U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Kentucky State Director Dr. Tom Carew today celebrated the two-year anniversary of the Rural Partners Network by announcing a $76,322 grant.
This Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant is one of over 50 projects announced today and further highlights the administration’s efforts to address the needs of previously underserved communities.
“It’s amazing the amount of progress we’ve made in the two short years that Rural Partners Network has been in rural Kentucky,” said Carew. “When we work together – from the federal level down to local municipalities – with our non-profit organizations and community members to address our most pressing issues, we can truly do incredible things. The Biden-Harris administration has dedicated unprecedented resources to helping rural Kentucky. Through those resources, we’re helping to improve economic prosperity and quality of life, and we’re doing it from the bottom up and the middle out.”
Trinity Family Health Incorporated will use a $76,322 Distance Learning and Telemedicine grant to equip three hub/end-user sites in Knox and Clay counties with telemedicine equipment and software to support telemedicine capacity enhancement. Medical professionals located at Trinity Family Health will provide primary care, behavioral health care, chronic case management, psychiatric mental health treatment and voluntary family planning services to three locations benefitting approximately 1,000 patients.
Background – Rural Partners Network
Launched in April 2022 and expanded in November 2022, Rural Partners Network is now active in 36 community networks across 10 states and Puerto Rico.
Community networks receive support from full-time USDA staff who live and work locally. These staff members provide technical assistance based on each community’s needs, helping them navigate federal programs, build relationships and apply for funding. In addition to USDA staff, there are staff at 24 other federal agencies dedicated to RPN and making resources across the government easier to access for people in rural communities.
RPN communities also benefit from coordination through other federal efforts such as the Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities and Economic Revitalization and President Biden’s Justice40 Initiative and Investing in America agenda. The Rural Prosperity Interagency Policy Council, co-led by the White House Domestic Policy Council and USDA, advises the RPN program and ensures rural voices are heard and reflected in national policies that will benefit all people in rural communities.
During the Biden-Harris administration, USDA Rural Development has supported economic prosperity and quality of life improvements in rural Kentucky by obligating over $3.1 billion. This assistance supports infrastructure improvements; business development; housing; community facilities such as schools, public safety and health care; and high-speed internet access in rural, tribal and high-poverty areas. For more information, visit www.rd.usda.gov/ky.