USA Today published an opinion piece by Suzanne Anarde, Vice President for Rural LISC, titled “I celebrated holidays in a trailer. Don't put it down, it was home.” Ms. Anarde describes how manufactured housing can help solve the affordable housing crisis in rural areas. Read the article here.
The National Low Income Housing Coalition has released Tenant Talk, a semi-annual newsletter created to engage residents in housing advocacy and to highlight innovative approaches and recent victories in housing advocacy in communities throughout the United States. Access and download the publication here.
Rural arts organizations draw more non-local audiences to their venues and report greater civic leadership and customer connectedness than their urban peers, according to a new research report, “Rural Arts, Design, & Innovation in America: Research Findings from the Rural Establishment Innovation Survey.” Published by the National Endowment for the Arts, the report is based primarily on 2014 data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS). Get the report here.
“Promising Practices to Build Healthy Active Native Communities” is a report from the Association of American Indian Physicians that highlights promising practices to improve the health and wellness in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. Programs designed to incorporate Native cultural beliefs with healthy eating practices and fitness regimens are discussed. Click here to get the report.
An article in the Daily Yonder, “Where Does It Hurt? Using Telehealth to Improve Community Broadband,” describes how adding telemedicine services in rural communities to the local mix can leverage broadband investment in ways that benefit everyone - businesses, libraries, schools, families, and patients. Read the article here.
The Fall 2017 Issue of Cascade, a publication of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, takes a look at transportation’s impact on economic opportunity and mobility. Articles cover a number of topics related to the role of transit in community development, including a multisector equitable transportation initiative in northeastern Pennsylvania, the first research-in-action model for the Economic Growth & Mobility Project; the impact of equitable transit–oriented development on economic opportunity; and research, tools, and publications related to these issues. Get the issue here.
New research from the Carsey School of Public Policy shows that concentrated poverty increased in both rural and urban areas since 2000, reversing declines in the 1990s. The brief reports that rural counties with high poverty rates (20 percent or more) increased from 20.6 percent in 2000 to 32.5 percent in the 2011-2015 data, and high-poverty urban counties increased from 6.7 to 15.6 percent. Get the brief here.
"Restoring Puerto Rico through entrepreneurship!" is a SourceLink article that talks about the Shop+HirePR campaign designed to help small businesses get back on their feet and support PR's economy. Read the article here.
The USDA Economic Research Service has released its 2017 edition of "Rural America at A Glance." This report highlights recent social and economic conditions in rural America, focusing on county-level trends in population, employment, income, poverty, and broadband connectivity. Download a copy here.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine's, National Cooperative Highway Research Program, has published “Best Practices in Rural Regional Mobility.” The report details the best practices of state transit programs that fill the gaps between intercity and rural public transportation. Effective program case studies from across the country are highlighted, and a detailed toolkit for program development is included. Get the report here.
The National Housing Conference has released the 2017 edition of Paycheck to Paycheck. This edition focuses on healthcare workers and examines housing affordability challenges faced by a range of workers in healthcare occupations, including home health aides, physical therapy aides, nurses, dental assistants and emergency management technicians. Access the database and report here.
The latest section of Nexus, the National Housing Conference’s guide to housing policy practice, Inclusive Communities, is now available. A new section, "Inclusive Communities," provides helpful information on inclusionary housing, land-based solutions, shared equity homeownership, rental preservation and voucher mobility. Access Nexus here.
A new web-based funding resource is available: Designfunders.org showcases a range of funders who are focused on supporting design for social and environmental impact on local, national, and global scales. While not a comprehensive list, the resource helps to build awareness of thewide range of efforts being made by these organizations. Access the resource here.
New research from the Carsey School of Public Policy, “Rural Housing Challenges Through the Lens of Two New England Communities,” describes some of the ways that restricted rural housing stock affects working families in two rural New England counties, and explores solutions proposed by rural residents and experts for making housing affordable. The report shows that many rural places are challenged by unaffordable and inadequate housing. Get the brief here.
USDA has announced the launch of resources to provide comprehensive and timely support to veterans interested in opportunities for employment, education, and entrepreneurship in rural America, on or beyond the farm. The resources include a new website and a USDA-wide AgLearn curriculum to allow all USDA employees to understand the unique opportunities offered to our nation’s veterans. Visit the website here.
“Does Your State Face Rural Area Provider Shortages?” from Healthcare Value Hub shares the percentage of each state's population living in a rural county, along with these rural and urban healthcare workforce statistics: number of specialists per 100,000 population, number of primary care providers (PCPs) per 100,000 population, and the percentage of counties that are wholly designated primary care health professional shortage areas (HPSAs). Get the report here.
“Improving Health in the Mississippi Delta through Powerful Engagement,” from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, describes the financial, educational, and healthcare challenges residents of the Mississippi Delta face. The report includes a description of the Fannie Lou Hamer Cancer Foundation, a cancer awareness and prevention program working in rural African American communities to create a network focused on education, outreach, and advocacy related to cancer. Get the report here.
A report from George Washington University Department of Health Policy and Management, “Puerto Rico’s Community Health Centers: Struggling to Recover in the Wake of Hurricane Maria,” highlights the importance of Puerto Rico's 86 mostly rural federally funded health centers, and details the challenges they face as they recover from Hurricane Maria. The report also provides demographic and health status/coverage information for Puerto Rico's health center patient base. Get the report here.
______________________________
HousingWorks Austin is seeking an Executive Director. Applications should be sent to edsearch@housingworksaustin.org by December 15, 2017. Visit the HousingWorks Austin website here to download a packet of information on this position.
