Funding Rural

Crosshatch Center for Art and Ecology in Northern Michigan is an artist residency that aims to build community through farming, ecology and economy. The Northern Michigan Small Farms Conference is a program of theirs that brings farms together to learn and connect in the height of summer. Led by Brad Kik and his wife, Amanda, Crosshatch was also a key partner behind a recently completed new building near downtown Traverse City called The Alluvion that serves as a performance center, co-working space, and also provides affordable housing. Kik shares his fundraising experiences for both Crosshatch and The Alluvion, and offers a perspective rooted in place and purpose.

Philanthropy has long been a champion of public radio, providing grants for everything from infrastructure and new buildings to special reporting projects. Recent federal cuts have made philanthropic support even more critical to keep public radio stations afloat: across the country, in rural and remote areas, and especially on Tribal lands. Sue Matters is the station manager at KWSO 91.9 FM, which is a non-commercial radio station that is licensed, owned and operated by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in Oregon. She shares her experience, spanning nearly 40 years, on the reservation’s radio and what the station means to the culture and well-being of listeners.

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

Native American Tribal communities are a blind spot for philanthropy with just .4% of funding going to Native organizations—but some philanthropic organizations are trying to change that. Stone Hudson, a citizen of the three affiliated tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara) of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota shares his experience as Program Officer at Meyer Memorial Trust where he oversees the Tribal Nations Partnership Initiative. His sense of service, stewardship and curiosity is magnetic, and he knows how to show up authentically and bring people together in the process.

Luke Shaefer, PhD is one of the nation's foremost scholars of poverty and social welfare policy. He is a professor at the University of Michigan and is the inaugural director of Poverty Solutions, an interdisciplinary initiative that partners with communities and policymakers to find novel ways to alleviate poverty. In 2015, he co-authored the book, “$2 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America”, which was named one of the 100 Notable Books of the year by the New York Times Book Review. In Flint, Michigan, Luke helped launch RX Kids, the nation’s first citywide cash prescription program designed to help ease the financial journey into parenthood.

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

Libraries are vital to rural communities—they do so much more than just check out books. They provide internet access, heating and cooling centers, early learning, nutrition, STEM programs, story time and more. Dr. Regina Washington-Arthur is the managing director of the Rural Library Network for Partners for Rural Impact. With a background in public health, Washington-Arthur explains that libraries contribute to the overall health of a community; they are a critical component of the cradle-to-career educational pathway; and more often than not, they do so with limited financial resources.

More than 50 million Americans face food insecurity. And in the U.S., 9 out of the 10 counties with the highest rate of food insecurity are rural. To offset this disparity, Roundhouse Foundation recently launched a 6 million dollar investment which will support local food purchase over the next three years. Carly Auten is food program director at NeighborImpact, a grant recipient that distributes more than 4 million pounds of food every year and feeds 80,000 people across Central Oregon every month.

Gretchen Guess is president and CEO of the Rasmuson Foundation in Alaska, where 80% of the population lives in remote areas without road access. Gretchen has lived there all her life and served terms in both the Alaska House of Representatives and Senate. She’s brought her public service experience to Rasmuson Foundation, which is one of the largest funders in Alaska and centers the community in all of their grantmaking.

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