Rural Matters

Michelle chats with Mara Tieken, associate professor of education at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, whose research focuses on racial and educational equity in rural schools and communities. Her landmark book, Why Rural Schools Matters, examines how rural schools define and sustain their surrounding communities. Tieken, a former host of Rural Matters, is working on two studies, one supported by the Spencer Foundation, which explores the college experiences of rural, first-generation students, and the other, supported by the Reed Foundation, studies the effects of school closures on rural, black communities in the Arkansas Delta. Tieken discuss key aspects of her research on college access for rural students, noting that as student spent more time on campuses, they became more aware of wealthier students, and how that led to them feeling more isolated and believing that their college was elitist and out of touch with their home communities; and they began to doubt that our education system was a meritocracy. There are several inequities in this area, Tieken notes, including less familiarity with four-year colleges, financial barriers, and access to social mobility. Since schools are closed during the pandemic, Tieken notes, face-to-face contact with high school counselors on college access and campus visitations are often not an option for students. Tieken hopes the COVD-19 pandemic will provide the impetus to narrow these inequities, but she and Michelle agree that this requires a real commitment from stakeholders. This episode is sponsored by NREA, www.NREA.org

Michelle chats with Alan Morgan, CEO of the National Rural Health Association, about the impact of COVID-19 on rural health. The pandemic has been cited as the reason that several hospitals have closed recently. The common denominator in hospital closures prior to the pandemic is the fact that they are attempting to treat patients that are uninsured or underinsured, Morgan explains. One-third of the nation’s 2,000 rural hospitals are community hospitals, and count on local support to be able to recruitment and retain staff, often just to survive with razor thin margins, Morgan notes. COVID-19 has added a scary dimension to this mix. The CARES Act did not create a rural setaside, although rural hospitals could take advantage of a Medicare-based payment under the legislation. But each hospital receives a different amount of money, and that amount might be needed just to deal with cash flow issues that existed prior to the pandemic. That payment was facilitated under the direction of HHS Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan, who is scheduled to be a guest on Rural Mattes in May. NRHA has been extremely involved in dealing with the pandemic on several fronts, notes Morgan. NRHA is providing direct assistance to its members to link them up with PPE, for example. In addition. It has been sharing stories about rural hospitals with the public to give them a better idea about what hospitals in this space are going through.  Finally, NRHA officials have been advocating directly with lawmakers for rural health assistance. This episode was sponsored by NREA, www.NREA.org; and Partners in Education at Berea College. To learn more, visit berea.edu/e or email J. Morgan at [email protected]

Michelle chats with Dr. Allen Pratt, executive director of the National Rural Education Association, about how rural schools are responding to the pandemic on a variety of fronts, including the establishment of food programs for students in rural areas through delivery and pickup locations where contact is limited.as much as possible.  As far as remote learning is concerned, both NREA and school districts have established e-learning programs, utilizing Zoom and other technology, and have coordinated delivery of educational packets to students. Regarding legislation to help students, Dr. Pratt notes the CARES Act include $13.9 billion for released to states and onto schools. That’s not really enough to support students in areas without broadband or cell connections, according to Dr. Pratt. The biggest gap involves this connectivity issue, where everyone should have access to Internet service. Hopefully we will use time to establish equitable opportunity in this area, both Michelle and Dr. Pratt agree. This episode is sponsored by Partners in Education at Berea College. To learn more, visit berea.edu/pfe or email J. Morgan at [email protected], and by the National Rural Education Association, www.nrea.org.    

Michelle interview three key participants at the National Rural Health Association’s Annual Policy Summit in February in Washington, D.C.: Maggie Elehwany, NRHA’s Vice President for Government Affairs and Policy; Michael Topchik, National Leader for the Chartis Center for Rural  Health; and Lisa Davis, Director at the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health.

Michelle chats with Carrie Henning-Smith, Deputy Director of the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center and an Assistant Professor in the Division of Health Policy and Management, University of Minnesota School of Public Health. Henning-Smith has led multiple research projects at the Rural Health Research Center, on a wide range of topics including the social determinants of health, access to and quality of care, aging and long-term care, and mental health and suicide prevention. She was a 2017 Rural Health Fellow with the National Rural Health Association and serves as a current editorial board chair for the Journal of Rural Health. The riveting conversation on rural suicide touches on factors that might be contributing to high rates of suicide among rural residents; what can be done to prevent suicide in rural areas; and the resources available to deal with this issue. This episode is sponsored by Berea College, whose 2020 Rural College Access and Success Summit is scheduled for April 26-28 in Arizona. For more information visit www.berea.edu/pfe.

Michelle chats with Dreama Gentry, who for the last two decades has led Berea College’s educational outreach into Appalachian Kentucky as the executive director of Partners for Education, which has an annual budget of more than $40 million. Gentry designs and implements projects that build on four core strategies: engaging families; lifting educational aspirations (including an upcoming Rural College Access and Success Summit; building academic skills; and connecting college and career. By leveraging funding from federal programs, such as GEAR UP and Promise Neighborhoods, Partners for Education provides opportunities and support to more than 50,000 rural Kentucky youth. Gentry discusses the importance of access, early education, and committing to a place-based approach in the rural sector. And she talks about a “cradle to career” approach toward education and the importance of establishing a national dialogue on creating healthy rural communities. This episode was sponsored by the Foundation for Rural Services, frs.org; Feonix, feonixmobilityrising.org; and Berea College’s Partners for Education, whose annual Rural College Access and Success Summit brings together approximately 400 teachers, principals, superintendents, college access professionals, and other rural leaders to share ideas and strategies for ensuring rural youth have the opportunity to successfully transition from high school to college and career,  For more information visit www.berea.edu/pfe.

Michelle chats with Valerie Lefler, the executive director of Feonix, and a recognized international expert in rural transportation and mobility service. In the last 18 months, Feonix has launched programs in five states, developing relationship with notable partners, including the National Aging and Disability Transportation Center, Easterseals, AARP’s Office of Driver Safety; and the Michigan Department of Transportation. Lefler is very familiar with rural issues having grown up on a large dairy farm in southeast Nebraska, where the family managed more than 300 cattle and 700 acres of crop producing land. In this episode, you’ll hear how Feonix helps fill the transportation gaps in rural communities; why transportation really matters in rural; and the role transportation plays in economic development and job growth in the rural sector. This episode was sponsored by the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS), frs.org; and Feonix, which is dedicated to supporting mobility for vulnerable and underserved populations. Visit feonixmobilityrising.org to learn more.

Michelle chats with Sheila Boyington, President and CEO of Thinking Media and the founder of Learning Blade and Bradley Jackson, President and CEO of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry and the Tennessee Manufacturers Association, about the Career Awareness and Preparation Systems (CAPS) initiative, an innovative program in Tennessee that addresses “brain drain” issues by working with local businesses in educating students about available jobs in the state.  Too often Boyington notes, we push students into four-year education programs that result is those students not returning to their local communities. The collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce has enabled Tennessee to become the first state in the county to develop this kind of job and career awareness initiative. According to Jackson, this program is a game changer that helps to meet the workforce challenge in rural areas, where up to 70 percent of the students in some areas are not attending college. Boyington also discusses the “heart and soul” of the initiative, which are the lesson plans that enable teachers to talk about the highest growing job opportunities and careers in the state now and in the future, aligning them with the current educational standards in the state. The “secret sauce,” she says, is that information about local employers in integrated into those lesson plans through the collaboration with the Chamber. This ep9isode is sponsored by the Foundation for Rural Service (FRS), FRS, www.frs.org.

For more information on the Tennessee CAPS program, visit tncaps.com.

In this episode, Michelle focuses on the work and point-of-view of Phil Polakoff, M.D. He is the Founder and CEO of A Healthier WE and a consulting professor, Stanford University School of Medicine and affiliated scholar, Stanford University Bill Lane  Center for the American West.

Dr. Polakoff and Michelle talk in-depth on the pitfalls and problems od engaging and inciting action or systematic change in rural America.  As part of a solution, Dr. Polakoff and A Healthier We developed an organization principle: “In these times, when “I” is replaced with “We” -  even illness becomes wellness” to conquer the more intractable problems. The focus and intended outcomes of the 2020 Healthier Rural America Summit in Omaha, NE on Sept 15 - 17th are also discussed.

The episode is sponsored by the The Foundation for Rural Service, or FRS, works in cooperation with NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association. Learn more at frs.org.

In this first episode of the 2020, Michelle talks about broadband with Foundation for Rural Service (FRS) Executive Director Pam Becker. FRS is a division of NTCA, the Rural Broadband Association. Through grant funding, FRS provides eye-opening and enlightening programs for youth, veterans and policy makers to increase awareness of the importance of having broadband accessibility. These programs help increase jobs, tele-health capabilities and consumer online transactions. Listeners will also hear about the success stories on a small or large scale. The episode is sponsored by FRS. Check them out at www.frs.org.