Image

Great ideas abound in Texas. Learn and connect with us here.

Rural Resources

Search & Find Rural Resources

Resource Type:
Subject:
Search:
Clear Search:
Media
Image

Prop 6: Texans Shape Our Water Future

This fall, Texans will be presented with an historic opportunity to invest in Texas’ future with Proposition 6 and the creation of the new Texas Water Fund.

SOURCE
Texas Water Foundation
  • #Law & Justice
Media
Image

Building Community Capacity in Rural East Texas: The Long Lift

Thrive, not just survive, animates development work in East Texas, where a local family foundation, T.L.L. Temple, and a community development financial institution, Communities Unlimited, are teaming to develop bottom-up structural solutions to building rural capacity.

SOURCE
Nonprofit Quarterly
  • #Capacity Building
Media
Image

Cultural & Economic Development Resources for Rural Texas

Texas Rural Funders invited rural communities to attend this session showcasing free resources that promote cultural and economic development

SOURCE
Texas Rural Funders
  • #Arts & Humanities
Media
Image

Why the November Vote Matters for Texas Communities

Texas Rural Funders Executive Director, Kelty Garbee, joined the Texas Tribune for Why the November Ballot Matters for Texas Communities.

SOURCE
Texas Rural Funders
  • #Broadband
Media
Image

Where to Stand in Texas to See Two Solar Eclipses in Under Six Months

In an extraordinary slice of luck, a small area of the Lone Star State will witness October's annular solar eclipse and April's total solar eclipse. Most of the places where the eclipses will be visible are rural communities!

SOURCE
Space.com
  • #Arts & Humanities
Media
Image

Op-Ed: Texas Railroad Commission Should Stop Expansion of Coal Mining

The San Miguel coal mine and power plant operation in South Texas has the dirtiest groundwater in the entire U.S., according to research. Now this company wants to expand the mine even more, and this time they want to drive ash across an essential source of drinking water for many South Texans – the San Miguel Creek, which is one of just two tributaries to Choke Canyon Reservoir.

SOURCE
Caller Times
  • #Energy & Environment
Media
Image

Women In Agriculture (1976) | Texas Archive of the Moving Image

This amateur documentary from the Texas Archive of the Moving Image, made by Ouida Whitaker Dean in 1976, focuses on women in agriculture in the rural East Texas town of Timpson, as well as in America at large.

SOURCE
Texas Archive of the Moving Image
  • #Arts & Humanities
Media
Image

Commentary: When We Listen to People Carefully, the False Dichotomy of Rural and Urban America Evaporates

The rural/urban divide is too simplistic to apply to real lives, says a researcher who studies political and social divisions.

SOURCE
Daily Yonder
  • #People & Places
Media
Image

Heat, Drought and Population Growth Have Stressed Aquifers That Supply Water to Millions of Texans

Diminishing springs and aquifers due to heat, drought and high for demand water highlight the urgency for Central Texas conservation districts to prioritize climate-focused management, potentially involving reduced pumping for sustainability.

SOURCE
Texas Tribune
  • #Energy & Environment
Media
Image

Pottsboro Library Receives $549,000 to Connect 500 Homes and Build 3 Broadband Towers

The Pottsboro Library and TekWav are pleased to announce a partnership to bring internet service to the patrons of the library through the Emergency Connectivity Fund (ECF) program.

SOURCE
TekWav
  • #Arts & Humanities
  • #Broadband
Media
Image

Northeast Texas School Mental Health Executive Learning Community

The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute is leading a 12-month learning experience that equips districts to effectively develop and implement evidence-based school mental health programs. This opportunity is free of cost thanks to the support of the Texas Pioneer Foundation.

SOURCE
Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute
  • #Health
Media
Image

Submit Public Comments: US Dept. of Education Advisory Committees

The Southwest Regional Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Education will provide input on federal technical assistance priorities will be reviewing public comments along with other data and resources as part of a needs-sensing process, and they want to hear from you!

SOURCE
U.S. Department of Education
  • #Education
Media
Image

Five Texas Rural Funders Supporting Rural Communities in the Lone Star State

As part of their series on funders who support rural communities, Inside Philanthropy featured five place-based funders supporting rural communities in Texas, including five Texas Rural Funders!

SOURCE
Inside Philanthropy
  • #Philanthropy
Media
Image

The Amenity Trap: How High-Amenity Communities Can Avoid Being Loved to Death

More than ever, people are visiting and moving to places with inspiring natural amenities. Yet rapidly growing outdoor recreation economies can also come with serious drawbacks.

SOURCE
Headwaters Economics
  • #Energy & Environment
  • #People & Places
Media
Image

State Allocations for $42.45 Billion High-Speed Internet Grant Program Announced

As part of the $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment Program, the NTIA announced Texas’ $3.3 billion allocation.

SOURCE
Internet for All
  • #Broadband
Media
Image

Uvalde CISD Moving Forward Foundation Updates

Uvalde CISD enters the final stretch of the Uvalde Moving Forward campaign to fund the design and construction of Uvalde's new elementary school, with updates to share.

SOURCE
Uvalde CISD
  • #Education
Media
Image

Texas Water Markets Review

Freshwater resources in Texas are facing unprecedented pressures. Increasing competition between water users, coupled with increasingly variable supplies, is giving rise to water scarcity across the state.

SOURCE
The Nature Conservancy
  • #Energy & Environment
  • #People & Places
Media
Image

Connect Humanity Plans $10 Million Fund to Boost Small Business Internet Access and Economic Development in Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas

The Texas Border Small Business Broadband Fund will invest in high-speed connectivity, digital transformation, and skills development for businesses in Hidalgo and Cameron counties

SOURCE
Connect Humanity
  • #Broadband
Media
Image

Expanding Credit Access through Community Development Financial Institutions

Community devel­opment financial institutions, or CDFIs, are mission-driven nonprof­its and for-profits that deliver a range of financial products, services, and education to underserved individuals and communities.

SOURCE
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
  • #Workforce & Economic Development
Media
Image

Hospital Engagement In The Social Determinants Of Health In Texas: Insights From A National Survey Of US Hospitals  

Episcopal Health Foundation, examines hospital responses of a national survey from the American Hospital Association.

SOURCE
Episcopal Health Foundation
  • #Health
Media
Image

Mapping Community College Finance Systems to Develop Equitable and Effective Finance Policy

For community colleges to reach their full potential as drivers of prosperity and equity, states must create strong, stable, coherent finance systems that enable and incentivize colleges to better meet pressing state interests and student needs.

SOURCE
HCM Strategies
  • #Capacity Building
  • #Education
Media
Image

Rural-to-Rural Partnerships: Leveling the Playing Field to Secure Federal Funding

It remains a priority to strengthen the capacity of rural communities to compete for federal funds and build the mechanisms and technical expertise they require to secure and manage federal awards.

SOURCE
Inside Philanthropy
  • #Capacity Building
Media
Image

Texas Will Spend Billions to Connect the State with Broadband. But is it Clear Which Neighborhoods Need Help?

On the eve of a historic investment in connecting the Lone Star State, advocates worry maps that will help establish which communities get funding have bad information.

SOURCE
Texas Tribune
  • #Broadband
Media
Image

Without Access to Water Lines, Texas Colonias Residents are Pulling Water from the Desert Air

Thousands of low-income, Latino residents in Texas still do not have safe drinking water. In one El Paso colonia, some residents are using solar distillation to generate water from the air.

SOURCE
Texas Tribune
  • #Energy & Environment
Media
Image

Non-Medical Drivers of Health Strategies: Findings from Managed Care Organizations in Texas

Episcopal Health Foundation partnered with the Texas Association of Health Plans and the Texas Association of Community Health Plans to conduct the first ever Texas survey to capture Medicaid health plans activities to address non-medical drivers of health care.

SOURCE
Episcopal Health Foundation
  • #Health
Media
Image

Governor Abbott Names Rhodes Chair of Texas Workforce Investment Council

Governor Greg Abbott has named Richard “Rick” Rhodes, TRF's Rural Engagement Coordinator chair of the Texas Workforce Investment Council.

SOURCE
Office of the Texas Governor
  • #Workforce & Economic Development
Media
Image

Texas Likely Will Spend Billions Fixing its Water Systems. Will It Reach These Forgotten Colonias? 

An estimated 500,000 people live in thousands of colonias along the Texas-Mexico border. Largely built between the 1950s and 1980s, these communities have been promised water — but it has never come.

SOURCE
Texas Tribune
  • #Energy & Environment
  • #People & Places
Media
Image

Farm Fresh Broadband: The Politics of Rural Connectivity

Book analyzing the promise and the failure of national rural broadband policy in the United States and proposes a new national broadband plan.

SOURCE
MIT Press
  • #Broadband
Media
Image

Fiber: The Coming Tech Revolution―and Why America Might Miss It

Book examining how large corporations that control cable and internet access in the United States use their tremendous lobbying power to tilt the playing field against competition, holding back the infrastructure improvements necessary for the country to move forward.

SOURCE
Yale Press
  • #Broadband
Media
Image

Broadband Stories from Rural Texas

Report from Texas Rural Funders that tells broadband stories across Texas counties, identifies key broadband stakeholders, offers policy recommendations.

SOURCE
Texas Rural Funders
  • #Broadband
Media
Image

Rural Broadband: A Listening Tour

Through a Listening Tour and Focus Group meetings, this 2018 report examines broadband access identified in rural Texas and prioritizes recomendations to empower Rural Texas.

SOURCE
Connected Nation Texas
  • #Broadband
Media
Image

Texas Broadband Funding Guide

To bridge gap between funders and community uptake, Connected Nation developed this 2018 Texas Broadband Funding Guide highlighting public and private programs across the state.

SOURCE
Connected Nation Texas
  • #Broadband
Media
Image

To Seize ‘Unique Moment,’ Rural Areas Need Help Building Capacity

Opening remarks from the 2022 Investing in Rural America Conference highlighting important ways to build rural capacity, including: helping communities write grants, creating pools of match funding, and building local capacity.

SOURCE
Daily Yonder
  • #Capacity Building
  • #Philanthropy
Media
Image

Rural Matters

Podcast about rural education, business, and health with a mission to increase awareness and expand dialogue on the most important issues facing rural stakeholders.

SOURCE
Rural Matters
  • #Education
  • #Health
Media
Image

What Does Being a Rural Teacher Mean to You?

Video featuring rural teachers talking about what being a rural teaching means to them. Created by the National Rural Education Association and Rural Schools Collaborative.

SOURCE
National Rural Education Association
  • #Education
Media
Image

Rural Transportation: R.E.A.L Transportation

News story about the Rural Economic Assistance League providing free transportation for rural communities to and from college campuses in the Coastal Bend region.

SOURCE
KIII News
  • #Education
  • #Transportation
Media
Image

West Texas farmers and ranchers fear the worst as drought, heat near 2011 records

2011 was the driest year on record for Texas, causing an estimated cost of $7.62 billion in crop and livestock losses. A dry and hot June has many sounding alarm bells about 2022.

SOURCE
Texas Tribune
  • #Energy & Environment