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  14. <description>Rural News and Information</description>
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  31. <title>Energy Cuts in ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Raise Costs, Threaten Jobs, Investment in Rural Communities Across U.S.</title>
  32. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/energy-cuts-in-one-big-beautiful-bill-raise-costs-threaten-jobs-investment-in-rural-communities-across-u-s/2025/07/14/</link>
  33. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/energy-cuts-in-one-big-beautiful-bill-raise-costs-threaten-jobs-investment-in-rural-communities-across-u-s/2025/07/14/#respond</comments>
  35. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Julia Tilton]]></dc:creator>
  36. <pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2025 10:01:00 +0000</pubDate>
  37. <category><![CDATA[Energy]]></category>
  38. <category><![CDATA[Government & Policy]]></category>
  39. <category><![CDATA[Trump's Second Term]]></category>
  40. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=231409</guid>
  41.  
  42. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C683&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/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25185846935928-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>
  43. <p> In the mountains of western North Carolina, local renewable energy company Sugar Hollow Solar is already working through contingency plans to avoid laying off staff.  Despite five new hires coming on board in June to install panels in rural communities throughout the region, circumstances have changed for the Asheville, North Carolina, business after the July [&#8230;]</p>
  44. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/energy-cuts-in-one-big-beautiful-bill-raise-costs-threaten-jobs-investment-in-rural-communities-across-u-s/2025/07/14/">Energy Cuts in ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Raise Costs, Threaten Jobs, Investment in Rural Communities Across U.S.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  45. ]]></description>
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  47. <p><em> </em>In the mountains of western North Carolina, local renewable energy company Sugar Hollow Solar is already working through contingency plans to avoid laying off staff. </p>
  48.  
  49.  
  50.  
  51. <p>Despite five new hires coming on board in June to install panels in rural communities throughout the region, circumstances have changed for the Asheville, North Carolina, business after the July 4 signing of the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/1/text">One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act</a> (OBBB), the signature piece of legislation of President Donald Trump’s second term.&nbsp;</p>
  52.  
  53.  
  54.  
  55. <p>The law includes sweeping cuts to a renewable energy incentive structure established by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) under President Joe Biden in 2022. Tax credits for commercial wind and solar projects will phase out five years ahead of schedule, with the 30% rebate accessible only to projects that either break ground by next summer or come online by the end of 2027.&nbsp;</p>
  56.  
  57.  
  58.  
  59. <p>Such changes are expected to increase the cost of electricity by 9.2% across residential, commercial, and industrial sectors in the contiguous United States, per an <a href="https://cebuyers.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/IncreasesByState_NERA030525.pdf">analysis</a> from the National Economic Research Associates commissioned by the Clean Energy Buyers Association. For residential ratepayers in states like Wyoming, Illinois, New Mexico, and Tennessee, the analysis found that electricity costs will rise by more than 15%.&nbsp;</p>
  60.  
  61.  
  62.  
  63. <p>Other parts of the new legislation target IRA-era tax credits available to consumers, such as discounts for home energy improvement projects and electric vehicle purchases. Those incentives are set to expire on the shortest timeline of all of the renewable energy credits mentioned in the new law. Customers wanting to install rooftop solar, electric heat pumps, or home efficiency upgrades have until December 31, 2025, to take advantage of the tax credit, while prospective new and used EV buyers have until September 30, 2025, to claim rebates.&nbsp;</p>
  64.  
  65.  
  66.  
  67. <p>Beyond tax policy, the OBBB Act also <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/06/30/upshot/senate-republican-megabill.html?partner=slack&amp;smid=sl-share">rescinds billions of dollars</a> of funding for community-level grants and implementation of a host of climate and emissions-reduction programs with money earmarked for rural communities.&nbsp;</p>
  68.  
  69.  
  70.  
  71. <p>For Sugar Hollow Solar, the cuts will almost surely mean loss of business. Sugar Hollow’s Chief Operating Officer, Clary Franko, said one priority right now is to avoid layoffs among the more than 50 employees who live in the city of Asheville and surrounding rural communities.&nbsp;</p>
  72.  
  73.  
  74.  
  75. <p>“We&#8217;ll do our absolute best to maintain stability as a company and keep everybody employed,” said Franko. “It&#8217;ll be hard.”</p>
  76.  
  77.  
  78.  
  79. <p>Sugar Hollow is not alone in the challenges it’s facing. Lloyd Ritter is a veteran of federal energy and rural development policy, having worked on Capitol Hill before founding Green Capitol, LLC, a renewable energy consulting firm in Washington, D.C. He told the Daily Yonder that the legislation will negatively affect rural America.</p>
  80.  
  81.  
  82.  
  83. <p>“It’s going to hit rural mom-and-pop energy businesses the hardest,” said Ritter.</p>
  84.  
  85.  
  86.  
  87. <p>Beyond the loss of revenue for small-scale businesses, larger projects planned for development in rural communities are also at risk, a Daily Yonder analysis of Atlas Public Policy data found.</p>
  88.  
  89.  
  90.  
  91. <iframe title="Planned Rural Wind and Solar Projects by Capacity, 2025-2031" aria-label="Map" id="datawrapper-chart-6Wklx" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/6Wklx/4/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="657" 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}}})}();
  92.  
  93. </script>
  94.  
  95.  
  96.  
  97. <p>At least 271 wind and solar projects slated for development in rural areas in 40 states are affected by the new legislation’s federal tax policy changes. “New wind and solar projects would have brought investment and job opportunities to rural communities across the country,” wrote Rachel Reolfi, senior policy analyst at Atlas Public Policy, in a statement to the Daily Yonder. “With the new law, many of these projects and their economic benefits are now at risk.”</p>
  98.  
  99.  
  100.  
  101. <p>In order to claim the 30% commercial tax credits for clean electricity production and investment, these planned wind and solar projects must break ground on construction by mid-2026 or come online by December 31, 2027. But for developers of distributed and utility-scale projects with timelines that often span multiple years, this phase-out period is still not much time, despite extending beyond the expiration of the residential credits.&nbsp;</p>
  102.  
  103.  
  104.  
  105. <p>“There will be companies that can&#8217;t make it because of project logistics or just lack of support from their investors, or maybe just lack of confidence in the market now,” said Raina Hornaday, general manager and co-founder of Caprock Renewables, a utility-scale developer working across Texas and New Mexico. Texas has many more projects on the line than any other state, with 63 planned solar and wind developments totaling more than 16.6 megawatts of added generating capacity between now and 2031, per the Daily Yonder’s analysis.</p>
  106.  
  107.  
  108.  
  109. <p>Together, the planned wind and solar projects analyzed by the Daily Yonder represent 54.2 gigawatts of renewable generating capacity that, before the passage of the federal budget, were slated to come online in rural communities through the early 2030s. These projects represent enough new generating capacity to power roughly 14 million homes and spur tens of billions in capital investment in their host communities, per estimates made by Atlas Public Policy using parameters from the <a href="https://atb.nrel.gov/electricity/2024/technologies">National Renewable Energy Laboratory</a>.</p>
  110.  
  111.  
  112.  
  113. <p>Amidst the growing need for power supply in the U.S., driven in part by artificial intelligence and <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/this-rural-community-fought-the-countrys-second-biggest-gas-powered-data-center-and-won/2025/06/17/">energy-intensive data centers</a> coming online, industry experts, including Hornaday and Ritter, told the Daily Yonder they’re concerned about the country’s ability to meet demand under the rollback of renewable energy policy.&nbsp;</p>
  114.  
  115.  
  116.  
  117. <p>“We need more energy, not less, and we shouldn&#8217;t be picking winners and losers in that regard,” Ritter said. “Wind and solar have been proven to be rapidly deployable and are making a real dent in the nation&#8217;s energy infrastructure.”</p>
  118.  
  119.  
  120.  
  121. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  122. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/energy-cuts-in-one-big-beautiful-bill-raise-costs-threaten-jobs-investment-in-rural-communities-across-u-s/2025/07/14/">Energy Cuts in ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’ Raise Costs, Threaten Jobs, Investment in Rural Communities Across U.S.</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  123. ]]></content:encoded>
  125. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/energy-cuts-in-one-big-beautiful-bill-raise-costs-threaten-jobs-investment-in-rural-communities-across-u-s/2025/07/14/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  126. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  129. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">231409</post-id> </item>
  130. <item>
  131. <title>Mobile Medical Units Help Deliver Women’s Healthcare in Rural Southeast Texas</title>
  132. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/mobile-medical-units-help-deliver-womens-healthcare-in-rural-southeast-texas/2025/07/14/</link>
  133. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/mobile-medical-units-help-deliver-womens-healthcare-in-rural-southeast-texas/2025/07/14/#respond</comments>
  135. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Emma Brocato]]></dc:creator>
  136. <pubDate>Mon, 14 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  137. <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
  138. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=231068</guid>
  139.  
  140. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-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/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-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>
  141. <p>In order to address gaps in women’s healthcare in rural parts of Southeast Texas, the Hope Women’s Resource Clinic uses a “mobile medical unit” &#8211; an RV converted into a clinic that provides various prenatal care – free of charge. The mobile medical unit provides pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and STI testing, and treatment. It parks [&#8230;]</p>
  142. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/mobile-medical-units-help-deliver-womens-healthcare-in-rural-southeast-texas/2025/07/14/">Mobile Medical Units Help Deliver Women’s Healthcare in Rural Southeast Texas</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  143. ]]></description>
  144. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-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/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/HWRC-64-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>
  145. <p>In order to address gaps in women’s healthcare in rural parts of Southeast Texas, the <a href="https://www.hope-clinic.com/">Hope Women’s Resource Clinic</a> uses a “mobile medical unit” &#8211; an RV converted into a clinic that provides various prenatal care – free of charge.</p>
  146.  
  147.  
  148.  
  149. <p>The mobile medical unit provides pregnancy testing, ultrasounds and STI testing, and treatment. It parks in Port Arthur, Silsbee, Orange, and Crystal Beach, Texas. The company has been operating for 27 years and also has a brick-and-mortar clinic building in Beaumont, Texas. They are planning to open another clinic building in Port Arthur.</p>
  150.  
  151.  
  152.  
  153. <p>“We saw the need to reach out to the community for those who can’t get here,” said Jeanette Harvey, Executive Director of Hope Clinic.</p>
  154.  
  155.  
  156.  
  157. <p>The mobile medical unit was created because while patients in Beaumont could use public transportation to access the clinic building, patients in surrounding rural areas had trouble getting to it. Harvey and her team conducted research by visiting a handful of other small towns in the area with their smaller mobile medical unit at the time to gauge community need and location convenience, and narrow it down.</p>
  158.  
  159.  
  160.  
  161. <p>Out of the four current parking locations, Crystal Beach is by far the most isolated. It’s located on the Bolivar Peninsula, a majority vacation town with a population of 2,769. The landscape is dominated by beach houses and RV parks, with a number of businesses including restaurants, bait shops, liquor stores, and real estate offices.&nbsp;</p>
  162.  
  163.  
  164.  
  165. <p>But as of 2025, there are no permanent medical facilities located on the Bolivar Peninsula.</p>
  166.  
  167.  
  168.  
  169. <p>Although the neighboring towns of Anahuac and Winnie each have a hospital, the nearest Level 1 Trauma Center is the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston &#8211; a ferry boat ride away.</p>
  170.  
  171.  
  172.  
  173. <p>Harvey said they received requests from the community to provide services in Bolivar. The clinic was awarded a grant from the Moody Foundation to fund their transportation, ninety minutes one way, to the peninsula.</p>
  174.  
  175.  
  176.  
  177. <p>“And our first few appointments, we saw how great the need was,” Harvey said. “We may not see the volume that we see in the other locations, but the need is great.”</p>
  178.  
  179.  
  180.  
  181. <p>Hope Women’s Resource Clinic’s website states that they “do not perform or refer for abortions,” however.</p>
  182.  
  183.  
  184.  
  185. <p>“We’ve always been a pro-life organization, and we are there to provide medical services as well as material resources and educational resources once the baby is born,” Harvey said, noting that they provide post-abortive care for patients who’ve made that choice.</p>
  186.  
  187.  
  188.  
  189. <p>Harvey acknowledged that the overturning of Roe v. Wade may have changed the situation for other people and organizations, but said it hasn’t changed the way her clinic provides services. The 2022 Supreme Court decision also didn’t change much for Southeast Texas as a whole, as the region had already been lacking abortion clinics for several years prior.</p>
  190.  
  191.  
  192.  
  193. <p>According to an <a href="https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Politics-keeps-shuttered-abortion-clinic-from-9224652.php">article by the Beaumont Enterprise</a>, the only abortion clinic in Beaumont at the time &#8211; and the last of its kind east of Houston &#8211; closed its doors in 2014.</p>
  194.  
  195.  
  196.  
  197. <p>UTMB is a public hospital that receives federal research funding and where low-income patients can receive affordable care. People living in rural areas with gaps in healthcare often depend on UTMB’s Galveston location. Jerome Yaklic, MD, said UTMB provides smaller clinics in rural areas, but some of those patients still have to travel for care.</p>
  198.  
  199.  
  200.  
  201. <p>“Most of those women that are seen in those clinics, if they need a more advanced service, higher level of care, or inpatient care, will have to travel to Galveston,” said Dr. Yaklic, who is the chair of UTMB’s OBGYN department.</p>
  202.  
  203.  
  204.  
  205. <p>The state of Texas provides Medicaid coverage to low-income pregnant women. Last year, they expanded that coverage to last 12 months postpartum.&nbsp;</p>
  206.  
  207.  
  208.  
  209. <p><a href="https://www.tha.org/issues/rural-health-care/">Texas Hospital Association’s (THA) website</a> states, “About 15% of Texas’ population is rural, including 586,000 rural Texans without health insurance.” THA also states that approximately 40% of rural hospitals in Texas offer labor and delivery services, and cites a <a href="https://www.tha.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Texas-Hospital-Association-Financial-Impact-Report-11.1.22.pdf">2022 report</a> showing that over a quarter of the state’s rural hospitals were at risk of closing.</p>
  210.  
  211.  
  212.  
  213. <p>Harvey says many of their patients are uninsured or underinsured, and they strive to fill in the gaps of pregnancy Medicaid coverage. For example, Dr. Yaklic said, patients must provide proof of pregnancy in order to qualify. The proof of pregnancy would be a form that is filled out and provided by a clinic or a physician’s office.</p>
  214.  
  215.  
  216.  
  217. <p>By providing free pregnancy testing and ultrasounds, helping the patients enroll in pregnancy Medicaid, and referring them to local doctors, Hope Clinic gets them an earlier start on their prenatal care.</p>
  218.  
  219.  
  220.  
  221. <p>“What we’re finding with most of the healthcare for women and their babies is that the sooner they get in prenatal care, the better,” Harvey says.</p>
  222.  
  223.  
  224.  
  225. <p>The Trump administration has <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-care/proposed-medicaid-cuts-lead-thousands-deaths-study-finds-rcna213265">proposed Medicaid cuts</a>, which has healthcare experts worried. A <a href="https://www.aha.org/fact-sheets/2025-06-13-rural-hospitals-risk-cuts-medicaid-would-further-threaten-access">fact sheet</a> by the American Hospital Association states that “47% of rural births in the U.S. are covered by Medicaid.”</p>
  226.  
  227.  
  228.  
  229. <p>If the federal government goes through with those cuts, Harvey said, the primary impact would be loss of coverage for their patients. Her clinic would still be able to provide their services, but the need for them would be greater, meaning larger gaps to fill. They already have a vision of expanding their services to include full prenatal care, which would become more urgent in the event of cuts.</p>
  230.  
  231.  
  232.  
  233. <p>“If they were to cut Medicaid to pregnant women, then that would be a very real need that we’d have to fill,” Harvey said.</p>
  234.  
  235.  
  236.  
  237. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  238.  
  239.  
  240.  
  241. <p>The mobile medical unit’s schedule and more information can be found at their website <a href="https://www.hope-clinic.com/mobile-medical-unit">https://www.hope-clinic.com/mobile-medical-unit</a>.</p>
  242.  
  243.  
  244.  
  245. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  246.  
  247.  
  248.  
  249. <p><em>Emma Brocato is a freelance journalist based in Galveston, Texas. Her reporting covers topics such as natural resources and healthcare disparities in rural areas.</em></p>
  250. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/mobile-medical-units-help-deliver-womens-healthcare-in-rural-southeast-texas/2025/07/14/">Mobile Medical Units Help Deliver Women’s Healthcare in Rural Southeast Texas</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  251. ]]></content:encoded>
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  254. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  257. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">231068</post-id> </item>
  258. <item>
  259. <title>Ozarks Notebook: An 1840s Hymnal Finds a New Voice in Northwest Arkansas</title>
  260. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/ozarks-notebook-an-1840s-hymnal-finds-a-new-voice-in-northwest-arkansas/2025/07/11/</link>
  261. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/ozarks-notebook-an-1840s-hymnal-finds-a-new-voice-in-northwest-arkansas/2025/07/11/#respond</comments>
  263. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Kaitlyn McConnell]]></dc:creator>
  264. <pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  265. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  266. <category><![CDATA[History]]></category>
  267. <category><![CDATA[Religion & Faith]]></category>
  268. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=231191</guid>
  269.  
  270. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-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/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-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>
  271. <p>An old tradition has a voice in the Arkansas Ozarks, where Sacred Harp, a hymnal for shape-note singing that has become known as a style all its own, has found followers two centuries after it was first printed in the 1840s.&#160; It’s not the only place where Sacred Harp is at home. In fact, there [&#8230;]</p>
  272. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/ozarks-notebook-an-1840s-hymnal-finds-a-new-voice-in-northwest-arkansas/2025/07/11/">Ozarks Notebook: An 1840s Hymnal Finds a New Voice in Northwest Arkansas</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  273. ]]></description>
  274. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-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/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-1-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>
  275. <p>An old tradition has a voice in the Arkansas Ozarks, where <em>Sacred Harp</em>, a hymnal for shape-note singing that has become known as a style all its own, has found followers two centuries after it was first printed in the 1840s.&nbsp;</p>
  276.  
  277.  
  278.  
  279. <p>It’s not the only place where Sacred Harp is at home. In fact, there are many communities in the United States and abroad where the style is popular. But I’m writing about it today because it reminds us that traditions can begin anew, or for the very first time, and have a meaningful impact on lives today.</p>
  280.  
  281.  
  282.  
  283. <p>In this case, Sacred Harp wasn’t a thing in the Ozarks years ago. One expert I spoke with said that he hasn’t found evidence that Sacred Harp was regularly historically practiced in the Ozarks at all. Even today, other forms of shape-note tradition are far more common across the region. An example is in Brockwell, Arkansas, where a singing school has been teaching the seven-note tradition since the 1940s.</p>
  284.  
  285.  
  286.  
  287. <p>But in spaces in northwest Arkansas, young and old are coming together twice a month to learn and share the Sacred Harp tradition – and build community.&nbsp;</p>
  288.  
  289.  
  290.  
  291. <p>“It’s people just getting together to sing for fun – it’s not a performance,” said Cory Winters who participates with the Arkansas Sacred Harp Singers. “When you go to school for music it’s about performing, and this is just for fun and for community. I enjoy the historical side of it, but I also enjoy the musical side of it.”&nbsp;</p>
  292.  
  293.  
  294.  
  295. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>What Is Sacred Harp?</strong></h3>
  296.  
  297.  
  298.  
  299. <p>A group of about 10 people were singing the day I stopped by the Folk School of Fayetteville, a city tucked in the state’s northwest corner that’s home to the University of Arkansas. They faced each other from opposite sides of a small room, separated by vocal parts on songs that everyone took turns suggesting.&nbsp;</p>
  300.  
  301.  
  302.  
  303. <p>Participants got the chance to lead the largely Christian-themed songs, a role that took them to the middle of the space, a place called the “hollow square,” where they moved their arms up and down with the music, which was intense.&nbsp;</p>
  304.  
  305.  
  306.  
  307. <p>“It is a sound that the first time you hear it, you either love it or hate it because it’s a big sound,” said <a href="https://www.ozarksalive.com/stories/charley-sandage-lives-shares-and-celebrates-arkansas-folk-culture">Charley Sandage</a>, a musician in Mountain View, Arkansas, who grew up in the Sacred Harp tradition and has led singing schools. “When I had an active group here, I said, ‘The one thing that Sacred Harp singers do not practice is subtly.’ You just rear back and sing.”</p>
  308.  
  309.  
  310.  
  311. <p>Hands grasped copies of <em>The Sacred Harp</em>, the hymnal that was originally published in the 1840s and has survived through various editions. The book, however, lives: I’m told a <a href="https://originalsacredharp.com/">2025 version set to release in September</a> received 1,200 new songs for consideration.</p>
  312.  
  313.  
  314.  
  315. <p>It’s not the only book that focuses on four-note tradition; another hymnal called <em>The Missouri Harmony</em> predates it by a couple of decades. But <em>Sacred Harp</em> was one of most popular books, according to <a href="https://www.loc.gov/collections/songs-of-america/articles-and-essays/musical-styles/ritual-and-worship/shape-note-singing/">the Library of Congress</a>, and “as a result of this popularity, the style of singing is also sometimes called ‘sacred harp.’”</p>
  316.  
  317.  
  318.  
  319. <p>Despite its name, no harps or instruments of any kind are involved in singing Sacred Harp songs. Instead of a traditional musical staff, four shapes, a triangle, circle, square and diamond, represent different syllables. The style was easier for folks to sing without accompaniment or having significant musical knowledge.&nbsp;</p>
  320.  
  321.  
  322.  
  323. <p>“Shape notes were developed in order to provide an accessible way for singers with little or no literacy skills to read musical notation,” <a href="https://encyclopediaofarkansas.net/entries/shape-note-singing-6428/">noted the Encyclopedia of Arkansas</a>. “Settlers carried the tradition with them as they migrated from colonial America into other parts of the country, including the Southeast and eventually the Ozark Mountains. Itinerant ‘singing masters’ typically led classes at a local church or schoolhouse during months with less agricultural work, after which students possessed the skills necessary to sight-read vocal music.”</p>
  324.  
  325.  
  326.  
  327. <p>What I’ve learned in researching this column is that the sun had largely set on Sacred Harp’s first heyday by the early 1900s. For example, a community in southern Arkansas set aside a Sunday in 1910 for the “old folks” to come and sing “the old Sacred Harp.”&nbsp;</p>
  328.  
  329.  
  330.  
  331. <p>“The day is set apart exclusively for the old people to come together one more time and enjoy themselves,” noted the Huttig News. The newspaper was from a town south of the Ozarks, but still represents how folks saw the style of music by that time.&nbsp;</p>
  332.  
  333.  
  334.  
  335. <p>That’s not to say it completely disappeared, particularly in Southern states. “While the use of this system of learning and singing hymns declined in the early to mid-20th century,” that Library of Congress article notes, “there were some communities where it remained strong, and it has enjoyed a revival today, especially in the South.”</p>
  336.  
  337.  
  338.  
  339. <p>That revival came in the mid-20th century, and is thanks to folks like Hugh McGraw, who felt a calling to help spread the gospel about this style of music. A native of Georgia, McGraw learned of the tradition as a child, but an epiphany in his 20s changed his life and the music world.&nbsp;</p>
  340.  
  341.  
  342.  
  343. <p>&#8220;I walked into a singing — after I was done married and had a family,” he is quoted as saying by the National Endowment for the Arts, which selected him as a <a href="https://www.arts.gov/honors/heritage/hugh-mcgraw">NEA National Heritage Fellow</a> in 1982. “And I heard this music, and something just petrified me. Says you got to do your thing. So I began studying and teaching, composing, and singing this music all over the country.”</p>
  344.  
  345.  
  346.  
  347. <p>That drive turned into a mission that helped re-establish Sacred Harp in the national consciousness for new generations and in expanded spaces, an effort that was aided by the folk movement.&nbsp;</p>
  348.  
  349.  
  350.  
  351. <p>“Hugh McGraw became the Johnny Appleseed of this tradition, and it resulted in a kind of metamorphosis (and) broadened the audience,” Sandage said. “It really, really tended to take root in university towns because people who taught music would be intrigued with this alternate way of reading.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  352.  
  353.  
  354.  
  355. <p>However, this new iteration shied away from the songs’ religious significance. As academic spaces began adopting the tradition, it evolved into a more secular tradition. (In a way, the runway for that reality began years before, when the tradition was favored by the Primitive Baptist denomination, which has a flavor of predestination. In layman’s terms, that means they don’t need to witness or preach to you because whether you’re going to heaven has already been decided by God, and neither they nor you can do anything about it.)&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  356.  
  357.  
  358.  
  359. <p>“What happened back in the ‘50s and ‘60s when Sacred Harp was first ‘discovered’ and started to become part of the folk music scene, people – whether they were Jewish or Catholic or atheist or whatever – could go to these Sacred Harp singings in really rustic places in Alabama and Mississippi and places like that and sort of fit into that atmosphere,” said <a href="https://www.ozarksalive.com/stories/ecejjg1khmf0730tto8o8a15g86hjx">Dr. Brooks Blevins</a>, the foremost academic voice about Ozarks history.</p>
  360.  
  361.  
  362.  
  363. <p>Today, it’s true in northwest Arkansas, too.&nbsp;</p>
  364.  
  365.  
  366.  
  367. <p>“The songs are from church music, but this isn’t a church,” says Allison Langston, a member of the group. “For some people, this is a religious practice, but … it’s private. We don’t talk about it. We don’t talk about politics, we don’t talk about religion. It’s social.”</p>
  368.  
  369.  
  370.  
  371. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="438" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4.jpg?resize=780%2C438&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-231193" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C728&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C427&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C431&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C863&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1151&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C674&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C575&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1124&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C438&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C225&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C397&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Sacred-Harp-4-1296x728.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><a href="https://www.timeriksenmusic.com/home">Tim Eriksen</a>, a Sacred Harp authority and folk musician, regularly visits northwest Arkansas to teach about the legacy tradition. (Photo by Kaitlyn McConnell)</figcaption></figure>
  372.  
  373.  
  374.  
  375. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Sacred Harp Singers Today </strong></h3>
  376.  
  377.  
  378.  
  379. <p>All of that takes us to the Fayetteville folk center, where the group of Sacred Harp singers gathered back in May. Fayetteville is a college town, but the singing is open to anyone in the nearby rural area and beyond.&nbsp;</p>
  380.  
  381.  
  382.  
  383. <p>The day I was there was a special deal. It was a training and singing that was in addition to the twice-monthly gatherings they typically host, complete with the remains of a potluck lunch in back.&nbsp;</p>
  384.  
  385.  
  386.  
  387. <p>During a break, I spoke with <a href="https://www.timeriksenmusic.com/home">Dr. Tim Eriksen</a>, a Sacred Harp authority and folk musician who has a PhD in ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0l4gxt1">was interviewed by the BBC in April</a> about Sacred Harp. He periodically travels to Arkansas from Massachusetts to give the Sacred Harp trainings.&nbsp;</p>
  388.  
  389.  
  390.  
  391. <p>“I just started doing it because I liked it,” says Eriksen, who found the style through record albums many years ago. “A friend of mine and I got <em>Sacred Harp</em> out of the library and started singing out of it, and we thought it was cool. Got some other friends involved, and eventually realized it was a thing, not just some historical book; it was something that people did.”</p>
  392.  
  393.  
  394.  
  395. <p>He sees evidence that the tradition has a future, citing the pending publication of the new version of the <em>Sacred Harp</em> hymnal. That doesn’t mean, however, that it’s secure, especially in more rural areas where smaller groups can lose numbers quickly.&nbsp;</p>
  396.  
  397.  
  398.  
  399. <p>That’s true with the Arkansas group, which lost singers through the Covid-19 pandemic. A lot of its members were older, says Langston. It also lost a key leader in 2023 through the death of Dan Brittain, a significant Sacred Harp leader from Arkansas who brought the tradition to musicians around the world.&nbsp;</p>
  400.  
  401.  
  402.  
  403. <p>And it’s a reminder that, for traditions to continue, there have to be new people ready to step in and serve. Today, while music is part of the magic, it seems people’s search for community is another driving factor. It’s a reason Langston decided to join a few years ago.&nbsp;</p>
  404.  
  405.  
  406.  
  407. <p>“During the pandemic, I just was so desperately lonely and needing connection,” she said. “And Sacred Harp – the community is really about connection and relationships. It just fit.”</p>
  408.  
  409.  
  410.  
  411. <p>It’s also true for McKenna Mullis, who began attending about two and a half years ago after moving back to Arkansas post-college and hasn’t stopped since.&nbsp;</p>
  412.  
  413.  
  414.  
  415. <p>“I love singing, always,” she told me. “I did choir growing up for a decade and I enjoyed singing in a group, but I didn’t necessarily enjoy the disorganization of a jam. There’s not a lot of places for acapella music…As someone who doesn’t play instruments to accompany myself, there’s something really intriguing about just voices and the lack of perfection, which I think really off-puts some people. For the rest of us that’s the best part of it. That it’s this kind of raw, imperfect, not very pretty sounding practice.”</p>
  416.  
  417.  
  418.  
  419. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  420.  
  421.  
  422.  
  423. <p></p>
  424. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/ozarks-notebook-an-1840s-hymnal-finds-a-new-voice-in-northwest-arkansas/2025/07/11/">Ozarks Notebook: An 1840s Hymnal Finds a New Voice in Northwest Arkansas</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  425. ]]></content:encoded>
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  428. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  431. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">231191</post-id> </item>
  432. <item>
  433. <title>Q&#038;A: Lakota Stories, Told By Lakota People</title>
  434. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/qa-lakota-stories-told-by-lakota-people/2025/07/11/</link>
  435. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/qa-lakota-stories-told-by-lakota-people/2025/07/11/#respond</comments>
  437. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Kim Kobersmith]]></dc:creator>
  438. <pubDate>Fri, 11 Jul 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  439. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  440. <category><![CDATA[Indigenous Affairs]]></category>
  441. <category><![CDATA[Path Finders]]></category>
  442. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=231419</guid>
  443.  
  444. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-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/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-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>
  445. <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>
  446. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-lakota-stories-told-by-lakota-people/2025/07/11/">Q&amp;A: Lakota Stories, Told By Lakota People</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  447. ]]></description>
  448. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-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/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/2025KamkeSummit0218-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>
  449. <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>
  450.  
  451.  
  452.  
  453. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-default"/>
  454.  
  455.  
  456.  
  457. <p>Lynne Colombe grew up at the intersection of agriculture and Lakota culture on the Sicangu Lakota (Rosebud Sioux) Reservation. A creative change-maker, she has worked as a journalist, editor, photographer, educator, and administrator. Documentary filmmaking is emerging as her focus, work that she is exploring as a member of the 2024-26 <a href="https://springboardforthearts.org/rural-regenerator-fellows-2024-26/">Rural Regeneration Fellowship</a> with Springboard for the Arts. This fellowship cohort specifically supports artists from across the Upper Midwest whose work is connected to land, environment, and food systems. Below, Colombe shares about the importance of telling Lakota stories from the inside and the challenges of being a female artist.</p>
  458.  
  459.  
  460.  
  461. <p class="has-text-align-center"><em>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.&nbsp;</em></p>
  462.  
  463.  
  464.  
  465. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  466.  
  467.  
  468.  
  469. <p><strong>DY:</strong> When and how did you become a documentary filmmaker? </p>
  470.  
  471.  
  472.  
  473. <p><strong>LC:</strong> A major catalyst coming out of the pandemic was to utilize social media to give a better visual of rural communities for other people. I became a filmmaker in the summer of 2021. I was held back by thinking that I didn’t have access to state-of-the-art film equipment. But I finally just convinced myself to get out there with the camera that I have and one really good iPhone and start shooting.</p>
  474.  
  475.  
  476.  
  477. <p><strong>DY:</strong> Much of your work focuses on Native culture and history. Why is it important that Lakota people tell Lakota stories?</p>
  478.  
  479.  
  480.  
  481. <p><strong>LC:</strong> Outside documentarians mostly show the poverty of the reservation, and these Non-Native filmmakers are often allowed to be the “spokespeople” of Indigenous people. We are articulate enough to tell our own story, and intelligent enough to talk about solutions. There are major problems on the reservation – murdered Indigenous women, missing children, alcohol and drug abuse – but I want to tell contemporary stories in a sensitive way that shows the humanity of people and doesn’t exploit them. As a Lakota woman, I claim the freedom to create my own dialogue, script, and storyboard.</p>
  482.  
  483.  
  484.  
  485. <p><strong>DY:</strong> Your completed short film, “<a href="https://www.rmpbs.org/blogs/native-lens/carlisle-indian-school">My Relatives Called Me Home</a>,” tells the story of the 2021 repatriation of the remains of nine children from the graveyard at the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania to their ancestral lands in South Dakota. How did your own family history weave into this broader community narrative?</p>
  486.  
  487.  
  488.  
  489. <p><strong>LC:</strong> As I began my research into the Carlisle children, I learned that my own great-grandfather, William Colombe, was a student at Carlisle along with his twin sister, Minnie. I never knew my maternal grandmother, Arlene Bordeaux, but in many ways, she was a person who did not survive boarding school. The actual loss of having that woman in your life to talk to, to confide in, to help you, to show you things, to teach you Lakota, to help you when your mother needs help – she was never there. Sometimes in “Indian Country,” the word “trauma” is so heavily embedded with other things, that I didn’t want this concept of “sadness,” or “carrying forward of pain,” to be a part of my identity. But as I journeyed into the documentary work, the connection to my own relatives became impossible to deny.</p>
  490.  
  491.  
  492.  
  493. <p><strong>DY:</strong> You are in the process of filming a full-length documentary film entitled, &#8220;Descendants of the Star People: Lakota Voices, Virtues and Values,&#8221; with the hopes of completing interviews with elders this summer. How are you, personally, thinking about dignity and respect in your process? </p>
  494.  
  495.  
  496.  
  497. <p><strong>LC:</strong> As a Native American community insider, I am having some grace in telling the story. I am interviewing the elders before a nice backdrop rather than in their homes. In this way, I can focus on the story and not the person’s social conditions. Following up with the film’s subjects is important so they can participate in the story. I plan to cut a rough edit of their contributions, then video the elders watching themselves as part of the film and use their comments to edit what I want the storyline to be. The film will cover some complex and serious social issues that affect everybody, and they should have a say in the final dialogue. </p>
  498.  
  499.  
  500.  
  501. <p><strong>DY:</strong> You established “A Room Without a View Productions” to create your films. Can you explain the name and how it references “A Room of One’s Own” by Virginia Woolf? </p>
  502.  
  503.  
  504.  
  505. <p><strong>LC:</strong> You can’t do creative work as a woman without financial support from somewhere. I had the privilege of a rent-free home at the time, but I couldn’t look outside because it had boarded up windows. It felt symbolic about how Native people are adaptive, that regardless of the challenges of being a rural woman living on the reservation, I am trying to create a view that is authentic.</p>
  506.  
  507.  
  508.  
  509. <p><strong>DY:</strong> The fellowship comes with a $10,000 unrestricted grant. How does receiving that kind of support affirm and empower you as a rural change-maker?</p>
  510.  
  511.  
  512.  
  513. <p><strong>LC:</strong> The investment in our cohort really validated us as artists. My first fellowship was with the Department of Public Transformation, also based in Minnesota, and it came with a stipend, too. They are a real blessing and brought creative freedom to my life. </p>
  514.  
  515.  
  516.  
  517. <p><strong>DY:</strong> What other creative projects are percolating for you right now? </p>
  518.  
  519.  
  520.  
  521. <p><strong>LC:</strong> My father is 80 years old and is a big part of rodeo and horse culture. As an enrolled tribal member, he has his own ranching operation with 75 wild horses. This summer, he plans to pare down to a small herd of horses and go back to raising cattle. For him, it is moving from what he loves to something that makes money. I will be able to be on the ranch this summer and film a short documentary about this transition. I am also developing an historical novel, set in the 1840s-1900s, that I will begin writing soon.</p>
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  542. <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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  580. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-lakota-stories-told-by-lakota-people/2025/07/11/">Q&amp;A: Lakota Stories, Told By Lakota People</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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  587. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">231419</post-id> </item>
  588. <item>
  589. <title>The Winning Formula of &#8216;Welcome to Wrexham&#8217; Goes Beyond the Playing Field</title>
  590. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/welcome-to-wrexham-afc-winning-formula-goes-beyond-the-playing-field-in-fx-hulu-series/2025/07/10/</link>
  591. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/welcome-to-wrexham-afc-winning-formula-goes-beyond-the-playing-field-in-fx-hulu-series/2025/07/10/#respond</comments>
  593. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Adam B. Giorgi]]></dc:creator>
  594. <pubDate>Thu, 10 Jul 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  595. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  596. <category><![CDATA[The Good, the Bad, and the Elegy]]></category>
  597. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=231303</guid>
  598.  
  599. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="576" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDVlYzRkNjMtNjViNC00NTgyLWJkNDctMzM2YTAzMzNhYzhmXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" 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>
  600. <p>A strong sense of place and stories of community development help this underdog sports story stand out from the pack.</p>
  601. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/welcome-to-wrexham-afc-winning-formula-goes-beyond-the-playing-field-in-fx-hulu-series/2025/07/10/">The Winning Formula of &#8216;Welcome to Wrexham&#8217; Goes Beyond the Playing Field</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  602. ]]></description>
  603. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="576" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDVlYzRkNjMtNjViNC00NTgyLWJkNDctMzM2YTAzMzNhYzhmXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1" class="attachment-rss-image-size size-rss-image-size wp-post-image" alt="" 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>
  604. <p style="font-size:14px"><em>Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in&nbsp;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&nbsp;</em><a href="#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>
  605.  
  606.  
  607.  
  608. <p>The <a href="https://youtu.be/0U5g_BXD7TI?si=XdZUpzH4pBWUqbYr">opening title sequence</a> for the documentary series “Welcome to Wrexham” starts with archival video of happy coal miners at work followed by stark footage of factories closing and collapsing in on themselves. Behind the images, the lyrics of <a href="https://youtu.be/ErV4jyLZDew?si=lKVZJVijOOC-IUxl">the theme song</a> croon:</p>
  609.  
  610.  
  611.  
  612. <blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
  613. <p>Don’t forget where you came from.<br>Don’t forget what you’re made of.<br>The ones who were there, when no one else would care.<br>Don’t be afraid to cry now, even when the world comes crashing in.</p>
  614. </blockquote>
  615.  
  616.  
  617.  
  618. <p><a href="https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/welcome-to-wrexham">“Welcome to Wrexham”</a> is a show about a soccer team, and that title sequence and theme song can be easily understood as a psalm to the successes and many struggles of the team. But it’s no mistake that the imagery and the music there are invoking wins and losses much deeper than those that occur on any athletic field, because “Welcome to Wrexham” is also a show about a place and a community of people, who just so happen to be brought together by sport. </p>
  619.  
  620.  
  621.  
  622. <p>With <a href="https://youtu.be/RPMw9J4V3Jk?si=qMMNHkURFOHJooXq">its fourth season</a> recently concluded, there’s ample evidence to conclude that while “Welcome to Wrexham” gets plenty of dramatic mileage out of the soccer action and feats of athletic prowess, it stands out from the pack because of the other details: an essential sense of place and its documenting of everyday triumphs that occur across a community.</p>
  623.  
  624.  
  625.  
  626. <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">
  627. <iframe title="Welcome to Wrexham | Season 4 Official Trailer" width="780" height="439" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TOChVK3-Q5A?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>
  628. </div><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An official trailer for the fourth season of &#8216;Welcome to Wrexham&#8217; (Credit: Ryan Reynolds via YouTube).</figcaption></figure>
  629.  
  630.  
  631.  
  632. <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-left">Loserville</h2>
  633.  
  634.  
  635.  
  636. <p>For the unfamiliar, “Welcome to Wrexham” follows Wrexham AFC, a Welsh soccer team that was purchased by American actors Ryan Reynolds (“Deadpool,” “Free Guy”) and Rob McElhenney (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) in 2021. Their vision from the start involved not only turning around a long struggling sports franchise but also documenting the process and turning the team into a platform for storytelling and community development.</p>
  637.  
  638.  
  639.  
  640. <p>Coming into the endeavor, it’s safe to say that the psychology of the team and the psychology of the town were deeply intertwined, and the show often leans into that premise. On the one hand, you have a soccer team with a once proud legacy that had been relegated to less competitive and prestigious leagues and found itself incapable of climbing its way back. On the other, you have a region in northeast Wales that once produced millions of tons of coal and employed tens of thousands of people in industry before enduring mining disasters, a downturn, and deep cycles of disinvestment in the back half of the 20<sup>th</sup> century.</p>
  641.  
  642.  
  643.  
  644. <div class="wp-block-columns are-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex">
  645. <div class="wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
  646. <p>It&#8217;s not hard to see how the team’s woes could start to stand in for the region’s challenges, and vice versa. It’s also not hard to see why a couple of Hollywood types would sense potential there. Few storytelling templates are as dependably rousing as the underdog story, or, similarly, the improbable comeback.</p>
  647. </div>
  648.  
  649.  
  650.  
  651. <div class="wp-block-column is-vertically-aligned-center is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
  652. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="438" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BYWUxNTIxZGUtN2M2MC00ZWE2LTkwZWItNDcwOTE0ZmM5ODYxXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?resize=780%2C438&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-231309" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BYWUxNTIxZGUtN2M2MC00ZWE2LTkwZWItNDcwOTE0ZmM5ODYxXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BYWUxNTIxZGUtN2M2MC00ZWE2LTkwZWItNDcwOTE0ZmM5ODYxXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?resize=760%2C427&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BYWUxNTIxZGUtN2M2MC00ZWE2LTkwZWItNDcwOTE0ZmM5ODYxXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?resize=768%2C431&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BYWUxNTIxZGUtN2M2MC00ZWE2LTkwZWItNDcwOTE0ZmM5ODYxXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?resize=1200%2C674&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BYWUxNTIxZGUtN2M2MC00ZWE2LTkwZWItNDcwOTE0ZmM5ODYxXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?resize=1024%2C575&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BYWUxNTIxZGUtN2M2MC00ZWE2LTkwZWItNDcwOTE0ZmM5ODYxXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?resize=780%2C438&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BYWUxNTIxZGUtN2M2MC00ZWE2LTkwZWItNDcwOTE0ZmM5ODYxXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?resize=400%2C225&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BYWUxNTIxZGUtN2M2MC00ZWE2LTkwZWItNDcwOTE0ZmM5ODYxXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?resize=706%2C397&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BYWUxNTIxZGUtN2M2MC00ZWE2LTkwZWItNDcwOTE0ZmM5ODYxXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney in &#8216;Welcome to Wrexham&#8217; (Credit: FX via IMDb).</figcaption></figure>
  653. </div>
  654. </div>
  655.  
  656.  
  657.  
  658. <p>“Welcome to Wrexham” is a documentary series, so Reynolds, McElhenney, and their associates only have so much control over the script. Save for some early speed bumps though, they couldn’t have drawn things up much better if they tried.</p>
  659.  
  660.  
  661.  
  662. <p>As with any documentary work, extra scrutiny and skepticism are due when the subject of the story is also shaping the narrative, but there’s no denying the effectiveness of the storytelling on display in “Welcome to Wrexham’s” best moments. It is consistently thrilling to see the team overcome long odds and rise to the next challenge, and the producers know exactly how to tee up a satisfying climax.</p>
  663.  
  664.  
  665.  
  666. <p>Fittingly, the lyrics of that opening theme song close with a pivot to the hopeful and triumphant, exclaiming, “Don’t forget to sing when you win.” </p>
  667.  
  668.  
  669.  
  670. <p>By the end of the most recent season, there has been no shortage of singing, and if you have any experience cheering on a hard luck sports franchise – take the Buffalo Bills or my Minnesota Vikings as just a couple of cherry-picked examples – you will likely find these to be inspiring and overdue moments of catharsis for a deserving fanbase.</p>
  671.  
  672.  
  673.  
  674. <h2 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-left">Up the Town</h2>
  675.  
  676.  
  677.  
  678. <p>Some soccer fans who follow the sport more closely have conversely chafed at the Wrexham story, seeing a case of buying your way to the top, a false underdog if ever there was one.</p>
  679.  
  680.  
  681.  
  682. <p>There may be some truth in that telling, but the unique landscape of European soccer, with its ladder of interconnected leagues and the constant churn of club promotion and relegation, keeps the competition and the stakes ever rising. Likewise, however much or little you are charmed by the role Reynolds and McElhenney play (along with a number of their famous friends), the main story of the soccer club and its glitzy owners is supplemented by a bevy of touching portraits from around the community, spotlighting smaller-scale stories of fans and regular folks rising to meet their own challenges.</p>
  683.  
  684.  
  685.  
  686. <p>There are lots of sports documentary series out there, from retrospective works like ESPN’s “The Last Dance” to contemporary offerings like HBO’s “Hard Knocks” and Netflix’s “Formula 1: Drive to Survive.” “Welcome to Wrexham” carves out its own unique space with how it goes beyond sports. Learning about the history of the region and the efforts to revitalize the town make for a compelling sub-plot throughout the series. There’s no doubt that success on that score will be harder to measure than success on the field, but it adds to the small and scrappy, against-the-odds spirit of the show.</p>
  687.  
  688.  
  689.  
  690. <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/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_.jpg?resize=780%2C439&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-231306" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C729&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C428&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C675&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1125&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C439&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C225&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C397&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/MV5BMDQwNzEyOGMtNzIxOC00NTdmLTg4NzYtODU4M2JjYjgyOTNhXkEyXkFqcGc%40._V1_-1296x729.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Rob McElhenney and Wrexham AFC fans watch a match in &#8216;Welcome to Wrexham&#8217; (Credit: FX via IMDb).</figcaption></figure>
  691.  
  692.  
  693.  
  694. <p>The stakes remain human through it all, with the fourth season’s vignettes focused on Ukrainian refugees starting a bakery and an area youth fighting cancer, among others. And local characters like the owner of the historic pub next to the stadium, the manager of the independent video store, and a social circle of older women who convene at a local cafe appear periodically across all four seasons. In that way, “Welcome to Wrexham” resonates because it documents better than almost anything else the experience of being a sports fan; it’s not just about the people who play the game and manage the teams. I regularly saw my own experience as a fan reflected in these people, and it’s a moving reminder of the role sports can play in our relationships with our friends, family, and home. </p>
  695.  
  696.  
  697.  
  698. <p>It&#8217;s a winning formula, and I can imagine many, many sports organizations would love to have a “Welcome to Wrexham” of their own. Ultimately though, there’s a specificity here that can’t be mapped onto any old place. There’s power in this small town that’s been through hard times and questioned its sense of self. There’s power in a place that needs a reminder that there are future victories in store. And there’s power in a community that gets to stand tall and sing again.</p>
  699.  
  700.  
  701.  
  702. <p><em>&nbsp;Welcome to Wrexham airs on the cable network FX and all four seasons are streaming on Hulu.</em></p>
  703.  
  704.  
  705.  
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  719. <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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  762. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/welcome-to-wrexham-afc-winning-formula-goes-beyond-the-playing-field-in-fx-hulu-series/2025/07/10/">The Winning Formula of &#8216;Welcome to Wrexham&#8217; Goes Beyond the Playing Field</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  763. ]]></content:encoded>
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  770. <item>
  771. <title>How Communities Are Reframing Trauma and Rebuilding Pathways to Healing</title>
  772. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/how-communities-are-reframing-trauma-and-rebuilding-pathways-to-healing/2025/07/09/</link>
  773. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/how-communities-are-reframing-trauma-and-rebuilding-pathways-to-healing/2025/07/09/#respond</comments>
  775. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Caroline Tremblay]]></dc:creator>
  776. <pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  777. <category><![CDATA[Rural Life]]></category>
  778. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=231182</guid>
  779.  
  780. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-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/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-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>
  781. <p>Rural communities face unique challenges when it comes to trauma and healing. Whether it’s a school district, healthcare provider, or small-town library trying to support community well-being, trauma-informed care needs to be tailored to local realities, like geographic isolation and limited access to services. “It’s about understanding the impact of trauma on those we serve, [&#8230;]</p>
  782. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/how-communities-are-reframing-trauma-and-rebuilding-pathways-to-healing/2025/07/09/">How Communities Are Reframing Trauma and Rebuilding Pathways to Healing</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  783. ]]></description>
  784. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-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/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/linkedin-sales-solutions-W3Jl3jREpDY-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>
  785. <p>Rural communities face unique challenges when it comes to trauma and healing. Whether it’s a school district, healthcare provider, or small-town library trying to support community well-being, trauma-informed care needs to be tailored to local realities, like geographic isolation and limited access to services.</p>
  786.  
  787.  
  788.  
  789. <p>“It’s about understanding the impact of trauma on those we serve, our workforce, and each other, and using that information to do things differently or better,” said Mandy Davis, LCSW, PhD, director of <a href="https://traumainformedoregon.org/">Trauma Informed Oregon</a> (TIO).</p>
  790.  
  791.  
  792.  
  793. <p>TIO was born from a unique, statewide partnership that began in 2014, when the Oregon Health Authority teamed up with Portland State University, Oregon Health &amp; Science University, and the Oregon Pediatric Society. Originally focused on child and family-serving systems, the initiative expanded in 2015 to include adult behavioral health.</p>
  794.  
  795.  
  796.  
  797. <p>Part of the challenge TIO has faced is that most policies shaping trauma-informed care are designed for urban systems. “Translating those can cause a lot of tension in the rural areas,” Davis said. That’s why tailoring policies to the realities of rural life—whether it’s population, geography, or funding—is essential.</p>
  798.  
  799.  
  800.  
  801. <p>Beyond Oregon, rural communities across the country are deepening their understanding of how trauma shapes addiction, violence, school struggles, and chronic illness, building on decades of work by advocates, clinicians, and organizers.</p>
  802.  
  803.  
  804.  
  805. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Tailored Approaches to Trauma</strong></h3>
  806.  
  807.  
  808.  
  809. <p>According to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/72/wr/mm7226a2.htm">Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a>, 63.9% of U.S. adults report at least one Adverse Childhood Experience (ACE), and 17.3% report four or more.</p>
  810.  
  811.  
  812.  
  813. <p>These preventable, potentially traumatic events, ranging from abuse and neglect to financial hardship or growing up with a caregiver who has mental health challenges, are linked to a host of long-term negative social, economic, and health outcomes.</p>
  814.  
  815.  
  816.  
  817. <p>“All of these things are so trauma-driven, so leaving trauma out of the conversation is missing the point,” said Anena Hansen, project manager for <a href="https://www.traumaresponsivemonadnock.org/">Trauma Responsive Monadnock</a>.</p>
  818.  
  819.  
  820.  
  821. <p>Her organization comprises community members committed to bringing a trauma-informed lens to southwest New Hampshire, the first initiative of its kind in the state. But the national conversation around trauma-informed communities is not new; it’s been gaining momentum over the last several decades. Hansen pointed to Oregon, which she said “has really been a trailblazer in this.”</p>
  822.  
  823.  
  824.  
  825. <p>From the beginning of TIO’s work, advocacy has been the common thread, Davis said.</p>
  826.  
  827.  
  828.  
  829. <p>“We give everyone the same information and resources, but then that entity, community, or organization will make it look like theirs. So it&#8217;s going to look different in a library than at a preschool or a child welfare center,” Davis said.</p>
  830.  
  831.  
  832.  
  833. <p>Based on lessons from early adopters, TIO’s mission has evolved over time. The greatest challenge is designing systems people actually engage with. Whether a solution is being offered for housing, healthcare, or food access, “community members need it to be done in a trauma-informed way so they can actually engage in those services effectively and efficiently,” Davis said.</p>
  834.  
  835.  
  836.  
  837. <p>A significant part of the work revolves around healing from difficult times—perhaps a violent incident, natural disaster, or long-standing social issue, such as substance abuse. Davis said the framework for healing “resonates with people from all different sectors who see themselves impacted.”</p>
  838.  
  839.  
  840.  
  841. <p>TIO spends a great deal of time working face to face with community members, offering training, support, and follow-up to drive these efforts forward.</p>
  842.  
  843.  
  844.  
  845. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>From Poverty to Access to Green Spaces, Trauma-Informed Care Takes a Holistic Perspective&nbsp;</strong></h3>
  846.  
  847.  
  848.  
  849. <p>“People come together to see what&#8217;s working, with a real reminder that trauma-informed care also includes elements like access to healthy food and green spaces—all those things that prevent and also heal adversity,” Davis said.</p>
  850.  
  851.  
  852.  
  853. <p>These interactions are what mental health professionals call Protective and Compensatory Experiences (PACEs), or positive experiences that promote healthy development and well-being. They are critical in rural communities where, “there is a statistically higher likelihood of unmet needs escalating into trauma-causing situations,” Hansen said.</p>
  854.  
  855.  
  856.  
  857. <p>For instance, poverty can both cause and exacerbate trauma, as well as inadequate healthcare access for physical or mental needs. The nonmetropolitan, or rural, poverty rate was 15% in 2019, compared to 12% in metropolitan counties, according to the <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/rural-economy-population/rural-poverty-well-being">USDA’s Economic Research Service</a>.And <a href="https://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/rural-hunger-facts">Feeding America</a> reports that while rural areas comprise less than two-thirds of all US counties, nine out of 10 counties with the highest food insecurity rates are rural.</p>
  858.  
  859.  
  860.  
  861. <p>While these challenges are significant, Davis noted that rural communities often show remarkable resilience, and it can be profound to watch people come together. Shared services, creative partnerships, and a willingness to act quickly can accelerate progress when there’s community buy-in.</p>
  862.  
  863.  
  864.  
  865. <p>From education and healthcare to the legal system and disaster response, “there are multiple pathways to trauma-informed work, so we&#8217;re keeping up with a lot of different sectors,” Davis said.</p>
  866.  
  867.  
  868.  
  869. <p>It can, at times, feel inundating for the people on the ground. So as part of its consulting model, TIO has started offering free micro lessons, like trauma-informed decision-making, implementation, and boundary-setting, skills that communities expressed needs for.&nbsp;</p>
  870.  
  871.  
  872.  
  873. <p>Davis described the work as both rewarding and overwhelming; there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. She came to this work through the years as a social worker, clinician, and provider in sexual assault and domestic violence services. What stood out, she said, was that healing often became “less about the intervention and more about connection.”</p>
  874.  
  875.  
  876.  
  877. <p>Davis saw people healing and doing amazing work—until systems got in the way. By “systems,” she meant the institutions meant to serve people: healthcare, law enforcement, education, mental health services, and the courts. For Davis, trauma-informed care must support individuals while also holding these structures accountable. “Systems either create trauma, activate old trauma, or get in the way of the healing process,” she said.</p>
  878.  
  879.  
  880.  
  881. <p>But trauma-informed communities create space for change. “I can&#8217;t often change what&#8217;s already happened, but I can influence how the system treats you and impacts you,” Davis said.</p>
  882.  
  883.  
  884.  
  885. <p>To start that shift, Hansen said, “normalizing the conversation is crucial.”</p>
  886.  
  887.  
  888.  
  889. <p>But creating lasting change, both Davis and others agree, begins with building a shared understanding of how trauma affects us and the systems we rely on.</p>
  890.  
  891.  
  892.  
  893. <p>“I want my neighbors to have foundational knowledge about how toxic stress, scarcity and trauma impact our brains, bodies, and ability to engage with one another and with services,” Davis said. “Knowing that, how might we show up for ourselves and each other?”</p>
  894.  
  895.  
  896.  
  897. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  898.  
  899.  
  900.  
  901. <p><em>Caroline Tremblay is a freelance writer who assists with news coverage of Radically Rural, an annual summit on rural issues held in Keene, New Hampshire. This year’s event, featuring people and organizations cited in this story, is Oct. 7-9. For more information, and to register for this year&#8217;s summit, visit </em><a href="https://radicallyrural.org/"><em>radicallyrural.org</em></a><em>.</em></p>
  902. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/how-communities-are-reframing-trauma-and-rebuilding-pathways-to-healing/2025/07/09/">How Communities Are Reframing Trauma and Rebuilding Pathways to Healing</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  903. ]]></content:encoded>
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  906. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  909. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">231182</post-id> </item>
  910. <item>
  911. <title>In a Small Texas Town, Pride Grows Loud and Joyful</title>
  912. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/in-a-small-texas-town-pride-grows-loud-and-joyful/2025/07/09/</link>
  913. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/in-a-small-texas-town-pride-grows-loud-and-joyful/2025/07/09/#respond</comments>
  915. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Madeline de Figueiredo]]></dc:creator>
  916. <pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 09:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
  917. <category><![CDATA[Rural Life]]></category>
  918. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=231349</guid>
  919.  
  920. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.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/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.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>
  921. <p>The sound of Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” and the stomping of boots on hardwood echoed against the neon-bathed walls of O’Donnell’s in Lockhart’s town square. This Pride of Caldwell County dance night was one of eight events that the organization hosted over the last week of June, and with the bar packed from end to [&#8230;]</p>
  922. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/in-a-small-texas-town-pride-grows-loud-and-joyful/2025/07/09/">In a Small Texas Town, Pride Grows Loud and Joyful</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  923. ]]></description>
  924. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.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/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/IMG_2301-2-scaled.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>
  925. <p>The sound of Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” and the stomping of boots on hardwood echoed against the neon-bathed walls of O’Donnell’s in Lockhart’s town square. This <a href="https://www.prideofcaldwellcounty.com/">Pride of Caldwell County</a> dance night was one of eight events that the organization hosted over the last week of June, and with the bar packed from end to end with line dancers, onlookers singing along, and laughter, there was no shortage of celebration in this small Texas town.&nbsp;</p>
  926.  
  927.  
  928.  
  929. <p>Nestled in the heart of Central Texas, Caldwell County is better known as the barbecue capital of the state. But over the past few years, it’s also become home to a growing and visible LGBTQ+ community, a transformation sparked, in part, by a conversation among friends in 2021.&nbsp;</p>
  930.  
  931.  
  932.  
  933. <p>That year, a group gathered in Lockhart Arts and Craft, a bar just around the corner from O’Donnell’s, and laid the foundation for what would become Pride of Caldwell County, a grassroots nonprofit organization committed to building LGBTQ+ community and visibility in the region.</p>
  934.  
  935.  
  936.  
  937. <p>“Even just a few years earlier, there was so much more hesitation about starting something like this,” said Haley Fort, one of Pride of Caldwell County’s board members. “Pride did not have the same presence back then and we didn’t have stickers showing safe spaces or anything.”&nbsp;</p>
  938.  
  939.  
  940.  
  941. <p>But as the organization took root in 2021, there was a tangible shift.&nbsp;</p>
  942.  
  943.  
  944.  
  945. <p>“We are invested in building a sense of community around these events,” said Jessica Rutland, another one of Pride of Caldwell County’s board members. “We want them to be free, open to the public, and welcoming. This is how we’ve fostered an amazing community.”&nbsp;</p>
  946.  
  947.  
  948.  
  949. <p>Over time, their presence grew, and so did the town’s response. Events began to draw large crowds. Inspired by the movement, local businesses started showing their support, and ongoing collaborations with hair studios, queer artists, and local bars and restaurants demonstrated care and solidarity year-round.&nbsp;</p>
  950.  
  951.  
  952.  
  953. <p>“Because Pride happened, there is a year-round community that shows up for each other,” Fort said.&nbsp;</p>
  954.  
  955.  
  956.  
  957. <p>“It has evolved in an amazing way. Open-minded people have opened businesses and have totally changed the face of the town’s center,” said Sandy Jones, founder of Pride of Caldwell County. Jones, who has lived in Caldwell county for 20 years, said that the support has been transformational for queer people in town. “It really opens the community up to being more authentic.”&nbsp;</p>
  958.  
  959.  
  960.  
  961. <p>Now, storefronts across the town square display bright stickers identifying their businesses as safe spaces for all.</p>
  962.  
  963.  
  964.  
  965. <p>Despite occasional pushback, Rutland said the spirit of in-person celebration has helped the community drown out negativity.</p>
  966.  
  967.  
  968.  
  969. <p>“The in-person events really shine a light on the reality that the bravery of hate really only persists in online spaces,” said Rutland.</p>
  970.  
  971.  
  972.  
  973. <p>While some board members have felt uncomfortable or unsafe in other Texas towns, Lockhart has stood out as a place where they’ve been able to put down roots.</p>
  974.  
  975.  
  976.  
  977. <p>“Lockhart has a pretty big gay population,” said Lisa Hause, another Pride of Caldwell County board member. “We feel safe here. We feel good here.”&nbsp;</p>
  978.  
  979.  
  980.  
  981. <p>“It’s still a small town in Texas, but when it comes to Pride, we have so many allies,” Fort said.&nbsp;</p>
  982.  
  983.  
  984.  
  985. <p>What started as a community among friends has grown into a movement that brings people together and redefines what small-town Pride can look like.</p>
  986.  
  987.  
  988.  
  989. <p>“Lockhart is open and welcoming,” Fort said. “I can’t imagine being anywhere else.”&nbsp;</p>
  990.  
  991.  
  992.  
  993. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  994. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/in-a-small-texas-town-pride-grows-loud-and-joyful/2025/07/09/">In a Small Texas Town, Pride Grows Loud and Joyful</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  995. ]]></content:encoded>
  997. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/in-a-small-texas-town-pride-grows-loud-and-joyful/2025/07/09/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  998. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1001. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">231349</post-id> </item>
  1002. <item>
  1003. <title>Home Insurers Shift Cost to Homeowners as Climate Change Exacerbates Natural Disasters</title>
  1004. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/home-insurers-shift-cost-to-homeowners-as-climate-change-exacerbates-natural-disasters/2025/07/09/</link>
  1005. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/home-insurers-shift-cost-to-homeowners-as-climate-change-exacerbates-natural-disasters/2025/07/09/#respond</comments>
  1007. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Sarah Melotte]]></dc:creator>
  1008. <pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2025 09:58:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1009. <category><![CDATA[Housing]]></category>
  1010. <category><![CDATA[The Rural Index]]></category>
  1011. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=231345</guid>
  1012.  
  1013. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-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/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-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>
  1014. <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. Last weekend, I stood outside an apartment complex in Mitchell County, North Carolina, and, as the mid-day sun beat down on me, [&#8230;]</p>
  1015. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/home-insurers-shift-cost-to-homeowners-as-climate-change-exacerbates-natural-disasters/2025/07/09/">Home Insurers Shift Cost to Homeowners as Climate Change Exacerbates Natural Disasters</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1016. ]]></description>
  1017. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-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/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1365&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1333&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP24354651844217-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>
  1018. <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>
  1019.  
  1020.  
  1021.  
  1022. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1023.  
  1024.  
  1025.  
  1026. <p>Last weekend, I stood outside an apartment complex in Mitchell County, North Carolina, and, as the mid-day sun beat down on me, I listened to a middle-aged woman tell me that her family’s home place in the neighboring county was up to her chest in mud. She moved into an apartment nine months ago, when Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina, killing over 100 people and razing homes and businesses across the region.</p>
  1027.  
  1028.  
  1029.  
  1030. <p>I’ve been conducting interviews for a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) survey methodology called <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/casper/php/overview/index.html">Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response</a>, or CASPER, for short. A local health advocacy nonprofit called <a href="https://www.searchwnc.org/">SEARCH</a>, where I serve on the board, organized these surveys to collect information about our community’s ongoing recovery in an attempt to bring resources to the region.&nbsp;</p>
  1031.  
  1032.  
  1033.  
  1034. <p>Conducting these interviews made me think about the infrastructure that is supposed to help communities recover from natural disasters, from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to state-level aid, all the way down to local food pantries and churches. These organizations play a key role in the emergency response ecosystem, and without them, cities and small towns alike wouldn’t have the resources they need to get back on their feet after a disaster.&nbsp;</p>
  1035.  
  1036.  
  1037.  
  1038. <p>In this edition of the Rural Index, I’m looking at just one aspect of that vast ecosystem of recovery efforts: home insurance. Home insurance is supposed to help homeowners deal with unexpected damage or repairs to their home by allowing them to buy into a system that offers a safety net in case of an emergency. But as climate change increases the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicators/weather-climate">frequency and severity</a> of natural disasters, insurance companies are increasingly backing out of high-risk markets either by increasing premiums or cancelling plans altogether.</p>
  1039.  
  1040.  
  1041.  
  1042. <p>For home insurance companies, <a href="https://coloradosun.com/2025/01/19/colorado-home-insurance-nonrenewals-crisis/">insuring properties is a gamble, and it’s increasingly not worth the risk</a>. Sometimes, companies will decide to drop homeowners by not renewing their plans.</p>
  1043.  
  1044.  
  1045.  
  1046. <p>Although changes in home insurance policies can happen for a variety of reasons, an emerging body of research is demonstrating the link between <a href="https://citizensclimatelobby.org/blog/policy/climate-change-and-insurance/">home insurance and climate change</a>. In ZIP codes more prone to natural <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/homeowners-insurance-in-an-era-of-climate-change/">disasters</a>, people can pay up to 82% more for home insurance compared to their neighbors in lower risk areas.</p>
  1047.  
  1048.  
  1049.  
  1050. <p>In North Carolina, <a href="https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/mapping-the-home-insurance-crisis-north-carolina/">private home insurers were backing out of the market</a> in high-risk areas like the Outer Banks even before Hurricane Helene.</p>
  1051.  
  1052.  
  1053.  
  1054. <p>The home insurance crisis is hurting both urban and rural communities, according to my analysis of insurance data collected by the <a href="https://therevolvingdoorproject.org/mapping-the-home-insurance-crisis/">Revolving Door Project</a>. In 2023, the latest year of available data, home insurance nonrenewal rates were a little more than 1% in both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan, or rural, counties.</p>
  1055.  
  1056.  
  1057.  
  1058. <p>That might not sound like a lot, but those figures shift county by county. Some rural counties had nonrenewal rates of more than 10% in 2023, meaning that more than 10% of home insurance policies in the county were not renewed that year.</p>
  1059.  
  1060.  
  1061.  
  1062. <iframe title="Home Insurance Nonrenewal Rates " aria-label="Map" id="datawrapper-chart-0JuNf" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/0JuNf/2/" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;" height="491" 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}}})}();
  1063. </script>
  1064.  
  1065.  
  1066.  
  1067. <p>The above map shows the percentage change in home insurance nonrenewal rates between 2018 and 2023, demonstrating where the most pronounced changes have occurred in recent years by splitting the data into quintiles, or five groups. In the fifth quintile, represented on the map by the darkest shade of red, are the areas where nonrenewal rates have increased the most since 2018.&nbsp;</p>
  1068.  
  1069.  
  1070.  
  1071. <p>I like percentage change maps because they are an easy way to visualize change over time. But showing this data in terms of percentage change can be misleading when we’re working with relatively small percentages.&nbsp;</p>
  1072.  
  1073.  
  1074.  
  1075. <p>In rural Marion County, South Carolina, for example, the percentage change in nonrenewal rates between 2018 and 2023 was 382%. That figure might sound unbelievably high, but it’s just a product of working with small numbers. The reality is that Marion County’s nonrenewal rate increased from 0.5% in 2018 to 2.7% in 2023.&nbsp;</p>
  1076.  
  1077.  
  1078.  
  1079. <p>The best way to look at this map is to view the fifth quintile, or the darkest shade of red, as the areas where the nonrenewal rates increased the most, in relative terms, not necessarily as the counties that have the highest nonrenewal rates. With that in mind, let’s zoom into a few of the hardest-hit rural counties.</p>
  1080.  
  1081.  
  1082.  
  1083. <p>Wildfires in rural northern California make the region a hotspot for home insurance nonrenewal. In Plumas County, California, the home insurance nonrenewal rate went from just under 2% in 2018, to almost 7% in 2023. Home to 20,000 residents in the Sierra Nevada mountains, Plumas County was hit by the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/bear-fire-update-flames-destroy-homes-in-bear-creek-it-was-so-fast-it-sounded-like-a-jet-plane/">North Complex Fire</a> in 2020 that killed 16 people and burned over a quarter of a million acres.</p>
  1084.  
  1085.  
  1086.  
  1087. <p>The North Carolina coast is another hotspot in the home insurance crisis because of hurricanes. Nonrenewal rates increased from 2% in 2018 to 13% in 2023 in coastal Dare County, North Carolina. Dare County is the easternmost county in the state with a population of 36,000 residents. Since 1985, <a href="https://www.darenc.gov/departments/emergency-management/hurricanes/hurricane-history">24 hurricanes</a> have made landfall with Dare County. In 2018, Hurricane Michael, a category 4 storm, hit Dare County, causing $7 million in damages.</p>
  1088.  
  1089.  
  1090.  
  1091. <p>Homeowners who lose home insurance have to shop around for a new plan, as most mortgages require one. But new policies are likely to lead to higher premiums, particularly for residents in areas at high risk of natural disasters. The loss of home insurance shifts the heavy burden of adapting to a changing climate from private corporations to everyday American homeowners, leaving the most vulnerable among them to fill in the gaps.</p>
  1092.  
  1093.  
  1094.  
  1095. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  1096. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/home-insurers-shift-cost-to-homeowners-as-climate-change-exacerbates-natural-disasters/2025/07/09/">Home Insurers Shift Cost to Homeowners as Climate Change Exacerbates Natural Disasters</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1097. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1100. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1103. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">231345</post-id> </item>
  1104. <item>
  1105. <title>An Ag-Focused School Hopes to Turn Enrollment Decline into Community and Economic Renewal</title>
  1106. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/an-ag-focused-school-hopes-to-turn-enrollment-decline-into-community-and-economic-renewal/2025/07/08/</link>
  1107. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/an-ag-focused-school-hopes-to-turn-enrollment-decline-into-community-and-economic-renewal/2025/07/08/#respond</comments>
  1109. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Lane Wendell Fischer]]></dc:creator>
  1110. <pubDate>Tue, 08 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1111. <category><![CDATA[Agriculture]]></category>
  1112. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=230980</guid>
  1113.  
  1114. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="473" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C473&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/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C351&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C599&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C355&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C710&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C946&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C554&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C473&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C924&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C360&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C185&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C326&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C473&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>
  1115. <p>For the first time in years, the Palco‑Damar‑Zurich school district (Unified School District 269) in rural western Kansas will see its student body grow — a small uptick in a region where schools have been shrinking for decades. Many small communities across the country have been faced with shrinking enrollment and the threat of consolidation [&#8230;]</p>
  1116. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/an-ag-focused-school-hopes-to-turn-enrollment-decline-into-community-and-economic-renewal/2025/07/08/">An Ag-Focused School Hopes to Turn Enrollment Decline into Community and Economic Renewal</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1117. ]]></description>
  1118. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="473" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C473&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/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C351&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C599&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C355&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C710&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C946&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C554&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C473&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C924&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C360&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C185&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C326&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/LEDE-ag-center-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C473&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>
  1119. <p>For the first time in years, the Palco‑Damar‑Zurich school district (Unified School District 269) in rural western Kansas will see its student body grow — a small uptick in a region where schools have been shrinking for decades.</p>
  1120.  
  1121.  
  1122.  
  1123. <p>Many small communities across the country have been faced with shrinking enrollment and the threat of consolidation and closure. But in this upcoming school year at USD 269, something different is happening.&nbsp;</p>
  1124.  
  1125.  
  1126.  
  1127. <p>About a dozen new students have signed on, drawn by a new Ag-Focused School model and the opening of USD 269’s Northwest Kansas Agriculture Education Center program. The innovations were introduced earlier this year to stem decline and spark community development.</p>
  1128.  
  1129.  
  1130.  
  1131. <p>“Okay,” said superintendent Brian Pekarek, in response to the renewed energy. “We can breathe again.”</p>
  1132.  
  1133.  
  1134.  
  1135. <p>Rural school consolidation and closure are ever-looming threats. In southern Rooks County towns — Palco, Zurich, and Damar — this has played out over decades.</p>
  1136.  
  1137.  
  1138.  
  1139. <p>In 1977, Zurich grade school closed. Its high school had already shuttered in 1955. Zurich’s population dwindled from 189 in 1970 to 89 in 2020.</p>
  1140.  
  1141.  
  1142.  
  1143. <p>In 1974, Damar High unified with Palco High. By 2015, Palco’s elementary building closed too, with Palco’s elementary students now attending school at Damar. Since then, Palco’s population fell from 398 to 208, and Damar’s from 245 to 112.</p>
  1144.  
  1145.  
  1146.  
  1147. <p>By 2016, a <a href="https://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article58283968.html">state bill</a> threatened even more consolidation, targeting small districts with fewer than 1,500 students and those in under-populated counties. If passed, it would have slashed the number of Kansas school districts in half.</p>
  1148.  
  1149.  
  1150.  
  1151. <p>Palco School Board president Tom Benoit, Class of 1963, carried the community’s plea to the state capitol.</p>
  1152.  
  1153.  
  1154.  
  1155. <p>“[Consolidation] should be the decision of the local patrons of those districts and not based on a hasty and ill‑conceived plan from Topeka,” he said.</p>
  1156.  
  1157.  
  1158.  
  1159. <p>The bill didn’t pass. But year after year, students and families moved away or transferred to other districts. The state’s open enrollment frameworks allowed students to remain living in the district to send their kids elsewhere. While local property taxes of those who stay living in USD 269 stay with the schools, dwindling head counts means less money for Palco-Damar-Zurich.&nbsp;</p>
  1160.  
  1161.  
  1162.  
  1163. <p>Today, the district sees just around 85 students.&nbsp;</p>
  1164.  
  1165.  
  1166.  
  1167. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Planting Bold, New Roots: Ag For All Ages</strong></h3>
  1168.  
  1169.  
  1170.  
  1171. <p>Wanting to find a solution, the community, where farming and ranching has been the primary source of economy since its beginning, found their answer in something familiar: Agriculture.</p>
  1172.  
  1173.  
  1174.  
  1175. <p>“Teachers and students wanted to see more ag‑related coursework in the classroom,” said Pekarek.</p>
  1176.  
  1177.  
  1178.  
  1179. <p>The district began to connect with resources across the state. They learned from other rural districts like Hamilton and Bluestem in southeastern Kansas. The latter district opened an <a href="https://kansaslivingmagazine.com/articles/2019/01/31/a-school-for-kids-who-love-chores">Agriculture Academy</a> in 2019, which has since created a pathway for students in the district to operate a <a href="https://www.ruralgrocery.org/learn/publications/case-studies/Leon_Success_Story.pdf">mercantile and community space</a> downtown.</p>
  1180.  
  1181.  
  1182.  
  1183. <p>“Those schools told us that these programs bring in kids,” Pekarek said. “They tell us if we go ag, we can’t go back, because the community just falls in love with the program.”</p>
  1184.  
  1185.  
  1186.  
  1187. <p>The USD 269 school board declared the district “Ag-Focused” on October 3, 2024. Their vision is to provide some form of agriculture education from preschool through high school. At the elementary levels, students will be engaged in ag-related activities, lessons, and will even roll up their sleeves to do some chores.</p>
  1188.  
  1189.  
  1190.  
  1191. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="361" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-1296x599.jpg?resize=780%2C361&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-231197" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C599&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C351&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C355&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C710&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C946&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C554&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C473&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C924&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C360&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C185&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C326&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/plant-experiments-1296x599.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Students experiment with growing lettuce, beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers for district lunches. (Photo courtesy of USD 269)</figcaption></figure>
  1192.  
  1193.  
  1194.  
  1195. <p>Earlier this spring, students worked to incubate and raise their own flock of egg-laying chickens. Some students experimented with growing vegetables and hydroponic lettuce, and others helped build raised beds for the upcoming school year.</p>
  1196.  
  1197.  
  1198.  
  1199. <p>And what the students produce in their classroom, they are able to enjoy for lunch, thanks to a $10,000 <a href="https://cnw.ksde.gov/f2p/program-overview#:~:text=The%20Farm%20to%20Plate%20initiative,as%20fresh%20fruits%20and%20vegetables.">Farm-To-Plate</a> grant awarded from the Kansas State Department of Education.&nbsp;</p>
  1200.  
  1201.  
  1202.  
  1203. <p>“We could be entirely self‑sustaining on eggs and lettuce. That’s so exciting that our students can be invested and excited about their school lunches in this way,” said Pekarek.</p>
  1204.  
  1205.  
  1206.  
  1207. <p>For older students, teachers are finding ways to incorporate ag-learning into their regular curriculum. Students learn to apply core knowledge to ag‑related projects, like figuring out the perimeter of raised beds or a greenhouse to calculate material needs or using the scientific method to experiment with growing different vegetables.</p>
  1208.  
  1209.  
  1210.  
  1211. <p>“I’ll be interested in seeing how these ag lessons might help make math seem more real for the students,” said Mary Singleton, who teaches math at the high school, as well as 7th grade agriculture applications in the upcoming year.</p>
  1212.  
  1213.  
  1214.  
  1215. <p>Students also read and research about certain topics in preparation for other project-based learning, or to prepare themselves for field trips to places like Foote Cattle Company in nearby Hoxie, Kansas, or&nbsp; McCarty Family Farms dairy in Colby, Kansas.</p>
  1216.  
  1217.  
  1218.  
  1219. <p>Jennifer Guffey, the school’s history and English instructor will be teaching junior high agriculture reading and research to students.</p>
  1220.  
  1221.  
  1222.  
  1223. <p>She also leads the school’s fiber arts course, which has slowly expanded into other types of hands-on creative learning, as well. “One day, we also decided to refinish the classroom desk,” she said. “You never know what learning you’ll be doing in my classroom.”&nbsp;</p>
  1224.  
  1225.  
  1226.  
  1227. <p>Guffey also organized a soap making unit, an arts project that gives students something useful to take home to their families, she said.&nbsp;</p>
  1228.  
  1229.  
  1230.  
  1231. <p>“There is so much that schools can do for students when we think about creative ways to learn,” Guffey said.</p>
  1232.  
  1233.  
  1234.  
  1235. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Growing Students — and Communities</strong></h3>
  1236.  
  1237.  
  1238.  
  1239. <p>This fall, the district will open the Northwest Kansas Agriculture Education Center in Palco, transforming a long-closed elementary school into a regional hub for hands-on learning.</p>
  1240.  
  1241.  
  1242.  
  1243. <p>The building, which sits next door to the high school, was previously used as a storage space. The idea started small, but once members of the community came together to clean out the building this spring, volunteers envisioned more and more opportunities.</p>
  1244.  
  1245.  
  1246.  
  1247. <p>“The ideas just kept coming,” said Greg Hamel, the inaugural executive director of the ag education center and its accompanying nonprofit organization.</p>
  1248.  
  1249.  
  1250.  
  1251. <p>As the building is renovated, each room will be fitted with classrooms and labs focused on key ag disciplines in the region, from cow‑calf and feedlot operations to grain production, welding, heavy equipment and ag robotics. There are also plans to create space for conferences and presentations.</p>
  1252.  
  1253.  
  1254.  
  1255. <p>Students accepted into the program will come from both within and beyond the district, thanks to Kansas’ open enrollment law. In its first year, the center will accept 20 juniors and seniors, who, in addition to attending classes, will spend Mondays and Saturdays at paid internships at local farms. Parents will also receive mileage stipends for student travel, covered by the district’s transportation budget.</p>
  1256.  
  1257.  
  1258.  
  1259. <p>Students will also meet regularly with bankers to learn more about ag business, finance, and succession planning. These skills can help prepare students who are interested in launching their own business or taking over an operation when a local farmer retires.</p>
  1260.  
  1261.  
  1262.  
  1263. <p>“We will have folks who are going to come in and sit down with high school students who want to start a business who can say, ‘Let me help you get started. Let me help you get that USDA loan,’” said Pekarek.</p>
  1264.  
  1265.  
  1266.  
  1267. <p>Hamel also emphasized the broader benefits agriculture education can have on community development and mental health. “It teaches…not just focusing on what you can do for yourself, but what you can do for animals, for plants, for your local community to help it thrive.”</p>
  1268.  
  1269.  
  1270.  
  1271. <p>The program’s design is adaptable, made possible by small class sizes. The program will be tailored to students’ individual interests and connect them with local opportunities. Ag-related coursework can even count for physical education credit.</p>
  1272.  
  1273.  
  1274.  
  1275. <figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="361" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/students-chickenhouse.jpg?resize=780%2C361&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-231198" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/students-chickenhouse.jpg?resize=1296%2C599&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/students-chickenhouse.jpg?resize=760%2C351&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/students-chickenhouse.jpg?resize=768%2C355&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/students-chickenhouse.jpg?resize=1536%2C710&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/students-chickenhouse.jpg?resize=1200%2C554&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/students-chickenhouse.jpg?resize=1024%2C473&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/students-chickenhouse.jpg?resize=780%2C360&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/students-chickenhouse.jpg?resize=400%2C185&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/students-chickenhouse.jpg?resize=706%2C326&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/students-chickenhouse.jpg?w=2000&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/students-chickenhouse-1296x599.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Students standing in front of a chicken house that was donated by a community member this spring. (Photo courtesy of USD 269)</figcaption></figure>
  1276.  
  1277.  
  1278.  
  1279. <p>“Almost everything around here is ag-focused,” Hamel said. “Everyone is looking for a job, an employee, or wants to start their own business. This program is going to help make that happen — and it’s going to help everyone in our community. It’s going to help keep kids in rural Kansas.”</p>
  1280.  
  1281.  
  1282.  
  1283. <p>The ag education center has budgeted nearly $1 million for startup renovations and equipment, which will be funded largely through grants and community contributions. For the long-term, the district anticipates that increased enrollment will help sustain the program. Oversight will come from a local nonprofit board, with Hamel leading the day-to-day operations of the program as executive director.</p>
  1284.  
  1285.  
  1286.  
  1287. <p>At the heart of the program are students like Carson Knipp, a rising senior who lives just outside Palco. When asked to join the student Ag Advisory Council, he didn’t hesitate.</p>
  1288.  
  1289.  
  1290.  
  1291. <p>“I said heck yeah I’ll do it,” Knipp said in an interview with the Daily Yonder.</p>
  1292.  
  1293.  
  1294.  
  1295. <p>Knipp is working with a local farmer this summer and plans to continue learning from the farmer through the internship program this school year.</p>
  1296.  
  1297.  
  1298.  
  1299. <p>The student advisory council currently includes three students and plans to grow with incoming transfers. Knipp already knows some of the new students transferring from neighboring Hill City. “It’ll be nice to get to know them better next school year.”</p>
  1300.  
  1301.  
  1302.  
  1303. <p>Knipp hopes to pursue a career in ag mechanics. But for now, his focus is on getting the word out. “This [program] will help bring more kids into our community, help them find what they want to do after school, and help our town,” he said.</p>
  1304.  
  1305.  
  1306.  
  1307. <p>He put it plainly. “If we lose this school, Palco would absolutely turn into a ghost town.”</p>
  1308.  
  1309.  
  1310.  
  1311. <p>He also helped lead the council’s presentation about the ag program at the center’s grand opening, held on April 13th. “I learned there’s a lot more that goes into speaking than just saying words,” he said. “You have to mean it — and keep people’s attention even when they aren’t responding.”</p>
  1312.  
  1313.  
  1314.  
  1315. <p>The building may not have been fully renovated for the open house, but that didn’t stop a packed house from showing up.</p>
  1316.  
  1317.  
  1318.  
  1319. <p>“The pursuit was on,” said Benoit. “It was one of the biggest community events we’ve had in a while.”</p>
  1320.  
  1321.  
  1322.  
  1323. <p>On top of the student presentation, attendees enjoyed a free meal and a first look inside the space. It was the first time in over a decade that the building buzzed with life, and a hopeful sign of what’s to come.</p>
  1324.  
  1325.  
  1326.  
  1327. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full is-resized"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="640" height="480" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/grand-opening.jpg?resize=640%2C480&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-231199" style="width:810px;height:auto" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/grand-opening.jpg?w=640&amp;ssl=1 640w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/grand-opening.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/grand-opening.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/grand-opening.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/grand-opening.jpg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A large crowd of northwest Kansas residents gathered at the ag education center in Palco on April 13th for the center’s grand opening night. (Photo courtesy of USD 269)</figcaption></figure>
  1328.  
  1329.  
  1330.  
  1331. <h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>A School That Stays</strong></h3>
  1332.  
  1333.  
  1334.  
  1335. <p>The stakes for Palco and surrounding towns go far beyond graduation rates. Without young people, local farmland can fall into absentee ownership — sold to out-of-state hunting groups or leased out without local ties. The connection between land and community frays.</p>
  1336.  
  1337.  
  1338.  
  1339. <p>“We need more young people to come in,” Benoit said. “We love our small communities. We want to survive.”</p>
  1340.  
  1341.  
  1342.  
  1343. <p>And survival may now be plausible. A dozen new students have enrolled — the first net increase in enrollment in years. Those new faces may not be eligible for sports in their first year, but some students don’t mind.</p>
  1344.  
  1345.  
  1346.  
  1347. <p>“We will come over even if we can’t do sports,” one student told Pekarek.</p>
  1348.  
  1349.  
  1350.  
  1351. <p>In towns where sports are a large part of the culture, this sentiment, maybe more than anything else, signals hope.</p>
  1352.  
  1353.  
  1354.  
  1355. <p>Word is spreading, too. “We’re getting calls from state officials and local politicians who want to come tour,” Pekarek said.</p>
  1356.  
  1357.  
  1358.  
  1359. <p>Pekarek hopes that Palco can serve as an example of how rural schools, faced with shrinking numbers and limited resources, are responding with creativity and collaboration. Rather than cut programs, Palco doubled down, partnering with businesses, farmers, students, and the state to offer something real — a vision of how education can support a whole community.</p>
  1360.  
  1361.  
  1362.  
  1363. <p>“It’s a unique time in education,” Hamel said. “You don’t necessarily have to get a four year degree to be successful and live comfortably. It’s not the grades you make, it’s the hands you shake.”</p>
  1364.  
  1365.  
  1366.  
  1367. <p>Palco’s program isn’t just for agriculture students, it’s for anyone interested in building a life in the region, Hamel said.</p>
  1368.  
  1369.  
  1370.  
  1371. <p>“We aren’t just taking ag Students,” he said. “This school can support all students, whether you want to pursue ag after high school or not. It’s good to know about all of the systems that help support our life, our homes, our clothes, our energy, our food.”</p>
  1372.  
  1373.  
  1374.  
  1375. <p>“We are here offering something unique, but hope that they’ll come for the rest that our schools have to offer, as well.”</p>
  1376.  
  1377.  
  1378.  
  1379. <p>In the process of trying to save their local school, USD 269 is also attempting to redefine what rural education can be: a site of connection, abundance, and possibility.</p>
  1380.  
  1381.  
  1382.  
  1383. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  1384. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/an-ag-focused-school-hopes-to-turn-enrollment-decline-into-community-and-economic-renewal/2025/07/08/">An Ag-Focused School Hopes to Turn Enrollment Decline into Community and Economic Renewal</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1385. ]]></content:encoded>
  1387. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/an-ag-focused-school-hopes-to-turn-enrollment-decline-into-community-and-economic-renewal/2025/07/08/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  1388. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1391. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">230980</post-id> </item>
  1392. <item>
  1393. <title>Rural hospitals will be hit hard by Trump’s signature spending package</title>
  1394. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/rural-hospitals-will-be-hit-hard-by-trumps-signature-spending-package/2025/07/08/</link>
  1395. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/rural-hospitals-will-be-hit-hard-by-trumps-signature-spending-package/2025/07/08/#respond</comments>
  1397. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Lauren S. Hughes / University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and Kevin J. Bennett / University of South Carolina]]></dc:creator>
  1398. <pubDate>Tue, 08 Jul 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1399. <category><![CDATA[Government & Policy]]></category>
  1400. <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
  1401. <category><![CDATA[repub]]></category>
  1402. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=231290</guid>
  1403.  
  1404. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-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/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1366&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1334&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-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>
  1405. <p>This story was originally published by The Conversation. The public health provisions in the massive spending package that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, will reduce Medicaid spending by more than US$1 trillion over a decade and result in an estimated 11.8 million people losing health insurance coverage. As researchers studying [&#8230;]</p>
  1406. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/rural-hospitals-will-be-hit-hard-by-trumps-signature-spending-package/2025/07/08/">Rural hospitals will be hit hard by Trump’s signature spending package</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1407. ]]></description>
  1408. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="683" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-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/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1366&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C800&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1334&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/AP25184660289863-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>
  1409. <p class="has-text-align-center"><em>This story was originally published by <a href="https://theconversation.com/rural-hospitals-will-be-hit-hard-by-trumps-signature-spending-package-260164">The Conversation</a></em>.</p>
  1410.  
  1411.  
  1412.  
  1413. <p>The public health provisions in the massive spending package that President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.npr.org/2025/07/03/nx-s1-5454841/house-republicans-trump-tax-bill-medicaid">signed into law on July 4, 2025</a>, will reduce Medicaid spending <a href="https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/how-might-federal-medicaid-cuts-in-the-senate-passed-reconciliation-bill-affect-rural-areas">by more than US$1 trillion</a> over a decade and result in an estimated 11.8 million people <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gop-bill-trump-medicaid-cuts-coverage-health-bb4f090d2706ffb3d5652e70f246a10e">losing health insurance coverage</a>.</p>
  1414.  
  1415.  
  1416.  
  1417. <p>As researchers studying <a href="https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/farleyhealthpolicycenter/who-we-are/farley-center-staff/lauren-hughes">rural health</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=z_yvWV0AAAAJ&amp;hl=en">health policy</a>, we anticipate that these reductions in Medicaid spending, along with changes to the Affordable Care Act, will disproportionately affect the <a href="https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/how-might-the-reconciliation-bills-medicaid-cuts-affect-rural-areas/">66 million people</a> living in rural America – nearly 1 in 5 Americans.</p>
  1418.  
  1419.  
  1420.  
  1421. <p>People who live in rural areas are more likely to <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/5-key-facts-about-medicaid-coverage-for-people-living-in-rural-areas/">have health insurance through Medicaid</a> and are at greater risk of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/04/rural-americans-medicaid-cuts-trump-bill">losing that coverage</a>. We expect that the changes brought about by this new law will lead to a rise in unpaid care that hospitals will have to provide. As a result, small, local hospitals will have to make tough decisions that include changing or eliminating services, laying off staff and delaying the purchase of new equipment. Many rural hospitals will have to reduce their services or possibly <a href="https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-tax-cuts-rural-hospitals-nebraska-kentucky-cf6bb787fc6a4d387c55d90051ff2f1f">close their doors altogether</a>.</p>
  1422.  
  1423.  
  1424.  
  1425. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Hits to Rural Health</h3>
  1426.  
  1427.  
  1428.  
  1429. <p>The budget legislation’s biggest effect on rural America comes from changes to the Medicaid program, which represent <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/opinion/medicare-republican-bill-policy.html">the largest federal rollback</a> of health insurance coverage in the U.S. to date.</p>
  1430.  
  1431.  
  1432.  
  1433. <p>First, the legislation changes how states can <a href="https://www.ruralhealth.us/getmedia/a1c99255-25a5-448b-907d-b4cdc884e66b/Senate-reconciliation-summary-7-1-25.pdf">finance their share of the Medicaid program</a> by restricting where funds states use to support their Medicaid programs can come from. This bill limits how states can tax and charge fees to hospitals, managed care organizations and other health care providers, and how they can use such taxes and fees in the future to pay higher rates to providers under Medicaid. These limitations will <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/what-are-the-implications-of-the-2025-budget-reconciliation-bill-for-hospitals/">reduce payments to rural hospitals</a> that depend upon Medicaid to keep their doors open. https://www.youtube.com/embed/BVpTQLw_QRQ?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0 Rural hospitals play a crucial role in health care access.</p>
  1434.  
  1435.  
  1436.  
  1437. <p>Second, by 2027, states must institute work requirements that <a href="https://www.ruralhealth.us/getmedia/a1c99255-25a5-448b-907d-b4cdc884e66b/Senate-reconciliation-summary-7-1-25.pdf">demand most Medicaid enrollees</a> work 80 hours per month or be in school at least half time. <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-evidence-work-requirements-for-medicaid-recipients-will-boost-employment-but-they-are-a-key-piece-of-republican-spending-bill-257289">Arkansas’ brief experiment with work requirements</a> in 2018 demonstrates that rather than boost employment, the policy increases bureaucracy, hindering <a href="https://theconversation.com/work-requirements-are-better-at-blocking-benefits-for-low-income-people-than-they-are-at-helping-those-folks-find-jobs-256839">access to health care benefits</a> for eligible people. States will also now be required to verify Medicaid eligibility every six months versus annually. That change also increases the risk people will lose coverage due to extra red tape.</p>
  1438.  
  1439.  
  1440.  
  1441. <p>The Congressional Budget Office estimates that work requirements instituted through this legislative package will result in <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/system/files/2025-06/Wyden-Pallone-Neal_Letter_6-4-25.pdf">nearly 5 million people</a> losing Medicaid coverage. This will decrease the number of paying patients at rural hospitals and increase the unpaid care hospitals must provide, further damaging their ability to stay open.</p>
  1442.  
  1443.  
  1444.  
  1445. <p>Additionally, the bill changes how people qualify for the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/affordable-care-act/individuals-and-families/the-premium-tax-credit-the-basics">premium tax credits</a> within the Affordable Care Act Marketplace. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this change, along with other changes to the ACA such as fewer and shorter enrollment periods and additional requirements for documenting income, will reduce the number of people insured through the ACA Marketplace <a href="https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/how-will-the-2025-budget-reconciliation-affect-the-aca-medicaid-and-the-uninsured-rate/">by about 3 million</a> by 2034. Premium tax credits were expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, helping millions of Americans obtain coverage who previously struggled to do so. This bill lets these expanded tax credits expire, which with may result in <a href="https://www.aha.org/fact-sheets/2025-06-05-fact-sheet-one-big-beautiful-bill-act-would-significantly-reduce-availability-coverage-health-insurance">an additional 4.2 million people becoming uninsured</a>.</p>
  1446.  
  1447.  
  1448.  
  1449. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">An Insufficient Stop-Gap</h3>
  1450.  
  1451.  
  1452.  
  1453. <p>Senators from both sides of the aisle have voiced concerns about the legislative package’s potential effects on the financial stability of rural hospitals and frontier hospitals, which are facilities located in remote areas with fewer than six people per square mile. As a result, the Senate <a href="https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/07/01/congress/gop-boosts-rural-hospital-fund-00435147">voted to set aside $50 billion</a> over the next five years for a newly created <a href="https://www.ruralhealth.us/blogs/2025/06/federal-medicaid-cuts-imperil-rural-%E2%80%93-impacts-of-the-rural-transformation-fund">Rural Health Transformation Program</a>.</p>
  1454.  
  1455.  
  1456.  
  1457. <p>These funds are to be allocated in two ways. Half will be directly distributed equally to states that submit an application that <a href="https://www.ruralhealth.us/getmedia/a1c99255-25a5-448b-907d-b4cdc884e66b/Senate-reconciliation-summary-7-1-25.pdf">includes a rural health transformation plan</a> detailing how rural hospitals will improve the delivery and quality of health care. The remainder will be distributed to states in varying amounts through a process that is currently unknown.</p>
  1458.  
  1459.  
  1460.  
  1461. <p>While additional funding to support rural health facilities is welcome, how it is distributed and how much is available will be critical. Estimates suggest that rural areas will see a reduction of <a href="https://www.kff.org/policy-watch/how-might-federal-medicaid-cuts-in-the-senate-passed-reconciliation-bill-affect-rural-areas/">$155 billion in federal spending</a> over 10 years, with much of that concentrated in 12 states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act and have large proportions of rural residents.</p>
  1462.  
  1463.  
  1464.  
  1465. <p>That means $50 billion is not enough to offset cuts to Medicaid and other programs that will reduce funds flowing to rural health facilities.</p>
  1466.  
  1467.  
  1468.  
  1469. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Accelerating Hospital Closures</h3>
  1470.  
  1471.  
  1472.  
  1473. <p>Rural and frontier hospitals have long faced hardship because of their aging infrastructure, older and sicker patient populations, geographic isolation and greater financial and regulatory burdens. Since 2010, 153 rural hospitals have <a href="https://www.shepscenter.unc.edu/programs-projects/rural-health/rural-hospital-closures/">closed their doors</a> permanently or ceased providing inpatient services. This trend is particularly acute in states that have chosen not to expand Medicaid via the Affordable Care Act, many of which have larger percentages of their residents living in rural areas.</p>
  1474.  
  1475.  
  1476.  
  1477. <p>According to an <a href="https://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/sheps_response.pdf">analysis by University of North Carolina researchers</a>, as of June 2025 <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/providers/hundreds-rural-hospitals-risk-closure-funding-bills-medicaid-cuts-senate-dems-say">338 hospitals are at risk</a> of <a href="https://journals.lww.com/jhmonline/fulltext/2024/09000/rural_hospital_service_lines__changes_over_time.6.aspx">reducing vital services</a>, such as skilled nursing facilities; converting to an alternative type of health care facility, such as a <a href="https://www.cms.gov/medicare/health-safety-standards/certification-compliance/rural-emergency-hospitals">rural emergency hospital</a>; or closing altogether.</p>
  1478.  
  1479.  
  1480.  
  1481. <p>Maternity care is especially at risk.</p>
  1482.  
  1483.  
  1484.  
  1485. <p>Currently more than <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/04/health/maternity-wards-closing.html">half of rural hospitals</a> no longer deliver babies. Rural facilities serve fewer patients than those in more densely populated areas. They also have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/opinion/medicaid-cuts-rural-hospitals.html">high fixed costs</a>, and because they serve a high percentage of Medicaid patients, they rely on payments from Medicaid, which tends to pay lower rates than commercial insurance. Because of these pressures, these units will continue to close, forcing women to travel farther to give birth, to deliver before going full term and to deliver <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2018.1830">outside of traditional hospital settings</a>.</p>
  1486.  
  1487.  
  1488.  
  1489. <p>And because hospitals in rural areas serve relatively small populations, they <a href="https://time.com/7298891/rural-hospitals-closing-explained-health-care/">lack negotiating power</a> to obtain fair and adequate payment from private health insurers and affordable equipment and supplies from medical companies. Recruiting and retaining needed physicians and other health care workers is expensive, and acquiring capital to renovate, expand or build new facilities is increasingly out of reach.</p>
  1490.  
  1491.  
  1492.  
  1493. <p>Finally, given that rural residents are more likely to have Medicaid than their urban counterparts, the legislation’s cuts to Medicaid will disproportionately reduce the rate at which rural providers and health facilities are paid by Medicaid for services they offer. With many rural hospitals already <a href="https://www.chartis.com/sites/default/files/documents/CCRH%20WP%20-%202025%20Rural%20health%20state%20of%20the%20state_021125.pdf">teetering on closure</a>, this will place already financially fragile hospitals on an accelerated path toward demise.</p>
  1494.  
  1495.  
  1496.  
  1497. <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Far-Reaching Effects</h3>
  1498.  
  1499.  
  1500.  
  1501. <p>Rural hospitals are not just sources of local health care. They are also <a href="https://www.ruralhealth.us/blogs/2018/06/rural-hospitals-the-beating-heart-of-a-local-economy">vital economic engines</a>.</p>
  1502.  
  1503.  
  1504.  
  1505. <p>Hospital closures result in the loss of local access to health care, causing residents to choose between <a href="https://familiesusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Rural-Hospital-Medicaid-Analysis.pdf">traveling longer distances</a> to see a doctor or forgoing the services they need.</p>
  1506.  
  1507.  
  1508.  
  1509. <p>But hospitals in these regions are also major employers that often pay some of the highest wages in their communities. Their closure can drive a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.13965">decline in the local tax base</a>, limiting <a href="https://rupri.public-health.uiowa.edu/publications/policypapers/Rural%20Hospital%20Closures.pdf">funding available for services</a> such as roads and public schools and making it more difficult to attract and retain businesses that small towns depend on. Declines in rural health care <a href="https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/rural-hospital-closures-affect-more-than-health-outcomes">undermine local economies</a>.</p>
  1510.  
  1511.  
  1512.  
  1513. <p>Furthermore, the country as a whole relies on rural America for the production of food, fuel and other natural resources. In our view, further weakening rural hospitals may affect not just local economies but the health of the whole U.S. economy.</p>
  1514.  
  1515.  
  1516.  
  1517. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  1518.  
  1519.  
  1520.  
  1521. <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-s-hughes-1168007">Lauren S. Hughes</a> is the state policy director for the Farley Health Policy Center and associate professor of family medicine at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-colorado-anschutz-medical-campus-4838">University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/kevin-j-bennett-352789">Kevin J. Bennett</a> is a professor of family and preventive medicine at the <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-south-carolina-1755">University of South Carolina</a>.</em></p>
  1522.  
  1523.  
  1524.  
  1525. <p></p>
  1526.  
  1527.  
  1528.  
  1529. <p></p>
  1530. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/rural-hospitals-will-be-hit-hard-by-trumps-signature-spending-package/2025/07/08/">Rural hospitals will be hit hard by Trump’s signature spending package</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1531. ]]></content:encoded>
  1533. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/rural-hospitals-will-be-hit-hard-by-trumps-signature-spending-package/2025/07/08/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  1534. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1537. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">231290</post-id> </item>
  1538. <item>
  1539. <title>Research: Suicide Rates Remain Higher in Rural Areas</title>
  1540. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/research-suicide-rates-remain-higher-in-rural-areas/2025/07/07/</link>
  1541. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/research-suicide-rates-remain-higher-in-rural-areas/2025/07/07/#respond</comments>
  1543. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Liz Carey]]></dc:creator>
  1544. <pubDate>Mon, 07 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1545. <category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
  1546. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=230400</guid>
  1547.  
  1548. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="576" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&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/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C428&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C729&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C675&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1125&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C439&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C225&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C397&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&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>
  1549. <p>A new study has found that suicide rates in rural communities continues to be higher than those in urban areas, largely due to challenges with accessing mental health resources. Rural residents face more challenges than just access when it comes to mental health, according to the research led by a team at East Tennessee State [&#8230;]</p>
  1550. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/research-suicide-rates-remain-higher-in-rural-areas/2025/07/07/">Research: Suicide Rates Remain Higher in Rural Areas</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1551. ]]></description>
  1552. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="576" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&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/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C428&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C729&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C432&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C864&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C675&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C576&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1125&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C439&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C225&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C397&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/vitaly-gariev-MU0v9sXPXBY-unsplash-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C576&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>
  1553. <p>A <a href="https://www.etsu.edu/cph/rhrc/documents/rherc_052025.pdf?utm_source=Google&amp;utm_medium=PDF&amp;utm_campaign=ETSU%2FNORC+Publications+and+Reports">new study</a> has found that suicide rates in rural communities continues to be higher than those in urban areas, largely due to challenges with accessing mental health resources.</p>
  1554.  
  1555.  
  1556.  
  1557. <p>Rural residents face more challenges than just access when it comes to mental health, according to the research led by a team at East Tennessee State University. The research shows that rural residents are hit with a triple whammy – challenges to access, stigma and high risk jobs – that leads to higher suicide rates.</p>
  1558.  
  1559.  
  1560.  
  1561. <p>“There are a lot of interconnected reasons. First, rural areas often lack access to mental health care,” professor Qian Huang, lead researcher on the project, said in an email interview with the Daily Yonder.&nbsp;</p>
  1562.  
  1563.  
  1564.  
  1565. <p>“Many rural counties are designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA), especially for mental health providers. That means fewer people available to help, longer wait times, and longer travel distances to care.”</p>
  1566.  
  1567.  
  1568.  
  1569. <p>Researchers at the<a href="https://www.etsu.edu/cph/rhrc/pubs.php"> ETSU’s Center for Rural Health and Research</a> and the National Opinion Research Center’s Center for Rural Health Analysis looked at data from the National Vital Statistics System for deaths between 2018 and 2020.&nbsp;</p>
  1570.  
  1571.  
  1572.  
  1573. <p>Previous studies had shown that between 2000 and 2018, suicide rates in rural areas were higher than they were in urban areas, and researchers said they wanted to see what recent statistics showed.</p>
  1574.  
  1575.  
  1576.  
  1577. <p>Between 2018 and 2020, the suicide rate again increased across the country, but more so in rural areas, the researchers found. When looking at urban areas overall, researchers found that suicide rates averages about 14 suicides per 100,000. Looking at the overall rural area, average rates neared 20 per 100,000.</p>
  1578.  
  1579.  
  1580.  
  1581. <p>Rural residents who were over 25 had strikingly high suicide rates. For rural residents between 25-34 the suicide rate was 28.8 per 100,000, and for those between the ages of 45-54, the rate was 25.3 per 100,000 – 1.7 times higher than those in urban areas. Rural residents over 85 had a suicide rate of 25.7 per 100,000, compared to 20.2 per 100,000 for 85-year-old urban residents. Children between 5 and 14 had the lowest suicide rates at 2.2 for rural residents and 1.3 for urban residents.</p>
  1582.  
  1583.  
  1584.  
  1585. <p>Rates varied in different parts of the country. In western states (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming), suicide rates were 26.6 per 100,000 in rural areas, and 14.7 in urban areas. Alaska had the highest rates, with up to 38.48 suicides in rural areas per every 100,000 residents, the research showed.</p>
  1586.  
  1587.  
  1588.  
  1589. <p>The researchers also noted that there is a “suicide belt” across the country stretching from Virginia and West Virginia through Tennessee, Missouri, Oklahoma, Colorado, New Mexico, and Arizona.</p>
  1590.  
  1591.  
  1592.  
  1593. <p>Beyond lack of access, the second challenge to mental health is stigma, Huang said. In many rural communities, mental health struggles are still not openly discussed which may prevent people from seeking help. When coupled with greater economic stress, social isolation, longer EMS waiting times and limited transportation, all of which can impact mental health, rural residents face an uphill climb to access help even when they need it, she said.</p>
  1594.  
  1595.  
  1596.  
  1597. <p>Even their jobs can put them at risk.</p>
  1598.  
  1599.  
  1600.  
  1601. <p>“And finally, certain industries that are more common in rural areas — like agriculture, mining, and construction — are physically and mentally demanding and have been associated with higher suicide risk,” she said.</p>
  1602.  
  1603.  
  1604.  
  1605. <p>Although suicide is a leading cause of death in the U.S. regardless of where one lives, the rate of suicides in rural communities is growing, according to the<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/rural-health/php/public-health-strategy/suicide-in-rural-america-prevention-strategies.html"> Centers for Disease Control and Prevention</a> (CDC).&nbsp;</p>
  1606.  
  1607.  
  1608.  
  1609. <p>Suicide accounted for more than 48,000 deaths in 2021, or approximately one every 11 minutes. But between 2000 and 2020, the increase in suicides in rural areas was nearly double what it was in urban areas. Rural suicides rose 46% in non-metro areas, the CDC reported, and 27.3% in metro areas. Rural residents are 1.5 times more likely to visit an emergency room for nonfatal self-harm than urban residents are, according to the CDC.</p>
  1610.  
  1611.  
  1612.  
  1613. <p>“Many of these areas are heavily rural and face persistent challenges: provider shortages, economic hardship, social isolation, and insufficient behavioral health infrastructure,” Huang said. “These same areas are also often referred to as parts of the ‘diabetes belt,’ the ‘dementia belt,’ and regions of persistent poverty — indicating overlapping structural health and socioeconomic vulnerabilities.&nbsp;</p>
  1614.  
  1615.  
  1616.  
  1617. <p>“This pattern really highlights that suicide is not just about individual risk — it’s also about the broader environment,” Huang said “Where people live, and what they have access to, matters tremendously.”</p>
  1618.  
  1619.  
  1620.  
  1621. <p>Huang said the study indicates that rural suicide is a persistent public health crisis that needs tailored solutions to address it.</p>
  1622.  
  1623.  
  1624.  
  1625. <p>“One-size-fits-all approaches won’t work,” she said.</p>
  1626.  
  1627.  
  1628.  
  1629. <p>To help those in rural communities, policy makers need to focus on solutions that impact their communities’ needs, as well as overall recommendation such as recruiting and retaining mental health professionals to rural communities, and addressing the drivers and causes of higher suicide rates — poverty, unstable housing, unemployment and lack of transportation, which can fuel mental health struggles, Huang said.</p>
  1630.  
  1631.  
  1632.  
  1633. <p>“I was really surprised by how consistently rural areas had higher suicide rates — across every demographic group we looked at: age, sex, and race/ethnicity and across US regions,” Huang said. “It wasn’t limited to one population or one region. Even in states or regions where overall suicide rates were lower — like the Northeast — rural communities still faced much higher risk compared to urban ones. That really highlights the need to focus on place-based solutions.”</p>
  1634.  
  1635.  
  1636.  
  1637. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  1638. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/research-suicide-rates-remain-higher-in-rural-areas/2025/07/07/">Research: Suicide Rates Remain Higher in Rural Areas</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1639. ]]></content:encoded>
  1641. <wfw:commentRss>https://dailyyonder.com/research-suicide-rates-remain-higher-in-rural-areas/2025/07/07/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
  1642. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1645. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">230400</post-id> </item>
  1646. <item>
  1647. <title>Commentary: Learning to Reckon with History</title>
  1648. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-learning-to-reckon-with-history/2025/07/04/</link>
  1649. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-learning-to-reckon-with-history/2025/07/04/#respond</comments>
  1651. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Christopher Chavis]]></dc:creator>
  1652. <pubDate>Fri, 04 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1653. <category><![CDATA[History]]></category>
  1654. <category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category>
  1655. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=230763</guid>
  1656.  
  1657. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.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/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?w=1440&amp;ssl=1 1440w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.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>
  1658. <p>One of the biggest problems facing America today is its inability to fully reckon with its past and the horrific events that have occurred within our borders. As I mentioned in my last op-ed article, this tendency permeates our political discourse and prevents us from engaging honestly on where we have been and how it [&#8230;]</p>
  1659. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-learning-to-reckon-with-history/2025/07/04/">Commentary: Learning to Reckon with History</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1660. ]]></description>
  1661. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.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/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?w=1440&amp;ssl=1 1440w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/nottoway-fire.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>
  1662. <p>One of the biggest problems facing America today is its inability to fully reckon with its past and the horrific events that have occurred within our borders. As I mentioned in my last <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-if-democracy-collapeses-in-america-it-wont-be-the-first-time/2025/04/22/">op-ed article</a>, this tendency permeates our political discourse and prevents us from engaging honestly on where we have been and how it may influence our future.&nbsp;</p>
  1663.  
  1664.  
  1665.  
  1666. <p><a href="https://time.com/7287295/burning-of-nottoway-plantation/">The recent fire at the Nottoway Plantation in Louisiana</a> has brought this issue to the forefront. The plantation, which was built by enslaved people in the 1850s, had been a popular hotel and wedding destination.&nbsp;</p>
  1667.  
  1668.  
  1669.  
  1670. <p>This is not new. The spread of the “Lost Cause” mythology around the Civil War is the most prominent example of how we have attempted to whitewash our history. Anyone who has spent time in the South has heard of the “War of Northern Aggression” and that the Civil War was about “states&#8217; rights.” In 1939, Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh starred in <em>Gone with the Wind</em>, a film that portrayed slaveholders as sympathetic protagonists and romanticized life on a Southern plantation.&nbsp;</p>
  1671.  
  1672.  
  1673.  
  1674. <p>In a cruel bit of irony, Hattie McDaniel, who became the first Black actor to win an Academy Award for her role in the film, was unable to attend the film’s premiere in Atlanta due to Georgia’s Jim Crow laws.&nbsp;</p>
  1675.  
  1676.  
  1677.  
  1678. <p>“Gone with the Wind” went on to become one of the most celebrated movies in American cinema. In 1998, the American Film Institute ranked it as the fourth best film ever made (it fell to sixth in 2007). When adjusted for inflation, it is still the highest-grossing film of all time. It is perhaps the most prominent example of how mainstream society has ignored the horrors of slavery and failed to hold its perpetrators accountable in the historical record.&nbsp;</p>
  1679.  
  1680.  
  1681.  
  1682. <p>Today, there are still those actively working to suppress these stories. In 2022, my wife and I visited James Madison’s Montpelier in Virginia. As we left, we were approached by a Fox News reporter and camera crew. I agreed to speak about the tour we had taken.</p>
  1683.  
  1684.  
  1685.  
  1686. <p>The reporter appeared particularly concerned with the tour’s mentions of slavery, despite the well-documented fact that enslaved people lived and died on Madison’s estate. Talking about their lives is not “political correctness,” it is a necessary part of honoring their humanity and understanding the foundations of American history. Yet when Fox News aired my comments, they were placed within a segment alleging that “wokeness” is “destroying” American education.</p>
  1687.  
  1688.  
  1689.  
  1690. <p>Rural people and communities still live with the scars of these injustices. If you look at a map of poverty rates in this country, those scars are illuminated. As noted by the <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2021/august/rural-poverty-has-distinct-regional-and-racial-patterns">United States Department of Agriculture</a> in 2021, Black and Indigenous Americans are more likely to reside in a high or persistent poverty county than any other group. They are also more likely to face adverse health outcomes and have lower life expectancy.&nbsp;</p>
  1691.  
  1692.  
  1693.  
  1694. <p>Plantation weddings are an outgrowth of the same denial that has driven <em>Gone with the Wind’s </em>popularity for almost 90 years. Most notably, Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were married in October 2012 at Boone Hall Plantation in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. In 2020, Reynolds apologized for this decision. But his decision to get married there is emblematic of the broader systemic denial of the horrors of its past.&nbsp;</p>
  1695.  
  1696.  
  1697.  
  1698. <p>And this phenomenon is not just limited to the South. It can also be observed in California, where people also get married at the Spanish Missions where Indigenous Californians were held, forced to work, and forcibly converted to the Catholic faith. In 2019, California Governor Gavin Newsom referred to the treatment of Indigenous Californians as genocide and apologized for the actions of his predecessors.&nbsp;</p>
  1699.  
  1700.  
  1701.  
  1702. <p>These structures have an important role in society, as places of education and remembrance. They are reminders of the depravity that has existed within our borders. They are memorials to those who lived and died within their walls. Repurposing these sites is an opportunity to tell a fuller story, one grounded in truth, not myth.</p>
  1703.  
  1704.  
  1705.  
  1706. <p>We do not have the luxury of ignoring the past because it impacts our present and future. The American tendency to ignore or deny the brutality within our borders is an active barrier to addressing the historical harms that have been created.&nbsp;</p>
  1707.  
  1708.  
  1709.  
  1710. <p>If we cannot face our past with honesty, we will never shape a future grounded in justice.</p>
  1711.  
  1712.  
  1713.  
  1714. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  1715.  
  1716.  
  1717.  
  1718. <p><em>Christopher Chavis grew up in rural Robeson County, North Carolina, and is a frequent writer and speaker on baseball history and rural access-to-justice issues. He is a citizen of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina.</em></p>
  1719. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-learning-to-reckon-with-history/2025/07/04/">Commentary: Learning to Reckon with History</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1720. ]]></content:encoded>
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  1723. <slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
  1726. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">230763</post-id> </item>
  1727. <item>
  1728. <title>Q&#038;A: Mountain &#038; Prairie Host Ed Roberson</title>
  1729. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/qa-mountain-prairie-host-ed-roberson/2025/07/04/</link>
  1730. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/qa-mountain-prairie-host-ed-roberson/2025/07/04/#respond</comments>
  1732. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Ilana Newman]]></dc:creator>
  1733. <pubDate>Fri, 04 Jul 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1734. <category><![CDATA[Arts & Culture]]></category>
  1735. <category><![CDATA[Environment]]></category>
  1736. <category><![CDATA[Media & Information]]></category>
  1737. <category><![CDATA[Path Finders]]></category>
  1738. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=231230</guid>
  1739.  
  1740. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.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/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.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>
  1741. <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>
  1742. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-mountain-prairie-host-ed-roberson/2025/07/04/">Q&amp;A: Mountain &amp; Prairie Host Ed Roberson</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1743. ]]></description>
  1744. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="1024" height="768" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.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/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?w=2560&amp;ssl=1 2560w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=760%2C570&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1296%2C972&amp;ssl=1 1296w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1536%2C1152&amp;ssl=1 1536w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2048%2C1536&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1200%2C900&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1 600w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=400%2C300&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=200%2C150&amp;ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=2000%2C1500&amp;ssl=1 2000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=780%2C585&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?resize=706%2C530&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.jpg?w=2340&amp;ssl=1 2340w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Shed1-1-scaled.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>
  1745. <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>
  1746.  
  1747.  
  1748.  
  1749. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1750.  
  1751.  
  1752.  
  1753. <p>Ed Roberson is a podcast host and storyteller who tells stories about the American West. His podcast, <a href="https://mountainandprairie.com/podcast/">Mountain &amp; Prairie</a>, interviews changemakers from around the West about topics like land, water, and conservation. </p>
  1754.  
  1755.  
  1756.  
  1757. <p>I first met Ed during a river trip, last summer, on the Rogue River in Oregon. We spent the week floating and chatting about how storytelling and media can make a difference in the world, and about how to tell nuanced stories. The stories told on that trip still inspire me daily, and Ed’s humor and humility bring a lot to every conversation he participates in.</p>
  1758.  
  1759.  
  1760.  
  1761. <p>In this interview we talk about how Ed started his podcast, and some of the biggest issues the West is currently facing, based on what he’s gathered from his own conversations.&nbsp;</p>
  1762.  
  1763.  
  1764.  
  1765. <p class="has-text-align-center"><em>This interview has been edited for length and clarity.</em></p>
  1766.  
  1767.  
  1768.  
  1769. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  1770.  
  1771.  
  1772.  
  1773. <p><strong>Ilana Newman, The Daily Yonder:</strong> <strong>You came to the world of land conservation and Western storytelling from an interesting background, starting in finance and real estate development. How would you describe your origin story? What led you to the work you’re doing today?</strong></p>
  1774.  
  1775.  
  1776.  
  1777. <p><strong>Ed Roberson: </strong>Today, almost all of my work is somehow connected to themes of conservation, land stewardship, and sustainability, but for the first ten years of my career, I was on the far other end of the spectrum. I spent many years working as a commercial and ranch real estate broker, and actually went to graduate school with the intention of becoming a developer. But halfway through my MBA program, I had a serious health scare that shook me up and made me reevaluate my priorities and how I wanted to spend my professional life.</p>
  1778.  
  1779.  
  1780.  
  1781. <p>From there, I started to apply my professional and educational experiences to land conservation – first working with conservation groups on a number of open-space acquisitions and eventually moving full-time into the non-profit conservation world, where I was the Conservation Director at a regional land trust. I found that I enjoyed (and was much better at) the conservation work, and many of my skills in real estate, business, and sales were transferable into the conservation space.&nbsp;</p>
  1782.  
  1783.  
  1784.  
  1785. <p>In 2016, while still in the real estate business, I started my podcast, Mountain &amp; Prairie, as a nights-and-weekends creative project. For many years, nobody other than my wife and mother listened, but it slowly found an audience and eventually grew into a full-time job. By 2022, the podcast was making enough money that I could go all-in on it, and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since. While I do miss the on-the-ground conservation work, I think the podcast is having a very positive and widespread impact across the West.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  1786.  
  1787.  
  1788.  
  1789. <p><strong>DY: Your podcast, Mountain &amp; Prairie, comprises conversations with changemakers around the Western United States, but you’re originally from North Carolina. How do you see conversations around land differently in the Southeast vs. the West?</strong></p>
  1790.  
  1791.  
  1792.  
  1793. <p><strong>ER: </strong>The most obvious difference is public land – 14.6% of North Carolina’s land is public, versus 43% of Colorado’s. In the West, it’s impossible to have any meaningful conversation about land use, natural resources, or conservation without considering how public lands fit into the equation. So much conservation work out here requires collaboration between private landowners, governmental agencies, Tribal nations, and non-profit organizations – it’s an entirely different beast than East Coast conservation. </p>
  1794.  
  1795.  
  1796.  
  1797. <p>Another obvious difference is water quantity – there’s simply not enough water in the West to support today’s growth. (Whereas where I grew up, there’s often too much water!) Water is the constraining factor of everything in the West, from agriculture to economic development to public health to outdoor recreation… and on and on. Much of my nonprofit conservation work revolved around creating tools that allow water to be more efficiently shared between agriculture and municipalities in the Arkansas River Basin, and many of my podcast episodes examine the challenges of over-appropriated water in the Colorado River Basin. It’s an endlessly fascinating topic.</p>
  1798.  
  1799.  
  1800.  
  1801. <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="780" height="520" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ed-Roberson-Old-Salt-Festival.jpeg?resize=780%2C520&#038;ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-231233" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ed-Roberson-Old-Salt-Festival.jpeg?w=1000&amp;ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ed-Roberson-Old-Salt-Festival.jpeg?resize=760%2C507&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ed-Roberson-Old-Salt-Festival.jpeg?resize=768%2C512&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ed-Roberson-Old-Salt-Festival.jpeg?resize=780%2C520&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ed-Roberson-Old-Salt-Festival.jpeg?resize=400%2C267&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ed-Roberson-Old-Salt-Festival.jpeg?resize=706%2C471&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Ed-Roberson-Old-Salt-Festival.jpeg?w=370&amp;ssl=1 370w" sizes="(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"> Ed Roberson interviewing novelist David James Duncan at the 2023 Old Salt Festival. (Photo by Anthony Pavkovich)</figcaption></figure>
  1802.  
  1803.  
  1804.  
  1805. <p><strong>DY: In a complicated media landscape, how is Mountain &amp; Prairie a tool for making change and bringing people together? How do you choose who to feature, and what types of stories you want to tell?</strong></p>
  1806.  
  1807.  
  1808.  
  1809. <p><strong>ER: </strong>When I started the podcast, I lived in Boulder, Colorado, and was doing real estate work with ranchers, so I was straddling the world of progressive environmentalism and conservative land stewardship. One day I’d be out working with a fifth-generation rancher who most likely voted straight Republican, and the next day, I’d be chatting with my hardcore Democrat neighbor who I’d describe as a militant environmentalist. I realized that when I ignored the labels and political affiliations, these two people seemed to agree on 85% of the same things when it came to land, natural resources, and conservation.</p>
  1810.  
  1811.  
  1812.  
  1813. <p>So most of my interviews focus on the people – who they are, how they grew up, why they have devoted their lives to their particular type of work. Once listeners can understand these folks&#8217; life stories, they can connect with them as individuals, see that they are good people, and better understand their motivations. Then, even if the listener may disagree with the specifics of the guest’s stance or approach, they can respect them as a person and perhaps learn something new.&nbsp;</p>
  1814.  
  1815.  
  1816.  
  1817. <p>As for how I pick guests, there is no rhyme or reason other than what I’m interested in at the moment. I love learning from a wide variety of voices, and I love to have my assumptions and beliefs challenged – the more diversity of opinion, the better. In the last few weeks, I’ve talked to leaders from the Blackfeet Nation, Montana’s first Jiu-Jitsu instructor, a Navy SEAL-turned-cannabis entrepreneur, a National Geographic photographer, and a world-renowned rock climber. It’s all over the place.</p>
  1818.  
  1819.  
  1820.  
  1821. <p><strong>DY: You’ve spent a lot of time recreating outdoors in rural areas around the Western U.S., and many of the conversations you have with podcast guests revolve around this intersection of land and recreation, and conservation. What do you see as the most important issues rural Western communities are facing that might rely on recreation or be surrounded by public lands?</strong></p>
  1822.  
  1823.  
  1824.  
  1825. <p><strong>ER: </strong>Given that so much of my career is focused on real estate, I can’t help but be concerned about the influx of highly paid digital nomads into rural recreational hubs throughout the West. So many once-low-key Western towns have become completely unaffordable for the locals who do the work that makes the towns so desirable in the first place. I don’t blame knowledge workers from the coasts for wanting to move to places like Missoula or Bozeman or Salida – when I moved West back in 2005, I was one of them. But when property values and the cost of living explode to the point where service workers or tradespeople can’t afford to live there anymore, we’ve got a serious problem on many, many levels. I wish I had an easy or effective solution to offer, but I don’t. However, I know there are many smart people out there working to solve this challenge.</p>
  1826.  
  1827.  
  1828.  
  1829. <p><strong>DY: Who has been your favorite person to talk to on the podcast so far, and why?</strong></p>
  1830.  
  1831.  
  1832.  
  1833. <p><strong>ER: </strong>It would be impossible to pick just one. No exaggeration, I’ve absolutely loved 99% of the episodes I’ve recorded, and I’ve learned so much from every single interview. Again, I only interview people whom I’m extremely excited to speak with, and every person brings a unique perspective and life story to the conversation. I will admit that I especially enjoy chatting with authors of all types – historians, novelists, adventure writers, journalists, biographers, and more. I am a voracious reader, so when I get to talk to authors like Douglas Brinkley, Hampton Sides, Betsy Gaines Quammen, or Chris La Tray, it’s like a basketball fan getting to shoot hoops with Jordan or Lebron.</p>
  1834.  
  1835.  
  1836.  
  1837. <p><strong>DY: Where would you recommend new listeners to start with Mountain &amp; Prairie?</strong></p>
  1838.  
  1839.  
  1840.  
  1841. <p><strong>ER: </strong>I had the great pleasure of interviewing the actor, author, woodworker, and humorist Nick Offerman, who is best known for his character Ron Swanson, on the TV show Parks and Recreation. But what many people may not know is that he is a fierce advocate for regenerative agriculture and recently wrote a bestselling book about conservation and his love for the wide-open spaces of the West. He’s also a superfan of Aldo Leopold and Wendell Berry, and has narrated a few of Berry’s audiobooks. That <a href="https://mountainandprairie.com/nick-offerman/">episode</a> is equal parts hilarious and insightful, and it’s a good representation of the types of things I enjoy discussing on the podcast.</p>
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  1858. <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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  1896. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/qa-mountain-prairie-host-ed-roberson/2025/07/04/">Q&amp;A: Mountain &amp; Prairie Host Ed Roberson</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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  1903. <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">231230</post-id> </item>
  1904. <item>
  1905. <title>Commentary: The Tragedy of the Commons – From Overgrazing Pastures to Exhausting Our Reservoirs of Hope and Trust</title>
  1906. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-the-tragedy-of-the-commons-from-overgrazing-pastures-to-exhausting-our-reservoirs-of-hope-and-trust/2025/07/03/</link>
  1907. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-the-tragedy-of-the-commons-from-overgrazing-pastures-to-exhausting-our-reservoirs-of-hope-and-trust/2025/07/03/#comments</comments>
  1909. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Jim Branscome]]></dc:creator>
  1910. <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2025 10:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
  1911. <category><![CDATA[Agriculture]]></category>
  1912. <category><![CDATA[Commentary]]></category>
  1913. <guid isPermaLink="false">https://dailyyonder.com/?p=231246</guid>
  1914.  
  1915. <description><![CDATA[<figure><img width="926" height="626" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?fit=926%2C626&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/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?w=926&amp;ssl=1 926w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?resize=760%2C514&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?resize=768%2C519&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?resize=780%2C527&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?resize=400%2C270&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?resize=706%2C477&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?fit=926%2C626&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>
  1916. <p>Back in the days, before child labor laws were introduced and before it became conventional wisdom that no young person could develop proper character without playing two dozen sports, mastering three instruments, and maintaining a 4.0 GPA, I had the straightforward job of driving milk cows to our alfalfa field in the Virginia Blue Ridge [&#8230;]</p>
  1917. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-the-tragedy-of-the-commons-from-overgrazing-pastures-to-exhausting-our-reservoirs-of-hope-and-trust/2025/07/03/">Commentary: The Tragedy of the Commons – From Overgrazing Pastures to Exhausting Our Reservoirs of Hope and Trust</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  1918. ]]></description>
  1919. <content:encoded><![CDATA[<figure><img width="926" height="626" src="https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?fit=926%2C626&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/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?w=926&amp;ssl=1 926w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?resize=760%2C514&amp;ssl=1 760w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?resize=768%2C519&amp;ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?resize=780%2C527&amp;ssl=1 780w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?resize=400%2C270&amp;ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?resize=706%2C477&amp;ssl=1 706w, https://i0.wp.com/dailyyonder.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Farmers_and_townspeople_in_center_of_town_on_Court_Day_1a34378v.jpg?fit=926%2C626&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>
  1920. <p>Back in the days, before child labor laws were introduced and before it became conventional wisdom that no young person could develop proper character without playing two dozen sports, mastering three instruments, and maintaining a 4.0 GPA, I had the straightforward job of driving milk cows to our alfalfa field in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains for some limited high-protein grazing.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  1921.  
  1922.  
  1923.  
  1924. <p>What I learned was that cattle had an awesome tendency to overgraze this luscious stuff, become dangerously bloated with gas unless they were carefully acclimated to consumption over time, and that the best efforts of myself and my trusty shepherd dog seldom succeeded in getting the Guernsey rogues out of the field before they made progress in sickening themselves.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  1925.  
  1926.  
  1927.  
  1928. <p>The last few weeks a group of us veteran journalists and policy wonks who have spent a lot of time on the enduring issues of mine safety, poverty, and flooding and many other issues in Appalachia, were discussing how it can be that the Trump administration is reversing gains made over the last few decades and still that areas like Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia—the whole of the 13-state region of 26-million people with some exceptions—have voted overwhelmingly for this administration and continue to support its stripmining of progress.</p>
  1929.  
  1930.  
  1931.  
  1932. <p>One of the journalists recalled that one of our heroes—the crusading editor of The Mountain Eagle in Whitesburg, Kentucky, Tom Gish—had always insisted that if people had the right information, they would make rational decisions in their own best interests.&nbsp; We agreed that optimism needs to be tempered in these times.&nbsp; But how to explain the reasons for this behavior such as how much of Appalachia went from heavily Democratic to MAGA supporting in just a few decades?&nbsp; As a matter of fact, the question can be asked of much of rural America.&nbsp; It takes some digging.&nbsp;</p>
  1933.  
  1934.  
  1935.  
  1936. <p>The great inspiration Thomas Jefferson drew from Jean Jacques Rousseau&#8217;s writings on the &#8220;social contract&#8221; before penning one of mankind&#8217;s most eloquent documents in July of 1776 was based on his belief that people would make rational, indeed democratic, decisions if they had the right information.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  1937.  
  1938.  
  1939.  
  1940. <p>Rousseau was a repeat entrant in the prestigious Dijon Prize contests and actually won the coveted award a second time in 1754 for his &#8220;Discourse on the Origin and Basis of Inequality Among Men.&#8221; I&#8217;ve long forgotten if the Dijon Prize connects to the mustard dynasty, but I do remember that Rousseau was afflicted with one of those Pauline &#8220;thorns in the flesh&#8221; and reportedly wet his pants when the Academy of Dijon bestowed the award on him.&nbsp;</p>
  1941.  
  1942.  
  1943.  
  1944. <p>The important point isn&#8217;t the incontinence, but the immortal insight Rousseau wrote in one of those Dijon essays: “The first man who, having fenced in a piece of land, said &#8216;This is mine,&#8217; and found people naïve enough to believe him, that man was the true founder of civil society. From how many crimes, wars, and murders, from how many horrors and misfortunes might not any one have saved mankind, by pulling up the stakes, or filling up the ditch, and crying to his fellows: ‘Beware of listening to this impostor; you are undone if you once forget that the fruits of the earth belong to us all, and the earth itself to nobody&#8217;.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  1945.  
  1946.  
  1947.  
  1948. <p>It follows that once there are many fences, people must enter into social contracts to regulate important things like who&#8217;s the main rooster and whether milk-producing Guernseys or steak-producing Angus get first dibs in the alfalfa fields. Jefferson reasoned that Americans had never contracted to make King George III the main rooster—he could take his monarchy and stuff it.&nbsp;</p>
  1949.  
  1950.  
  1951.  
  1952. <p>That&#8217;s the philosophy that secured us &#8220;life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.&#8221;&nbsp;</p>
  1953.  
  1954.  
  1955.  
  1956. <p>Enlightened self-interest is the root from which Rousseau&#8217;s philosophical forest flourishes. The English, being less romantic and worse cooks than the French, spotted an anomaly in all this. Back when every English village had a commons where everyone could graze their sheep, they noticed some farmers tended to increase their herds. It was obviously in that farmer&#8217;s self-interest to do so, there being no direct cost to him.&nbsp;</p>
  1957.  
  1958.  
  1959.  
  1960. <p>Eventually, however, the lush commons became something like adobe hills. The English recognized this destructive pattern, but it took until 1968 for ecologist Garrett Hardin to give it a name and framework in his influential essay in Science magazine entitled “The Tragedy of the Commons.”&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  1961.  
  1962.  
  1963.  
  1964. <p>Hardin used the example of herders sharing a common pasture, where each herder&#8217;s rational decision to add one more animal to graze would eventually lead to overgrazing and the pasture&#8217;s destruction. His central argument was that individuals acting independently and rationally according to their own self-interest behave contrary to the whole group&#8217;s long-term best interests by depleting or spoiling the shared resource.&nbsp;</p>
  1965.  
  1966.  
  1967.  
  1968. <p>Hardin was particularly concerned with population growth and resource depletion, arguing that &#8220;freedom in a commons brings ruin to all.&#8221; While his solutions were sometimes controversial, his core insight about the conflict between individual rationality and collective welfare has become fundamental to understanding everything from environmental policy to economic regulation. What our milk cows taught me on that mountain farm, Hardin elevated into a principle that explains much of what ails modern society.&nbsp;</p>
  1969.  
  1970.  
  1971.  
  1972. <p>This concept of overgrazing can also involve more than resources and alfalfa fields.&nbsp; It also applies to ideas and principles.&nbsp; The explanation for why Appalachian mountaineers vote as they do presently has to do with our society having grazed trust and hope down to stubble after decades of promised help. The region remains with some of the poorest counties in the nation and afflictions like black lung disease strike coal miners at record-high rates and ever younger ages.&nbsp; The same phenomenon applies nationally as paycheck-to-paycheck workers who despair they will never be able to afford a home of their own as economic inequality strangles hope.</p>
  1973.  
  1974.  
  1975.  
  1976. <p>Consider the 2008 financial crisis, when banks issued mortgages to anyone with a pulse, knowing they could package and sell the risk to others. Each institution acted in its apparent self-interest, but collectively they grazed the financial commons down to bare ground, leaving taxpayers to restore the pasture. We see this tragedy playing out across rural America today, where groundwater aquifers that took millennia to fill are being pumped dry in decades.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  1977.  
  1978.  
  1979.  
  1980. <p>Each farmer drilling deeper wells acts rationally—their crops need water; their families need income. But collectively, we&#8217;re mining an irreplaceable commons that our grandchildren will inherit as hardpan. The Ogallala Aquifer, once thought inexhaustible, now drops several feet per year in some areas, turning what was once America&#8217;s breadbasket into tomorrow&#8217;s dust bowl.&nbsp;</p>
  1981.  
  1982.  
  1983.  
  1984. <p>The consolidation of American agriculture reflects this same pattern. Corporate farms can afford to bid up land prices and operate on razor-thin margins that family operations can&#8217;t match. Each acquisition makes economic sense for the corporation, but collectively, we&#8217;re losing the social fabric of rural communities— the school boards, volunteer fire departments, and local businesses that family farmers traditionally supported.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  1985.  
  1986.  
  1987.  
  1988. <p>Rural broadband illustrates the commons problem perfectly. Telecom companies avoid the expense of serving sparsely populated areas because it&#8217;s not profitable for any single company. Meanwhile, rural communities fall further behind in the digital economy, creating a commons of connectivity that remains tragically under-developed while urban areas enjoy multiple high-speed options.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  1989.  
  1990.  
  1991.  
  1992. <p>We see it in today&#8217;s immigration debates, where sanctuary cities and border states clash over resources and responsibilities. Local communities act in their perceived self-interest—some offering protection, others demanding enforcement—while the national commons of immigration policy remains tragically overgrazed by competing political interests.&nbsp;</p>
  1993.  
  1994.  
  1995.  
  1996. <p>We witness it in social media platforms where individual users and corporate algorithms optimize for engagement and profit, collectively creating an information commons so degraded by misinformation and polarization that democratic discourse itself suffers.&nbsp;</p>
  1997.  
  1998.  
  1999.  
  2000. <p>Climate change represents perhaps the ultimate tragedy of the commons, where individual nations and corporations pursue economic self-interest while the atmospheric commons becomes increasingly uninhabitable for everyone. Even our recent market volatility—from meme stock frenzies to cryptocurrency bubbles—reflects the same pattern. Institutional investors chase quick profits while collectively destabilizing the financial commons that supports retirement accounts and economic stability.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  2001.  
  2002.  
  2003.  
  2004. <p>The tragedy extends to our political system, where gerrymandering, dark money, and extreme partisanship serve short-term political interests of political parties while degrading the democratic commons that serves us all. Each side grazes their portion of the political pasture down to the roots, leaving scorched earth for future generations. This is how we end up with healthcare systems that over-consume resources, financial institutions that privatize profits while socializing losses, federal agencies that prioritize fiefdoms over public service, and immigration policies that satisfy no one while serving everyone poorly.&nbsp;</p>
  2005.  
  2006.  
  2007.  
  2008. <p>It&#8217;s all overgrazing, it&#8217;s all a tragedy of the commons, and we can’t agree on exactly whom to blame for signing this social contract—or how to renegotiate it before the pasture becomes permanently barren. The challenge isn&#8217;t identifying the problem—Rousseau and the English figured that out centuries ago. The challenge is mustering the collective wisdom to manage our shared resources before they&#8217;re grazed beyond recovery.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
  2009.  
  2010.  
  2011.  
  2012. <p>Because unlike my family cattle, we can&#8217;t simply move to a fresh field when this one is exhausted. On July 4th, we will be celebrating the remarkable creation of this republic.&nbsp; It’s time for those in Appalachia and the whole nation really to ask ourselves in all our overgrazing of resources and ideas and principles if we have exhausted the commons.&nbsp; Trust and hope are our most precious resources, and we are tragically exhausting a once bountiful supply.</p>
  2013.  
  2014.  
  2015.  
  2016. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots"/>
  2017.  
  2018.  
  2019.  
  2020. <p><em>Jim Branscome is a retired managing director of Standard &amp; Poor’s and a former journalist whose articles have appeared in the Washington Post, New York Times, Business Week, and Mountain Eagle of Whitesburg, Kentucky.</em></p>
  2021. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-the-tragedy-of-the-commons-from-overgrazing-pastures-to-exhausting-our-reservoirs-of-hope-and-trust/2025/07/03/">Commentary: The Tragedy of the Commons – From Overgrazing Pastures to Exhausting Our Reservoirs of Hope and Trust</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2022. ]]></content:encoded>
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  2029. <item>
  2030. <title>Agriculture Education Program Provides New Opportunities for Formerly Incarcerated</title>
  2031. <link>https://dailyyonder.com/agriculture-education-program-provides-new-opportunities-for-formerly-incarcerated/2025/07/03/</link>
  2032. <comments>https://dailyyonder.com/agriculture-education-program-provides-new-opportunities-for-formerly-incarcerated/2025/07/03/#respond</comments>
  2034. <dc:creator><![CDATA[Nick Fouriezos / Open Campus]]></dc:creator>
  2035. <pubDate>Thu, 03 Jul 2025 09:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
  2036. <category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
  2037. <category><![CDATA[Labor]]></category>
  2038. <category><![CDATA[Social Justice]]></category>
  2039. <category><![CDATA[Mile Markers]]></category>
  2040. <category><![CDATA[repub]]></category>
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  2042.  
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  2044. <p>Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in Mile Markers, a twice monthly newsletter from Open Campus about the role of colleges in rural America. You can join the mailing list at the bottom of this article to receive future editions in your inbox. John Pressell been incarcerated for half his life, with intermittent stints that [&#8230;]</p>
  2045. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/agriculture-education-program-provides-new-opportunities-for-formerly-incarcerated/2025/07/03/">Agriculture Education Program Provides New Opportunities for Formerly Incarcerated</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
  2046. ]]></description>
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  2048. <p style="font-size:14px"><em>Editor’s Note: A version of this story first appeared in <strong>Mile Markers</strong>, a twice monthly newsletter from Open Campus about the role of colleges in rural America. You can </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> to receive future editions in your inbox.</em></p>
  2049.  
  2050.  
  2051.  
  2052. <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity"/>
  2053.  
  2054.  
  2055.  
  2056. <p>John Pressell been incarcerated for half his life, with intermittent stints that began when he dropped out of high school in 11th grade.</p>
  2057.  
  2058.  
  2059.  
  2060. <p>&#8220;I used to always look at education like, “Oh, I don&#8217;t need it,&#8221; the 44-year-old says. As a teen, John felt like he was making plenty of money on the streets while living what he describes as “a criminal life.”</p>
  2061.  
  2062.  
  2063.  
  2064. <p>Two years ago, everything changed. After being released following a decade in state prison, John connected with Reform Merced, a California nonprofit that helps formerly incarcerated individuals rebuild their lives.</p>
  2065.  
  2066.  
  2067.  
  2068. <p>They placed him at their recently opened organic farm, where he now tends bell peppers, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, and seasonal crops.</p>
  2069.  
  2070.  
  2071.  
  2072. <p>&#8220;I enjoy working out around the field, I enjoy driving the tractor and I enjoy planting food,&#8221; John says. &#8220;It&#8217;s something that can actually stay with me in the future. Something to be proud of, where I can see people go to a grocery store, and think, ‘look, I grew that.’&#8221;</p>
  2073.  
  2074.  
  2075.  
  2076. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">An Unexpected Student</h2>
  2077.  
  2078.  
  2079.  
  2080. <p>Merced College is one of six community colleges that have received $42 million in state and federal grants to create free competency-based programs for agricultural technologies across California’s Central Valley.</p>
  2081.  
  2082.  
  2083.  
  2084. <p>&#8220;When we first thought about this program, it was designed traditionally for the more traditional farm laborer and upscaling them for the workforce,&#8221; says Cody Jacobson, Merced’s director of ag innovation.</p>
  2085.  
  2086.  
  2087.  
  2088. <p>However, John represents somebody program leaders didn&#8217;t initially anticipate.</p>
  2089.  
  2090.  
  2091.  
  2092. <p>He&#8217;s one of a dozen or so formerly incarcerated students from Restore Merced who&#8217;ve enrolled in the AgTEC program, which allows students to work at their own pace through 14 skill areas, from digital literacy to equipment operation.</p>
  2093.  
  2094.  
  2095.  
  2096. <p>The partnership emerged when Restore Merced&#8217;s director reached out to explore educational opportunities for their workers, and it’s flourished since.</p>
  2097.  
  2098.  
  2099.  
  2100. <p>&#8220;It turns out that what they&#8217;re doing with Restore Merced is a great fit for what we&#8217;re doing. And these individuals who are trying to get their lives back on track, they&#8217;re eager to learn.&#8221;</p>
  2101.  
  2102.  
  2103.  
  2104. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Starting from Zero</h2>
  2105.  
  2106.  
  2107.  
  2108. <p>For John, the program began with a fundamental challenge: he had little experience using computers.</p>
  2109.  
  2110.  
  2111.  
  2112. <p>He wasn’t alone.</p>
  2113.  
  2114.  
  2115.  
  2116. <p>&#8220;In that first cohort of 14 students, probably 10 or 12 of them had never even touched a computer before,&#8221; recalls instructor Karl Montague. &#8220;We were having to tell them how to turn the computer on. We were having to tell them, this is what we call a mouse.&#8221;</p>
  2117.  
  2118.  
  2119.  
  2120. <p>That reality forced Merced to rethink its approach. While the program provided funding for computers, the instructors quickly realized that digital literacy was the foundational skill for the mostly online-based, self-paced course.</p>
  2121.  
  2122.  
  2123.  
  2124. <p>After all, if students couldn’t handle the basics of using a computer, how could they hope to learn through the program’s digital platform?</p>
  2125.  
  2126.  
  2127.  
  2128. <p>Instead of group orientations, support coordinator Nang Thao now onboards students individually, personally making sure they fully understand how to access their online modules.</p>
  2129.  
  2130.  
  2131.  
  2132. <p>“It was like herding cats because every single person had no idea what they were doing,” Jacobson said. “So that’s when we said time out, our onboarding process is going to change tremendously, and be much more 1-on-1 based.”</p>
  2133.  
  2134.  
  2135.  
  2136. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Beyond the Original Vision</h2>
  2137.  
  2138.  
  2139.  
  2140. <p>It’s a far cry from how instructors envisioned the program. The curriculum was initially bold, futuristic, ambitious.</p>
  2141.  
  2142.  
  2143.  
  2144. <p>The marketing promised a new kind of farm worker, capable of operating drones, sensors, and tech-heavy tractors.</p>
  2145.  
  2146.  
  2147.  
  2148. <p>“A lot of our faculty thought that industry wanted workers to fill specific needs. That they needed a student who could diagnose the ins and outs of a specific type of electric controller, for example,” Jacobson says.</p>
  2149.  
  2150.  
  2151.  
  2152. <p>But when Jacobson and his team reached out to employers, the request was very different.</p>
  2153.  
  2154.  
  2155.  
  2156. <p>“Instead, it was like: “We just need to make sure that if something is broken, the employees can turn the equipment off safely. That they know how to communicate with a foreman, how to formulate an email, and operate basic technology.”</p>
  2157.  
  2158.  
  2159.  
  2160. <p>In addition to teaching students how to navigate the online course platform, the digital literacy component covers those basics.</p>
  2161.  
  2162.  
  2163.  
  2164. <p>And while the course is self-paced, Thao is checking their online progress on a biweekly basis, and personally texts students reminders to keep them on track.</p>
  2165.  
  2166.  
  2167.  
  2168. <p>“I would forget, but she was always texting me, and it helped,” John says.</p>
  2169.  
  2170.  
  2171.  
  2172. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Flexibility by Design</h2>
  2173.  
  2174.  
  2175.  
  2176. <p>The program&#8217;s competency-based structure allows John to balance coursework with his full-time farm job with Restore Merced, as well as his family responsibilities (he has four children and a granddaughter in the Merced area).</p>
  2177.  
  2178.  
  2179.  
  2180. <p>&#8220;Sometimes when I get off of work, I&#8217;m tired where I don&#8217;t even want to like open up the computer,&#8221; John admits. &#8220;But I have to&#8230; Some days are harder than others, but I&#8217;m going to keep with it.&#8221;</p>
  2181.  
  2182.  
  2183.  
  2184. <p>Of the 60 students in the program’s first year at Merced, less than half are active or retired farm workers. Thao thinks that part of the challenge is convincing them they have time to complete the program while still working.</p>
  2185.  
  2186.  
  2187.  
  2188. <p>&#8220;A lot of our students, they do work, right? So for them, it’s about explaining that they can put in early hours on, say, a Saturday morning, before they go out to their work day,” Thao says.</p>
  2189.  
  2190.  
  2191.  
  2192. <p>She reminds them of the flexibility of the online program, and it’s self-paced nature. Open office hours and assessments with the instructor are available between 2 to 6 pm Monday through Thursday, which allows active farm workers to come after their morning shifts.</p>
  2193.  
  2194.  
  2195.  
  2196. <p>&#8220;We remain flexible with them,” says instructor Karl Montague, who is willing to make times work to fit his students’ schedules.</p>
  2197.  
  2198.  
  2199.  
  2200. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Looking Forward</h2>
  2201.  
  2202.  
  2203.  
  2204. <p>At Restore Merced, John has already proven himself as a dedicated worker, earning a full-time job and overtime pay. The certificate he&#8217;s working toward at Merced College, typically completed within six months to two years, could open even more new doors.</p>
  2205.  
  2206.  
  2207.  
  2208. <div class="wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-9d6595d7 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex">
  2209. <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
  2210. <p>&#8220;I hope to have people recognize this accomplishment and my competencies, to where they move me up, so that I can be the one working as a supervisor, checking on equipment, that sort of thing.”</p>
  2211.  
  2212.  
  2213.  
  2214. <p>Montague is seeing John’s progress match his ambition. &#8220;He&#8217;s learning skills that he can now apply back to that farm. We love having students that want to learn, want to better themselves.&#8221;</p>
  2215.  
  2216.  
  2217.  
  2218. <p>&#8220;I never thought I would see myself doing this,&#8221; John reflects. &#8220;But I like doing it. I love doing it, actually.&#8221;</p>
  2219. </div>
  2220.  
  2221.  
  2222.  
  2223. <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow">
  2224. <div class="wp-block-group has-light-gray-background-color has-background"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained">
  2225. <h2 class="wp-block-heading">More Rural Higher Ed News</h2>
  2226.  
  2227.  
  2228.  
  2229. <p style="font-size:14px"><strong>Rural health care education gets a boost in Tennessee. </strong>Grants of up to $2 million have been awarded to 20 higher ed institutions across the state, the Tennessee Higher Education Commission <a href="https://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2025/05/27/tennessee-higher-education-commission-dickson-awarded-2m-grant-to-expand-rural-health-care-programs/?utm_source=mile-markers.beehiiv.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=a-second-chance-through-farming" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced this week</a>.</p>
  2230.  
  2231.  
  2232.  
  2233. <p style="font-size:14px"><strong>Rural hospital reopening. </strong>A $150 million state investment <a href="https://www.opencampus.org/2025/05/26/multimillion-dollar-nc-care-initiative-to-help-reopen-hospital-in-martin-county/?utm_source=mile-markers.beehiiv.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=a-second-chance-through-farming" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">will go towards</a> reopening a rural hospital in North Carolina’s Martin County, reports Brianna Atkinson, our higher-ed reporter at partner WUNC. The University of North Carolina system had previously approved funds to go toward the hospital’s reopening, in the hopes of addressing a health care desert.</p>
  2234.  
  2235.  
  2236.  
  2237. <p style="font-size:14px"><strong>Rural transfers see mixed progress. </strong>For <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/views/2025/05/12/rurality-matters-evaluating-transfer-outcomes-opinion?utm_source=mile-markers.beehiiv.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=a-second-chance-through-farming" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Inside Higher Ed</a>, Gerardo de los Santos argues that lawmakers should recognize rurality as a key lens for evaluating transfer outcomes.</p>
  2238. </div></div>
  2239. </div>
  2240. </div>
  2241.  
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  2257.  
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  2259.  
  2260. <div class="wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow" style="flex-basis:60%">
  2261. <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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  2278. <p></p>
  2279. <p>The post <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/agriculture-education-program-provides-new-opportunities-for-formerly-incarcerated/2025/07/03/">Agriculture Education Program Provides New Opportunities for Formerly Incarcerated</a> appeared first on <a href="https://dailyyonder.com">The Daily Yonder</a>.</p>
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