Help us respond to the mental health emergency in rural AmericA

• 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)

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

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

October 2022 marked the one-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:

• Developing the "Growing Hope Together" Rural Suicide Awareness and Prevention Program in partnership with the National Grange, which launched in September 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 Mental Health America (MHA) on the creation of a co-branded Rural Mental Health Fact Sheet and “The Rural Mental Health Crisis” webinar featuring Rural Minds Founder and Chairman Jeff Winton.

• Working with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to develop a blog to help raise awareness that Rural Health Includes Mental Health.

• Collaborating with Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), Mayo Clinic physicians, the National Grange, TUGS and subject matter expert presenters featured in the Rural Mental Health Connections Webinar Series.

• 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.

• Working with marketing, communications and consulting agency Curious Plot who are providing in-kind services in public relations, creative, social/digital and content strategy through their 2022 Seed to Succeed Grant awarded to Rural Minds.

• 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 five issues of the Rural Minds Moving Forward newsletter.

• Reaching out through the media to help increase awareness about mental health challenges in rural America and the stigma surrounding mental illness: Rural Minds in the News.

What’s Next?

Rural Minds is developing new programs for 2023 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.

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.

Please donate today

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022). Disparities in Suicide. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/suicide/facts/disparities-in-suicide.html (When percentages are calculated, the suicide rate in rural areas is 64-68% higher than in large urban communities.)

“As someone who grew up in a rural community with my own lived experience [with mental illness] and family members with lived experience, you are speaking about something I have found people truly don’t understand in the cities. THANK YOU for giving people like me a voice.”

– Mental Health America/Rural Minds webinar attendee in response to presentation from Rural Minds Founder and Chairman Jeff Winton