The Foundation has long been committed to addressing rural poverty, particularly in two of its priority communities, Hawaiʻi and Northeastern Pennsylvania, where a significant number of people live in rural areas.
Based on insights from community leaders in recent years, the Foundation has focused on increasing the capacity of organizations in rural areas to advance their work and mission and supporting collaboration among them to take advantage of public and private funding opportunities — bringing more resources into their communities.
This Q&A is the first in a series about the Foundation’s grantmaking in rural communities.
Why does the Weinberg Foundation focus on rural communities?
Some 60 million people in the United States — about 20% of the population — live in rural communities. Although these areas tend to have higher poverty rates than urban ones, even more so for people of color, their smaller populations mean they do not receive as much government or private investment.
As a result, these communities often lack critical infrastructure needed to support health, well-being, and economic opportunity for their residents, such as safe drinking water, reliable electricity, public transportation, medical services, broadband internet, school facilities and learning materials, and banking and financial institutions. In addition, only 6.3% of philanthropic dollars primarily benefit people in rural areas.
What are the Foundation’s priorities for rural grantmaking?
Since 2018, the Foundation has focused on addressing rural poverty in Hawaiʻi and Northeastern Pennsylvania. About 37% of Hawaiʻi residents — nearly 520,000 people — live in rural areas with large Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations that face significant and persistent poverty. Over 25% of Pennsylvanians live in rural areas, and the 400,000 in Northeastern Pennsylvania reside in a region hit hard by the opioid epidemic and deindustrialization.
Over the years, we’ve learned a clear lesson: Leaders in rural communities are deeply committed to their home and know how best to leverage their communities’ strengths and resources to effectively address local needs and create more opportunity. With greater access to funding, infrastructure, and strategic partnerships, they can amplify their impact and realize their vision on a broad scale.
Through interviews with local leaders, we heard a resounding call for philanthropy to make long-term investments that develop mutual trust and sustained partnerships with rural communities. We aim to do just that, focusing on five priorities informed by their insights:
- Boost rural resilience hubs — regional networks that coordinate nonprofits and community organizations across a rural area — to bring public, private, and philanthropic resources to long-term, community-based efforts.
- Increase the capacity of community development financial institutions and revolving loan funds serving rural communities to make it easier for nonprofits to access affordable loan products that could help them sustain and grow their operations and for families to improve their credit, secure a mortgage, and build long-term financial stability.
- Improve rental and homeownership opportunities by increasing the supply of housing that is affordable for generations to come and providing services that help people secure and remain in stable housing.
- Increase access to health care and healthy food by supporting partnerships that leverage public funding to strengthen federally qualified health centers and local food systems.
- Create more economic opportunity through employment and training programs that increase access to high-quality jobs in the community, particularly for youth.
What organizations are participating in this initiative?
The Foundation is collaborating with several organizations serving rural communities in Hawaiʻi and Northeastern Pennsylvania, including:
Hawaiʻi
- The Food Basket, Hawaiʻi Island’s food bank, which aims to end hunger in Hawaiʻi County.
- Hawaiʻi Appleseed Center for Law & Economic Justice, a nonprofit that educates and coordinates collaborative efforts to promote affordable housing, food security, and workers’ rights.
- Hawaiʻi Community Lending (HCL), a nonprofit mortgage lender and trusted community development financial institution that helps local families navigate the path to homeownership. HCL designs its financial products around the realities of rural communities, Indigenous families, and organizations.
- Hawaiʻi Good Food Alliance, a coalition of individuals and organizations dedicated to the production and distribution of food in Hawaiʻi, as well as the practice of mālama ʻāina (caring for the land), to rebuild thriving community food systems.
- Hawaiʻi Investment Ready, a community development organization dedicated to advancing the resilience and sustainability of Hawaiʻi’s economy through investments in and technical assistance to rural and Indigenous nonprofits and small businesses working to increase access to healthy food and land in their home communities.
- Hawaiʻi Workforce Funders Collaborative, a partnership of philanthropic organizations that seeks to increase opportunity and access to quality jobs for Hawai’i’s workforce and strengthen the local economy.
- Hui Mālama i ke Ala ʻŪlili (huiMAU), a Hawaiʻi Island nonprofit committed to restoring and cultivating hundreds of acres of land using Native Hawaiian cultural practices — and to providing food and educational programs to promote the health and well-being of the surrounding community.
- Puʻuhonua O Waiʻanae, a community-led development in rural Oʻahu that will provide homes for people without housing and connect people with health care, food, educational and employment opportunities, and a sense of purpose and belonging within a supportive community.
- Vibrant Hawaiʻi, a Hawaiʻi Island nonprofit that works across sectors to realize a vision of a thriving and resilient Hawaiʻi Island, focusing on housing, economic opportunity, education, employment and training, and community resilience.
- Waimānalo Health Center, a community-based nonprofit rooted in Native Hawaiian values and devoted to improving the health and wellness of all people, regardless of ability to pay. This organization provides comprehensive primary and preventive health care services of the highest quality.
Northeastern Pennsylvania
- Commission on Economic Opportunity, a nonprofit dedicated to coordinating programs that promote self-sufficiency for families by addressing critical needs in housing, food security, education, and employment and training.
- Wayne County Community Foundation, which seeks to increase public and private funding and collaboration among organizations serving rural communities in Pike and Wayne counties.
The vibrancy and tenacity of these organizations are a testament to the power of rural communities. The Foundation recognizes their ability to lead their own transformation and is committed to supporting collective efforts that enable their residents to thrive.
Keiki (children) participating in one of Waimānalo Health Center’s programs. Photo courtesy of Waimānalo Health Center.
