Keep It Goal 7

Families know about and take full advantage of the wide range of available public and private services that help reduce their cost of living.

Common Sense

• Many community organizations, public agencies and other institutions offer free or low-cost goods and services that working families or families in crisis can use to make ends meet.
• The array of services that is available can be confusing, hard to navigate – and in rural places, hard to get to.
• In rural places, where everyone knows everyone else, families tend to be reluctant to apply for services for reasons of pride or embarrassment – or because of the time, energy or gasoline spent to obtain those services might exceed the benefit.

Fast Facts

• In rural areas low-income families are less likely to apply to receive cash public assistance, such as TANF or SSI. (Population Reference Bureau, Child Poverty in Rural America, 2004)
• 7.5% of all rural residents participated in the Food Stamp Program in 2001, while 4.8% of all urban residents participated.(Carsey Institute, Rural America Depends on the Food Stamp Program to Make Ends Meet, 2005)
• Of the rural adults (age 18-59) who received food stamps in 2001, almost 40% were employed.(Carsey Institute, Rural America Depends on the Food Stamp Program to Make Ends Meet, 2005)

Check out related Action Ideas and Alerts below! Or view other Keep It goals here.