Rural Family Economic Success Action Network
Helping low-income rural families earn more, keep more of what they earn, and grow what they keep into assets.
The Basic Idea: Help immigrants and refugees in rural communities learn – in an informal setting – about cultural practices, language, and resources available in the U.S. so they can successfully integrate into schools, workplaces, and communities. How it Works: Establish the scope and goals of the mentoring program Designate volunteer mentorship coordinator(s) Recruit long-term […]
Rural places face significant health challenges in the United States. According to data from CountyHealthRankings.org, rural places rank worse on health behaviors, health outcomes, and access to clinical care than their urban counterparts. So it takes some mighty bold thinking and acting for a small town to create a healthier community in just five years.
Three hours north of Maine’s largest city, Franklin County leaders envisioned a thriving community in which working families could attain higher education levels that improved their family’s economic status [RuFES Grow It Goal 5]. Like their counterparts in many rural places, Franklin County families faced three major barriers to getting the post-secondary education they need […]
The Basic Idea: Make college-level courses available in rural areas that lack a local community college, so people can access the education and skills they need to find and land higher-paid jobs.
The Basic Idea: Bring business and public (government) or nonprofit resources together to develop and offer workforce training that meets a business’s specific needs and provides workers with good career opportunities.
The Basic Idea: Help your community grow and thrive by creating a space and/or resource to connect new residents with culturally competent services, resources and opportunities.
The Basic Idea: Teach English to workers or potential workers who don’t speak English as their first language — tailored to a specific workplace’s tasks and needs.
The Basic Idea: Reduce the cost of child care by encouraging businesses to support child care for their workers – or the broader community. How it works: Businesses provide supports such as: Tax-free Flexible Spending Accounts for their employees to set aside pre-tax dollars for dependent care Cash support or in-kind subsidies to child care […]
Doing business in smaller communities requires finding good employees from a smaller pool of workers. Retaining those good employees can be the difference between profits and loss, or between staying put and relocating. So why, many rural employers wonder, do their businesses experience such high turnover in the ranks of their low-to-moderate wage workforce? Isn’t […]
The Center for American Progress conducted a review of 30 academic studies that approximated the cost of replacing a worker who left the job due to firing or quitting. Their review concluded that the cost of replacing a worker averages around 10% to 30% of the worker’s annual salary. In other words, not having to […]
Rural Family Economic Success Action Network 