Rural Project Examples: Populations
Other Project Examples
Healthy Communities Coalition of Lyon and Storey Counties (HCC)
Updated/reviewed January 2025
- Need: To increase access to healthy foods in two rural Nevada counties.
- Intervention: HCC and the Rural Health and Nutrition Initiative (RHNI) run food pantries, assist with community and school gardens, and have a farmers market during the summer.
- Results: The three food pantries together serve about 3,600 people and distribute over 100,000 pounds of food each month.
Rural Aging Action Network
Updated/reviewed January 2025
- Need: To connect isolated older adults and family caregivers in rural Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota to services and supports so they can age in place.
- Intervention: The Rural Aging Action Network is a national collaborative of organizations that mobilize whole communities to address gaps in care for older adults and family caregivers.
- Results: Since 2022, the collaborative has reached over 600 older adults and over 100 family caregivers living in rural communities.
Healthy Mujeres in the Texas Rio Grande Valley
Added December 2024
- Need: To provide basic pregnancy-related and preventive health services to women in the Texas Rio Grande Valley.
- Intervention: A mobile clinic travels to different communities and provides basic preventive care, contraception, and pregnancy testing and ultrasounds.
- Results: Since the program began, clinical staff have provided services to nearly 6,000 women.
Portable Alternative Sanitation System (PASS)
Updated/reviewed December 2024
- Need: To bring low-cost water and sanitation improvements to homes in tribal villages in Alaska without access to piped water or sewer systems.
- Intervention: The Portable Alternative Sanitation System (PASS) treats hauled water, provides for handwashing with clean water, and disposes waste without traditional piping.
- Results: Residents in the pilot project reported that PASS was cleaner and healthier than the self-haul method.
Tea Time with Teens
Updated/reviewed December 2024
- Need: To develop teen leaders, build self-confidence, and lower teen pregnancy rates in Marlboro County, South Carolina.
- Intervention: Tea Time with Teens brings together community leaders, mothers, and daughters to build life skills and make healthy decisions. In addition, the program sponsors a middle school club and has an extension program for young women.
- Results: Since 2009, the program has been educating teens on making healthy choices and adults on having meaningful conversations with teens.
I-REACH (Improving Rural Enrollment, Access, and Healthcare in Rural Veterans)

Updated/reviewed November 2024
- Need: To improve veterans' access to healthcare in rural Michigan.
- Intervention: I-REACH connects veterans to healthcare services and other programs and helps healthcare facilities and providers become more veteran-friendly.
- Results: The program has received positive feedback from Veteran Service Officers in counties where there were outreach events.
One Health Recovery Doulas

Updated/reviewed November 2024
- Need: To support pregnant and parenting women with a history of substance use, mental health, or co-occurring disorders in rural areas of Montana.
- Intervention: One Health, a consortium of Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), developed a team of "recovery doulas" – individuals who are dual-certified as doulas and peer-support specialists. The One Health recovery doula program offers group and individual services to women and their partners from pregnancy through the first years of parenthood.
- Results: A team of nine recovery doulas (or doulas-in-training) employed by One Health offer services in 13 rural Montana counties. Recovery doulas have provided essential support to women with substance use disorder, survivors of sexual abuse, unhoused individuals, and individuals facing other complex challenges.
HIV Telehealth Collaborative Care (HIV TCC) Program
Updated/reviewed October 2024
- Need: To increase access to specialty care for rural veterans living with HIV.
- Intervention: The HIV Telehealth Collaborative Care (TCC) study connects these patients with HIV specialists via clinical video telehealth or VA video connect and works to create shared care relationships with primary care teams in rural areas.
- Results: The HIV TCC program provides HIV specialty care access to rural veterans in a sustainable manner with infrastructure, mentorship, and capacity building.
Rural Firefighters Delivering Agricultural Safety and Health (RF-DASH)
Updated/reviewed October 2024
- Need: To reduce injuries in agricultural communities and improve emergency responders' preparedness when called to farms and ranches.
- Intervention: RF-DASH equips rural fire/EMS personnel and others with agricultural health and safety knowledge and tools to pre-plan for agricultural emergencies as well as assess and then mitigate agricultural hazards.
- Results: Over 150 firefighters and EMTs have received training to become RF-DASH trainers.
Military Medics and Corpsmen Program
Updated/reviewed September 2024
- Need: To help veterans transition into civilian healthcare careers.
- Intervention: MMAC and healthcare employers in urban and rural Virginia provide employment and education opportunities to veterans seeking civilian medical credentials.
- Results: MMAC has been able to assist over 744 veterans, transitioning service members, and military spouses find healthcare employment.
For examples from other sources, see: