Organizations need training to meet challenges. But in rural locations across the country, that training can be hard to come by – and hard to reach. That’s why NeighborWorks® America teamed up with four other national rural housing intermediaries this summer to offer a training program in Jackson, Mississippi. The idea was to pool resources to give a boost to regional organizations doing on-the-ground development work in their communities. 

Try hiring a builder in Keyes, Oklahoma. This rural town sits more than four hours from Oklahoma City, and few construction workers will make that drive. Even those who do face additional time and fuel costs as they travel to and from the nearest lumber supplier. So the housing that exists in areas like this just grows older and  more scarce. 

In urban Minneapolis, Minnesota, a NeighborWorks network organization has started a new loan product to help families and individuals finance new manufactured homes. In Providence, Rhode Island, another network organization is focused on modular homes as an affordable housing solution. 

In other locations across the country, developers are just starting to learn how off-site built homes might work as an attainable housing solution in their communities, especially as the price of land, material and construction excludes more people from the dream of homeownership. 

The weather report was coming in over the emergency alert system: Heavy storms. The major road, connecting Sedgwick County to the rest of New York, had flooded. What should happen next? The question came during a trial run of Arbor Housing and Development’s new disaster and continuity plan. Staff at the Corning, New York, network organization knew next steps included initiating communication through Arbor’s new alternate communications channels, which included a text messaging system and an intercom installed to reach all parts of the team’s offices. The plan came together over nine months of working with experts at Pacific Community Solutions, an opportunity made possible through NeighborWorks® America and a grant awarded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Community Development Initiative. There was a reason that disaster preparedness and business continuity were at the top of the NeighborWorks network organization’s wants and needs.
Over the past 18 months, NeighborWorks® America has partnered with seven rural-serving organizations through the USDA-funded Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI), building their capacity to tackle some of the most pressing housing and economic development challenges they identified in their communities. More than a grant program, the RCDI program offered tailored technical assistance and access to subject matter experts, helping these organizations secure critical funding, unlock new resources and implement innovative solutions with lasting impact. NeighborWorks America coordinated the program from start to finish: recruiting eligible organizations, assessing their needs, matching them with subject matter experts, managing the one-to-one dollar match and financial and narrative reporting to USDA, and providing individualized support to ensure each project advanced toward its locally determined goals.

Last month, I had the chance to join NeighborWorks America staff and network members for the NeighborWorks Rural Revitalization Clinic in Millersburg, Kentucky. Hosted by Community Ventures Corporation (CVC), a NeighborWorks network organization with a mission to strengthen communities by helping people achieve their dreams of greater economic opportunity, the four-day event centered on comprehensive community development (CCD) — a strategy that focuses on people, places and systems to create lasting, community-driven change.

What does it mean to be rural? And is it overdue a change in perspective?  

"We want people to think of rural as an asset," says Elena Kaye-Schiess, program manager, Rural Initiatives. "A lot of rural communities have to be self-sufficient in many ways. As a result of that, there's an opportunity to breed innovation and solutions to challenges." 

Subscribe to rural