A national nonprofit is launching a program to help rural youths talk with each other about mental health struggles.

Rural Minds will pilot the Rural Youth Mental Wellness program starting in October in New York and Pennsylvania.

It is expected to roll out nationwide in fall 2026.

The program will focus on the particular challenges of young people who live in rural areas.

MAYVILLE, N.Y. — Mental health nonprofit Rural Minds announced that the video “Closing the Mental Health Gap Among Rural Youth in the US,” produced in partnership with Pfizer, the National Grange, and USA TODAY, was recognized at the 46th Annual Telly Awards with three awards for excellence in branded content.

During her freshman year in college, Asheton was deeply affected by a classmate’s suicide. And even though she hadn’t known him personally, his story hit home.

“The thing that stuck with me is that he was just like me,” she said. “He came from a small town. He lived on the same floor as me. He was a freshman, and he was taking the same classes I was, and he was struggling with them.”

For Asheton, moving from Roxboro, North Carolina, to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill had been an exciting change from the quiet country roads of her childhood. Growing up, her closest friends lived miles down the road.

“I went from being the smartest kid in the school to being one of the smart kids. And it was like I was pulled underwater,” she explained. “It was the most difficult change I’ve ever had to deal with.”