The Rural to Rural Collaborative (R2R) envisions a country where all youth in rural places have a pathway to upward mobility. R2R exists to ensure that the funding opportunities at the federal level reflect the needs of young Americans in rural areas and are accessible by community based organizations that support them, no matter their zip code and socioeconomic status.
R2R is composed of organizations committed to accelerating education outcomes, cradle to career, in rural places through place-based partnerships. Members of R2R leverage authentic partnerships with residents, youth, and cross-sector partners to accelerate population level indicators such as kindergarten readiness, 3rd grade reading, 8th grade math, high school graduation and postsecondary success. The R2R approach centers on a shared community vision, leverages the power of data, aligns resources and addresses the program gaps in our rural places.
R2R is committed to coordinating alignment across cradle to career pipelines, guaranteeing broad investments made at the federal level support rural areas, and delivering high quality programs that support cradle to career readiness. Individual organizations working alone may be unable to overcome the barriers that inhibit individual rural organizations from planning, designing, writing, and managing federal grant awards. R2R harnesses the power of rural organizations collaborating and working together to secure funding for rural communities. R2R also serves as a thought partner – to educate and inform – policymakers at the federal level to drive more funding to rural students and their families.
Rural Communities Need Robust Federal Investments
Federal financial investment, resources, and supports are necessary to ensure all rural youth succeed. Eighty-five percent of the counties in the U.S that show higher levels of economic distress and lower levels of economic mobility are rural counties. 9.3 million students, nearly one in five students in America, attended a school that was considered rural during the 2016-2017 school year. These rural counties have lower income, educational attainment, employment, housing, and life expectancy. In fact, rural residents earn less than their urban counterparts at all levels of educational attainment. Despite the need, too often rural communities are left out of critical policy conversations and out of federal funding opportunities. Rural communities face unique hurdles to receiving federal funding, and well-intentioned federal policies fail to meet the specific needs of rural communities. Without direct support, guidance and investment from federal agencies – in partnership with rural, place-based organizations – federal resources will continue to fail to reach the people that need them the most, including youth and families in rural America.