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Rural Health Information Hub

Rural Health
Resources by Topic: Community and economic development

USDA Rural Health
Provides U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development resources supporting health and the development of healthy communities. Includes programs, funding, and tools dedicated to broadband access, infrastructure development, housing, medical facilities, mental health and substance use treatment, and more.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: USDA Rural Development
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Rural Active Living Measurement Tools
Provides information on and access to the Rural Active Living Assessment (RALA) Tools and the Rural Active Living Perceived Environmental Support Scale (RALPESS) which are designed to collect data on physical environment features and amenities, town characteristics, community programs, and policies that impact wellness and physical activity of rural citizens.
Type: Website
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Our Indiana: Stories from Rural Hoosiers
A podcast series that focuses on rural life, community engagement, healthcare access, equity, and wellbeing in Indiana. Includes transcripts with individual episodes.
Type: Audio
Sponsoring organization: Indiana Center for Rural Engagement
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Build Healthy Places Network: Rural Resources
Provides resources which support community health and health equity through rural community and economic development. Includes a playbook of strategies and case studies for the health partnership model of investment, a primer on rural multi-sector health partnerships, webinars, essays, organization profiles, and more.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Build Healthy Places Network
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Indiana Center for Rural Engagement - Events
Provides a list of events focused on rural community engagement and healthcare issues in Indiana.
Type: Calendar/Event List
Sponsoring organization: Indiana Center for Rural Engagement
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Wisconsin Rural Partners Events
A list of upcoming and past events, such as small community forums, development initiatives, and more.
Type: Calendar/Event List
Sponsoring organization: Wisconsin Rural Partners
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State and Local Economic Development Strategies (SLEDS)
Collects, analyzes, and classifies state and territory strategic plans and economic development district (EDD) Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies (CEDS). Allows sorting by state or territory, plan type, agency, economic development category, and focus, including focus on rural communities.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Center for Regional Economic Competitiveness (CREC)
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PARTNER Program: Promoting Active Rural Transportation with Need and Equity-Based Resources
Provides resources dedicated to explaining and implementing the PARTNER Program, a community-led and equity-focused process for developing walking and bicycling routes in rural Alabama communities. Covers topics including collaboration, planning, implementation, and funding.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: Alabama Extension at Auburn University
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New Mexico Federal Funding Dashboard
Dashboard of American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) funded projects in New Mexico. Categories of funding include broadband, health and human services, housing, emergency response, and more. Includes state agency profiles and county-level data.
Type: Website
Sponsoring organization: The State of New Mexico
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Downtown Revitalization Playbook
Offers materials focused on supporting stakeholders in downtown redevelopment and revitalization projects in rural Appalachia. Includes case studies, an investment readiness tool, an overview of the stages of investment in downtown development, and a breakdown of investment types and strategies. Provided materials highlight funding, collaboration, and community assessment while touching broadly on topics related to rural needs and challenges.
Author(s): Ruthie Caldwell, Melissa Levy, Robert Donnan, Barbara Wyckoff
Type: Website
Sponsoring organizations: Appalachian Funders Network (AFN), Central Appalachia Network (CAN)
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