Funding Rural

There are so many folks who want to age in place but live far away from the care they need, and that can present challenges for their health, happiness and the social fabric of their communities. Dr. Jordan Lewis is the director for the Center on Aging at the University of Hawaii at Manoa with the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health. He’s Alaska Native on his mother’s side and got his PhD in Community Psychology from t...

When massive wildfires swept through Oregon in 2020, Dee Anne Everson helped hundreds of people who had just lost everything, and five years later, she’s still helping them. She’s CEO of United Way of Jackson County Oregon, and has a special leadership philosophy that’s evident in her work. Everson leads a staff of 7 and they partner with hundreds of volunteers across south-central Oregon to help folks with everything from transpor...

Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology in Northern Michigan is an artist residency that aims to build community through farming, ecology and economy. The Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference is a program of theirs that brings farms together to learn and connect in the height of summer. Led by Brad Kik and his wife, Amanda, Crosshatch was also a key partner behind a recently completed new building near downtown Traverse City ...

Philanthropy has long been a champion of public radio, providing grants for everything from infrastructure and new buildings to special reporting projects. Recent federal cuts have made philanthropic support even more critical to keep public radio stations afloat: across the country, in rural and remote areas, and especially on Tribal lands. Sue Matters is the station manager at KWSO 91.9 FM, which is a non-commercial radio station...

In rural and remote Oregon, where populations are low and the need for educators is high, there’s Rural Teacher Corps, a Grow Your Own program that is implementing new approaches to identifying, supporting, and training tomorrow’s teachers. Dave Dallas, who runs the program, teaches in the College of Education at Eastern Oregon University and he’s the Director of Teach Rural Oregon. He shares how philanthropy can play a key role in...

Native American Tribal communities are a blind spot for philanthropy with just .4% of funding going to Native organizations—but some philanthropic organizations are trying to change that. Stone Hudson, a citizen of the three affiliated tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara) of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota shares his experience as Program Officer at Meyer Memorial Trust where he oversees the Tribal Nations Partnership...

Luke Shaefer, PhD is one of the nation's foremost scholars of poverty and social welfare policy. He is a professor at the University of Michigan and is the inaugural director of Poverty Solutions, an interdisciplinary initiative that partners with communities and policymakers to find novel ways to alleviate poverty. In 2015, he co-authored the book, “$2 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America”, which was named one of the 100...

Green River, Utah (population 900) can be seen as a waypoint in the desert with more hotel rooms than residents. Or it can be seen through the eyes of locals like Maria Sykes. She’s the director and co-founder of Epicenter, a nonprofit in Green River that focuses on housing and fosters creativity and art in the community. Maria did not grow up in the region, instead she came by way of Americorps, and in the 16 years she’s lived in ...

Libraries are vital to rural communities—they do so much more than just check out books. They provide internet access, heating and cooling centers, early learning, nutrition, STEM programs, story time and more. Dr. Regina Washington-Arthur is the managing director of the Rural Library Network for Partners for Rural Impact. With a background in public health, Washington-Arthur explains that libraries contribute to the overall health...

More than 50 million Americans face food insecurity. And in the U.S., 9 out of the 10 counties with the highest rate of food insecurity are rural. To offset this disparity, Roundhouse Foundation recently launched a 6 million dollar investment which will support local food purchase over the next three years. Carly Auten is food program director at NeighborImpact, a grant recipient that distributes more than 4 million pounds of food ...

Josh Davis began his career in the nonprofit world by working for the Delta Health Alliance, which is a nonprofit that works to improve access to healthcare and education in the Mississippi Delta. He then made the shift into the philanthropic world and now serves as the vice president of policy and partnerships at StriveTogether, leading national efforts to build civic infrastructure and influence public policy that puts more young...

Farming and ranching requires experimentation, adaptation, and innovation. It’s a whole lot of problem solving done by people who often don’t have a whole lot of expendable capital. That doesn’t mean that ranchers aren’t deeply committed to stewarding the health of their land for generations to come. Dallas Hall Defrees is a 5th generation rancher in Eastern Oregon who serves as the director of Regenerative Ranching with Sustainabl...

Partnerships play an important role when it comes to tackling the complicated, uncomfortable and often taboo issue of firearms. Jessi LaRose is the Director of strategic initiatives at Missouri Foundation for Health and she runs the Missouri Foundation for Health’s Firearm Injury and Death Prevention program. Her organization works with grantees in more than 84 counties including the city of St. Louis, and they have found that list...

John Cornelius grew up on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota; he served in the US Army; and he has the national suicide helpline number, 988, tattooed on his arm. He is a peer support and suicide prevention specialist and a mental health educator who walks the talk. John has overcome addiction, suicide attempts, and periods of houselessness and says his faith guides him as he helps others facing crisis. This episode delves ...

How much is philanthropy currently investing in LGBTQ organizations? Not a whole lot, especially in rural. Katie Carter is the CEO of Pride Foundation, which was founded 40 years ago to support Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer folks. Pride currently works in the Northwest, providing support to nonprofits in both urban and rural places. Katie grew up rural and recognizes the importance of being your authentic self, no m...

Healthcare is top of mind for many Americans, and in rural communities, where there are distinct challenges, there is also hope in new ideas and solutions. Benjamin Anderson is president and CEO of Hutchinson Regional Medical Center in Hutchinson, Kansas and he sees the nonprofit hospital system he runs as a nexus that sends ripples of health into the community as a whole. And he puts that community at the center of everything the ...

Funding Rural is coming back this fall, starting on September 23, 2025 and we can't wait to share the new episodes. Your host, Erin Borla of The Roundhouse Foundation in Sisters, Oregon has been talking with a lot of change agents, steadfast funders, and proud rural advocates in preparation for this season. We think you'll enjoy their perspectives and hope you'll stick around for all the third season episodes. Be sure t...