Rural and Urban America: Two sides of the same coin By TJ Albers, MA In late 2019, our team was working on a document called “A Path to Improve Rural Health: A Series of Policy Recommendations to Improve the Health of Illinois and America’s Rural improve health in rural Illinois." Now, rural areas of Illinois and the U.S. face very difficult challenges in health and health care delivery. This brief was the culmination of months of research and analysis stemming from the Illinois Rural Health Summit in August 2018. This event allowed us to meet with stakeholders in different sectors from

Nearly every industry in our community has felt the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The farming and agriculture industry in Illinois is certainly no exception. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the lockdowns and closures in response to COVID-19 are pushing many farm owners to their financial limits as commodity prices, food demands and biofuel demands drop. In an industry that has already faced years of challenging production and market conditions, these financial difficulties are cutting even deeper into farmers' already-thin margins. And for many farm

The Southern Illinois University School of Medicine Center for Rural Health and Social Services Development (CRHSSD) partners with our rural and agricultural neighbors through the Farm Family Resource Initiative (FFRI).