The widespread demand for the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States was widely anticipated. And appointment systems have been overwhelmed, and long lines have been seen at many mass vaccination sites around the country. Although the first vaccine was administered in mid-December 2020, by April 4, only 18.5 percent of US residents had been fully…

It’s been well documented that rural America represents 97% of the land in the United States; 19% of the people, and some of the fastest (and slowest) growing places in the country. Rural economies that were founded on natural resources have changed and might now be similarly dependent on healthcare or government employment. Many rural…

The neighborhood playground is a critical asset that helps make communities resilient places where kids can thrive and residents can connect. But in many rural communities across the country, factors like physical distance, countywide recreation policies, and the lack of a local tax base can limit children’s ability to access these spaces and the benefits…

Allen recently was a guest on the Advancing Health podcast with Joy Lewis, AHA vice president for strategic policy planning. They discussed the imperative for rural hospital leaders to develop long-term strategies where community engagement and philanthropy meet for the good of communities’ health. When properly positioned for the long-term, philanthropic relationships with both the…

A new project has provided hard data to back up a truth already known to many Southern funders: our region contains a disproportionate share of the nation’s most disadvantaged areas. Understanding Communities of Deep Disadvantage, released in January 2020 by researchers at the University of Michigan and Princeton University, combines health and economic data in…

While the many efforts of funders in response to COVID-19 have been deservedly recognized, the work of those responding to rural communities’ COVID-19 crisis is less well known. Rural cases continue to grow at a quicker rate than urban cases do—and like in urban areas, the impacts are disproportionately on rural communities of color. There…