Engagement 2025
Strengthening Rural Ties
The Rural Center engages people and communities throughout much of our work, but our Faith in Rural Communities initiative and our annual Rural Summit lead the way in engagement. Both hit important milestones in the 2025 fiscal year.
- More than 100 congregations across North Carolina have participated in our Connect Church program since 2018. This reflects not only growth in numbers, but also depth of impact: participating churches are discovering new ways to connect with their neighbors, identify local assets, and respond to community needs in sustainable ways. Connect Church’s growth has been made possible through the generous support of The Duke Endowment and Lilly Endowment Inc.
- The Rural Summit hit a record in March 2025 with more than 700 registrants. Gov. Josh Stein, Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt, state legislators, and state and national experts on rural policy were among those attending.
Key Engagement Metrics
80
Number of site visits by center's faith programs
378K
Grant dollars awarded
6,238
Training hours for Rural Center faith programs
703
Rural Summit 2025 registrants
Engagement Impact
In Todd, one church is pioneering a new model for addressing the affordable housing crisis through our Community Connect program. After working with a Rural Center coach to identify housing needs, the Todd Community Connect team at Blackburn's Chapel — a campus of Boone United Methodist Church — created a community loan fund to support housing projects in Ashe and Watauga counties. The fund offers up to $50,000 in low-interest loans, removing barriers to credit that often stall rural housing solutions. Its first loan will support Cooperativa Colibrí, a project that will provide up to five families with the opportunity to own homes on cooperatively owned land. This work comes at a critical time, as the devastation of Hurricane Helene in 2024 worsened an already significant shortage of attainable housing.
