My family lives in Athens, Tenn., population 13,000, and we are familiar with the truths of an economy that has changed. We shake our fists at spotty broadband and crumbling roads. And we know what it’s like to watch main street awnings turn yellow and old factory stacks rust and crack in the sun, to lose family farms to corporate agribusiness, and see health care specialists move to medical centers 70 miles up the road.
But these challenges obscure a much deeper truth about my hometown and other places in the countryside: we keep showing up in many ways and in many roles as public servants, entrepreneurs, social change agents, and keepers of community memory.
For us, the key is to acknowledge that change is inevitable, that growth is necessary, and that communities should be the drivers of their own destinies.
My hometown is a proving ground for leadership and imagination. We may not have a gig of broadband, but we know how to assemble a community potluck on the fly. We know the ins and outs of local systems and relationships, and we’re pretty good at negotiating them. We’re used to living, working, and worshipping alongside folks with whom we agree and disagree, and this gives us a head start when it comes to bridging divides and joining forces in ways that improve health, equity and opportunity.
For example, recently our YMCA partnered with The Arts Center to provide programming to at-risk youth in after-school care. And our public library regularly links up with our local public schools to provide STEM programming and coding classes to elementary school kids.
Our extension office partners with local health care providers to offer workshops on healthy living and facilitates Tai-chi classes for all ages in public spaces across town.
And we’re seeing steady progress—through the combined efforts of small business owners, city officials, local industry, and nonprofits—to revitalize our downtown. We recently achieved accreditation as a Main Street community.
So while many rural places lack more recognizable financial and civic resources, those assets take alternative forms: personal and family relationships; cultural cohesion; connection to place; or civic and religious infrastructure. Our devotion to social and civic rituals affect our mental and physical well-being, and can even extend how long we live. And a growing body of research shows that social connection is at the heart of good health.
Make no mistake, these collaborations are driven by relationships. A wise Athenian once told me that “real change moves at the pace of relationships.”
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