Rural Narratives

Across western North Carolina, residents are working alongside local government, churches and other organizations to identify where people are being left offline and find ways to connect them. In this episode, we look at what it takes to build that kind of community infrastructure — and what becomes possible when people have access to it. We’ll hear from two people who have been working on these questions for years. Terri Wells is a Buncombe County Commissioner whose family has lived in...

What does it take to participate fully in community life when so much of it happens online? In rural western North Carolina, digital access can shape whether someone can apply for a job, attend school, reach health and public services, start a business, or stay connected to their community. In this episode of Rural Narratives, we visit Through The Trees in Brevard, North Carolina, where a community effort to close the digital divide has grown beyond broadband access. The organization helps pe...

In Columbus County in rural North Carolina, the COVID-19 pandemic changed how Lisa Richey thought about public health. Lisa came to Columbus County as a banker nearly 40 years ago and made Lake Waccamaw her home. During the pandemic, she began to see public health differently—not as something meant for other people, but as something that belongs to everyone. In this episode of Rural Narratives, Lisa reflects on COVID-19, trust in public health, rural healthcare, and the relationships that hel...

Vicki Wiggins worries about what happens when young people grow up surrounded by violence and become “unfortunately unfazed” by it. In Hertford County, Mayors Weyling White and Yahmale Vaughan and public health leader Amy Underhill each carry experiences from their younger years into the work they do today. Weyling grew up losing people he loved to gun violence. Yahmale was jailed at fifteen before neighbors helped his family hire a lawyer. Amy remembers finding a place to turn at her local h...

How do we build strong public health systems? In rural Hertford County, North Carolina, the answer begins with people. These stories emerged from community story circles, where neighbors gathered to share their experiences and listen to one another. Through four personal stories, you’ll hear how a childhood vision screening changed one woman’s future, how a community health worker helps neighbors navigate care, why hundreds of residents lined up for COVID-19 vaccines, and how first responders...