5. Rural Minds

A very concerning health fact was brought to the Grange’s attention — people in rural areas, and especially farmers, are more likely to commit suicide than individuals in urban areas.

Rural people’s nature of being private about their affairs and their general determination to take care of themselves contributes to this problem.

The lack of mental health treatment in rural areas is also a contributing factor.

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.

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.

With the session hall packed chair-to-chair at the 156th Annual Convention of the National Grange, President Betsy Huber introduced the founder and CEO of Rural Minds Jeff Winton. Rural Minds is on a mission to be the informed voice for mental health in rural America and seeks to provide mental health information and resources. Roughly 65 million Americans live in rural areas. Rural Minds’ vision is a rural America with no more silence, suffering or stigma around mental health. November 17 is National Rural Health Day and it was an eye-opening presentation on how big of an issue this has become. Who better to partner with than the National Grange whose roots are in the heart of rural America?

For much too long, discussions around mental illness in rural communities have been taboo while this silent epidemic continues to ravage rural America. Rates for depression are higher for rural residents compared to those in urban areas, and suicide rates among people living in rural counties are 25 percent higher than those in major metropolitan areas. Rural Minds™ is a new nonprofit that aims to end the suffering, silence, and stigma around mental illness in rural America. The seeds for Rural Minds were sown from the personal tragedy experienced by founder and chairman Jeff Winton when his beloved 28-year-old nephew, Brooks, died by suicide. Brooks was the father of three-year-old twins and worked on Jeff’s dairy farm in rural upstate New York, where Jeff also grew up.