Author: Mia McGill

Rural communities are often misunderstood and underserved. Organizations like the Region Five Development Commission (R5DC) exist to fill that gap and improve economic development in rural areas. Learn more about how this organization is co-developing strategies to improve quality of life for all residents in Central Minnesota.

A space is truly of the community when it is shaped by the needs of the people it serves. The Sitting Bull Visitor Center in Fort Yates, North Dakota, the tribal headquarters of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, is recognizing and addressing its community’s need for holistic education around food sovereignty through their proposed Open Kitchen. This initiative complements their rich portfolio of offerings related to Indigenous knowledge and tradition.

Sisseton, South Dakota is a unique place. This rural town of 2,400 is located on the Lake Traverse Reservation: about half the town is Native American, and the other half is mostly white. But it is not only the residential makeup of the Sisseton that makes it unique. It is the survival and persistence of art in the area, and new movements that are bridging a historically separated community.

Community reading programs can inspire discussion, connection, and community—and in the case of author, educator, and Russian literature scholar Andrew D. Kaufman, a new book.