Radically Rural was founded with the intent to share rural models across the US and beyond. All of our sessions, roundtable discussions, and newsletters intentionally share “what’s working” in rural. That’s why we’ve compiled as many examples of replicable rural programs and initiatives as we could right here:
- Arts & Culture
- Plymouth, NH – Artistic Roots Artists Cooperative, owned and operated by the artists who sell their products in the store.
- Clifton Forge, VA – Grove Dance Studio, pay what you can dance classes.
- Perry, NY – Arts Council for Wyoming County, Main St gallery, satellite galleries throughout the county, “sheep to shawl” exhibits with local farmers and artists.
- Perry, NY – Perry Main Street Association puts on the annual Chalk Art Festival, which brings together artists, farmers market, main st businesses, and more together.
- Lynchburg, VA – Small Town/Big Arts platform that starts conversations and shares resources for small town arts.
- All in for Health
- Lexington, KY – Stable Recovery provides horse industry job training to recovering addicts.
- Durham, NH – UNH – ANEW is training existing nurses as nurse practitioners to help replace the aging population of physicians.
- Keene, NH – Cheshire Medical has recently started a residency program, something rare in rural areas that will help to combat the problem of aging physicians.
- Washington, DC – Walking school buses are thriving in several communities where groups of parents are organizing and supervising group walks to school that encourage active transportation over driving.
- Entrepreneurship
- Plymouth, NH – PAREI hosts an online farmer’s market that allows customers to pre-order locally grown goods and prevent food waste and loss of products for farmers.
- Keene, NH – Hannah Grimes Center hosts an eight-week business accelerator program for rural entrepreneurs.
- Keene, NH – Hannah Grimes Center hosts rural pitch competition for regional rural businesses.
- Warsaw, NY – The Wyoming County Business Center is a building that houses both local government offices and farmer and entrepreneur support organizations. This space sharing allows many farmers and entrepreneurs to access all of the resources they need in one place.
- Milton, WV – Blenko Glass is a glass blowing business that created a specialty piece, highlighting the community’s resident fantastical monster. This special glass piece was popular enough to save the business from going bankrupt.
- Tionesta, PA – This town turned an empty lot into a market village with sheds.
- Land & Community
- Alamance County, NC – Benevolence Farm is a farm and residential program that cultivates leadership, promotes sustainable livelihoods, and reaps structural change with individuals impacted by the criminal legal system.
- Rumney, NH – The Pemi-Baker Land Trust works with property owners to place conservation easements on land in perpetuity.
- Plymouth, NH – Little Gardens NH is a non-profit program that through community collaboration unifies neighbors and their gardens for diverse, abundant, accessible, and local food supply. They also host a local television show that supports cooking with those local foods.
- Castille, NY – Table Rock Farm is a midsize dairy farm with an emphasis on sustainability including energy saving milk cooling techniques and reduced methane emissions.
- Perry, NY – Mathis Mercantile is a small scale homestead that produces flowers, produce, and wool.
- Perry, NY – Letchwork State Park features an Autism Nature Trail for inclusive outdoor recreation.
- Brattleboro, VT – Retreat Farm has a pay what you can farm stand.
- Upper Valley NH & VT – Vital Communities’ Climate Farmer Stories Project promotes Upper Valley farmers who are digging in on the climate crisis.
- Ithaca, NY – eBird is a platform that allows folks to populate birding data, which contributes to our understanding of climate change.
- VT – Preservation Trust Vermont (PTV) focuses on historic preservation, including building easements, advocacy work, and more.
- Clean Energy
- Plymouth, NH – NH Solar Shares provides energy for low income families.
- Hood River, OR – Double Mountain Brewery has a refillable bottle system for breweries and beyond.
- Longmont, CO – Jack’s Solar Garden is a research site for agrovoltaics. This work aims to make agrovoltaics more accessible and educate farmers, developers, and community members about the benefits of agrovoltaics and dual-use solar.
- France – Airseas has been cutting down carbon emissions in the shipping industry by sending cargo ships across the ocean with wind rather than fuel.
- CO & CA – Zero Foodprint members crowd-fund grants for farmers to switch to regenerative farming practices—proven to be the most impactful initiative yet towards solving the climate crisis.
- Northeast – Northeast Resource Recovery Association is one of only a handful of nonprofits in the country that operates a recyclables marketing cooperative, which means that they directly connect sellers of recyclable commodities to purchasers of those commodities.
- Community Journalism
- Universal – Tips and resources for interviewing folks, especially in a rural setting.
- Main Streets
- Perry, NY – Downtown Perry has poster holding infrastructure on the sides of buildings to advertise local programs and events.
- Bemidji, MN – 218 Relocate has incentives for attracting remote workers.
- Housing
- Birmingham, AL – Build UP is a program that provides students with the opportunity to develop construction skills renovating houses in low income neighborhoods while working for their high school diplomas and associates degrees. Students and their families also have the opportunity to move into and eventually buy these houses that they work on.
- Singapore – Housing Proximity Grant awards grown children with a stipend for moving close to their elderly parents
- Childcare
- Plymouth, NH – Little Antlers Learning Center is a program of Mid-State Health Center that provides childcare education while supporting families in the community.
- West Central, MN – West Central Initiative’s Early Childhood Initiative is a network of parents, educators, businesses, community leaders, faith leaders, and policymakers who prioritize the care and development of young children.
- Laverne, OK – Parkview Pointe Senior Living is home to a childcare center.
- Shickley, NE – Shickley Public Schools serves children “from diapers to diplomas.”
- New Ulm, MN – Using the Rural Child Care Innovation Program, the local economic development authority has remodeled a building with room for four different childcare providers. The pod model provides incentive for childcare providers to offer their services in the community.
- Volunteerism & Capacity
- Alexandria, KY – Social workers have been incorporated into police forces to increase the department’s capacity and engage in restorative justice.
- Welcoming New Americans
- Keene, NH – Project Home is a grassroots nonprofit that supports asylum-seekers.
- Youth Retention
- Plymouth, NH – The Circle Program is a summer camp and mentorship program that connects girls and young women with their community.
- Kent, CT – Touch a Trade is an event where local trades professionals teach young community members apprentice skills for a day.
- National – Lead for America is a nonprofit organization that places fellows with service opportunities in their hometowns.
- Maine – The state of Maine offers $2,500 annually to reimburse student loan payments for those living and working in Maine. The state also has the highest rate of millennial home ownership despite having the oldest population.
- Accessibility & Inclusivity
- Concord, NH – Neighborhood Access is a consulting firm that brings accessibility to local communities and businesses.
- Paul Smiths, NY – Mohawk Cultural Center is a mobile learning center that delivers Mohawk culture to Akwesasne.
- Forsyth, MT – In this town, the Chamber of Commerce hosts newcomers events to make new community members feel welcome.
- Disaster Planning
- International – World Central Kitchen provides meals to rural and urban communities after natural disasters.
- Grundy County, IL – The Community Foundation of Grundy County formed a COAD after experiencing 6 disasters in 9 years.
