Help us help others.

Together we can improve mental health in rural America.

People who live in rural America are known for having a solid work ethic and willpower. They aim to meet every challenge with the determination to overcome and persevere. But mental illness can affect a person’s ability to meet life’s challenges, and mental illness is one fight that rural America is losing.

• Compared with their urban counterparts, rural Americans have higher depression and suicide rates, but are less likely to access mental healthcare services.

• Suicide rates among people living in rural areas are 64 to 68 percent higher than those in large urban areas. (1)

• Rural lifestyle challenges to mental health include the self-imposed barrier of asking for help when taught to pursue self-reliance as a virtue.

Rural Minds is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides information and resources to confront the mental health challenges and stigma surrounding mental illness in rural America.

The vision of Rural Minds is to end the suffering, silence and stigma around mental illness in rural America.

How Rural Minds Supporters LIKE YOU Are Helping Us Make an Impact in Rural America

October 2023 marked the two-year anniversary of Rural Minds. Thanks to the Rural Minds team including our donors, partners and supporters, here is a summary of some of our accomplishments in the past two years:

• Launching the Rural Mental Health Resilience Program in partnership with the National Grange. This program includes a collection of free, potentially life-saving mental health information and resources. Knowing that many people living in rural America are resilient and self-reliant, this program was developed for folks who want to take it upon themselves to confront mental health challenges in their communities.

• Collaborating with Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), Mayo Clinic physicians, the National Grange, Mental Health America, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), National Sleep Foundation, NY FarmNet, TUGS and subject matter expert presenters featured in the Rural Mental Health Connections Webinar Series, with an archive of recorded webinar videos.

• Cosponsoring the National Agricultural Crisis Hotline Act – a bipartisan bill that will establish a hotline through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help provide mental health support, information, suicide crisis intervention, mental health and substance use disorder support services, as well as agricultural-related referral services, for farmers, ranchers, farm workers, and families.

• Collaborating with Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance to develop a Rural Community Online Peer Support Group for individuals with a mood disorder, such as depression or bipolar disorder.

• Developing the “Growing Hope Together” Rural Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program in partnership with the National Grange, which launched in 2022 during National Suicide Prevention Month. The program includes the Rural Suicide Awareness and Prevention webinar, Suicide Prevention Educational PDF and Suicide Prevention Flyer.

• Partnering with leaders of companies and organizations in the biopharma and agricultural industries through the Rural Minds Partnership Council — to support Rural Minds’ educational initiatives that address mental health challenges in rural communities across the country.

• Providing easy access to mental health information and resources through RuralMinds.org including:
  – Mental Health Crisis Resources/Support
  – Mental Health Resources: A to Z
  – Mental Health Resources: By Topic

• Distributing 11 issues of the Rural Minds Moving Forward newsletter.

What’s Next?

Rural Minds is developing new programs for 2024 and beyond that harness the quality of self-reliance common in many rural Americans. We aim to empower people across the country with the information, resources and training they need to become part of the solution to rural mental health challenges.

Will you join us?

Please join us in our ongoing quest to end the suffering, silence and stigma that surround mental illness in rural America by making a donation to Rural Minds. There is much to be done. We can’t do it without your help.