Rural

Apr 23, 2024

Annual Conference Draws Faith and Community Leaders to Tackle Tough Topics

Nearly 100 faith and community leaders from across North Carolina gathered at First United Methodist Church in Asheboro on April 15 and 16 for the 2024 Faith and Community Initiative annual conference, held by NC State University’s Institute for Emerging Issues. 

Sep 30, 2021

STEM SENC (Reconnect Rural and Urban)

STEM SENC is a partnership that supports science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, driven by the conviction that “all learners, regardless of ability, sex/gender, race, culture, economic status, or geographic location” deserve access to high-quality STEM educations, because these educations serve as pathways to economic success, societal betterment, and critical understanding of our changing world. 

Sep 22, 2021

Beaufort County (Reconnect to Economic Opportunity)

Beaufort County’s story is a rural tale as old as time. When many of the region’s large-scale manufacturing employers closed down or turned to automation, young adults left to find jobs elsewhere. New businesses were reluctant to migrate in because of the inadequate talent pool. It was a problem that needed to be attacked from multiple angles. 

Aug 26, 2021

Resources & Reasons to Grow (Reconnect to Mental Health & Well-Being)

Resources & Reasons to Grow (R&RG) is a collective, still in its infancy, with aspirations to become an organization that will facilitate and support peer-to-peer mental health services. 

Aug 10, 2021

Project 40 (Reconnect Rural and Urban)

How might a city and its region plan around sustainable food systems to address the critical issues of climate change, racial equity, and shared urban-rural prosperity? 

Jul 7, 2021

Explore Elkin (Reconnect to Community)

Explore Elkin is a lean organization that works to promote development, tourism and community engagement in the Elkin/Jonesville region. The organization itself has become something of an obligatory passage point… 

Jun 28, 2021

Project Empathy (Reconnect Rural & Urban)

We live in fractious times, where so much media (now exquisitely tailored to capture our individual attention) compounds and often distorts both real and perceived problems. Through social media feeds,… 

Jun 28, 2021

Pender County Resiliency Task Force (Reconnect to Mental Health & Well-Being)

For Pender County, the scars of the 2018 Hurricane Florence are still visible today. “Just driving down the highway you see all these houses that were flooded, windows broken out,… 

Jun 18, 2021

REACH Center (Reconnect to Mental Health & Well-Being)

From its beginning, the REACH Center in Rocky Mount has taken a different approach to meeting the needs of the people who walk in the door with challenges. “They are expecting… 

Jun 18, 2021

Growing Outdoor Partnerships (Reconnect Rural & Urban)

Growing Outdoor Partnerships (led by Mountain Bizworks) is a wildly diverse coalition that seeks to develop outdoor industries that draw on the assets of the region while cultivating the character…