Funding Rural

Governor Tom Vilsack started out as a small-town lawyer, then mayor, and went on to serve as governor of Iowa for 8 years. He ran the US Department of Agriculture under President Obama and President Biden. Gov. Vilsack is now the CEO of the World Food Prize, which presents an annual award of $500,000 to individuals who have increased the quality, quantity and availability of food in the world. During his time as Secretary of the USDA, he called on the philanthropic community to step up to the plate and provide more funding for rural communities.

Rhodes Scholar, lifelong Portlander, and community visionary JT Flowers draws the parallels between urban and rural communities. Born and raised in NE Portland’s historic Black neighborhood, the Albina District, Flowers recently served as Senior Advisor and Director of Government Affairs at Albina Vision Trust, the largest community-led redevelopment effort in America. The Trust was created to buy back land, rebuild community, and reestablish a prosperous Black neighborhood in the heart of Portland’s central city.

Mel Butterfield asks, ‘if adults aren’t modeling healthy behaviors, why does it surprise us when youth behavior suffers?’ She is a fourth-generation Central Oregonian and the director of Central Oregon YouthLine, a peer-to-peer crisis, help and support line nationally available. 

Young people don’t always want to talk to adults when it comes to their mental health, so YouthLine is staffed by young people who have gone through training to support their peers. They say “It’s OK to not be OK” - because we all need to talk about mental health more. Youth experiencing a crisis can call 877-968-8491 or text "teen2teen" to 83983.

Rev. Dr. Ryan M. Eller is a ninth-generation Appalachian who deeply understands his region—and where generations of their wealth went. As Executive Director of Appalachia Funders Network, Eller leads a coalition of more than 80 funders who are committed to socio-economic transition in Central Appalachia. Eller began his career in community organizing and wishes more funders had that valuable experience, which taught him that thoughtful action is the oxygen needed to effect change and help remedy longstanding issues.

We're back with a new season of Funding Rural! This fall, we bring you more fresh, heartfelt conversations about philanthropy and how it can better serve rural and Indigenous communities. The folks you'll hear this season will showcase the power of local work and investing in the grassroots organizations that are making systemic change from the ground up. 

When people don’t know where to begin when it comes to funding rural America, collaborative funds are a great way to start. Charlie Brown is the executive director of the Trust for Civic Life, which is an example of one of those funds. They’re made up of 20 different funders from across the country all working together to empower people to get involved in shaping the future of their communities and everyday democracy. They prioritize listening and learning instead of coming in with a top-down approach.

Funding for disaster response is much needed in the American West where vast rangeland ignites quickly under dry conditions. In Eastern Oregon, innovative Rangeland Fire Protection Associations (RFPAs) bring together local ranchers and state resources to work collaboratively when fires break out. Derek Burkhardt is a 4th generation rancher and farmer from Vale, Oregon who is in a leadership role with his two local RFPAs, and Allison Rayburn is the Oregon Dept of Forestry’s Rangeland Fire Program Coordinator. They share their motivations, recent firefighting experiences, and wish lists.

Meeting the mental and behavioral health needs of rural communities, where people are dispersed and remarkably self-reliant, can be a challenge for a variety of different reasons. In Northeast Oregon, Community Counseling Solutions serves an area of more than 60,000 square miles, in which just 100,000 people reside—the sheer distance can stretch resources thin. Kimberly Lindsay is their director and she cofounded the David Romprey Oregon Warm Line in Oregon, which unlike a hotline for an immediate crisis, warm lines provide early mental health intervention with a confidential free phone service. If you or someone you know is just wanting to connect, call 800-698-2392.

There are so many folks who want to age in place but live far away from the care they need, and that can present challenges for their health, happiness and the social fabric of their communities. Dr. Jordan Lewis is the director for the Center on Aging at the University of Hawaii at Manoa with the Thompson School of Social Work and Public Health. He’s Alaska Native on his mother’s side and got his PhD in Community Psychology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Over the course of his career, Jordan has been drawn to the study of elder care— especially in rural and American Indian/Alaska Native communities. He wants to study the ways in which people can “age how they wish” and what we can all learn from the elders who are navigating that chapter of life.

When massive wildfires swept through Oregon in 2020, Dee Anne Everson helped hundreds of people who had just lost everything, and five years later, she’s still helping them. She’s CEO of United Way of Jackson County Oregon, and has a special leadership philosophy that’s evident in her work. Everson leads a staff of 7 and they partner with hundreds of volunteers across south-central Oregon to help folks with everything from transportation issues, senior needs, and emergency cash support for things like car repairs or utility bills. They’ll even help you prep your taxes.