Polaroid framed photos of the flags of Canada, Australia and UK

International Survey of Rural Challenges answers

Australia, Canada and UK weigh in with assets and challenges Our Survey of Rural Challenges just wrapped up this week, and I want to share the preliminary results with you. This year, international people made almost 4% of all responses, based on what survey-takers volunteered about their locations. There were 13 from Canada, 4 from…

An empty lot with pop-up booths and a food truck, with diverse people enjoying the market.

Melody Warnick and SaveYour.Town are Keeping and Attracting Talented People in Rural Places

Melody Warnick’s books have been refreshing reads for me in thinking about how people and place interact to create the culture in rural communities. In This Is Where You Belong, Melody talks openly about her own struggle to feel connected when she moved to a new town. In If You Could Live Anywhere she shares…

A mood board collage of photos of Becky McCray and Deb Brown helping rural communities, with the title 2024 Helping You Along the Way

How SaveYour.Town is helping small towns in 2024

See our mood board, above? It’s all about how SaveYour.Town is helping you along the way in 2024 and beyond. Deb Brown and I picked that phrase, helping you along the way, because we know that you’re full up on work to do. You’re probably involved in multiple organizations in your community. Certainly you are…

Survey of Rural Challenges logo

Here’s why I started the Survey of Rural Challenges

Could you help us spread the word on the Survey of Rural Challenges to as many people as possible? You could repost, add to your newsletter, print it in the local newspaper or share in meetings and presentations now through the end of May. Use this link: SaveYour.Town/survey2024  Thank you!  The very first time I…

A pile of snapshots showing diverse volunteers at work in their communities

Get more volunteer help with small steps

What’s the best way to get volunteers to take lots of required training or complete an intensive commitment? Help them take small steps. Take a large volunteering goal: Break it into easier subgoals: And make it flexible for them: It’s the same goal! But wording it differently made a big difference in how volunteers reacted…

Hands holding a smartphone as a camera in the foreground. In the background string lights are shown in pleasing unfocused bokeh.

10 small steps toward a better community that don’t require permission

You’d like to do more for your small town or rural community, but you’re held back by at least a couple of things: You don’t actually need either of those. Small steps can be meaningful and usually don’t require permission. That’s why Deb and I say: 99% of the best things you can do for…

A metal archway over a street is decorated with a cattle drive on one side and railway loading corral on the other. The center says "Caldwell, 1871". The arch rests on two massive limestone pillars. Downtown buildings are visible in the background.

Overwhelmed with housing challenges? Gather your crowd

Caldwell, Kansas, has a population of about 1000 people. The city has taken an active role in improving the condition and availability of housing in their town. That’s a LOT for a town of 1,000 people!  But the city is not the only group interested in housing. When I visited the town, we made a…

Colorful modern mural of wildflowers, a pollinator insect in front of a huge sun setting in the background.

If you’re tired of “Nothing good happens here!” complaints, make a success list

It’s pretty common to hear rural people say something like, “There’s nothing here!” That’s because they aren’t remembering all the new business activity or they maybe aren’t paying attention. Or maybe they’re only thinking of big new employers, the kind that come with visiting dignitaries for the ribbon cutting and announcement. Most small towns don’t…

Becky McCray and Deb Brown look happy in downtown Mitchell, South Dakota

Who are we really? Becky McCray and Deb Brown, co-founders of SaveYour.Town

I’m Becky McCray from Oklahoma. I co-founded SaveYour.Town with Deb Brown. Deb used to live in Iowa, but just moved to Mississippi. That meant I had to update our SaveYour.Town “about us” page. Now seems like a good time to share more about who we are, really. We are part of our communities, just like…