the-storm-together-community-resiliency-hubs-hold-the-promise-of-local-self-sufficiency-and-supportive-mutual-aid/2025/09/30/#respond</comments>
  1042. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Kim Kobersmith]]></dc:creator>
  1043. <pubDate>Tue, 30 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1044. <category><![CDATA[Community & Economic Development]]></category>
  1045. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  1046. <category><![CDATA[Yonder Report]]></category>
  1047. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233069</guid>
  1048.  
  1049. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1050. <p>Leo’s Community Development Center in Superior, Arizona, serves people before they even enter the building. The free clothing rack and food stand outside are always open, and people take what they need and leave what they can.&#160; Free community meals every Wednesday night bring in a mix of people from all walks of life. Once [&#8230;]</p>
  1051. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/weathering-the-storm-together-community-resiliency-hubs-hold-the-promise-of-local-self-sufficiency-and-supportive-mutual-aid/2025/09/30/">Weathering the Storm Together: Community Resiliency Hubs Hold the Promise of Local Self-Sufficiency and Supportive Mutual Aid</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1052. ]]></description>
  1053. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_8.jpg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1054. <p>Leo’s Community Development Center in Superior, Arizona, serves people before they even enter the building. The free clothing rack and food stand outside are always open, and people take what they need and leave what they can.&nbsp;</p>
  1055.  
  1056.  
  1057.  
  1058. <p>Free community meals every Wednesday night bring in a mix of people from all walks of life. Once a month, workshops on emergency preparedness or resiliency practices follow the meal. Organizers encourage folks to “come for the lasagna, stay for the FEMA training.” They are in the planning stages of adding a solar array with battery backup to power the center in an emergency.&nbsp;</p>
  1059.  
  1060.  
  1061.  
  1062. <p>A growing number of rural leaders are creating community-led, resource-rich solutions for disruptions called community resilience hubs. In disaster situations, actions at the governmental level can take days. People are awakening to the fact that neighbors are the real first responders, and thinking ahead is vital. The hubs provide some level of preparation and support for residents in a disruption and beyond.&nbsp;</p>
  1063.  
  1064.  
  1065.  
  1066. <p><a href="https://www.togethernola.org/community-lighthouse">Community Lighthouses</a> in New Orleans was one of the first to implement this approach. Citizens concerned about the challenges of flooding and power outages sought something more than what the city and state were doing. A grassroots effort created a network of neighborhood-based, solar-plus-power hubs in churches. With simple switch technology, the same arrays can operate on or off the grid, depending on the need.</p>
  1067.  
  1068.  
  1069.  
  1070. <p>“Community Lighthouses highlighted the opportunity for communities to take resilience into their own hands on a national stage,” said Austin Counts, the Solar and Electrification Manager at Appalachian Voices.</p>
  1071.  
  1072.  
  1073.  
  1074. <p>“Community resilience hub” is an emerging concept and an emerging term. It can range from a mobile solar energy source to a central building able to feed community members in a crisis to a community center offering year-round services, like Leo’s. The one thing practitioners agree on: the importance of flexibility to give residents autonomy and control.&nbsp;</p>
  1075.  
  1076.  
  1077.  
  1078. <p>“The concept is different for every community,” said Counts. “I love the idea of more funding, but want to make sure the same mission stays true: to go in and listen to specific communities about what resources they need from the hub. They need to control how to plan ahead of time rather than react.”</p>
  1079.  
  1080.  
  1081.  
  1082. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>A Regional Response</strong></h3>
  1083.  
  1084.  
  1085.  
  1086. <p>Emergency electricity is the primary focus of Counts and a burgeoning network of other hub leaders in Appalachia. Losing power can disrupt water pumping, food preservation, communication systems, and essential medical equipment, such as CPAPs.&nbsp;</p>
  1087.  
  1088.  
  1089.  
  1090. <p>“Solar creates its own power wherever you put it, and it&#8217;s cleaner and quieter,” said Jamie Trowbridge, a solar installer. “In remote power disaster situations, solar plus battery is the cheapest and best option.”</p>
  1091.  
  1092.  
  1093.  
  1094. <p>Trowbridge knows its importance firsthand. He lives in western North Carolina and stepped in to help the small town of Barnardsville after Hurricane Helene heavily damaged the community.&nbsp;</p>
  1095.  
  1096.  
  1097.  
  1098. <p>Grid-based electricity was down. Fuel-powered generators were tenuous because gas station pumps weren’t operational, and roads to the stations weren’t accessible. Communication was unreliable, so he left a written note at a solar company about needing equipment. A staff member with <a href="https://www.footprintproject.org/home">Footprint Project</a>, a national green energy nonprofit, delivered a solar trailer the next day.&nbsp;</p>
  1099.  
  1100.  
  1101.  
  1102. <p>The nonprofit’s response in North Carolina was its largest ever, supporting over 70 sites and deploying $400,000 worth of sustainable response equipment. It has since opened a new state-based office, and Trowbridge is on staff.</p>
  1103.  
  1104.  
  1105.  
  1106. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="585" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6.jpg?resize=780%2C585&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233072" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_6-1296x972.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Footprint Project’s first permanent solar installation on a North Carolina community resilience hub at the Celo Community Center. (Photo by Cat Hebson)</figcaption></figure>
  1107.  
  1108.  
  1109.  
  1110. <p>The initial crisis in North Carolina is over, but the crucial need for electricity microgrids in the storm’s aftermath left a powerful imprint on the region. Footprint and a network of local, state, and federal governments, philanthropic organizations, and funders are working to increase the neighbor-to-neighbor aid provided by permanent community resilience hubs in rural Appalachian towns.</p>
  1111.  
  1112.  
  1113.  
  1114. <p>In neighboring Virginia, nonprofit <a href="https://appvoices.org/">Appalachian Voices</a> works with the 300 residents of Dungannon. They were motivated to create a hub because of their aging population, high flood risk, remoteness, and communication challenges. Counts and his team first hosted a series of community meetings to gather ideas and address concerns.&nbsp;</p>
  1115.  
  1116.  
  1117.  
  1118. <p>Together, they identified the old train depot as the right location for their hub. The historic structure had fallen into disrepair. Appalachian Voices helped locals complete weatherization and an upgraded heat pump so that solar infrastructure could be installed.</p>
  1119.  
  1120.  
  1121.  
  1122. <p>The State Energy Office of North Carolina just announced a major investment of $5 million to fund microgrids at up to 24 new community resilience hubs, a collaboration with the Footprint Project, Land of Sky Regional Council, and others.&nbsp;The Appalachian Solar Finance Fund, Invest Appalachia, and the Appalachian Funders Network are working together to invest in hubs. Regional leaders are partnering to create community resilience after the next storm.</p>
  1123.  
  1124.  
  1125.  
  1126. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Year-round Resilience</strong></h3>
  1127.  
  1128.  
  1129.  
  1130. <p>Hub practitioners in the <a href="https://www.resiliencehubcollaborative.org/">Resilience Hub Collaborative</a> are preparing for more than disasters. They enhance resilience year-round, in everyday life, during a disruption, and in recovery. By providing a place of belonging and communal care, they are lifelines in underserved rural communities.</p>
  1131.  
  1132.  
  1133.  
  1134. <p>“Studies have shown for decades that connectivity, social cohesion, is the number one indicator for successful recovery from disruptions,” said Ki Baja, an experienced hub organizer with the collaborative. “For people who don’t have access to resources in their everyday lives, disruption makes it so much worse.”&nbsp;</p>
  1135.  
  1136.  
  1137. <div class="wp-block-image">
  1138. <figure class="alignleft size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="1038" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5.jpg?resize=780%2C1038&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233075" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=974%2C1296&amp;ssl=1 974w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=571%2C760&amp;ssl=1 571w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1021&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=1155%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1155w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=1540%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1540w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C1596&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=770%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 770w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C2660&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C1037&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C532&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C939&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-scaled.jpg?w=1925&amp;ssl=1 1925w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_5-974x1296.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">SPACE hub’s take it or leave it fruit stand. (Photo courtesy of SPACE)</figcaption></figure></div>
  1139.  
  1140.  
  1141. <p>The <a href="https://hawaiisvolcanocircus.org/">Seaview Performing Arts Center for Education</a>, or SPACE, began as the Hawaii Volcano Circus. As part of the social circus movement, its programs focused on empowerment, bodily confidence, and working with fear.&nbsp;</p>
  1142.  
  1143.  
  1144.  
  1145. <p>In 2018, acidic <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/hawaiian-volcano-observatory/frequently-asked-questions-about-volcanic-smog-vog">vog</a> from a volcanic eruption damaged buildings in SPACE’s home of Pahoa and made it difficult to breathe. Then the 2020 Covid pandemic interrupted circus arts classes and performances.</p>
  1146.  
  1147.  
  1148.  
  1149. <p>As the only community center in the area, SPACE reimagined how it could meet a greater span of needs. The components of the Resilience Hub Collaborative framework &#8211; including programs, connectivity, built &amp; natural spaces, power systems, operations, and transportation – guided the expansion.</p>
  1150.  
  1151.  
  1152.  
  1153. <p>“The framing is super comprehensive,” said Paola Vidulich with SPACE. “It’s given us confidence that we really know what we are doing in a rural, forward-thinking, holistic way about what it means to be resilient, not just in a disaster.”</p>
  1154.  
  1155.  
  1156.  
  1157. <p>Now, SPACE sponsors a hybrid school for homeschoolers alongside arts programs for all ages. A digital equity initiative provides community-accessible fiber internet access. Classes on microfarming teach families how to grow food in a unique tropical environment. Periodic classes cover disaster preparedness, and future plans include a workforce development approach based on the circular economy and native wisdom.</p>
  1158.  
  1159.  
  1160.  
  1161. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="585" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7.jpg?resize=780%2C585&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233074" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/25.08.DY-Community_7-1296x972.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">These teens help prepare and serve a weekly community dinner at the Pinal-Gila Resilience Hub Network. (Photo by Chris Casillas)</figcaption></figure>
  1162.  
  1163.  
  1164.  
  1165. <p>“We used to be this weird little arts organization, and now people see we are doing all of this,” said Vidulich. “With the social and economic crises happening, the framing speaks in a language that more and more people understand.”</p>
  1166.  
  1167.  
  1168.  
  1169. <p>Leo’s Community Development Center is the foundation of the Pinal-Gila Resilience Hub Network. Leader Chris Casillas sees collaboration and connection as foundational to its work.&nbsp;</p>
  1170.  
  1171.  
  1172.  
  1173. <p>The town of Superior has only about 3,000 residents, and Leo’s has had challenges finding funding. By supporting the creation of two nearby hubs and banding together, the network could tell a larger story. It has attracted two development grants that Leo couldn’t secure alone.&nbsp;</p>
  1174.  
  1175.  
  1176.  
  1177. <p>In addition, Pinal-Gila provides small-scale, home-based solutions. One project constructed and installed 4’x16’ raised garden beds for more than 100 families. Native tree plantings supply shade and reduce wildfire risk.</p>
  1178.  
  1179.  
  1180.  
  1181. <p>“By distributing self-reliant capabilities through our neighborhood, we are also increasing the resilience of nearby homes,” said Casillas.&nbsp;</p>
  1182.  
  1183.  
  1184.  
  1185. <p>“Ninety-nine point nine percent of the time it is not a disaster we are responding to,” he continued, about the importance of a year-round presence. “People who come experience a strong sense of belonging. Building trust every day is an advantage in a disaster as people listen to those they trust.”</p>
  1186.  
  1187.  
  1188.  
  1189. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1190. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/weathering-the-storm-together-community-resiliency-hubs-hold-the-promise-of-local-self-sufficiency-and-supportive-mutual-aid/2025/09/30/">Weathering the Storm Together: Community Resiliency Hubs Hold the Promise of Local Self-Sufficiency and Supportive Mutual Aid</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1191. ]]></content:encoded>
  1193. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/weathering-the-storm-together-community-resiliency-hubs-hold-the-promise-of-local-self-sufficiency-and-supportive-mutual-aid/2025/09/30/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  1194. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1197. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233069</post-id> </item>
  1198. <item>
  1199. <title>Health Care Cuts Threaten Homegrown Solutions to Rural Doctor Shortages</title>
  1200. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/health-care-cuts-threaten-homegrown-solutions-to-rural-doctor-shortages/2025/09/30/</link>
  1201. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/health-care-cuts-threaten-homegrown-solutions-to-rural-doctor-shortages/2025/09/30/#respond</comments>
  1203. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Bernard J. Wolfson / KFF Health News]]></dc:creator>
  1204. <pubDate>Tue, 30 Sep 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1205. <category><![CDATA[Rural Life]]></category>
  1206. <category><![CDATA[repub]]></category>
  1207. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233243</guid>
  1208.  
  1209. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1210. <p>This story was originally published by KFF Health News. Olivia Owlett chose to do her primary care residency in the Northern California college town of Chico largely because it faces many of the same health care challenges she grew up with. Owlett is one of four residents in the inaugural class of a three-year family [&#8230;]</p>
  1211. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/health-care-cuts-threaten-homegrown-solutions-to-rural-doctor-shortages/2025/09/30/">Health Care Cuts Threaten Homegrown Solutions to Rural Doctor Shortages</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1212. ]]></description>
  1213. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs09-scaled.webp?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1214. <p class="has-text-align-center"><em>This story was originally published by <a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/rural-northern-california-health-care-shortages-residency-program-funding-cuts/">KFF Health News</a></em>.</p>
  1215.  
  1216.  
  1217.  
  1218. <p>Olivia Owlett chose to do her primary care residency in the Northern California college town of Chico largely because it faces many of the same health care challenges she grew up with.</p>
  1219.  
  1220.  
  1221.  
  1222. <p>Owlett is one of four residents in the inaugural class of a three-year family medicine residency program run by the local nonprofit&nbsp;<a href="https://healthyruralca.org/">Healthy Rural California</a>. She is the kind of doctor the organization seeks to draw to the far north of California, a region with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.chcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/PhysiciansAlmanac2025.pdf">severe physician shortages</a>.</p>
  1223.  
  1224.  
  1225.  
  1226. <p>That’s because Owlett knows in her gut what a lack of health care means, having seen family members drive hours to see a specialist or simply forgo care in her hometown of Wellsboro, a hamlet in Pennsylvania. She did rural training at medical school in Colorado. And because her husband attended Chico State, the couple has a strong social network here, making them likely to remain.</p>
  1227.  
  1228.  
  1229.  
  1230. <p>“With the growing family medicine residency program here, it’s a great opportunity to bring more doctors into the area, and I’d love to be a part of that,” Owlett said.</p>
  1231.  
  1232.  
  1233.  
  1234. <p>Owlett exemplifies what leaders in rural Northern California want more of: doctors trained locally who stay to work in the area. They have ambitious plans to attract more Owletts and expand the medical workforce, but recent state and federal spending cuts will pull dollars out of an already frayed health system, exacerbating the&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/california-primary-care-shortage-persists-workforce-report-years-later/">shortage of care</a>&nbsp;and making their efforts more challenging.</p>
  1235.  
  1236.  
  1237.  
  1238. <p>“We need help up here, and cutting funding is not going to help us,” said Debra Lupeika, associate dean for rural and community-based education at the University of California-Davis School of Medicine and a family physician at the tribal Rolling Hills Clinic in Red Bluff, about 40 miles northwest of Chico. “We are in dire straits. We need doctors.”</p>
  1239.  
  1240.  
  1241.  
  1242. <p>California’s far northern region is a collection of sparsely populated counties stretching from just north of Sacramento all the way up to Oregon and from the Pacific coast to the Nevada border. The shortages are so pervasive that support for one of the costliest solutions — a proposed $200 million&nbsp;<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2025/09/Interprofessional-Healthcare-Campus-Prospectus.pdf">health care training campus</a>&nbsp;— transcends partisanship.</p>
  1243.  
  1244.  
  1245.  
  1246. <p>“It’s about what are the priorities, right? And health care certainly is a priority — should be a priority,” said California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher, who represents Chico and the surrounding area. “I think it’s been pretty bipartisan, this kind of stuff.”</p>
  1247.  
  1248.  
  1249.  
  1250. <p>Republicans in Congress, including the nine GOP lawmakers in California’s delegation, voted in July to cut nearly a trillion dollars from Medicaid. Area Rep. Doug LaMalfa said the&nbsp;<a href="https://lamalfa.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/lamalfa.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/reconciliation-medicaid-one-pager.pdf">bill ensures</a>&nbsp;“those eligible for benefits continue to receive them.” Meanwhile, the Democratic-controlled California legislature has&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/california-budget-deficit-medicaid-immigrant-84c1b09713cd973935788943703697bd">scaled back</a>&nbsp;its health care coverage for immigrants who lack legal status.</p>
  1251.  
  1252.  
  1253.  
  1254. <p>California’s health care shortage is driven by the struggles of rural hospitals; an aging physician workforce; the inherent appeal to up-and-coming doctors of more urban areas; and the financial pressures of doing business in a region with a high proportion of&nbsp;<a href="https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/medi-cal-enrollment-by-district-and-county-2024/">low-paying government insurance</a>, especially Medi-Cal, the state’s version of the Medicaid program, for people with low incomes and disabilities.</p>
  1255.  
  1256.  
  1257.  
  1258. <p>Almost everyone who lives up here is affected by the shortages, ranging from people with complex medical needs to those with simple, straightforward ones.</p>
  1259.  
  1260.  
  1261.  
  1262. <p>When Lupeika’s 24-year-old daughter, Ashley, injured her shoulder this summer, she couldn’t get an MRI for nearly a month, despite her severe pain.</p>
  1263.  
  1264.  
  1265.  
  1266. <p>Ginger Alonso, an assistant professor of political science and public administration at Chico State, said she drives 70 miles to Redding for OB-GYN care.</p>
  1267.  
  1268.  
  1269.  
  1270. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02.webp?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233247" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-scaled.webp?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-scaled.webp?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-scaled.webp?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-scaled.webp?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-scaled.webp?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-scaled.webp?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-scaled.webp?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-scaled.webp?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-scaled.webp?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-scaled.webp?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-scaled.webp?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs02-1296x864.webp?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ginger Alonso is an assistant professor of political science and public administration at Chico State. She is conducting interviews of health care providers about their decision of whether to relocate following natural disasters. (Photo by Bernard Wolfson / KFF Health News)</figcaption></figure>
  1271.  
  1272.  
  1273.  
  1274. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15.webp?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233248" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-scaled.webp?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-scaled.webp?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-scaled.webp?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-scaled.webp?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-scaled.webp?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-scaled.webp?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-scaled.webp?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-scaled.webp?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-scaled.webp?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-scaled.webp?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-scaled.webp?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs15-1296x864.webp?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Enloe Medical Center is the only acute care hospital in Chico, California. Enloe Health’s CEO, Mike Wiltermood, said the closure of Glenn Medical Center, about 30 miles to the southwest, could bring a few hundred additional patients to Enloe’s emergency room every month. Enloe won’t have trouble absorbing them, but he worries about what Glenn’s closure portends for other small, financially precarious hospitals in the region. (Photo by Bernard Wolfson / KFF Health News)</figcaption></figure>
  1275.  
  1276.  
  1277.  
  1278. <p>The long waits or distances people must travel often lead them to delay or forgo care. As a result, they show up at emergency rooms, urgent care, or community clinics with illnesses that are more severe than they would have been had they received medical attention sooner.</p>
  1279.  
  1280.  
  1281.  
  1282. <p>“We see sicker patients, bottom line,” said Tanya Layne, a primary care physician in Chico who recently closed her private practice for financial reasons and works at an urgent care clinic in town, owned by Enloe Health, which also runs the sole hospital in town.</p>
  1283.  
  1284.  
  1285.  
  1286. <p>Patients walk through the door with undiagnosed cancers, uncontrolled asthma, raging diabetes, and severely high blood pressure, Layne said.</p>
  1287.  
  1288.  
  1289.  
  1290. <p>In many northern counties, specialists in acutely short supply include neurologists, gastroenterologists, rheumatologists, endocrinologists, OB-GYNs, oncologists, and urologists.</p>
  1291.  
  1292.  
  1293.  
  1294. <p>“We have whole areas with no specialists at all, or where specialists are so overworked that the waits are really long, and people are forgoing care,” said Doug Matthews, a Chico-based colorectal surgeon and regional medical director of Partnership HealthPlan, which provides Medi-Cal coverage in 24 northern counties.</p>
  1295.  
  1296.  
  1297.  
  1298. <p>The health care shortage in the region grew more acute after the catastrophic 2018 Camp Fire devastated the town of Paradise, 15 miles east of Chico, shuttering&nbsp;<a href="https://krcrtv.com/news/local/paradise-still-without-a-full-hospital-five-years-after-the-camp-fire">the local hospital</a>&nbsp;and sending dozens of doctors out of the region.</p>
  1299.  
  1300.  
  1301.  
  1302. <p>In response, local leaders created&nbsp;<a href="https://healthyruralca.org/">Healthy Rural California</a>, which launched a four-year residency in psychiatry last year followed by the family medicine program this year. The group also runs a program to expose high school students to potential careers in health care, and it is behind early plans for the $200 million “interprofessional” health care campus that would train future doctors, nurses, physician assistants, and others.</p>
  1303.  
  1304.  
  1305.  
  1306. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05.webp?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233249" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-scaled.webp?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-scaled.webp?resize=760%2C506&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-scaled.webp?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-scaled.webp?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-scaled.webp?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-scaled.webp?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-scaled.webp?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-scaled.webp?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-scaled.webp?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-scaled.webp?resize=706%2C470&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-scaled.webp?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs05-1296x864.webp?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">James Schlund is a radiologist and board member of Healthy Rural California, a Chico-based nonprofit dedicated to improving public health and addressing the acute shortage of health care workers in California’s northern counties. Schlund is pushing for the creation of a $200 million health care campus to train a wide range of medical professionals in the region. (Photo by Bernard Wolfson / KFF Health News)</figcaption></figure>
  1307.  
  1308.  
  1309.  
  1310. <p>The startup cost would likely need to come from California’s state legislature, but lawmakers are limited by severe budget pressures. Nevertheless, James Schlund, a radiologist and board member of the organization, is discussing it with officials from UC Davis and Touro University.</p>
  1311.  
  1312.  
  1313.  
  1314. <p>“We are building the coalition,” Schlund said, “to go to the legislature with an empty bucket and ask them to fill it with money at the hardest of possible times.”</p>
  1315.  
  1316.  
  1317.  
  1318. <p>Meanwhile, medical and political leaders in Chico and Redding, the two largest cities in California’s far north, are each exploring building a medical school, possibly in collaboration and under the auspices of UC Davis, which considers rural medicine integral to its mission.</p>
  1319.  
  1320.  
  1321.  
  1322. <p>A medical school, paired with more residency slots, would keep graduating students in the area long enough for them to establish roots, buy homes, and start families, boosting the supply of local physicians, said Paul Dhanuka, a gastroenterologist and member of the Redding City Council.</p>
  1323.  
  1324.  
  1325.  
  1326. <p>But some say the region’s small population makes it a challenge to train more residents.</p>
  1327.  
  1328.  
  1329.  
  1330. <p>“The number of residents you can accommodate is limited by the ability to get the right kinds of patients with the right kind of cases that give the residents the training they need,” said Duane Bland, a physician who runs the family practice residency program at Mercy Medical Center in Redding.</p>
  1331.  
  1332.  
  1333.  
  1334. <p>Dhanuka said that in sparsely populated areas, a low number of childbirths limits how many residents can be trained in family medicine. But that is not the case with other specialties such as surgery, psychiatry, cardiology, and gastroenterology. And, he said, across the whole northern region, “there are multiple hospitals as well as clinics which absolutely are looking for more residency participation.”</p>
  1335.  
  1336.  
  1337.  
  1338. <p>Residency programs are largely funded with federal dollars through Medicare, and that funding is not at imminent risk — though the number of residency slots paid for by Washington has not significantly increased in about 30 years.</p>
  1339.  
  1340.  
  1341.  
  1342. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10.webp?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233250" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-scaled.webp?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-scaled.webp?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-scaled.webp?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-scaled.webp?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-scaled.webp?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-scaled.webp?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-scaled.webp?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-scaled.webp?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-scaled.webp?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-scaled.webp?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-scaled.webp?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/NorCal-Docs10-1296x864.webp?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Duane Bland runs the family practice residency program at Mercy Medical Center in Redding, California. The region’s small population makes it a challenge to expand the size of residency programs, he says, because they are “limited by the ability to get the right kinds of patients with the right kind of cases.” (Photo by Bernard Wolfson / KFF Health News)</figcaption></figure>
  1343.  
  1344.  
  1345.  
  1346. <p>However, some graduate medical education is state-funded, and in California many of those slots rely on revenue generated from a tax on Medi-Cal health plans, which California voters earmarked for that and other purposes last fall by passing&nbsp;<a href="https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Budget/Documents/Prop-35-Spending-Plan-Overview.pdf">Proposition 35</a>. That revenue is projected to&nbsp;<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/article/mco-medicaid-provider-taxes-matching-funds-threatened-cms-house-california/">plummet by billions of dollars</a>&nbsp;under changes in the budget law and a similar rule proposed by the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services.</p>
  1347.  
  1348.  
  1349.  
  1350. <p><a href="https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Budget/Documents/Prop-35-Spending-Plan-Overview.pdf">“We could lose that Prop. 35 funding,” said Mark Servis, vice dean for medical education at the UC Davis School of Medicine. “And we have been planning on it for over a year as a way to build out graduate medical education.”</a></p>
  1351.  
  1352.  
  1353.  
  1354. <p>Servis and other medical educators also worry about new caps on federal student loans, which could deter lower-income students, including those in rural areas, from medical school.</p>
  1355.  
  1356.  
  1357.  
  1358. <p>Altogether, the financial constraints will only make the health care shortage worse — in large part because of its impact on the region’s smaller, weaker hospitals and the burden on those that remain.</p>
  1359.  
  1360.  
  1361.  
  1362. <p><a href="https://www.dhcs.ca.gov/Budget/Documents/Prop-35-Spending-Plan-Overview.pdf">It’s already begun: Glenn Medical Center in Willows, about 30 miles from Chico, announced last month it&nbsp;</a><a href="https://www.latimes.com/science/story/2025-09-09/another-california-county-is-losing-its-only-hospital-as-feds-reclassify-it">would shut down</a>&nbsp;its ER and hospital services in October after losing its federal designation as a “critical access” hospital, which afforded it higher payments and more regulatory flexibility.</p>
  1363.  
  1364.  
  1365.  
  1366. <p>A $50 billion rural health care fund in the budget law will offset a little more than a third of the money that rural areas are expected to lose because of the Medicaid cuts,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/a-closer-look-at-the-50-billion-rural-health-fund-in-the-new-reconciliation-law/">according to research</a>&nbsp;from KFF. And it’s not clear how, or to which states, that money will be distributed.</p>
  1367.  
  1368.  
  1369.  
  1370. <p>Civic and medical industry leaders in Chico and Redding say the message needs to get out that a robust health care system will serve the interests of everyone, across political lines.</p>
  1371.  
  1372.  
  1373.  
  1374. <p>“Health care is such a human need, because we all hurt the same, regardless of race, color,” Dhanuka said. “We can address this. And we don’t need to take sides on this.”</p>
  1375.  
  1376.  
  1377.  
  1378. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1379.  
  1380.  
  1381.  
  1382. <figure class="wp-block-image"><img decoding="async" src="https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=2090273&amp;ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0" alt=""/></figure>
  1383. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/health-care-cuts-threaten-homegrown-solutions-to-rural-doctor-shortages/2025/09/30/">Health Care Cuts Threaten Homegrown Solutions to Rural Doctor Shortages</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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  1387. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1390. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233243</post-id> </item>
  1391. <item>
  1392. <title>Four Decades after Farm Crisis, Farmers Still Face Challenges to Stay Afloat</title>
  1393. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/four-decades-after-farm-crisis-farmers-still-face-challenges-to-stay-afloat/2025/09/29/</link>
  1394. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/four-decades-after-farm-crisis-farmers-still-face-challenges-to-stay-afloat/2025/09/29/#respond</comments>
  1396. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Claire Carlson]]></dc:creator>
  1397. <pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1398. <category><![CDATA[Agriculture]]></category>
  1399. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  1400. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233324</guid>
  1401.  
  1402. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="654" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?fit=1024%2C654&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?resize=760%2C485&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?resize=768%2C491&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?resize=780%2C498&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?resize=400%2C255&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?resize=706%2C451&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?fit=1024%2C654&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1403. <p>There was no shortage of buffalo check flannel and cowboy boots among attendees of Farm Aid’s 40th anniversary concert in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on September 20, 2025, but alongside them were just as many folks clad in t-shirts with “Stop Factory Farms” printed on the front.&#160; This message summed up the main takeaway of the event: [&#8230;]</p>
  1404. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/four-decades-after-farm-crisis-farmers-still-face-challenges-to-stay-afloat/2025/09/29/">Four Decades after Farm Crisis, Farmers Still Face Challenges to Stay Afloat</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1405. ]]></description>
  1406. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="654" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?fit=1024%2C654&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?w=1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?resize=760%2C485&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?resize=768%2C491&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?resize=780%2C498&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?resize=400%2C255&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?resize=706%2C451&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/DSC_5028-2-1024x654.jpg.jpg?fit=1024%2C654&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1407. <p>There was no shortage of buffalo check flannel and cowboy boots among attendees of Farm Aid’s 40th anniversary concert in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on September 20, 2025, but alongside them were just as many folks clad in t-shirts with “Stop Factory Farms” printed on the front.&nbsp;</p>
  1408.  
  1409.  
  1410.  
  1411. <p>This message summed up the main takeaway of the event: farmers need just as much support now as they did 40 years ago, when the 1980s farm crisis spurred Farm Aid’s first benefit concert. Farmers and advocates at this year’s gathering pointed to the difficulty of competing with large-scale agriculture, the disconnect between producers and consumers, and vanishing federal support as some of the most pressing challenges facing farmers today.</p>
  1412.  
  1413.  
  1414.  
  1415. <p>“This is not a favorable economic time for producers, period,” said Jesse Womack, a policy specialist at the <a href="https://sustainableagriculture.net/">National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition</a>, in an interview with the Daily Yonder. “And unfortunately, we&#8217;ve seen a lot of decisions in the last year that disrupt services, that interrupt contracts, that make marketing a lot harder.”&nbsp;</p>
  1416.  
  1417.  
  1418.  
  1419. <p>At the beginning of 2025, the Trump administration greenlit widespread <a href="https://www.agriculture.com/mass-federal-firings-hit-agriculture-agencies-11681302">firings</a> of staff at almost every federal agency, including the Department of Agriculture (USDA). These firings affected subdivisions of the USDA, such as the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which distributes grants to farmers seeking to implement conservation practices on their land. Many producers lost out on money they thought was guaranteed to them through now-paused or completely terminated grant programs.&nbsp;</p>
  1420.  
  1421.  
  1422.  
  1423. <p>“We are watching a lot of our leaders in this country totally ignore how difficult producers have it right now and really neglect their duty to make tools and services readily available and easy to use for producers,” Womack said.&nbsp;</p>
  1424.  
  1425.  
  1426.  
  1427. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="523" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985.webp?resize=780%2C523&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233329" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-scaled.webp?resize=1296%2C869&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-scaled.webp?resize=760%2C510&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-scaled.webp?resize=768%2C515&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-scaled.webp?resize=1536%2C1030&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-scaled.webp?resize=2048%2C1374&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-scaled.webp?resize=1200%2C805&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-scaled.webp?resize=1024%2C687&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-scaled.webp?resize=2000%2C1342&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-scaled.webp?resize=780%2C523&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-scaled.webp?resize=400%2C268&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-scaled.webp?resize=706%2C474&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-scaled.webp?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/john-mellencamp-farm-aid-1985-1296x869.webp?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">John Cougar Mellencamp performs at the first Farm Aid concert in Champaign, Illinois, on September 22, 1985. (AP Photo / Seth Perlman, file)</figcaption></figure>
  1428.  
  1429.  
  1430.  
  1431. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Farm Aid History</strong></h3>
  1432.  
  1433.  
  1434.  
  1435. <p>Farm Aid was created by Willie Nelson during a farm crisis that brought thousands of producers to bankruptcy. This was caused by a financial boom in the 1970s from inflated prices of commodities like wheat and soybeans. Simultaneously, interest rates for property were low, so farmers took on debt to buy more farmland.&nbsp;</p>
  1436.  
  1437.  
  1438.  
  1439. <p>But come the 1980s, commodity prices fell drastically, and many farmers defaulted on their loans. Drought conditions led to smaller crop sizes, exacerbating the crisis.&nbsp;</p>
  1440.  
  1441.  
  1442.  
  1443. <p>This decade was widely considered the worst time for farmers since the Great Depression, and by 1989, an estimated 300,000 farmers had defaulted on their loans. Parts of rural America were completely hollowed out as farms disappeared and stores went out of business, creating blocks of abandoned storefronts on main streets that still have not fully recovered.&nbsp;</p>
  1444.  
  1445.  
  1446.  
  1447. <p>This was the crisis Nelson and his Farm Aid co-founders, Neil Young and John Mellencamp, were responding to when they organized the first benefit concert in 1985 to raise money for farmers.&nbsp;</p>
  1448.  
  1449.  
  1450.  
  1451. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="525" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/willie-nelson-senate-ag-committee.webp?resize=780%2C525&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233328" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/willie-nelson-senate-ag-committee.webp?resize=1296%2C872&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/willie-nelson-senate-ag-committee.webp?resize=760%2C511&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/willie-nelson-senate-ag-committee.webp?resize=768%2C517&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/willie-nelson-senate-ag-committee.webp?resize=1200%2C808&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/willie-nelson-senate-ag-committee.webp?resize=1024%2C689&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/willie-nelson-senate-ag-committee.webp?resize=780%2C525&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/willie-nelson-senate-ag-committee.webp?resize=400%2C269&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/willie-nelson-senate-ag-committee.webp?resize=706%2C475&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/willie-nelson-senate-ag-committee.webp?w=1440&amp;ssl=1 1440w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/willie-nelson-senate-ag-committee-1296x872.webp?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Country and Western singer Willie Nelson, second from left, and rock musician Neil Young, left, meet with members of the Senate Agriculture Committee on September 20, 1985. (AP Photo / Scott Stewart, file)</figcaption></figure>
  1452.  
  1453.  
  1454.  
  1455. <p>Forty years later, the annual gathering is still going strong. That’s because in many ways, the crisis facing farmers never ended.&nbsp;</p>
  1456.  
  1457.  
  1458.  
  1459. <p>Some farmers at the event pointed to the challenge posed by large-scale producers.&nbsp;</p>
  1460.  
  1461.  
  1462.  
  1463. <p>“I would say the biggest challenge for small farmers is actually competing with price points from large ag,” said Audra O’Dell, a West Virginia produce and hops farmer, in a Daily Yonder interview.&nbsp;</p>
  1464.  
  1465.  
  1466.  
  1467. <p>To address it, O’Dell helped to found Mountain State Co-Hop, a cooperative of West Virginia producers helping each other get their products on the market. Earlier this summer, the cooperative launched Appalachian Cellar, a digital marketplace where Appalachian farmers can sell their products. The project was funded by a USDA grant.&nbsp;</p>
  1468.  
  1469.  
  1470.  
  1471. <p>“We&#8217;re actually working together to raise up all of us, as opposed to in our small little market, trying to out-compete each other for a couple cents when most of it doesn&#8217;t even go in our pocket in the first place,” she said.</p>
  1472.  
  1473.  
  1474.  
  1475. <p>Getting consumers to actually buy products made by smaller-scale producers is another issue farmers highlighted.&nbsp;</p>
  1476.  
  1477.  
  1478.  
  1479. <p>Angela Dawson is a hemp farmer from northern Minnesota and CEO of 40-Acre Co-op, the first national, Black-owned farming cooperative since the Reconstruction era, directly after the Civil War. She said the biggest challenge facing farmers today is connecting with consumers.</p>
  1480.  
  1481.  
  1482.  
  1483. <p>“The disconnection that consumers have about the food system keeps them blind to the realities of what it really takes to bring food to the table, what food really costs, and how important it is to fight for clean, high-quality, organic food,” Dawson said.&nbsp;</p>
  1484.  
  1485.  
  1486.  
  1487. <p>Farm Aid is an attempt to draw the public’s awareness to the realities of farming.&nbsp;</p>
  1488.  
  1489.  
  1490.  
  1491. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="519" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k.jpg?resize=780%2C519&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233327" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k.jpg?resize=1296%2C863&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k.jpg?resize=760%2C506&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k.jpg?resize=768%2C511&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k.jpg?resize=1536%2C1022&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k.jpg?resize=1200%2C799&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k.jpg?resize=1024%2C682&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k.jpg?resize=2000%2C1331&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k.jpg?resize=780%2C519&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k.jpg?resize=400%2C266&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k.jpg?resize=706%2C470&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k.jpg?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/54802541389_719222f127_k-1296x863.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts at Farm Aid 40. (Photo by Brian Bruner / Bruner Photo)</figcaption></figure>
  1492.  
  1493.  
  1494.  
  1495. <p>In addition to the music on the main stage, a separate corner of the arena hosted booths for farmer advocacy organizations that spoke on topics like factory farming and regenerative agriculture. The clothing merchandise sold for the event was made from organic cotton grown by farmers in Texas, and the food stands hosted products from local Minnesota businesses. The sales of these items and the festival tickets go to Farm Aid initiatives like their <a href="https://www.farmaid.org/our-work/the-distressed-borrowers-assistance-network/">Distressed Borrowers Assistance Network</a> and <a href="https://www.farmaid.org/our-work/family-farm-disaster-fund/">Family Farm Disaster Fund</a>.</p>
  1496.  
  1497.  
  1498.  
  1499. <p>“From the farm crisis of the eighties to the crisis in rural America today, Farm Aid has been there to lend a helping hand,” said Minnesota governor Tim Walz during his introduction to Nelson, who headlined the festival. Walz was among several politicians, including Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minnesota) and House Representative Angie Craig (D-Minnesota), who showed up at Farm Aid.&nbsp;</p>
  1500.  
  1501.  
  1502.  
  1503. <p>Their presence at the event came during a particularly contentious time in farm law: the farm bill, which authorizes federal spending on agricultural and food programs, is two years past its expiration date.&nbsp;</p>
  1504.  
  1505.  
  1506.  
  1507. <p>Congress is deliberating over a new farm bill, but farmer advocacy organizations have been critical of the proposals they’ve seen. In a letter to Congress signed by nearly 600 food and farming organizations, including Farm Aid, advocates offered a different route than the one the proposed farm bill is currently on.&nbsp;“A good farm bill would fully address the devastating and ongoing impacts of USDA’s office closures, reorganizations, relocations, as well as the uncertainty exacerbated by funding freezes, award terminations, and staff firings — all of which have weakened the Department’s ability to serve farmers, rural small businesses, and food insecure communities,” read the <a href="https://sustainableagriculture.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Good-Farm-Bill-Letter-Sept-22-2025-FINAL.pdf">letter</a>.</p>
  1508.  
  1509.  
  1510.  
  1511. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1512. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/four-decades-after-farm-crisis-farmers-still-face-challenges-to-stay-afloat/2025/09/29/">Four Decades after Farm Crisis, Farmers Still Face Challenges to Stay Afloat</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1513. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1519. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233324</post-id> </item>
  1520. <item>
  1521. <title>Fewer Households, Businesses Will Get High-Speed Internet Under Revamped Federal Plan</title>
  1522. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/fewer-households-businesses-will-get-high-speed-internet-under-revamped-federal-plan/2025/09/29/</link>
  1523. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/fewer-households-businesses-will-get-high-speed-internet-under-revamped-federal-plan/2025/09/29/#respond</comments>
  1525. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Madyson Fitzgerald and Amelia Ferrell Knisely / Stateline]]></dc:creator>
  1526. <pubDate>Mon, 29 Sep 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1527. <category><![CDATA[Broadband]]></category>
  1528. <category><![CDATA[Government & Policy]]></category>
  1529. <category><![CDATA[repub]]></category>
  1530. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233237</guid>
  1531.  
  1532. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1533. <p>This story was originally published by Stateline. The residents of Roane County, West Virginia, enjoy living among the rolling mountains and winding, two-lane roads. Situated between Charleston and Parkersburg, two of the state’s largest cities, the rural county is known for its small towns and historic buildings. That’s how Sherry Husted, the director of the [&#8230;]</p>
  1534. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/fewer-households-businesses-will-get-high-speed-internet-under-revamped-federal-plan/2025/09/29/">Fewer Households, Businesses Will Get High-Speed Internet Under Revamped Federal Plan</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1535. ]]></description>
  1536. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/AP25136757970514-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1537. <p class="has-text-align-center"><em>This story was originally published by <a href="https://stateline.org/2025/09/22/west-virginia-nearly-achieved-universal-broadband-then-trump-changed-the-rules/">Stateline</a></em>.</p>
  1538.  
  1539.  
  1540.  
  1541. <p>The residents of Roane County, West Virginia, enjoy living among the rolling mountains and winding, two-lane roads. Situated between Charleston and Parkersburg, two of the state’s largest cities, the rural county is known for its small towns and historic buildings.</p>
  1542.  
  1543.  
  1544.  
  1545. <p>That’s how Sherry Husted, the director of the Roane County Public Libraries, described her native community as she worked last week at Geary Public Library in Left Hand, West Virginia. Each of the county’s three library branches has at least three public computers and free internet access, among other services.</p>
  1546.  
  1547.  
  1548.  
  1549. <p>These services are essential to residents living in Roane — where less than 32% of the county’s households, businesses and community buildings — have reliable internet connectivity, according to the Federal Communications Commission’s <a href="https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/area-comparison/fixed?version=dec2024&amp;zoom=7.70&amp;vlon=-81.375205&amp;vlat=38.697830&amp;br=r&amp;gft=1&amp;gfdt=0&amp;speed=100_20&amp;tech=1_2_3_6_7">National Broadband Map</a>.</p>
  1550.  
  1551.  
  1552.  
  1553. <p>“We love our rural area,” Husted said. “But there’s always the catch. You love your rural area, but then access to things is always more limited there.”</p>
  1554.  
  1555.  
  1556.  
  1557. <p>Members of the library staff regularly help patrons fill out job applications and build resumes. They also help those who have never used a desktop computer before — many of the county’s residents rely on their cellular devices and spotty mobile service, Husted said. Most residents&nbsp;still use landline phones, she added.</p>
  1558.  
  1559.  
  1560.  
  1561. <p>And those with internet access at home are paying a steep price. Husted’s plan with Frontier, which includes fiber internet and a landline, comes to $170 a month.</p>
  1562.  
  1563.  
  1564.  
  1565. <p>“If you work from home, you need reliable internet,” she said. “Frontier does the best they can. But this is a very rural area, so the trees and terrain are constantly messing up the internet. And because of the demand on these older lines, your internet may not be reliable enough to host things like meetings or classes.”</p>
  1566.  
  1567.  
  1568.  
  1569. <p>Roane County is one of the areas federal officials hoped to support through the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, or BEAD, a federal grant program meant to expand broadband access. The $42.45 billion initiative, created under the Biden administration’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, aimed to close the digital divide — with a focus on rural communities.</p>
  1570.  
  1571.  
  1572.  
  1573. <p>The Trump administration’s changes to the program, however, have disqualified hundreds of thousands of locations —&nbsp;including homes, businesses and community buildings — from receiving internet access. And the program’s new technology-neutral approach will also shift a large portion of the federal funds toward satellite internet companies, including Elon Musk’s Starlink, that cost less to build but havemore uneven service than underground fiber optic cable. &nbsp;That means households and businesses that were looking forward to reliable, high-speed internet will no longer get support from the BEAD program.</p>
  1574.  
  1575.  
  1576.  
  1577. <p>While some experts were initially skeptical about the program’s goals, every state utilized its allocated funds to develop plans to provide high-speed fiber internet to nearly every home and business in the country, said Christopher Mitchell, the director of the Community Broadband Networks Initiative with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, an anti-corporate advocacy group.</p>
  1578.  
  1579.  
  1580.  
  1581. <p>Most states are expected to get started on deployment projects in 2026. But the Trump administration’s changes have undermined the major investment for rural areas, Mitchell said.</p>
  1582.  
  1583.  
  1584.  
  1585. <p>“I think everyone should care about it — even though most people don’t live in rural America — because when we electrified the entire country, the entire economy grew,” Mitchell said. “We will all benefit from this when everyone has more options to share their knowledge, their gifts and their productivity in the economy.”</p>
  1586.  
  1587.  
  1588.  
  1589. <p>Even West Virginia, <a href="https://broadbandmap.fcc.gov/area-comparison/fixed?version=dec2024&amp;zoom=4.00&amp;vlon=-87.830643&amp;vlat=35.265640&amp;br=r&amp;gft=0&amp;gfdt=0&amp;speed=100_20&amp;tech=1_2_3_6_7">ranking last in internet connectivity</a>, would have effectively achieved universal broadband under the state’s original proposal, according to an unreleased <a href="https://www.benton.org/sites/default/files/WV-Final-Proposal-draft.pdf">draft</a> of the state’s plan obtained by The Benton Institute for Broadband and Society, a policy group. West Virginia has about 78% connectivity, the only state with less than 80%.</p>
  1590.  
  1591.  
  1592.  
  1593. <p>But under West Virginia’s <a href="https://broadband.wv.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/West-Virginia-BEAD-Final-Proposal-9.3.2025.pdf">updated final proposal</a>, submitted to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration earlier this month, tens of thousands of households and businesses will no longer have access to BEAD funding.</p>
  1594.  
  1595.  
  1596.  
  1597. <p>West Virginia Republican Gov. Patrick Morrisey said he is still optimistic about the rollout, telling reporters recently that some of the decrease in coverage was because of inaccurate information. Some areas had just a few homes, or addresses only had a barn on the property, he and an aide said.</p>
  1598.  
  1599.  
  1600.  
  1601. <p>“We’ve been trying to target all the available locations that are eligible,” the governor said Sept. 18 at a news conference at the West Virginia State Capitol. “It’s a pretty fulsome application, and so obviously there were some changes made to accommodate some of the responses from the administration. And in a positive way, they’re trying to save money.”</p>
  1602.  
  1603.  
  1604.  
  1605. <p>There are other changes: States and Washington, D.C., may no longer set rates for low-cost residential service options, raising worries that internet providers will put forward plans they say meet the low-cost requirement, no matter the price. And under the “technology-neutral” approach, some locations will no longer be receiving fiber internet, which the federal government <a href="https://www.ntia.gov/blog/2024/choosing-right-mix-technologies-achieve-internet-all">previously </a>emphasized due to its speed and durability.</p>
  1606.  
  1607.  
  1608.  
  1609. <p>The new guidelines also remove provisions that encouraged states to work with companies and representatives from minority communities. Requirements related to labor, the environment and climate change also were cut.</p>
  1610.  
  1611.  
  1612.  
  1613. <p>West Virginia isn’t alone. Under the new rules, thousands of households, businesses and community buildings across the country will be disqualified from the federal government’s push to provide internet access to the areas that need itmost. And those locations that are still eligible for funding may not receive the best service available — or be able to afford it.</p>
  1614.  
  1615.  
  1616.  
  1617. <p>West Virginia has one of the country’s worst workforce participation <a href="https://www.bls.gov/regions/mid-atlantic/west_virginia.htm#tab-2">rates</a>. Internet access is key to changing that, said Bill Bissett, chairman of the West Virginia Broadband Enhancement Council.</p>
  1618.  
  1619.  
  1620.  
  1621. <p>“We are hopeful that this new proposal will be supported because we need to get started on this development as soon as possible,” Bissett said. “Because the longer we wait, the less people will be connected because of increased costs in deployment and infrastructure.” Sherry Husted, the director of the Roane County Public Library, poses in front of a desktop computer earlier this month. The library’s free computers and internet service are essential to residents living in Roane. (Photo by Amelia Ferrell Knisely/West Virginia Watch)</p>
  1622.  
  1623.  
  1624.  
  1625. <p>Following the required revisions, West Virginia fared well compared with other states, said Drew Garner, the director of policy engagement at the Benton Institute. But Garner said he expects frustration in other states.</p>
  1626.  
  1627.  
  1628.  
  1629. <p>“West Virginia, because it did a good job with its restructuring, is still going to have a lot of strong outcomes,” Garner said. “But across the country in some of these other states, I think there’s going to be a lot of frustration with these changes and the way it walked back from what was going to be a very promising outcome.”</p>
  1630.  
  1631.  
  1632.  
  1633. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">BEAD Restructuring</h3>
  1634.  
  1635.  
  1636.  
  1637. <p>In June, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.ntia.gov/other-publication/2025/bead-restructuring-policy-notice">revised the rules</a> of the BEAD program in what the U.S. Department of Commerce said was an <a href="https://www.ntia.gov/sites/default/files/2025-06/bead-restructuring-policy-notice.pdf">effort</a> to lessen regulatory burdens, reduce costs and streamline the process.</p>
  1638.  
  1639.  
  1640.  
  1641. <p>As of Sept. 18, 41 states had submitted their updated final proposals, according to a <a href="https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiMTMyZmRhNzMtNWY5NC00OTlmLTgxNjEtZjA1OTFlNWIxZTE2IiwidCI6IjVhMjNkMTNlLTBhM2UtNDI5MS04ZDMzLTM5N2Y2YTEwZjEwYiJ9">database</a> from Connected Nation, a nonprofit that advocates for expanded broadband access.</p>
  1642.  
  1643.  
  1644.  
  1645. <p>In December 2022, when the FCC released its updated National Broadband Map, nearly 12 million locations across the country were in need of internet service. Over the years, that number has decreased because of private investments, continued deployment by existing internet providers and additional support from other federal programs.</p>
  1646.  
  1647.  
  1648.  
  1649. <p>States originally identified 4.86 million locations that would be eligible for getting internet connectivity through BEAD funds. But that number is projected to fall to 4.19 million locations following revisions initiated by the Trump administration, according to an <a href="https://broadbandexpanded.com/posts/botblocations">analysis</a> from Broadband Expanded, a project from the New York Law School.</p>
  1650.  
  1651.  
  1652.  
  1653. <p>West Virginia was originally slated to deploy broadband to approximately 110,000 locations. Now, 73,560 of those locations will receive BEAD funding, according to the state’s <a href="https://broadband.wv.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/West-Virginia-BEAD-Final-Proposal-9.3.2025.pdf">new proposal</a>. Connecticut, Massachusetts, Maryland, Nebraska and Rhode Island could see more than half of the locations in their state disqualified from the program.</p>
  1654.  
  1655.  
  1656.  
  1657. <p>But some of those locations may still be in need of internet, said Garner, of the Benton Institute.</p>
  1658.  
  1659.  
  1660.  
  1661. <p>The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, directed states to <a href="https://www.ntia.gov/sites/default/files/2025-03/fp_submission_requirements_non-service_codes_031325.pdf">remove certain locations</a> from the BEAD program because they’d acquired internet access from another source.</p>
  1662.  
  1663.  
  1664.  
  1665. <p>But, in an effort to save taxpayer money, states also had the option to say they were “financially incapable” of serving a location.</p>
  1666.  
  1667.  
  1668.  
  1669. <p>“One of the changes the administration made to the BEAD program is that states and the NTIA now have a way to simply say that these locations are just too expensive,” Garner said. “They can say, ‘It is just going to cost too much, so now we’re going to say they’re ineligible.’”</p>
  1670.  
  1671.  
  1672.  
  1673. <p>The BEAD program’s new technology-neutral approach poses another challenge. The original program <a href="https://www.ntia.gov/blog/2024/choosing-right-mix-technologies-achieve-internet-all">favored fiber</a> because of its speed, reliability and ability to reach remote locations. But some <a href="https://itif.org/publications/2025/01/21/bead-needs-all-technologies-to-succeed/">argue</a> that other technologies would be cheaper.</p>
  1674.  
  1675.  
  1676.  
  1677. <p>This change has opened the door for satellite internet providers, including Elon Musk’s Starlink, to receive money from the program. Starlink could be awarded approximately $10 billion, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/commerce-to-overhaul-internet-for-all-plan-expanding-starlink-funding-prospects-74664efc">The Wall Street Journal</a>.</p>
  1678.  
  1679.  
  1680.  
  1681. <p>In West Virginia, Starlink will serve more than 4,100 locations, according to the governor’s office.</p>
  1682.  
  1683.  
  1684.  
  1685. <p>“Based on the technology and based on all the evidence we have, some of these technologies — unlicensed fixed wireless especially — are not really a reliable internet service that’s going to meet the needs of a 21st century household,” Garner said.</p>
  1686.  
  1687.  
  1688.  
  1689. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Rural Advocates Speak Up</h3>
  1690.  
  1691.  
  1692.  
  1693. <p>In Nebraska, more than half of the counties in the state have signed onto letters to federal officials <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/07/21/changes-in-federal-broadband-programs-upset-advocates-for-rural-nebraska/">objecting to the changes</a>, including the disqualification of nearly half the state’s eligible locations.</p>
  1694.  
  1695.  
  1696.  
  1697. <p>“It’s very frustrating. We have all these holes in our county, and BEAD was going to bring service to those areas,” Milford County Commissioner Misty Ahmic <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/07/21/changes-in-federal-broadband-programs-upset-advocates-for-rural-nebraska/">told</a> the Nebraska Examiner.</p>
  1698.  
  1699.  
  1700.  
  1701. <p><a href="https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2025/09/broadband-grant-awards-fiber-satellite-broadband/">Critics in Pennsylvania</a> have said directing funds toward satellite companies is “shortsighted.” Satellite companies Starlink and Project Kuiper, an Amazon subsidiary, were <a href="https://dced.pa.gov/download/bead-provisional-approvals-8-22-25/?wpdmdl=127494">awarded</a> a combined $19.2 million to expand internet access in Pennsylvania.</p>
  1702.  
  1703.  
  1704.  
  1705. <p>And in Oklahoma, critics noticed the updated plan <a href="https://oklahomavoice.com/2025/08/28/oklahoma-broadband-expansion-proposal-leaves-money-on-the-table-critics-say/">would not be using</a> $225 million of the state’s allocated BEAD funds.</p>
  1706.  
  1707.  
  1708.  
  1709. <p>The state’s head broadband official said the new proposal would still serve everyone, but critics <a href="https://oklahomavoice.com/2025/08/28/oklahoma-broadband-expansion-proposal-leaves-money-on-the-table-critics-say/">told</a> the Oklahoma Voice that it would be wrong to send back any federal money while people across the state continue to struggle with internet access.</p>
  1710.  
  1711.  
  1712.  
  1713. <p>Originally, states were allowed to use these leftover funds to pay for things other than broadband deployment, such as West Virginia’s plans to improve cellular service and streamline the permitting process for broadband projects. But the federal telecommunications agency has not released guidance on how the leftover funds are to be used under the restructured program.</p>
  1714.  
  1715.  
  1716.  
  1717. <p>“There’s a lot of fear right now that NTIA may try to call that money back, which would be a big shame,” Garner said. “That leftover money is the state’s, according to the law. And these ancillary funds would play a huge role to support the BEAD program.”</p>
  1718.  
  1719.  
  1720.  
  1721. <p>Affordability also will be a <a href="https://www.pew.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2024/10/04/every-state-identifies-broadband-affordability-as-primary-barrier-to-closing-digital-divide">barrier</a> for some households. States&nbsp;may no longer set low-cost service option rates for low-income households.&nbsp;And the federal Affordable Connectivity Program <a href="https://stateline.org/2024/05/09/as-millions-lose-federal-help-to-pay-for-internet-some-areas-aim-to-fill-the-gap/">ended last year without additional funding</a> from Congress.</p>
  1722.  
  1723.  
  1724.  
  1725. <p>Morrisey said his administration is being aggressive, collaborating with the Trump administration to get internet access to eligible areas.</p>
  1726.  
  1727.  
  1728.  
  1729. <p>“I applaud the Trump administration for working with us, but once again, I am not going to do a victory lap until we actually get this all done,” the governor said.</p>
  1730.  
  1731.  
  1732.  
  1733. <p>Providing internet to every person in West Virginia was always a lofty goal, said Husted, the Roane County Public Library director.&nbsp; Other initiatives have promised to connect rural residents over the years, Husted said, and she remains skeptical about this outcome.</p>
  1734.  
  1735.  
  1736.  
  1737. <p>“In rural areas, you’re going to need to plan for things, and sometimes that puts us at a disadvantage compared to the cities,” Husted said. “With the internet or with other supplies, sometimes we have to decide what is more important to us.”</p>
  1738.  
  1739.  
  1740.  
  1741. <iframe title="Number of eligible locations under the BEAD program" aria-label="Table" id="datawrapper-chart-iO6q6" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/iO6q6/1/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="1032" data-external="1"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}})}();</script>
  1742.  
  1743.  
  1744.  
  1745. <p><em>Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to read that&nbsp;internet providers will have to offer low-cost residential service options under the revised BEAD program, but that states and Washington, D.C., may no longer set those low-cost rates.</em></p>
  1746.  
  1747.  
  1748.  
  1749. <p><em>Stateline reporter Madyson Fitzgerald can be reached at <a href="mailto:mfitzgerald@stateline.org">mfitzgerald@stateline.org</a>. </em><em>West Virginia Watch reporter </em><em>Amelia Ferrell Knisely can be reached at <a href="mailto:aknisely@westvirginiawatch.com">aknisely@westvirginiawatch.com</a>.</em></p>
  1750.  
  1751.  
  1752.  
  1753. <p>YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.</p>
  1754.  
  1755.  
  1756.  
  1757. <p>SUPPORT</p>
  1758.  
  1759.  
  1760.  
  1761. <p><a href="https://stateline.org">Stateline</a> is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: <a href="mailto:info@stateline.org">info@stateline.org</a>.</p>
  1762. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/fewer-households-businesses-will-get-high-speed-internet-under-revamped-federal-plan/2025/09/29/">Fewer Households, Businesses Will Get High-Speed Internet Under Revamped Federal Plan</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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  1769. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233237</post-id> </item>
  1770. <item>
  1771. <title>Q&#038;A: Mary Ardery on Her New Poetry Collection</title>
  1772. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/qa-mary-ardery-on-her-new-poetry-collection/2025/09/26/</link>
  1773. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/qa-mary-ardery-on-her-new-poetry-collection/2025/09/26/#respond</comments>
  1775. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Olivia Weeks]]></dc:creator>
  1776. <pubDate>Fri, 26 Sep 2025 15:13:49 +0000</pubDate>
  1777. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  1778. <category><![CDATA[Path Finders]]></category>
  1779. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233288</guid>
  1780.  
  1781. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="768" height="1024" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?resize=600%2C800&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=400 400w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1782. <p>Editor’s Note: This interview first appeared in Path Finders, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&#38;A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Like what you see here? You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article and receive more conversations like this in your inbox each week. [&#8230;]</p>
  1783. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-mary-ardery-on-her-new-poetry-collection/2025/09/26/">Q&amp;A: Mary Ardery on Her New Poetry Collection</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1784. ]]></description>
  1785. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="768" height="1024" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?resize=600%2C800&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/unnamed-5-e1758899388342.jpg?fit=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=400 400w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1786. <p><em>Editor’s Note: This interview first appeared in <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/path-finders/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Path Finders</a>, an email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each week, Path Finders features a Q&amp;A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Like what you see here? You can <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-appalachian-potter-josh-copus-has-mud-in-the-blood/2025/06/20/#signup">join the mailing list at the bottom of this article</a> and receive more conversations like this in your inbox each week.</em></p>
  1787.  
  1788.  
  1789.  
  1790. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1791.  
  1792.  
  1793.  
  1794. <p>Mary Ardery is a writer and poet from Indiana. Her poetry collection <a href="https://www.juneroadpress.com/bookstore/p/level-watch"><strong><em>Level Watch</em></strong></a><strong><em>, </em></strong>about the time she spent working as a wilderness guide for a substance abuse treatment program, was released September 23rd, 2025. </p>
  1795.  
  1796.  
  1797.  
  1798. <p>Enjoy our conversation about the theory of wilderness-based addiction treatment, freedom, and moving back to flat land, below. </p>
  1799.  
  1800.  
  1801.  
  1802. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1803.  
  1804.  
  1805.  
  1806. <p><strong>The Daily Yonder: Tell me about the time in your life this collection is based on. How’d you find yourself working as a wilderness therapy guide to women with substance use disorder? Have you struggled with addiction?</strong></p>
  1807.  
  1808.  
  1809.  
  1810. <p><strong>Mary Ardery: </strong>When I was 22, I took a job as a wilderness therapy guide. I was looking for something challenging and meaningful to do in between college and applying to graduate school. A friend had worked at this program for the summer, and though I didn’t have a wilderness background, he said the program was willing to teach guides everything they needed to know. So I jumped in headfirst – what I sometimes refer to as “baptism by fire in the quadriceps.” Baptism by backpacking.</p>
  1811.  
  1812.  
  1813.  
  1814. <p>The job also really interested me because my dad is in recovery. And while I’m not in recovery myself, in my younger days I did have a more tumultuous relationship with drinking. I grew up with a heightened awareness about addiction.</p>
  1815.  
  1816.  
  1817.  
  1818. <p><strong>DY: What’s the theory behind backpacking toward sobriety? Do you believe in its effectiveness? You write in the poem “Learning Curve” about the complicated definition of consent your employer subscribed to:</strong> &#8220;<strong>In the interview to be a field guide, they’d told me</strong> / <strong>everyone chose the program voluntarily</strong> / <strong>but rehab or an orange jumpsuit didn’t sound</strong> / <strong>like much of a choice. Those from well-off families</strong> / <strong>had a different framework. Go to treatment</strong> / <strong>or no more money…</strong>&#8220;</p>
  1819.  
  1820.  
  1821.  
  1822. <p><strong>MA: </strong>The goal of most wilderness therapy is to create a more holistic model of recovery. To offer real challenges in a safe (and beautiful!) environment so that people can grow mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.&nbsp;</p>
  1823.  
  1824.  
  1825.  
  1826. <p>I was working with adults who were technically free to leave at any time, but in “Learning Curve” the speaker realizes that that doesn’t mean everyone <em>wants </em>to be there. Plus, once you’re out in the backcountry and a couple hours from the nearest town, it becomes much harder, practically speaking, to leave. I remember one client in particular reflecting on that. She’d tried at least 20 other treatment programs before arriving in wilderness therapy. When she was out in the backcountry that first week, she’d wanted to leave but felt like the logistics of leaving would be harder than staying. It was the first time she didn’t leave a program after only two or three days.&nbsp;</p>
  1827.  
  1828.  
  1829.  
  1830. <p><strong>DY: What – if anything – did this time in your life teach you about free will, addiction, punishment?</strong></p>
  1831.  
  1832.  
  1833.  
  1834. <p><strong>MA: </strong>In the program where I worked, the hope was to avoid anything ever feeling like punishment but instead allow people to learn from “natural consequences.” If you leave the toilet paper out in the rain, you have wet toilet paper the rest of the week, etc.</p>
  1835.  
  1836.  
  1837.  
  1838. <p>When you’re out in the woods, you’re faced with constantly changing circumstances. The weather. The group dynamics. I always come back to what a field director once told me: “When in doubt, be human.”</p>
  1839.  
  1840.  
  1841.  
  1842. <p><strong>DY: What do you think poetry is able to capture about those years of your life that narrative writing couldn’t?</strong></p>
  1843.  
  1844.  
  1845.  
  1846. <p><strong>MA: </strong>Poetry holds space for uncertainty, what Keats called “negative capability.” Generally speaking, I think we expect more straightforward answers from narrative writing. We are more likely to approach poetry with an understanding that we might not get quick and easy answers. I learned a lot during my time as a guide, but I also accumulated even more questions. My hope is that the narrative component of my poems gives readers something solid to hold onto, but that the image-based language of poetry creates space for readers to really consider what each poem means to <em>them.</em></p>
  1847.  
  1848.  
  1849.  
  1850. <p><strong>DY: You’re from southern Indiana – what do the mountains mean to you? Have you readjusted to flat land?</strong></p>
  1851.  
  1852.  
  1853.  
  1854. <p><strong>MA: </strong>I imprinted on the mountains as a teenager. When I was 17, I went to an outdoor singing camp (led by Bloomington, Indiana, composer Malcolm Dalglish) in a different mountain range – the eastern Sierra Nevada, near Yosemite. I always knew I wanted to spend time living in the mountains – a ridged horizon line inspires me more than anything else – so I was thrilled to later move to Asheville. But I’m also very close with my parents and sisters who all live here in the Midwest. Plus, of course, it’s simply home. I love the mountains. I love the flatlands. I’ve finally resigned myself to the fact that I’m probably always going to feel pulled in (at least) two directions.</p>
  1855.  
  1856.  
  1857.  
  1858. <p><strong>DY: What are your current sources of writing inspiration? It makes a lot of sense to me that this extremely immersive and unique experience would provoke a book&#8217;s worth of poetic reflection. Where do you draw from in your everyday life?</strong></p>
  1859.  
  1860.  
  1861.  
  1862. <p><strong>MA: </strong>I&#8217;ve been working in the background on a book of hometown poems, kind of a coming-of-age manuscript. But most recently I&#8217;ve been working on essays from a feminist perspective that try to understand the social narratives we&#8217;re given and how they influence our paths and identities. For both of these projects, I think what keeps my attention is relationships – with ourselves, with other people, and with our communities and the world at-large.</p>
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  1879. <p>This interview first appeared in <strong>Path Finders</strong>, a weekly email newsletter from the Daily Yonder. Each Monday, Path Finders features a Q&amp;A with a rural thinker, creator, or doer. Join the mailing list today, to have these illuminating conversations delivered straight to your inbox. </p>
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  1917. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-mary-ardery-on-her-new-poetry-collection/2025/09/26/">Q&amp;A: Mary Ardery on Her New Poetry Collection</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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  1924. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233288</post-id> </item>
  1925. <item>
  1926. <title>‘Merging Ministry and Medicine’ in a Rural Black Church</title>
  1927. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/merging-ministry-and-medicine-in-a-rural-black-church/2025/09/25/</link>
  1928. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/merging-ministry-and-medicine-in-a-rural-black-church/2025/09/25/#respond</comments>
  1930. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Betsy Froiland]]></dc:creator>
  1931. <pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1932. <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
  1933. <category><![CDATA[Religion & Faith]]></category>
  1934. <category><![CDATA[Yonder Report]]></category>
  1935. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=232863</guid>
  1936.  
  1937. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1938. <p>“A pharmacist and a minister” may sound like the start of a bad joke, not necessarily an intuitive vocational pairing. But to Reverend Dr. Leonard Edloe, long-time community pharmacist and pastor of New Hope Fellowship in rural Hartfield, Virginia, the two go hand-in-hand. For Dr. Edloe, both vocations are about fostering the spiritual and physical [&#8230;]</p>
  1939. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/merging-ministry-and-medicine-in-a-rural-black-church/2025/09/25/">‘Merging Ministry and Medicine’ in a Rural Black Church</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1940. ]]></description>
  1941. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-Photo-scaled.jpeg?fit=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  1942. <p>“A pharmacist and a minister” may sound like the start of a bad joke, not necessarily an intuitive vocational pairing. But to Reverend Dr. Leonard Edloe, long-time community pharmacist and pastor of New Hope Fellowship in rural Hartfield, Virginia, the two go hand-in-hand.</p>
  1943.  
  1944.  
  1945.  
  1946. <p>For Dr. Edloe, both vocations are about fostering the spiritual and physical health of his communities–predominantely Black communities historically underserved by the American healthcare system.</p>
  1947.  
  1948.  
  1949.  
  1950. <p>“I just love serving people,” Dr. Edloe said in an interview with the Daily Yonder. “I believe in making life better for people.”</p>
  1951.  
  1952.  
  1953.  
  1954. <p>Dr. Edloe has been serving people as a minister for over twenty-five years, and as a pharmacist for over fifty.&nbsp;</p>
  1955.  
  1956.  
  1957. <div class="wp-block-image">
  1958. <figure class="alignleft size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="1040" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy.jpeg?resize=780%2C1040&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232865" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=972%2C1296&amp;ssl=1 972w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=570%2C760&amp;ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=900%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=600%2C800&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=1200%2C1600&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=2000%2C2667&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=780%2C1040&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=400%2C533&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?resize=706%2C941&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-scaled.jpeg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloes-Father-Outside-Pharmacy-972x1296.jpeg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Dr. Eldoe’s father standing in front of his pharmacy in the early 1960’s. (Photo by Rev. Dr. Leonard Edloe)</figcaption></figure></div>
  1959.  
  1960.  
  1961. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Pharmacy</strong></h3>
  1962.  
  1963.  
  1964.  
  1965. <p>Pharmacy runs in Dr. Edloe’s family. His late father Dr. Leonard Lacy Edloe, also a pharmacist, opened his own business, Edloe’s Professional Pharmacies, in 1945. A Black-owned business in segregated Richmond, the pharmacy became a bedrock of the community.&nbsp;</p>
  1966.  
  1967.  
  1968.  
  1969. <p>When Dr. Edloe’s father opened his pharmacy, Black people were even less proportionately represented in the healthcare profession than they are today, and healthcare discrimination against Black patients was even more blatant. From pharmacies to hospitals, every realm of healthcare was segregated, with Black patients routinely subjected to substandard care and worse health outcomes.</p>
  1970.  
  1971.  
  1972.  
  1973. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="322" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Segregated-Basement-Ward.png?resize=780%2C322&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232866" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Segregated-Basement-Ward.png?resize=1296%2C535&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Segregated-Basement-Ward.png?resize=760%2C314&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Segregated-Basement-Ward.png?resize=768%2C317&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Segregated-Basement-Ward.png?resize=1200%2C495&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Segregated-Basement-Ward.png?resize=1024%2C423&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Segregated-Basement-Ward.png?resize=780%2C322&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Segregated-Basement-Ward.png?resize=400%2C165&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Segregated-Basement-Ward.png?resize=706%2C291&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Segregated-Basement-Ward.png?w=1536&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Segregated-Basement-Ward-1296x535.png?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A segregated basement ward designated for Black patients at the University of Virginia Hospital in 1953. (Photo courtesy of Historical Collections and Services, Claude Moore Health Sciences Library)</figcaption></figure>
  1974.  
  1975.  
  1976.  
  1977. <p>Inspired by his father, Dr. Edloe wanted to be a pharmacist in the third grade. He attended his father’s alma mater, Howard University College of Pharmacy. During his first year, he started preaching. His first sermon was about loving your neighbor and yourself, a message he sought to direct specifically toward Black communities.</p>
  1978.  
  1979.  
  1980.  
  1981. <p>Once Dr. Edloe graduated pharmacy school in 1970, he joined his father’s pharmacy. After his father’s passing, he took over the family business, eventually expanding it to four locations across Richmond.&nbsp;</p>
  1982.  
  1983.  
  1984. <div class="wp-block-image">
  1985. <figure class="alignleft size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="480" height="640" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Old-Pharmacy-Building-rotated.jpg?resize=480%2C640&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232867" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Old-Pharmacy-Building-rotated.jpg?w=480&amp;ssl=1 480w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Old-Pharmacy-Building-rotated.jpg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Old-Pharmacy-Building-rotated.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Old-Pharmacy-Building-rotated.jpg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Old-Pharmacy-Building-rotated.jpg?resize=400%2C533&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Old-Pharmacy-Building-rotated.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The original building of Edloe’s Professional Pharmacies. (Photo by Rev. Dr. Leonard Edloe)</figcaption></figure></div>
  1986.  
  1987.  
  1988. <p>Through his work in the community, Dr. Edloe made a name for himself in state pharmaceutical circles. In 2022, he became the first Black pharmacist to serve as president of the Virginia Pharmacy Association, an organization that once <a href="https://richmondfreepress.com/news/2021/aug/19/dr-leonard-l-edloe-installed-president-elect-virgi/">rejected his father from membership because of the color of his skin.</a>&nbsp;</p>
  1989.  
  1990.  
  1991.  
  1992. <p>Alongside his burgeoning pharmacy career, Dr. Edloe continued to preach. In 1997, he started preaching at a nearby church, eventually becoming involved in its prison, HIV, and nursing home ministries.&nbsp;</p>
  1993.  
  1994.  
  1995.  
  1996. <p>His ministry never felt totally separate from his work as a pharmacist. Members of the community told Dr. Edloe that he was doing a sort of ministry as he practiced pharmacy. One pastor even named Dr. Edloe’s pharmacy “Edloe’s Baptist Church.”</p>
  1997.  
  1998.  
  1999.  
  2000. <p>Dr. Edloe closed the family pharmacy in 2012, in part to focus his efforts as the pastor of New Hope when the congregation was in its infancy.&nbsp;</p>
  2001.  
  2002.  
  2003.  
  2004. <p>But he has never stopped practicing medicine. To this day, he works part-time at Daily Planet Health Services, maintaining his career focus on underserved communities by providing health care for people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity.&nbsp;</p>
  2005.  
  2006.  
  2007.  
  2008. <p>Especially in this later stage of his career, Dr. Edloe seeks to empower the next generation of Black healthcare professionals and clergy. He has found a mentee in Reverend Dr. Duran Williams, known to many as “Dr. Duran,” a fellow pharmacist and ordained minister.</p>
  2009.  
  2010.  
  2011.  
  2012. <p>Dr. Duran decided to pursue a career in pharmacy in part to increase Black representation in the field of pharmacology. He wants to be a healthcare provider that his communities can trust.</p>
  2013.  
  2014.  
  2015.  
  2016. <p>“We’re breaking down the stigmas and barriers that have existed in the past, where people were afraid of doctors,” Dr. Duran told the Daily Yonder in an interview.</p>
  2017.  
  2018.  
  2019.  
  2020. <p>Dr. Duran was referring to the ongoing history of racialized medical trauma in the white-dominated health care system, which has fostered <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2024/06/15/black-americans-and-mistrust-of-the-u-s-health-care-system-and-medical-research/">distrust</a> among many Black Americans.&nbsp;</p>
  2021.  
  2022.  
  2023.  
  2024. <p>He cited the <a href="https://eji.org/news/history-racial-injustice-tuskegee-syphilis-experiment/">1932 Tuskegee experiment</a> as one of far too many examples of this trauma. Conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service, the 40-year-long experiment involved 600 Black sharecroppers from Macon County, Alabama: a group with untreated syphilis and a control group without. Researchers deceived the men about the nature and length of the study and deprived them of the widely available cure. Over 100 died as a result.</p>
  2025.  
  2026.  
  2027.  
  2028. <p>Racialized medical trauma persists in the American healthcare system to this day – Black people <a href="https://www.kff.org/racial-equity-and-health-policy/issue-brief/five-facts-about-black-womens-experiences-in-health-care/">continually report</a> mistreatment, discrimination, and abuse when seeking medical care.&nbsp;</p>
  2029.  
  2030.  
  2031.  
  2032. <p>In the midst of that trauma, Dr. Duran is working to make healthcare feel safe and accessible for people.</p>
  2033.  
  2034.  
  2035.  
  2036. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="379" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast.jpg?resize=780%2C379&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232868" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C630&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C370&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C374&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C747&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C996&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C584&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C498&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C973&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C379&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C195&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C343&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-Podcast-1296x630.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Dr. Duran and Dr. Edloe talk shop on &#8220;Dr. Duran’s Pharmacy Podcast.&#8221; (Photo courtesy of Rev. Dr. Duran Williams)</figcaption></figure>
  2037.  
  2038.  
  2039.  
  2040. <p>He discussed his holistic approach to healthcare on an episode of “Dr. Duran’s Pharmacy Podcast” – a podcast he started to increase access to healthcare information – featuring Dr. Edloe. For Dr. Edloe, getting behind the mic harkened back to his days as a radio talk show host, where he discussed topics related to health, politics, and religion.</p>
  2041.  
  2042.  
  2043.  
  2044. <p>In the episode, the duo shared a desire for pharmacists to be viewed as a resource that people can use to better understand their health.</p>
  2045.  
  2046.  
  2047.  
  2048. <p>“It’s not just about giving drugs to people,” Dr. Duran said on air. It’s about helping them understand what they’re taking and why they’re taking it.&nbsp;</p>
  2049.  
  2050.  
  2051.  
  2052. <p>The pair also agreed that serving patients should not be a sterile transaction. Sometimes, they’re serving multiple generations of patients in the same family, which requires maintaining long-term relationships with patients.&nbsp;</p>
  2053.  
  2054.  
  2055.  
  2056. <p>For as long as structural barriers have existed for Black Americans, Black healthcare professionals like Dr. Duran, Dr. Edloe, and his father have worked against them.</p>
  2057.  
  2058.  
  2059.  
  2060. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Church</strong></h3>
  2061.  
  2062.  
  2063.  
  2064. <p>So too have Black churches. Dr. Edloe wrote about the historical role of rural Black churches in his 2023 book <em>Restoring the Glory: Breathing New Life into the Rural Black Church</em>.</p>
  2065.  
  2066.  
  2067.  
  2068. <p>He wrote the book after studying theology under Katie Geneva Cannon, the first Black woman ordained in the United Presbyterian Church and a pioneer of Black womanist theology, an approach to Christian social ethics that centers the perspectives of Black women.</p>
  2069.  
  2070.  
  2071.  
  2072. <p>In the book, Dr. Edloe discusses the emergence of the rural Black church during the mass enslavement of Black people in the American South. Enslavers tried to use Christianity as a tool of oppression; in resistance, many Black churches reclaimed the religion, using it to protect and uplift their communities.&nbsp;</p>
  2073.  
  2074.  
  2075.  
  2076. <p>“In many instances, the [church] building was located on the land of the former plantation,” Dr. Edloe writes.</p>
  2077.  
  2078.  
  2079.  
  2080. <p>“It was in this rural space where many of the formerly enslaved worked that the rural Black church became an institution unto itself.” For many communities, Dr. Edloe writes, the rural Black church was “the only institution that Black people controlled.”</p>
  2081.  
  2082.  
  2083.  
  2084. <p>Dr. Edloe has roots in the rural Black church himself. Growing up, his family returned to his mother’s childhood church each summer during Homecoming, a tradition for parishioners who moved away from the church to return and reunite. <a href="http://www.theafricanamericanlectionary.org/PopupCulturalAid.asp?LRID=107">Homecomings</a> gained prominence in many Southern rural Black churches after the Great Migration of the 20th century, when millions of Black Americans moved to urban centers in the North and West, fleeing racial violence in the rural South.</p>
  2085.  
  2086.  
  2087.  
  2088. <p>In the face of oppression and diaspora, rural Black churches have endured as sites of community healing and empowerment.</p>
  2089.  
  2090.  
  2091.  
  2092. <p>Dr. Edloe became a pastor at New Hope Fellowship in 2010, which started as a congregation with a pastor and a small community of friends and families, but no building.&nbsp;</p>
  2093.  
  2094.  
  2095.  
  2096. <p>The group worshiped primarily in a Hampton Inn conference room for the first two years of the church’s existence. In 2013, they moved into the building they now call home, a red-brick chapel with a little white steeple along a county road in Hartfield.&nbsp;</p>
  2097.  
  2098.  
  2099. <div class="wp-block-image">
  2100. <figure class="alignleft size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="1040" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building.jpg?resize=780%2C1040&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232869" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=972%2C1296&amp;ssl=1 972w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=570%2C760&amp;ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=900%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C800&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C1600&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C2667&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C1040&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C533&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C941&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-scaled.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/New-Hope-Fellowship-Building-972x1296.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">New Hope Fellowship in Hartfield, Virginia. (Photo by Rev. Dr. Leonard Edloe)</figcaption></figure></div>
  2101.  
  2102.  
  2103. <p>A tight-knit group since its earliest days, New Hope is led by the community. Distinct from the hierarchical structure of many churches – where power is reserved for the hands of an elite few clergy at the top – Dr. Edloe distributes power in the hands of his congregation.&nbsp;</p>
  2104.  
  2105.  
  2106.  
  2107. <p>This decentralized approach is a hallmark of rural Black churches. According to Dr. Edloe’s book, many rural Black churches have “numerous centers of power.” This means that it&#8217;s not just the pastor who holds power; it’s also the deacons and trustees, the treasurers and church administrators, the ushers and the choir.</p>
  2108.  
  2109.  
  2110.  
  2111. <p>Photo: New Hope Fellowship Sanctuary. [Photo by Rev. Dr. Leonard Edloe]</p>
  2112.  
  2113.  
  2114.  
  2115. <p>Everyone has different gifts to share – for Dr. Edloe, it’s just a matter of identifying them. In his words, it’s about “letting people know that they can just bloom and be what God wants them to be.”</p>
  2116.  
  2117.  
  2118.  
  2119. <p>Dr. Edloe takes pride in empowering congregants to use their gifts and step into leadership roles, especially people who have not been encouraged to do so in the past. This empowerment involves dismantling patriarchy from church spaces.&nbsp;</p>
  2120.  
  2121.  
  2122.  
  2123. <p>“It’s about empowering people who have been told for so long, ‘you can’t do anything,’” Dr. Edloe said.&nbsp;</p>
  2124.  
  2125.  
  2126.  
  2127. <p>Edloe has ordained seven deacons at his church, five of which are women.&nbsp;</p>
  2128.  
  2129.  
  2130.  
  2131. <p>One of those deacons is Gloria Burnett. Burnett loves being a deacon, but she hates the word itself – “servant” feels more accurate to her understanding of the role.&nbsp;</p>
  2132.  
  2133.  
  2134.  
  2135. <p>“Being a deacon is really about serving the community,” Burnett said.</p>
  2136.  
  2137.  
  2138.  
  2139. <p>At New Hope, deacons are assigned to different families within the church. They check in on those families, provide support when needed, and ensure that there is unity between the family, the rest of the congregation, and the pastor.</p>
  2140.  
  2141.  
  2142. <div class="wp-block-image">
  2143. <figure class="alignleft size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="480" height="640" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Parishoners-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=480%2C640&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232871" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Parishoners-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?w=480&amp;ssl=1 480w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Parishoners-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Parishoners-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Parishoners-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Parishoners-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=400%2C533&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Parishoners-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">New Hope congregants gather for worship. (Photo by Rev. Dr. Leonard Edloe)</figcaption></figure></div>
  2144.  
  2145.  
  2146. <p>A parishioner of Dr. Edloe’s for 28 years, Burnett describes Dr. Edloe as a pastor who promotes leadership and advocates for everyone in his congregation equally.</p>
  2147.  
  2148.  
  2149.  
  2150. <p>“He is for everybody in the church,” Burnett said in an interview with the Daily Yonder. “If there is a need, he helps.”&nbsp;</p>
  2151.  
  2152.  
  2153.  
  2154. <p>Blending his pharmaceutical and ministerial expertise, Dr. Edloe has made New Hope a place where congregants can receive information and resources about health and wellness.&nbsp;</p>
  2155.  
  2156.  
  2157.  
  2158. <p>During services, he incorporates health education in his sermons, sometimes displaying facts and figures from national health organizations on the church projector. In the church’s kitchen, Dr. Edloe offers information about nutrition and healthy food options. Outside the church, congregants have cultivated a vegetable garden and gathered together to play volleyball, croquet, and baseball.&nbsp;</p>
  2159.  
  2160.  
  2161.  
  2162. <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex">
  2163. <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
  2164. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="480" height="640" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Garden-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=480%2C640&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232872" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Garden-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?w=480&amp;ssl=1 480w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Garden-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Garden-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Garden-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Garden-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=400%2C533&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Garden-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash grow outside New Hope Fellowship. (Photo by Rev. Dr. Leonard Edloe)</figcaption></figure>
  2165. </div>
  2166.  
  2167.  
  2168.  
  2169. <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
  2170. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="480" height="640" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kids-Playing-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=480%2C640&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232873" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kids-Playing-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?w=480&amp;ssl=1 480w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kids-Playing-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kids-Playing-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kids-Playing-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kids-Playing-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?resize=400%2C533&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kids-Playing-at-New-Hope-rotated.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 480px) 100vw, 480px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Congregants gather for outdoor activities at New Hope. (Photo by Rev. Dr. Leonard Edloe)</figcaption></figure>
  2171. </div>
  2172. </div>
  2173.  
  2174.  
  2175.  
  2176. <p>The effect has been profound. According to Dr. Duran, who has preached at New Hope several times over the past few years, congregants not only had an understanding of health and wellness, but they also had an understanding of the resources available to them.&nbsp;</p>
  2177.  
  2178.  
  2179.  
  2180. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="585" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope.jpg?resize=780%2C585&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232874" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Edloe-and-Duran-at-New-Hope-1296x972.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Dr. Duran and Dr. Edloe at New Hope. (Photo Courtesy of Rev. Dr. Duran Williams)</figcaption></figure>
  2181.  
  2182.  
  2183.  
  2184. <p>“[Dr. Edloe] really has a heart and an interest in rural church and the health of the communities that rural churches serve,” Dr. Duran said.</p>
  2185.  
  2186.  
  2187.  
  2188. <p>Through the efforts of church leaders committed to strengthening the health of their communities, New Hope is a beacon of healthcare information in rural Virginia.</p>
  2189.  
  2190.  
  2191.  
  2192. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Barriers</strong></h3>
  2193.  
  2194.  
  2195.  
  2196. <p>Beacons like this are necessary to overcome the significant barriers to healthcare that exist for people in rural communities.</p>
  2197.  
  2198.  
  2199.  
  2200. <p>Gloria Burnett knows these barriers well, having worked as a registered nurse in rural hospitals for even longer than she has served New Hope as a deacon.</p>
  2201.  
  2202.  
  2203.  
  2204. <p>Early in her nursing career, Burnett worked at Dixie Hospital – later renamed Hampton General Hospital before it closed in 2002 – where <a href="https://www.whro.org/arts-culture/2025-01-05/hampton-honors-three-black-nurses-who-challenged-hospital-segregation">three Black nurses</a> made history in 1963 for taking a stand against the hospital’s segregationist policies by sitting in the hospital’s whites-only cafeteria instead of the cramped basement cafeteria designated for Black employees.&nbsp;</p>
  2205.  
  2206.  
  2207.  
  2208. <p>Burnett faced racism herself throughout her nursing career, with some patients refusing care from her based on the color of her skin.</p>
  2209.  
  2210.  
  2211.  
  2212. <p>She spent the majority of her career – nearly four decades – at Rappahannock General Hospital, a rural hospital in Lancaster County, Virginia, about a twenty minute drive from New Hope.</p>
  2213.  
  2214.  
  2215.  
  2216. <p>Burnett said many patients at the hospital did not have access to the resources they needed.</p>
  2217.  
  2218.  
  2219.  
  2220. <p>“When you’re living in a rural area, you don’t have a lot of resources, [especially] for the elderly,” Burnett explained.</p>
  2221.  
  2222.  
  2223.  
  2224. <p>To mitigate this need, Burnett and other hospital staff went beyond the scope of their regular nursing duties and provided case management services for patients.</p>
  2225.  
  2226.  
  2227.  
  2228. <p>Their job, said Burnett, was “helping people to navigate the system as far as resources that are available in rural areas.”&nbsp;</p>
  2229.  
  2230.  
  2231.  
  2232. <p>Coordinating with patients, their families, their primary care physicians, and third-party programs, Burnett and hospital staff made sure that patients were getting connected to the resources they needed for long-term health and wellbeing, not just quick fixes.</p>
  2233.  
  2234.  
  2235.  
  2236. <p>For homeless patients, this meant finding safe and affordable housing. For patients with limited access to transportation, this meant driving to their homes to check on them. For uninsured patients, this meant helping them fill out paperwork for Medicaid.</p>
  2237.  
  2238.  
  2239.  
  2240. <p>“We had to basically juggle and figure out what the patient needed, and put ourselves in their position and figure out what we could do to accommodate their needs,” said Burnett.</p>
  2241.  
  2242.  
  2243.  
  2244. <p>Much of the supportive infrastructure once available to patients at Rappahannock General Hospital has been gutted in recent decades, Burnett said, in large part due to federal funding cuts and company buyouts.&nbsp;</p>
  2245.  
  2246.  
  2247.  
  2248. <p>Even Burnett’s role was eliminated last year, a result of company “streamlining” of their case management services.&nbsp;</p>
  2249.  
  2250.  
  2251.  
  2252. <p>Now, Burnett works at <a href="https://www.nnmfhc.org/">Northern Neck Middlesex Free Health Clinic</a>, just down the road from her former employer. The clinic provides free medical care, dental care, and case management services to pretty much anyone who walks through the door. Burnett says the hospital sees about twenty-five patients a day, many of whom are homeless.&nbsp;</p>
  2253.  
  2254.  
  2255.  
  2256. <p>As long as they meet the low-income requirements, Burnett said, “nobody’s turned away at the free health clinic.”</p>
  2257.  
  2258.  
  2259.  
  2260. <p>While resources like this are providing some relief to rural patients, they are too far and few between to bridge the access gap.&nbsp;</p>
  2261.  
  2262.  
  2263.  
  2264. <p>Dr. Duran saw how deep this access gap is upon his visits to New Hope and through his conversations with Dr. Edloe.&nbsp;</p>
  2265.  
  2266.  
  2267. <div class="wp-block-image">
  2268. <figure class="alignleft size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="1040" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-972x1296.jpg?resize=780%2C1040&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-232875" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=972%2C1296&amp;ssl=1 972w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=570%2C760&amp;ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C2048&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=900%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C800&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C1600&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C2667&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C1040&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C533&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C941&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-scaled.jpg?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Duran-and-Edloe-972x1296.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Dr. Duran and Dr. Edloe. (Photo Courtesy of Rev. Dr. Duran Williams)</figcaption></figure></div>
  2269.  
  2270.  
  2271. <p>“A lot of times those individuals have to drive 30 and 40 miles just to get to a doctor’s appointment or get to a hospital,” Dr. Duran said.</p>
  2272.  
  2273.  
  2274.  
  2275. <p>Not just that – many folks in rural areas do not have access to high-speed internet in their homes or transportation to libraries where they can access the internet, an increasingly necessary resource to access information about public health and seek medical care.&nbsp;</p>
  2276.  
  2277.  
  2278.  
  2279. <p>“There’s a need to bring our professional skills and abilities to [rural] areas,” Dr. Duran said. “Or build things that are closer to them.”</p>
  2280.  
  2281.  
  2282.  
  2283. <p>Beyond the barriers to physically access healthcare are the barriers to pay for it. Virginians living in rural areas are <a href="https://vplc.org/medicaid-small-towns-rural-communities-ccf-report/">more likely to rely on Medicaid</a> for health coverage overall. And despite making up <a href="https://www.censusdots.com/race/virginia-demographics">18%</a> of Virginia’s total population, Black Virginians make up <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/state-indicator/medicaid-distribution-people-0-64-by-raceethnicity/?currentTimeframe=0&amp;sortModel=%7B%22colId%22:%22Location%22,%22sort%22:%22asc%22%7D">30%</a> of the state’s Medicaid population. Thus, for Black Virginians living in rural areas, Medicaid is a particularly crucial resource.&nbsp;</p>
  2284.  
  2285.  
  2286.  
  2287. <p>Dr. Duran, Burnett, and Dr. Edloe have worked with many patients and congregants with Medicaid. In light of <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-truth-about-the-one-big-beautiful-bill-acts-cuts-to-medicaid-and-medicare/">the federal government’s move to slash Medicaid this past July</a>, they worry about the people who will lose coverage.</p>
  2288.  
  2289.  
  2290.  
  2291. <p>“I fear for them,” said Burnett. “I feel bad about the whole system, how it’s working, what they’re cutting, because they don’t realize a lot of patients depend on that Medicaid for personal care services and doctor’s office visits.”</p>
  2292.  
  2293.  
  2294.  
  2295. <p>“I think it’s really going to really create challenges for people,” said Dr. Duran.</p>
  2296.  
  2297.  
  2298.  
  2299. <p>With dwindling help from the government, Dr. Edloe, Dr. Duran, and Burnett remain committed to improving access to healthcare in their communities.&nbsp;</p>
  2300.  
  2301.  
  2302.  
  2303. <p>For Dr. Edloe, it’s all about caring for people. “I’ve seen a whole lot of pharmacists that don’t care for people. I’ve seen preachers that don’t care for people. If you find somebody that cares, they can do both,” Dr. Edloe said.</p>
  2304.  
  2305.  
  2306.  
  2307. <p>In Burnett’s words, “it’s all about love, really.”</p>
  2308.  
  2309.  
  2310.  
  2311. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  2312. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/merging-ministry-and-medicine-in-a-rural-black-church/2025/09/25/">‘Merging Ministry and Medicine’ in a Rural Black Church</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2313. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2319. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">232863</post-id> </item>
  2320. <item>
  2321. <title>Scaling Rural Wellness with Clever Collaboration</title>
  2322. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/scaling-rural-wellness-with-clever-collaboration/2025/09/25/</link>
  2323. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/scaling-rural-wellness-with-clever-collaboration/2025/09/25/#respond</comments>
  2325. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Fouriezos / Open Campus]]></dc:creator>
  2326. <pubDate>Thu, 25 Sep 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  2327. <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
  2328. <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
  2329. <category><![CDATA[Mile Markers]]></category>
  2330. <category><![CDATA[repub]]></category>
  2331. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233160</guid>
  2332.  
  2333. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2334. <p>Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in&#160;Mile Markers, a twice monthly newsletter from Open Campus about the role of colleges in rural America. You can&#160;join the mailing list at the bottom of this article&#160;to receive future editions in your inbox. Blackburn College in southern Illinois has its particular charms.&#160; One of just [&#8230;]</p>
  2335. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/scaling-rural-wellness-with-clever-collaboration/2025/09/25/">Scaling Rural Wellness with Clever Collaboration</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2336. ]]></description>
  2337. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?w=1920&amp;ssl=1 1920w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/COAmap1_-_Nick_Jenei.png?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2338. <p style="font-size:14px"><em>Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in&nbsp;<strong>Mile Markers</strong>, a twice monthly newsletter from Open Campus about the role of colleges in rural America. You can&nbsp;</em><a href="https://dailyyonder.com/rural-universities-experiment-with-innovation-hubs/2024/06/06/#signup"><em>join the mailing list at the bottom of this article</em></a><em>&nbsp;to receive future editions in your inbox.</em></p>
  2339.  
  2340.  
  2341.  
  2342. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  2343.  
  2344.  
  2345.  
  2346. <p>Blackburn College in southern Illinois has its particular charms.&nbsp;</p>
  2347.  
  2348.  
  2349.  
  2350. <p>One of just 10 federally recognized “work colleges” — institutions that operate a mandatory student work program as a central part of their educational philosophy — about half its buildings were built by the students themselves over the years.&nbsp;</p>
  2351.  
  2352.  
  2353.  
  2354. <p>That’s even more impressive when you consider that its population includes just a few hundred students … and about 600,000 bees, whose honey they help harvest.</p>
  2355.  
  2356.  
  2357.  
  2358. <p>“If we could all act as a hive, we would all be in a better place,” their president, Larry Lee, likes to say.</p>
  2359.  
  2360.  
  2361.  
  2362. <p>Those unique charms were recently showcased by the college in a “Mapping Belonging” project, using funding from the Endeavor Foundation to also renovate its counseling center and train a third of its faculty in Mental Health First Aid.</p>
  2363.  
  2364.  
  2365.  
  2366. <p>Their efforts are part of an $8.5 million effort to scale student well-being at 10 small liberal arts colleges across America, six of which are considered rural-serving institutions by the Alliance for Research on Regional Colleges.</p>
  2367.  
  2368.  
  2369.  
  2370. <p>For the last two years, those colleges have been sharing notes, testing ideas, and even forming partnerships to help improve wellness and mental health on campuses that often have little resources to support such services.&nbsp;</p>
  2371.  
  2372.  
  2373.  
  2374. <p>“It’s transformed our delivery mechanism and enhanced our retention,” Lee says. “In thirty years in higher education, I’ve never benefited or learned more from such a shared collective.”&nbsp;</p>
  2375.  
  2376.  
  2377.  
  2378. <p>At College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine, students distributed hand-drawn maps that highlighted not just buildings but also hiking trails, meditation spots, and community coffee shops within five miles of campus.</p>
  2379.  
  2380.  
  2381.  
  2382. <p>Through the lab, the college also renovated a three-bay garage into a bouldering shed and had students work together to build a permanent campus sauna, in addition to adding resources like a 24/7 telehealth service and a peer coaching program.&nbsp;</p>
  2383.  
  2384.  
  2385.  
  2386. <p><em>The Endeavor Lab Colleges include: Antioch College (Ohio), Bennington College (Vermont), Blackburn College (Illinois), College of the Atlantic (Maine), Prescott College (Arizona), Randolph College (Virginia), St. John&#8217;s College (Maryland and New Mexico), Sterling College (Vermont), and Warren Wilson College (North Carolina). Northland College (Wisconsin) participated in Phase I but closed in&nbsp;</em><em><a href="https://2025.to/?utm_source=mile-markers.beehiiv.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=scaling-rural-wellness-with-clever-collaboration" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">2025.</a></em></p>
  2387.  
  2388.  
  2389.  
  2390. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Creative solutions to rural mental health gaps</h2>
  2391.  
  2392.  
  2393.  
  2394. <p>The collaboration addresses a persistent problem in rural higher education: Most mental health and wellness programs are designed for large universities and don&#8217;t scale down effectively to small, resource-constrained institutions.</p>
  2395.  
  2396.  
  2397.  
  2398. <p>&#8220;This is where collaboration, not competition, is serving us best,&#8221; says Lori Collins-Hall, the project director of the Endeavor Lab Colleges program. &#8220;Not all models, especially those implemented and researched on larger campuses, are scalable to the constraints and staff of small higher education.&#8221;</p>
  2399.  
  2400.  
  2401.  
  2402. <p>Such sharing isn’t so common among small liberal arts colleges that, despite spanning wide geographies, may feel like they’re competing for the same students — along with Blackburn College, Sterling College and Warren Wilson College are also federal work colleges.</p>
  2403.  
  2404.  
  2405.  
  2406. <p>These institutions are sharing intellectual property, successful programs, and even staff training across what would normally be competitive boundaries.</p>
  2407.  
  2408.  
  2409.  
  2410. <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex">
  2411. <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
  2412. <p>Some were doing so under trying circumstances: even as it faced closure this past spring, Northland College created a $2,500 mini-grant to support its students, faculty, and workers as they processed its final academic year.</p>
  2413.  
  2414.  
  2415.  
  2416. <p>As Lee notes, programs that support small rural colleges like the Endeavor Lab are rare, yet have an outsize impact on their local communities.</p>
  2417.  
  2418.  
  2419.  
  2420. <p>“It’s one thing to just try to recruit students to a rural community, but as a college, we are also the lifeblood of our region. If something happens to this college, our community would falter.”&nbsp;</p>
  2421. </div>
  2422.  
  2423.  
  2424.  
  2425. <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
  2426. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="1040" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=780%2C1040&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233163" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=972%2C1296&amp;ssl=1 972w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=570%2C760&amp;ssl=1 570w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=768%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=1152%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 1152w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=900%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 900w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=600%2C800&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=450%2C600&amp;ssl=1 450w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=300%2C400&amp;ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=150%2C200&amp;ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=780%2C1040&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=400%2C533&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?resize=706%2C941&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958.png?w=1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1000004958-972x1296.png?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">College of the Atlantic students hold a “map folding party” during orientation, meant to foster a deeper sense of belonging. (Photo courtesy of Endeavor Lab Colleges)</figcaption></figure>
  2427. </div>
  2428. </div>
  2429.  
  2430.  
  2431.  
  2432. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Working within the rural context</h2>
  2433.  
  2434.  
  2435.  
  2436. <p>What emerges from these examples is a vision of rural liberal arts education that leverages what might traditionally be seen as limitations — small size, remote location, limited resources — as strengths for mental health support.</p>
  2437.  
  2438.  
  2439.  
  2440. <p>&#8220;Small liberal arts colleges cultivate relationships and foster community, buffering students from isolation and loneliness,&#8221; the consortium notes in their materials. These campuses &#8220;emphasize a strong sense of belonging&#8221; and &#8220;nurture students&#8217; passion, balance, integrity, vision, and collective responsibility.&#8221;</p>
  2441.  
  2442.  
  2443.  
  2444. <p>But the collaboration also recognizes the unique challenges of rural mental health support. Many of these communities lack adequate mental health services, and students often arrive at college without having had access to mental health resources in their home communities.</p>
  2445.  
  2446.  
  2447.  
  2448. <p>&#8220;A lot of this work recognizes the dearth of mental health supports and services in rural communities,&#8221; Collins-Hall explains. The initiative emphasizes that &#8220;we&#8217;re not going to counsel our way out of this&#8221; and instead focuses on building preventative skills and community-wide approaches to wellness.</p>
  2449.  
  2450.  
  2451.  
  2452. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Scaling the unscalable</h2>
  2453.  
  2454.  
  2455.  
  2456. <p>Rurality has some shared traits, yet often feels very different based on geography, often making it difficult to scale such programs.&nbsp;</p>
  2457.  
  2458.  
  2459.  
  2460. <p>Being able to draw insights from other disparate colleges, while still retaining a local touch, could be a solution.&nbsp;</p>
  2461.  
  2462.  
  2463.  
  2464. <p>For instance, both College of the Atlantic and Sterling College developed mapping projects, but they look completely different.&nbsp;</p>
  2465.  
  2466.  
  2467.  
  2468. <p>The former created ornate physical maps because of limitations around cell phone service on their campus, while the latter developed a&nbsp;<a href="https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/30c80e9a775a4d0b9b9c24ef6f458cf8?utm_source=mile-markers.beehiiv.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=scaling-rural-wellness-with-clever-collaboration" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sophisticated digital story map</a>&nbsp;that incorporates geographic-information technology and years of ecological research.</p>
  2469.  
  2470.  
  2471.  
  2472. <p>Throughout the program’s first two years, the colleges share detailed implementation guides, budget breakdowns, and lessons learned through a collaborative knowledge base.&nbsp;</p>
  2473.  
  2474.  
  2475.  
  2476. <p>When Blackburn College implements acceptance and commitment therapy training, other campuses can access their materials and adapt them.&nbsp;</p>
  2477.  
  2478.  
  2479.  
  2480. <p>When Warren Wilson develops specific programming for Black male students, their approaches become available to the entire consortium.</p>
  2481.  
  2482.  
  2483.  
  2484. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Looking forward</h2>
  2485.  
  2486.  
  2487.  
  2488. <p>As the Endeavor Lab Colleges enter phase two, the consortium plans to fully integrate all five initiatives — from curriculum work and mapping initiatives to nature and art-based wellness programs — across its remaining nine campuses.</p>
  2489.  
  2490.  
  2491.  
  2492. <p>Some early indicators are promising.&nbsp;Sterling College reported that 2025 graduates scored particularly high (4.1 out of 5) on measures of belonging.&nbsp;</p>
  2493.  
  2494.  
  2495.  
  2496. <p>Blackburn has seen significant improvements in retention, while the College of the Atlantic&#8217;s emergency fund for students facing financial hardship helped address some of the top reasons students leave college.</p>
  2497.  
  2498.  
  2499.  
  2500. <p>In a landscape where small colleges face mounting financial and enrollment pressures, the Endeavor Lab Colleges could offer a blueprint for how small institutions can leverage their collective strength to serve students better than any of them could manage alone.</p>
  2501.  
  2502.  
  2503.  
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  2506.  
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  2518.  
  2519.  
  2520. <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:60%">
  2521. <p>This article first appeared in <strong>Mile Markers</strong>, a twice monthly newsletter from <a href="https://www.opencampusmedia.org/">Open Campus</a> about the role of colleges in rural America.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.opencampusmedia.org/category/newsletters/mile-markers/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Join the mailing list today</a> to have future editions delivered to your inbox.</p>
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  2534. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  2535. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/scaling-rural-wellness-with-clever-collaboration/2025/09/25/">Scaling Rural Wellness with Clever Collaboration</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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  2542. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233160</post-id> </item>
  2543. <item>
  2544. <title>Analysis: The Hollowing Out of Rural Georgia &#8211; Part 1</title>
  2545. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/analysis-the-hollowing-out-of-rural-georgia-part-1/2025/09/24/</link>
  2546. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/analysis-the-hollowing-out-of-rural-georgia-part-1/2025/09/24/#respond</comments>
  2548. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Charles Hayslett]]></dc:creator>
  2549. <pubDate>Wed, 24 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  2550. <category><![CDATA[Community & Economic Development]]></category>
  2551. <category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
  2552. <category><![CDATA[Rural Life]]></category>
  2553. <category><![CDATA[Data]]></category>
  2554. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233078</guid>
  2555.  
  2556. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="553" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?fit=1024%2C553&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?w=1462&amp;ssl=1 1462w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=760%2C410&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=1296%2C699&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=768%2C414&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=1200%2C648&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=1024%2C553&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=780%2C421&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=400%2C216&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=706%2C381&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?fit=1024%2C553&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2557. <p>A deepening demographic crisis now haunts rural Georgia and offers one of the starkest pictures of the widening divide between the greater Atlanta area and the rest of the state.&#160; In less than 20 years, based on data maintained by the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH), the number of Georgia counties reporting more deaths [&#8230;]</p>
  2558. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/analysis-the-hollowing-out-of-rural-georgia-part-1/2025/09/24/">Analysis: The Hollowing Out of Rural Georgia &#8211; Part 1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2559. ]]></description>
  2560. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="553" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?fit=1024%2C553&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?w=1462&amp;ssl=1 1462w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=760%2C410&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=1296%2C699&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=768%2C414&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=1200%2C648&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=1024%2C553&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=780%2C421&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=400%2C216&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?resize=706%2C381&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births.png?fit=1024%2C553&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2561. <p>A deepening demographic crisis now haunts rural Georgia and offers one of the starkest pictures of the widening divide between the greater Atlanta area and the rest of the state.&nbsp; In less than 20 years, based on data maintained by the state’s Department of Public Health (DPH), the number of Georgia counties reporting more deaths than births exploded from less than 20 to nearly 100 of the state’s 159 counties.</p>
  2562.  
  2563.  
  2564.  
  2565. <p>In fact, the number of counties reporting more deaths than births peaked at 124 in 2021, at the height of the Covid-19 spike, and the combined 130 counties outside the 29-county Atlanta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) posted nearly 10,000 more deaths than births during the three-year Covid period from 2020 through 2022.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  2566.  
  2567.  
  2568.  
  2569. <p>The Georgia situation is, of course, part of a larger national trend that started around 2010 and at least coincided with the Great Recession.&nbsp; <a href="https://carsey.unh.edu/publication/rural-america-lost-population-over-past-decade-first-time-history">A February 2022 paper</a> by Kenneth Johnson at the University of New Hampshire reported that, for the first time ever, rural America lost population between 2010 and 2020.&nbsp; “The loss was minimal,” he wrote, “just 289,000 (-0.6 percent) out of 46 million, but it is the first decade-long rural population loss in history.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  2570.  
  2571.  
  2572.  
  2573. <p>The Economic Research Service (ERS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) found the same pattern in <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/population-migration#differences">a June 2025 paper</a> by Justin B. Winikoff.&nbsp; “Natural decrease is now widespread across nonmetro counties, with 1,492 nonmetro counties (76 percent) seeing a natural decrease between July 2023 and June 2024,” Winikoff wrote.&nbsp; “Natural decrease should be expected to continue because of population aging.”</p>
  2574.  
  2575.  
  2576.  
  2577. <p>While the Georgia situation is part of a bigger picture, it almost certainly offers one of the starkest examples of the widening divide between urban and rural America.   The high-level numbers are jarring enough.  In 1994 – the earliest year for which the state’s public health agency has data – the difference in the number of births in the 29-county Atlanta MSA and the other 130 counties was relatively modest – just over 3,500.  </p>
  2578.  
  2579.  
  2580.  
  2581. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="406" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Births-and-Deaths-Atlanta-MSA-v.-130-Other-Counties.png?resize=780%2C406&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233081" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Births-and-Deaths-Atlanta-MSA-v.-130-Other-Counties.png?w=960&amp;ssl=1 960w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Births-and-Deaths-Atlanta-MSA-v.-130-Other-Counties.png?resize=760%2C396&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Births-and-Deaths-Atlanta-MSA-v.-130-Other-Counties.png?resize=768%2C400&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Births-and-Deaths-Atlanta-MSA-v.-130-Other-Counties.png?resize=780%2C406&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Births-and-Deaths-Atlanta-MSA-v.-130-Other-Counties.png?resize=400%2C208&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Births-and-Deaths-Atlanta-MSA-v.-130-Other-Counties.png?resize=706%2C368&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Births-and-Deaths-Atlanta-MSA-v.-130-Other-Counties.png?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /></figure>
  2582.  
  2583.  
  2584.  
  2585. <p>But that difference grew steadily through the 1990s and early 2000s, peaking at 22,169 in 2006.&nbsp; In other words, the difference in the number of births between the Atlanta MSA and the rest of the state grew more than six-fold in just over a decade.</p>
  2586.  
  2587.  
  2588.  
  2589. <p>Deaths were also mounting, of course, in the Atlanta region thanks to sheer population growth and in the rest of the state (and rural areas in particular) because of aging populations.&nbsp; Outside Atlanta, the number of births and deaths had been converging rapidly since the onset of the Great Recession, and the two lines crossed when Covid hit.&nbsp; From 2020 through 2022, the 130 counties outside Atlanta reported nearly 10,000 more deaths than births.</p>
  2590.  
  2591.  
  2592.  
  2593. <p>Since then, non-Atlanta has gotten back into positive territory – but just barely.  And the overall picture is hardly encouraging.  In 2024, as this table shows, Georgia recorded just under 30,000 more births than deaths, but nearly all those excess births were in the Atlanta MSA.   </p>
  2594.  
  2595.  
  2596.  
  2597. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="642" height="148" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Covid-Era-Births-and-Deaths-Table.png?resize=642%2C148&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233082" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Covid-Era-Births-and-Deaths-Table.png?w=642&amp;ssl=1 642w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Covid-Era-Births-and-Deaths-Table.png?resize=400%2C92&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Covid-Era-Births-and-Deaths-Table.png?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 642px) 100vw, 642px" /></figure>
  2598.  
  2599.  
  2600.  
  2601. <p>Tracking the data at a state level is startling enough, but mapping county-by-county behavior over time suggests nothing so much as the relentless spread of a terrifying socioeconomic cancer.  </p>
  2602.  
  2603.  
  2604. <div class="wp-block-image">
  2605. <figure class="alignleft size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="435" height="452" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1994-Georgia-More-Deaths-than-Births-Map.png?resize=435%2C452&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233083" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1994-Georgia-More-Deaths-than-Births-Map.png?w=435&amp;ssl=1 435w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1994-Georgia-More-Deaths-than-Births-Map.png?resize=400%2C416&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/1994-Georgia-More-Deaths-than-Births-Map.png?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 435px) 100vw, 435px" /></figure></div>
  2606.  
  2607.  
  2608. <p>In 1994, the earliest year for which DPH has data, only 12 Georgia counties recorded more deaths than births.&nbsp; And, as this map shows, the only real regional patterns were in three “mountain counties” – Fannin, Towns, and Union – on the North Carolina line and two adjoining counties – Quitman and Clay – hard on the Alabama line in southwest Georgia.</p>
  2609.  
  2610.  
  2611.  
  2612. <p>The picture didn’t change much over the next 15 years.  As this chart shows, the number of Georgia counties reporting more deaths than births remained below 20 for this entire period.  At the onset of the Great Recession in 2007, the number of counties in this unhappy category was down to twelve; the previous year – 2006 – the number of counties reporting more deaths than births was eight, an all-time low for the period.</p>
  2613.  
  2614.  
  2615.  
  2616. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="421" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births-1.png?resize=780%2C421&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233084" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births-1.png?resize=1296%2C699&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births-1.png?resize=760%2C410&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births-1.png?resize=768%2C414&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births-1.png?resize=1200%2C648&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births-1.png?resize=1024%2C553&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births-1.png?resize=780%2C421&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births-1.png?resize=400%2C216&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births-1.png?resize=706%2C381&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births-1.png?w=1462&amp;ssl=1 1462w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Georgia-Counties-with-More-Deaths-Than-Births-1-1296x699.png?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /></figure>
  2617.  
  2618.  
  2619.  
  2620. <p>But by 2015, it had spiked to 60 counties (with two more that broke even, with the same number of births and deaths), and several clear regional patterns were taking shape.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  2621.  
  2622.  
  2623.  
  2624. <p>The group of mountain counties in northern Georgia border area had doubled, and this demographic malady was beginning to spread down Georgia’s eastern border with South Carolina and into east-central Georgia.  In deep southwest Georgia, the number of upside-down counties had quadrupled since 1994, and a long chain of counties where burials outnumbered new babies was taking shape across the belly of the state.  Many of these counties had been home to textile and manufacturing plants that were hammered by NAFTA starting in the 1990s.</p>
  2625.  
  2626.  
  2627.  
  2628. <p>Largely unaffected by this trend were the Metro Atlanta area – shown on the map above as the sprawling, wide-open expanse in the northern part of the state – and deep southeast Georgia.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  2629.  
  2630.  
  2631.  
  2632. <p>But southeast Georgia’s days were numbered.&nbsp; Over the next few years, the number of counties reporting more deaths continued to rise and hit 78 in 2019, the last pre-Covid year.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  2633.  
  2634.  
  2635. <div class="wp-block-image">
  2636. <figure class="alignleft size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="624" height="685" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2021-Georgia-More-Deaths-than-Births-Map-1.png?resize=624%2C685&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-233086" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2021-Georgia-More-Deaths-than-Births-Map-1.png?w=624&amp;ssl=1 624w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2021-Georgia-More-Deaths-than-Births-Map-1.png?resize=400%2C439&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/2021-Georgia-More-Deaths-than-Births-Map-1.png?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 624px) 100vw, 624px" /></figure></div>
  2637.  
  2638.  
  2639. <p>Two years later – the worst year of the Covid period – the number of counties with more burials than babies topped out at 124.  Of the 35 remaining counties still reporting net births, only 14 were outside the Atlanta MSA; combined, those non-Atlanta counties produced only 4,008 net births.  The 21 Atlanta MSA counties in this category produced 21,136 more births than deaths in 2021.</p>
  2640.  
  2641.  
  2642.  
  2643. <p>It&#8217;s worth noting that the damage was not confined to purely rural counties in 2021.&nbsp; The important regional hub counties anchored by Macon, Albany, Brunswick, and Rome all fell into negative territory that year.</p>
  2644.  
  2645.  
  2646.  
  2647. <p>Post-Covid (or at least the worst of Covid so far), the number of counties in negative territory dropped back to 92 in 2023 and ticked up to 94 in ’24, but that should hardly be viewed as good news.&nbsp; That drop merely puts this trend back on its pre-Covid trajectory, and it’s not at all clear that this trend will stall out anytime soon, let alone begin to reverse itself.</p>
  2648.  
  2649.  
  2650.  
  2651. <p><em>All data charts and maps were sourced from Georgia’s Department of Public Health (DPH).</em></p>
  2652.  
  2653.  
  2654.  
  2655. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  2656.  
  2657.  
  2658.  
  2659. <p><em>Up next: A look at rural Georgia’s economic decline and how it presaged these population trends.</em></p>
  2660.  
  2661.  
  2662.  
  2663. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  2664.  
  2665.  
  2666.  
  2667. <p><em>The writer, Charles Hayslett, is the author of the long-running </em><a href="http://www.troubleingodscountry.com"><em>Trouble in God’s Country</em></a><em> blog, which focuses largely on the costs and consequences of the death of rural Georgia.&nbsp;&nbsp;</em></p>
  2668. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/analysis-the-hollowing-out-of-rural-georgia-part-1/2025/09/24/">Analysis: The Hollowing Out of Rural Georgia &#8211; Part 1</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2669. ]]></content:encoded>
  2671. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/analysis-the-hollowing-out-of-rural-georgia-part-1/2025/09/24/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  2672. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2675. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233078</post-id> </item>
  2676. <item>
  2677. <title>Commentary: Trump Administration Doubles Down on Pulling Investment Away from Rural Internet Access</title>
  2678. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-trump-administration-doubles-down-on-pulling-investment-away-from-rural-internet-access/2025/09/23/</link>
  2679. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-trump-administration-doubles-down-on-pulling-investment-away-from-rural-internet-access/2025/09/23/#respond</comments>
  2681. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christopher Mitchell / Community Networks]]></dc:creator>
  2682. <pubDate>Tue, 23 Sep 2025 09:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
  2683. <category><![CDATA[Rural Life]]></category>
  2684. <category><![CDATA[repub]]></category>
  2685. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233032</guid>
  2686.  
  2687. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2688. <p>This story was originally published by Community Networks. NTIA, the federal office administering the largest single investment to expand Internet access across the nation, appears to once again be changing the BEAD program in ways that would only force states to further reduce investment in rural areas. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who oversees the NTIA [&#8230;]</p>
  2689. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-trump-administration-doubles-down-on-pulling-investment-away-from-rural-internet-access/2025/09/23/">Commentary: Trump Administration Doubles Down on Pulling Investment Away from Rural Internet Access</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2690. ]]></description>
  2691. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/mufid-majnun-cfA1wQeAJQQ-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2692. <p class="has-text-align-center"><em>This story was originally published by <a href="https://communitynetworks.org/content/our-view-trump-administration-doubles-down-pulling-investment-away-rural-internet-access?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com">Community Networks</a></em>.</p>
  2693.  
  2694.  
  2695.  
  2696. <p>NTIA, the federal office administering the largest single investment to expand Internet access across the nation, appears to once again be changing the BEAD program in ways that would only force states to further reduce investment in rural areas.</p>
  2697.  
  2698.  
  2699.  
  2700. <p>Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who oversees the NTIA office, has&nbsp;<a href="https://communitynetworks.org/content/high-cost-bargain-trump-administration-bead-changes-herald-slower-more-expensive-broadband">already introduced delays</a>&nbsp;to the $42.5 billion Internet access expansion program, creating a year-long slow-down at a time when many states could be already connecting homes.</p>
  2701.  
  2702.  
  2703.  
  2704. <p>Now, even as the administration claims to be expediting the process, NTIA seems to have added yet another time-consuming wrinkle: a super secret “Best and Final Offer” round imposed on states after submitting final proposals.</p>
  2705.  
  2706.  
  2707.  
  2708. <p>A quick reminder of where we are: states were forced to redo all their work in recent weeks to follow new rules aimed at cutting costs by making the program demonstrably worse for hundreds of thousands of families.</p>
  2709.  
  2710.  
  2711.  
  2712. <p>Rather than spend money to help get these families access to comparably affordable fiber networks,&nbsp;<a href="https://communitynetworks.org/content/new-research-starlink-unlikely-meet-bead-speed-needs-scale">states now have to push billions toward low-Earth orbit satellite services</a>&nbsp;which offer them far worse connectivity at much higher prices to each subscriber. And yet, NTIA called this process of reducing investment in rural America the “Benefit of the Bargain” round.</p>
  2713.  
  2714.  
  2715.  
  2716. <p>Last week,&nbsp;<a href="https://broadbandbreakfast.com/ntia-33-states-submitted-final-bead-proposals/">most states submitted their new final proposals</a>&nbsp;and were moved into the 90-day process of NTIA responding and curing the state plans. But we are now hearing reports that there is a new step in the BEAD process to further reduce new investment in the areas that currently only have access from satellite providers.</p>
  2717.  
  2718.  
  2719.  
  2720. <p>There is no official announcement to date about the new “Best and Final Offer” part of the BEAD saga, but it apparently involves new price caps that are based on secret Costquest (the company the FCC pays to maintain the&nbsp;<a href="https://communitynetworks.org/content/our-view-friday-13th-mapping-challenge-deadline-highlights-failed-process">deeply-flawed national broadband map</a>) models. If a project exceeds the secret cost cap, the state has 3 days to work with the ISP bidder to reduce costs still further.</p>
  2721.  
  2722.  
  2723.  
  2724. <p>If the bidder cannot meet that secret cost cap, then the state must reopen negotiations with all the applicants.</p>
  2725.  
  2726.  
  2727.  
  2728. <p>In early 2025, the majority of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.benton.org/blog/how-did-benefit-bargain-change-west-virginia-bead-plan">states had managed to find ISPs to build advanced Internet access networks</a>&nbsp;that would meet resident and business needs for decades into the future for nearly every location in their jurisdiction. And they did so under budget! Then they were told they had to trim their under-budget plans, meeting the new rules imposed specifically to reduce investment in rural America. They did it&nbsp;–&nbsp;on an expedited basis&nbsp;–&nbsp;only to find that once again they are being told to find more families and businesses to leave with no options beyond satellite Internet access.</p>
  2729.  
  2730.  
  2731.  
  2732. <p>One of the endless, unexplained mysteries in this whole process is why NTIA is pushing so hard to move from fiber that meets the NTIA budget requirements to a satellite service that is already present.&nbsp;</p>
  2733.  
  2734.  
  2735.  
  2736. <p>In rural northeast Louisiana, the only option many families have is Starlink. It makes sense to spend $4,000 to $5,000 per home to build a more affordable, robust network there that can attract economic development and opportunity. But paying Elon Musk’s SpaceX $1,000 per location (a rough average of these subsidies across the US in preliminary figures) is a waste. It is already available.</p>
  2737.  
  2738.  
  2739.  
  2740. <p>Several thoughts come to mind in this latest twist, the first being that this might all be a massive psychological experiment conducted by the Trump Administration to see what happens when you subject people running broadband offices to unimaginable stress time and time again. When and how do they break?</p>
  2741.  
  2742.  
  2743.  
  2744. <p>Another thought is that if you think the “Best and Final Offer” round is the actual final step, then I want to introduce you to my friend Sisyphus and his rock. Have you ever reviewed a doc named something like “2024_final_final_0421_really_final_last_chance.docx”?</p>
  2745.  
  2746.  
  2747.  
  2748. <p>Commerce Secretary Lutnick is setting a record in how many times he can try to pull the rug out from under rural America. The state and territory offices trying to unlock these funds to permanently solve the infrastructure gap hindering Internet access in rural areas have risen to challenge after challenge in both Presidential Administrations, but I wonder how much more they can take.</p>
  2749.  
  2750.  
  2751.  
  2752. <p>At the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, we aren’t a big fan of BEAD or BEAD 2.0&nbsp;–&nbsp;too much money is going to national monopolies that have a poor track record of service. But we feel the need to take a stand in favor of honest and transparent government.&nbsp;</p>
  2753.  
  2754.  
  2755.  
  2756. <p>BEAD was designed to correct the failures of multiple billion-dollar federal Internet access subsidy programs, but the Trump Administration is forcing it back into the old pattern of throwing money at politically-connected monopolies rather than serving the long term interests of rural communities.</p>
  2757.  
  2758.  
  2759.  
  2760. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  2761.  
  2762.  
  2763.  
  2764. <p><em>Update on September 11, 2025 &#8211; NTIA </em><a href="https://communitynetworks.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/NTIArebuttal.pdf"><em>has confirmed</em></a><em> it has caps on projects that were not previously disclosed and requires state offices to once again open up project areas to push households toward satellite. </em><a href="https://www.broadband.io/c/get-broadband-grant-alerts-news/the-bead-bob-cap-seems-real-and-it-is-not-magnificent"><em>Doug Adams at Broadband.io has information on the caps for each state</em></a><em>. </em></p>
  2765. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-trump-administration-doubles-down-on-pulling-investment-away-from-rural-internet-access/2025/09/23/">Commentary: Trump Administration Doubles Down on Pulling Investment Away from Rural Internet Access</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2766. ]]></content:encoded>
  2768. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-trump-administration-doubles-down-on-pulling-investment-away-from-rural-internet-access/2025/09/23/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  2769. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  2772. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">233032</post-id> </item>
  2773. <item>
  2774. <title>‘You&#8217;re Going to See Very Severe Things and Dangerous Things’: Medicaid Cuts in Rural Idaho</title>
  2775. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/youre-going-to-see-very-severe-things-and-dangerous-things-medicaid-cuts-in-rural-idaho/2025/09/22/</link>
  2776. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/youre-going-to-see-very-severe-things-and-dangerous-things-medicaid-cuts-in-rural-idaho/2025/09/22/#comments</comments>
  2778. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Madeline de Figueiredo]]></dc:creator>
  2779. <pubDate>Mon, 22 Sep 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  2780. <category><![CDATA[Government & Policy]]></category>
  2781. <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
  2782. <category><![CDATA[Trump's Second Term]]></category>
  2783. <category><![CDATA[Yonder Report]]></category>
  2784. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=233012</guid>
  2785.  
  2786. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="640" height="480" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-art_Harrison-Keely-Creative-Commons.jpg?fit=640%2C480&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-art_Harrison-Keely-Creative-Commons.jpg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-art_Harrison-Keely-Creative-Commons.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-art_Harrison-Keely-Creative-Commons.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-art_Harrison-Keely-Creative-Commons.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-art_Harrison-Keely-Creative-Commons.jpg?fit=640%2C480&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2787. <p>In the early hours of the morning, Amy Klingler, a primary care physician assistant in Stanley, Idaho, answered a call from a panicked patient. The woman was experiencing severe lower abdominal pain and had been vomiting for hours. She said she feared she might be suffering from an ectopic pregnancy—a serious, potentially fatal condition. But [&#8230;]</p>
  2788. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/youre-going-to-see-very-severe-things-and-dangerous-things-medicaid-cuts-in-rural-idaho/2025/09/22/">‘You&#8217;re Going to See Very Severe Things and Dangerous Things’: Medicaid Cuts in Rural Idaho</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2789. ]]></description>
  2790. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="640" height="480" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-art_Harrison-Keely-Creative-Commons.jpg?fit=640%2C480&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" decoding="async" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-art_Harrison-Keely-Creative-Commons.jpg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-art_Harrison-Keely-Creative-Commons.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-art_Harrison-Keely-Creative-Commons.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-art_Harrison-Keely-Creative-Commons.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Lede-art_Harrison-Keely-Creative-Commons.jpg?fit=640%2C480&amp;ssl=1&amp;w=370 370w" sizes="(max-width: 34.9rem) calc(100vw - 2rem), (max-width: 53rem) calc(8 * (100vw / 12)), (min-width: 53rem) calc(6 * (100vw / 12)), 100vw" /></figure>
  2791. <p>In the early hours of the morning, Amy Klingler, a primary care physician assistant in Stanley, Idaho, answered a call from a panicked patient. The woman was experiencing severe lower abdominal pain and had been vomiting for hours. She said she feared she might be suffering from an ectopic pregnancy—a serious, potentially fatal condition. But even in that moment of crisis, the patient hesitated to seek emergency care.</p>
  2792.  
  2793.  
  2794.  
  2795. <p>“She was calling me at three o&#8217;clock in the morning wondering what to do. She didn&#8217;t really want to go to the emergency room,” Klingler said. “She&#8217;d been sick for several hours and hadn&#8217;t gone because she didn&#8217;t have insurance. And then, of course, the fears about reproductive health care in Idaho.”&nbsp;</p>
  2796.  
  2797.  
  2798.  
  2799. <p>Klingler said that while treatment of ectopic pregnancies is legal in Idaho, concerns about access to reproductive care often cause patients to delay both preventative and emergency treatment.&nbsp;</p>
  2800.  
  2801.  
  2802.  
  2803. <p>“That was another really heartbreaking thing for me, that this person was in pain, throwing up for several hours, was afraid to go to the ER, was afraid about the bill from the ER.”</p>
  2804.  
  2805.  
  2806.  
  2807. <p>Eventually, the patient sought emergency medical attention and was treated for appendicitis.&nbsp;</p>
  2808.  
  2809.  
  2810.  
  2811. <p>Since the Supreme Court overturned <em>Roe v. Wade</em> in 2022, Idaho has enacted one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. Physicians <a href="https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/criminal-penalties-for-physicians-in-state-abortion-bans/">can face</a> felony charges and prison time for providing abortion care. A <a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2837058">July study</a> found that, following the implementation of the abortion ban, Idaho lost 35% of its OBGYN providers, worsening the landscape of maternity care deserts and further straining access to care.</p>
  2812.  
  2813.  
  2814.  
  2815. <p>Maternity care deserts are counties with no hospital or birth center offering obstetric care and no obstetric clinicians. According to data collected by <a href="https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/data?reg=99&amp;top=23&amp;stop=641&amp;lev=1&amp;slev=4&amp;obj=9&amp;sreg=16">March of Dimes</a>, 32% of Idaho’s counties are maternity care deserts.&nbsp;</p>
  2816.  
  2817.  
  2818.  
  2819. <p>Now, those pressures are expected to deepen. The <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text?">federal budget reconciliation bill</a>, passed by Congress in July, significantly tightens Medicaid eligibility and benefits by adding work requirements, more frequent income checks, cost-sharing, and restrictions on non-citizens. Providers said these changes are already creating hurdles and could lead to major coverage losses and reduced access to care.</p>
  2820.  
  2821.  
  2822.  
  2823. <p>As providers race to keep pace with increased patient volume, more emergencies, and changing insurance coverage, the new federal policies threaten to exacerbate provider shortages, erode access, and deepen fear around seeking health care.&nbsp;</p>
  2824.  
  2825.  
  2826.  
  2827. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Barriers to Access</strong></h3>
  2828.  
  2829.  
  2830.  
  2831. <p>Idaho <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions/">expanded Medicaid</a> in 2020 after voters approved a <a href="https://sos.idaho.gov/elect/inits/2018/init03.html">ballot initiative</a>, extending health coverage to an additional <a href="https://publicdocuments.dhw.idaho.gov/WebLink/DocView.aspx?id=32398&amp;dbid=0&amp;repo=PUBLIC-DOCUMENTS&amp;cr=1">90,000</a> Idahoans, bringing the total enrollment to around <a href="https://files.kff.org/attachment/fact-sheet-medicaid-state-ID">355,000 </a>adults and children. But now, both <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions/">state</a> and federal policymakers are rolling back parts of that expansion.&nbsp;</p>
  2832.  
  2833.  
  2834.  
  2835. <p>The budget reconciliation bill introduced major changes to Medicaid, including requiring expansion enrollees to <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/tracking-the-medicaid-provisions-in-the-2025-budget-bill/">recertify eligibility</a> every six months, a shift that could trigger significant coverage losses due to administrative hurdles. It also imposed work requirements, cost-sharing, limits on non-citizen coverage, and tightened eligibility rules. <a href="https://idahocapitalsun.com/2025/07/03/thousands-of-idahoans-could-lose-healthcare-coverage-under-federal-spending-bill/">Preliminary estimates</a> suggest 40,000 Idahoans could lose Medicaid, while another 35,000 could lose marketplace insurance.</p>
  2836.  
  2837.  
  2838.  
  2839. <p>Klingler is already seeing the consequences of the recertification process play out with her patients.&nbsp;</p>
  2840.  
  2841.  
  2842.  
  2843. <p>“The administrative burdens and the recertification burdens are what is going…to really impact people,” she said. “I have had patients in the last month try to recertify and run into barriers.”&nbsp;</p>
  2844.  
  2845.  
  2846.  
  2847. <p>Anthony Wright, executive director of <a href="https://familiesusa.org/">Families USA</a>, a nonprofit advocacy group focused on affordable, high-quality health care for all Americans, said that the cuts to Medicaid will affect both patients and health care systems.&nbsp;</p>
  2848.  
  2849.  
  2850.  
  2851. <p>“The cuts to Medicaid and the ACA will have devastating and dramatic impacts on health coverage, care, and costs for American families, and in many ways especially in Idaho. The cuts will not just mean that tens of thousands of Idaho residents lose coverage, but federal cuts will force state budgets into crisis, forcing states to drastically scale back services, leading to closures of rural hospitals and community clinics,” said Wright in a <a href="https://www.familiesusa.org/press-releases/the-big-budget-bills-impact-on-idahos-health-system-more-idaho-residents-uninsured-higher-health-care-costs-and-more-consequences-of-the-many-cuts-to-care/">statement</a>.</p>
  2852.  
  2853.  
  2854.  
  2855. <p>Clinicians are bracing for these impacts.&nbsp;</p>
  2856.  
  2857.  
  2858.  
  2859. <p>“We anticipate a lot more uninsured people over the next several years because of Medicaid funding loss and Medicaid expansion restrictions,” Klingler said.&nbsp;</p>
  2860.  
  2861.  
  2862.  
  2863. <p>Dr. Brenna McCrummen, an OBGYN in Kootenai County, has already witnessed the impact of worsening maternity care deserts. Bonner General Health, the only hospital with OBGYNs in Bonner County, located directly north of Kootenai County, <a href="https://bonnergeneral.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Bonner-General-Health-Press-Release-Closure-of-LD-3.17.2023.pdf">closed its obstetrics services</a> in 2023.</p>
  2864.  
  2865.  
  2866.  
  2867. <p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/pregnant-women-struggle-find-care-idaho-abortion-ban-rcna117872">All four OBGYNs from Bonner County told </a>NBC that Idaho’s strict abortion laws influenced their decision to leave. As a result, patients now have to travel hours for care, including to see Dr. McCrummen.</p>
  2868.  
  2869.  
  2870.  
  2871. <p>“We have patients who drive two to three hours to come see us for prenatal appointments and to deliver in Kootenai County,” Dr. McCrummen said. “It&#8217;s quite a lot and some of them don&#8217;t have transportation.&#8221;</p>
  2872.  
  2873.  
  2874.  
  2875. <p>Dr. McCrummen said that many of her patients are covered by Medicaid, including those that travel from Bonner County.&nbsp;</p>
  2876.  
  2877.  
  2878.  
  2879. <p>“The Medicaid population is large, especially in the rural areas that we take care of to the north,” she said. “They have already been kind of displaced in terms of not having providers close to their home. And so in addition now to traveling far to come see us, those who will no longer be on Medicaid find many different barriers to care.”</p>
  2880.  
  2881.  
  2882.  
  2883. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Spikes in Emergency Care</strong></h3>
  2884.  
  2885.  
  2886.  
  2887. <p>Dr. McCrummen said that when people lose insurance coverage, it adds to the barriers they already face in accessing care, particularly in rural areas. These compounding obstacles often lead patients to delay treatment, turning manageable health issues into emergencies.</p>
  2888.  
  2889.  
  2890.  
  2891. <p>“They&#8217;re already traveling, they&#8217;re already disadvantaged, and now you&#8217;ve just delayed their care even more. And delaying their care, of course, can make problems worse by the time they get to us,” Dr. McCrummen said. “There are more ED visits, their problems are worse because they haven&#8217;t been cared for as they should have been, and they have bad outcomes because they&#8217;re further disadvantaged from seeking care.”&nbsp;</p>
  2892.  
  2893.  
  2894.  
  2895. <p>These delays, she explained, extend far beyond just obstetrics situations and affect every aspect of women’s health.</p>
  2896.  
  2897.  
  2898.  
  2899. <p>“Pap smears, preventative care, birth control, STI testing, all of those things are going to be harder to get,” she said.&nbsp;</p>
  2900.  
  2901.  
  2902.  
  2903. <p>Without access to routine screenings and evaluations, Dr. McCrummen warned, common conditions can escalate into dangerous health crises.</p>
  2904.  
  2905.  
  2906.  
  2907. <p>“[For example], women who have abnormal bleeding and can&#8217;t be seen or evaluated can then become very anemic and it&#8217;s very dangerous,” Dr. McCrummen said. “So it absolutely impacts not just obstetric care, but all of women&#8217;s health care across the board.”</p>
  2908.  
  2909.  
  2910.  
  2911. <p>In Stanley, Klingler counsels her pregnant patients on acquiring insurance for emergency medical flights.&nbsp;</p>
  2912.  
  2913.  
  2914.  
  2915. <p>“We have a couple pregnant people in the community right now, and one of them is set to deliver in March,” Klingler said. “She saw the OBGYN for her first visit recently, and I was reading the notes, and he was already talking about, okay, you need to have air ambulance insurance.”&nbsp;</p>
  2916.  
  2917.  
  2918.  
  2919. <p>Klingler said two air ambulance services operate in the area, and residents can purchase memberships for coverage.</p>
  2920.  
  2921.  
  2922.  
  2923. <p>“We encourage everyone, really, in our community to have that [membership],” Klingler said. “If you do get a helicopter ride out of our community, those helicopter rides are probably anywhere from $25,000 to $50,000 if you were to have to pay out of pocket. Health insurance does cover those emergency flights, but even a 20% copay on that can be really impressive and difficult.”</p>
  2924.  
  2925.  
  2926.  
  2927. <p>“It&#8217;s all the conversations that we have to have. And then with challenges in health care, with some of the restrictions in Idaho, those things have become even more important,” she said. “So the smaller communities are really being hit the hardest.”</p>
  2928.  
  2929.  
  2930.  
  2931. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Risks to Providers</strong></h3>
  2932.  
  2933.  
  2934.  
  2935. <p>The <a href="https://legislature.idaho.gov/statutesrules/idstat/title18/t18ch6/sect18-622/">penalties</a> for providing abortion care in Idaho are among the harshest in the country, prompting many physicians to leave the state and deepening an already growing provider shortage.&nbsp;</p>
  2936.  
  2937.  
  2938.  
  2939. <p>Amber Nelson, executive director of the <a href="https://www.idahocsh.org/">Idaho Coalition for Safe Healthcare</a>, clinician-led group advocating for safe, legal, and evidence-based medical care in Idaho, said the state’s laws are forcing doctors to choose between legal compliance and best medical practices.</p>
  2940.  
  2941.  
  2942.  
  2943. <p>&#8220;Right now, in this state, our providers have to choose to follow the law or follow medical standards of care,” Nelson said. “And if they choose medical standards of care, they can be threatened with criminal activity. They can be fined, they can be imprisoned. They can have their medical licenses taken away from them, which makes it a less-than- friendly place to practice medicine.&#8221;&nbsp;</p>
  2944.  
  2945.  
  2946.  
  2947. <p>Providers say that Idaho’s hostile legal climate is already discouraging new physicians from practicing in the state, and with patient volume on the rise, upcoming Medicaid cuts are expected to make recruitment and retention even more difficult.</p>
  2948.  
  2949.  
  2950.  
  2951. <p>“As we see increased volumes, we&#8217;re not going to be able to add providers to help take on those volumes,” Dr. McCrummen said. “When you criminalize medicine, people are hesitant to practice in a state like that, and now these Medicaid cuts are going to even worsen that.”</p>
  2952.  
  2953.  
  2954.  
  2955. <p>“You&#8217;re going to see very severe things and dangerous things,” Dr. McCrummen said. “So all of those things combined to make it very difficult to get providers to come work in Idaho.”</p>
  2956.  
  2957.  
  2958.  
  2959. <p>“Who wants to move to a state that doesn&#8217;t provide care to their patients?”</p>
  2960.  
  2961.  
  2962.  
  2963. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  2964. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/youre-going-to-see-very-severe-things-and-dangerous-things-medicaid-cuts-in-rural-idaho/2025/09/22/">‘You&#8217;re Going to See Very Severe Things and Dangerous Things’: Medicaid Cuts in Rural Idaho</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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