Stories

Rural

  • Using All Our Tools to Advance Equity in the South and Beyond

    While potential is universal, opportunity is not. In the American South, where the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation works, slavery, segregation and a host of laws, policies and practices have entrenched white supremacy, delivering enormous advantages to whites and pervasive disadvantages to people of color....

  • Congratulations to our New and Returning Grantee Partners

    Congratulations to our new and returning grantee partners who received funding in June 2018:

    Advocates for Community and Rural Education dba Rural Community Alliance

    Appalachia Funders Network

    Appalachian Citizens' Law Center

    Blueprint NC

    Coalfield Development Corporation

    CommunityWorks

    Homes of Hope, Inc.

    ...

  • A Proven Way to Battle Rural America’s Poverty

    This originally appeared as an op-ed in the Chronicle of Philanthropy on July 11, 2018.

    A county in Mississippi with a 28 percent poverty rate is about to boast the state’s first and only year-round, fully accessible camp for disabled children and adults. A rural county in South Carolina will soon have a dedicated high school to prepare students for health careers...

  • "As the South Grows" series highlights opportunity in the region

    The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy and Grantmakers for Southern Progress have teamed up on a series of reports highlighting some of the promising systematic change efforts at work across the South. MRBF supported the project and Program Director Lavastian Glenn served on the advisory committee.

    As the South Grows highlights stories of potential, impact and...

    As the South Grows
  • Uplift America Partnership Bearing Fruit in Rural Communities

    This post originally appeared on the website of Prosperity Now, an organization dedicated to ensuring everyone in our country has a clear path to financial stability, wealth and prosperity. A key partner in Uplift America, Prosperity Now conducted research to guide the initiative’s design and implementation and now tracks Uplift’s impacts on local lenders and the rural...