The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust recently published a 10-year evaluation of Healthy Places NC, its signature place-based initiative to improve health in rural NC communities. As the title, Healthy Places NC: 10 Years That Changed the Way We Work, suggests, this program marked a radical shift in how the Trust operates to make long-term impact. The Healthy Places NC evaluation provides insights for fellow funders in various sectors who want to shift norms, systems, power dynamics, and other conditions that produce inequity, particularly in rural communities.
This report offers key findings about what the Trust and Healthy Places NC counties accomplished over this initiative’s 10-year life span. It identifies challenges and provides lessons for other communities and funders interested in rural place-based work.