Chautauqua Sunrise with Doc Hamels

Jeff Winton of Rural Minds Discusses Mental Health Awareness Month

Meghan Grebner Interviews Rural Minds' Vice President of Communications, Julie Lux – NCBA Cattlemen to Cattlemen. In recent years, many organizations have started to focus more on mental health – and mental health resources – for people living in rural America. Julie Lux discusses how Rural Minds is helping to improve mental health resources in rural areas.

Cyber bullying has grown into a crisis which adds immensely to the rate of suicide deaths. The fact that a beloved Bills player was victimized shows how far this has gone, way past politics! A front-page article in the Monday paper addressed how this has brought attention to how bad this problem is. Rural Minds is a national organization based here and founded by Mayville resident, Jeff Winton, who was compelled to speak on how “unconscionable and reprehensible” the Bass threats are. Coincidently, the local League of Women Voters had just hosted an online program in which Winton presented the problem of suicide that occurs in rural areas and how Rural Minds offers help.

Rural Minds provides free information and services and launched the Rural Mental Health Resilience Program

MAYVILLE, N.Y. — National rural mental health nonprofit Rural Minds was selected as the 2023 STARR Coalition Advocacy Organization of the Year and received the prestigious STARR Award.

“This recognition is bestowed upon the advocacy organization that has demonstrated exceptional dedication to advocating on behalf of those living with mental illnesses, their efforts to fight the stigma of mental illness and support of the STARR Coalition’s collective efforts to expand mental health clinical research,” said STARR Coalition Director of Operations Erica Moore.

Jeff Winton, Rural Minds Founder and Chairman, discusses the mental health emergency impacting rural America.

The period after the holidays can be difficult for many people. Jeff Winton discusses how to give some extra support to friends and loved ones during this time.

The National Grange will hold its annual conference from November 14-18, 2023.  The annual convention serves to set national legislative policies for the organization and is also a major networking and social event for members from across the country. This year, partnerships will be elevating the National Grange’s work on behalf of all Americans. While most events during the week are for members-only, one event open to the public is presented in partnership with Rural Minds, a nonprofit focused on destigmatizing conversations about mental health in rural America, and NY FarmNet.

MORGANTOWN, Pa. — There’s a mental health emergency in rural America. People living in rural communities have much higher rates of depression and suicide than people living in urban areas. Though hidden away in the shadow for years, if not generations, this challenge is finally being brought into the light and has led to public discourse about the unspoken impact of mental health issues. The National Grange is partnering with Rural Minds to develop a Rural Suicide Awareness and Prevention program.

MAYVILLE — America’s mental health crisis became personal for Jeff Winton of Wall Street Dairy in 2012 when his nephew, Brooks, committed suicide. “It was very sudden and we had no idea he was struggling,” Winton said. “It caught us off guard. In rural America, we don’t always talk about our struggles.” A few years later, Winton became the founder of the nonprofit Rural Minds. He credited the idea for the nonprofit — with its main goal to help those in rural areas who are suffering with mental health needs — to his late mother.

The National Grange has partnered with Rural Minds, a nonprofit confronting mental health challenges in rural America, to develop a Rural Suicide Awareness and Prevention program that uses a grassroots, person-to-person approach to providing information and resources. This also dovetails with the National Grange’s efforts to provide broadband access to telemedicine through which rural Americans can better reach mental health experts and clinicians.

The discussion of mental health in America has never been more important. With an estimated one in four Americans struggling with their mental health, this nationwide health crisis carries a weighty impact. Jeff Winton and his family became acutely aware of this fact when tragedy struck close to home in 2012. Jeff grew up in a town of 500 people in rural upstate New York, where his family still resides today. As a multi-general farming family, the Wintons are incredibly close-knit. This made it even more shocking when, in 2012, Jeff's nephew Brooks passed away by suicide at the age of 28. The Winton family, which includes Brooks' fiancé and then three-year-old twin boys, was devastated by the loss. They made it their mission to preserve Brooks' memory and legacy. Jeff spent the next decade researching the mental health resources available to those in rural areas and discussing with established mental health organizations the specific needs to the rural community. These organizations encouraged Jeff to start a foundation dedicated to serving those in rural America. Finally, once he was satisfied that he was well-educated and properly equipped to help, Jeff founded Rural Minds in 2021 in Brooks' honor.

Rural Minds Founder and Chairman, Jeff Winton, featured in The Invisible Americans Podcast – Episode 15: Rural Mental Health with Jeff Winton & Escaping Poverty with Dapper Dan

Brooks Winton died by suicide at 28 years old. He was Jeff Winton’s beloved nephew, and this tragedy inspired Jeff to found the nonprofit Rural Minds. Both Jeff and Brooks come from a long line of dairy farmers in upstate New York in an extremely small community of only 500 people. Some members of that community urged Jeff’s family to lie about Brooks’ cause of death. Though perhaps well-meaning, Jeff’s mother refused to be silenced, and they opened up this important conversation around mental health issues in rural communities.

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall has had his own mental health struggles since the passing of his wife, Bonnie, in 2020. Since then, Duvall has shared how he has worked through his grief and has become an advocate for mental health services in rural America.   Then, National Association of Wheat Growers CEO Chandler Goule, Jeanette Jeffrey with HomePorts, and Rural Minds founder and chairman Jeff Winton offer their thoughts on how to break the stigma around seeking out mental health resources in rural areas. 

Rural Minds Founder and Chairman Jeff Winton discusses the impact of mental health challenges and need for access to information and support in rural America.

More than 100 million Americans live in an area where there’s a shortage of mental health professionals. According to the National Rural Health Association, about two-thirds of those areas are rural. Barriers to care can affect all aspects of daily life, and can lead to physical health challenges. Our guests help us understand the current state of mental health care in rural areas and what can be done to improve it.

Today's show covers an important topic for the agriculture industry; mental health. Tune in and hear what Rural Minds is doing to connect people to resources in their community. CEO, Chuck Strand joins me for today's conversation.

Rural Minds Founder and Chairman, Jeff Winton, featured in This Week in Agribusiness with Max Armstrong. Jeff discusses Rural Minds’ mission to reduce the stigma and silence in rural America around mental illness. 65 million Americans live in rural areas in the United States, many of whom have no access to mental health services and support.

Rural Minds Founder Featured on Our Ohio Weekly: Mental Health in Rural America podcast with Ty Higgins.

Rates for depression are higher in rural America than in urban areas and suicide rates among people living in rural counties are 25% higher than those in major metropolitan areas. May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It is well known how big of a challenge mental health in the U.S. is, but very few realize how rural parts of our country are being impacted. A new nonprofit, Rural Minds, was launched last year to provide rural Americans with efficient access to existing mental health service organizations and address the importance of overcoming the stigma around mental health challenges.

In America’s close-knit rural communities, residents are quick to rally when an illness or accident affects their farming neighbors, helping them through the rough patches. But all illnesses are not created equal, and the silent specter of mental illness often brings no recognition and no extra hands to help.

This situation is one that many organizations, health advocates, and individuals in agriculture are working hard to change. For Jeff Winton, a New York dairy farmer, his passion to address mental health in rural America led him to found Rural Minds in October 2021. The nonprofit aims to serve as the informed voice for mental health in these areas and provide mental health resources.