News from rural America.

This week, we start out with Daily Yonder reporter Madeline de Figueiredo, who brings us a story about efforts to improve maternal health care in rural Texas. An influx of funding for local providers will boost capacity and help grow programs focused on holistic and culturally informed care. Then, we travel to East Kentucky, where photographer Malcom Wilson seeks to combat stereotypes of Appalachian women with a series of glamour shots in the style of old Hollywood. We catch up with Carlos Valdez, an incredible young man who has found his purpose as a motivational speaker, and our partners at the rural faith initiative highlight LGBTQ-affirming churches in the rural South. And we visit an entirely different kind of church, which is now a multipurpose art, performance, and community space, in Colorado’s San Luis Valley. Our featured musician is Sarah Burton, a touring artist whose one true home is the road.

TRANSCRIPT

Hey, I'm Jared Ewe, the host of Yonder Radio.

Each week, we bring rural conversations with national reach delishers across the country, and Madeline DeFiguredo never disappoints.

She's now reporting on the efforts to improve maternal health care in the Lone Star State.

And we travel to East Kentucky, where photographer Malcolm Wilson is an uninfluencer, uninfluencing you from the stereotypes, this time with some old-school Hollywood glamour shots.

More on that.

And Carlos Valdez from a very little town in Colorado caught a touchdown pass after losing both of his legs.

We update on that story and LGBTQ plus affirming churches there on Yonder Radio with Whitney Kimball Co.

It's happening in the south and on Yonder Radio.

And we visit an entirely different church, one that is now a community center in Colorado, San Luis Valley.

And our featured musician is incredible, Sarah Burton, a touring artist whose one true home is the road.

That's all coming up on Yonder Radio.

I'll see you next time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

The Ondra Radio, rural conversations with National Reach, and here we are together.

Coming up, maternal health care, Madeline Figueredo, bringing the stats from Texas.

She brings up some things that are happening to change what's happening in the Lone Star State.

Also, going to hear from an inspiring young man who, well, he shouldn't be alive, but he is, and now he's thriving.

And the un-influencers.

We're bringing people in to un-influence you about Appalachia with the Appalachian Beautiful Project.

That's all in the way along with trivia.

But first, hailing from the Daily Yonder Newsroom, it's the Daily Yonder News editor, Jan Patolsky.

What's happening in rural headlines?

Hi, Jared.

We're kicking off today with Ag Daily.

They bring us a story about a new study that looks at the mortality gap between urban and rural populations.

Now, back in the 1990s, that gap was about 9%.

As of 2019, it grew to 43%.

The scientists were able to connect it to chronic stress, nicotine use, obesity, and diet.

However, they also said that what really causes all those issues is really access to crucial infrastructure, such as health care, healthy food options, gyms, other amenities of that kind.

Okay, from Grist.

Pentagon says that wind projects are dangerous?

Yes.

So for almost a year, according to the story from Grist, Pentagon has been shutting down or halting development of new wind power projects on shore.

In total, 155 new wind projects in 24 states have been stopped, and they cite drone concerns.

Now, according to the industry, of course, this is just a new tactic coming from the administration that's famously hostile to wind energy generation.

According to the developers, almost $2 billion in new costs due to those work stoppages.

Separately, Trump administration has been also attacking offshore wind production.

After a lengthy lawsuit, the administration decided to simply buy their way out of the problem and paid $2.6 billion to stop the development altogether, essentially eliminating 11 gigawatts of offshore wind projects.

Well, that blows.

Wind energy, of course.

And from National Public Radio, this seems good.

Affordable housing.

A big bipartisan legislation called the 21st Century Road to Housing Act passed with veto-proof majority, which meant that the only action left for President Trump, who decided not to sign the act, was to simply sit on it.

And after about 10 days, the bill automatically became the law without his signature.

Now, the bill is aiming to make home ownership more affordable, primarily by encouraging more home building across the country.

It carries more than 40 provisions to make that happen.

One that I would like to highlight for us is the one that says that for a manufactured home, the law removes the requirement that they need a permanent chassis, which is a steel frame making those homes movable.

According to the experts, that could lower the cost of such home between $5,000 to $10,000.

And I'll just add that if you'd like to see the fuller list of the provisions included in the bill, go ahead to NPR and check out their full story.

A fledgling radio outfit.

We can only hope them the best.

Thank you, Jan Patolsky.

Thank you, Jared.

That was Jan Patolsky, news editor for The Daily Yonder.

And now a story from Daily Yonder reporter Madeline DeFigureto about maternal health deserts in Texas and a multimillion-dollar investment that is working to fix the problem.

Well, Madeline DeFigueredo, you've written an article for DailyOnder.com, a multimillion-dollar investment in Texas's maternal health care.

Maternal mortality has seen an increase.

Is there a sign of improvement in Texas?

I think there is a sign of investment, and I think the story is one that shows There are organizations and foundations that are investing in the hard work that providers and community organizers on the ground and rural communities are putting into motion to combat the somewhat staggering maternal mortality rate in Texas.

What are the statistics that have caused alarm in Texas?

So the March of Dimes is a nonprofit organization that is committed to improving health of mothers and babies.

And they put out a report every year that gives an overview of state by state, where does infant mortality preterm birth rates and maternal mortality rates stand?

In 2025, the maternal mortality rate in Texas was 29.3 deaths per 100,000 births.

And then compare it to a state like Minnesota that has a rate of 14.1 deaths.

I mean, it's double what other states in the country are facing.

And that's in and of itself alarming.

And then additionally, the Texas Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee has found that 90% of those deaths are preventable, which also begs questions of what more can we be doing as a society to advance health care.

They must know if they can see that 90% are preventable.

They must know why.

Why is this happening?

Yeah, there's a series of reasons.

Some of that is just generally excess.

Some of it's, you know, the affordability piece.

One thing that the St. David's Foundation, which is providing this $4.6 million investment in Central Texas, is doing is trying to prioritize culturally responsive health care.

How can we meet communities where they are and invest in programs that are not so top down, but rather grassroots in the way they are structured?

Yeah.

So St. David's Foundation, they invested $4.6 million into community-based organizations to expand culturally responsive care and improve outcomes for underserved women, especially women of color.

What are some of the programs that this will support?

Yeah, there's a series of programs.

So one thing that I think it's important to note is that this is a geographically specific funding model.

So we're talking about Central Texas, areas that are adjacent to the Austin and San Antonio metro areas.

And while there is this conception that because these communities, you know, in theory are close to Austin or are close to San Antonio, there are major gaps in access.

A neighboring county to Austin is Bastrop County. 70% of that population lives in census-designated rural areas.

It's a maternity care low-access area.

On average, women travel 30.5 miles for healthcare.

And then also the preterm birth rate is about 10%.

So we're talking about areas that really have low access.

And one of the programs that this money is being invested in is the Bastrop Birthing Center.

It's run by Ellie Tisdale, a midwife who has founded this birthing center to basically fill that gap.

She said that she's heard of so many women that have had to give birth on the side of the street while they're trying to drive into Austin and instead wanted to create a space where there was access to delivery services in Bastrop.

What were you able to surmise that they hope to do?

Because this seems like it's a vast problem.

And this is, I mean, probably comparatively to what is necessary, a relatively small amount of money.

What do they hope to do?

Yeah, I think number one is just localized resources.

So make sure that people are aware of resources that exist, strengthen and enhance those resources, whether it be through providers, whether it be through facilities.

So having that money to be able to say, hey, we're going to really invest in your county in particular.

We're not going to push you to access care elsewhere.

We're instead going to make this a place-based service.

Number two is also creating culturally responsive care models.

For example, there is a program at the Commuter Care Clinics in Kyle, Texas, which are in between San Antonio and Austin, and they are starting a program called Project Motherhood.

And what they're doing is creating specific educational opportunities for women to come in together as a group.

So first of all, it's an opportunity to build community.

So you're with other mothers who are in different stages of pregnancy, but you're getting access to care.

You're getting access to information.

You're building community that is not just there for you in the preterm, but also in the postpartum experience.

These programs follow women through preterm delivery and postpartum.

You're also making sure that there's people in the community who are using your first language.

And that first language is not just spoken casually, but also in a medical and professional sense as well.

And being able to kind of bridge those gaps, I think, helps take steps forward to creating wraparound services that create healthier outcomes for mothers, babies, and families.

And also having a program that says, hey, we're going to provide transportation to get you here and make sure that this is a space that's prioritized for you.

And that we're not just saying you're on your own, but we're really going to help you and facilitate space and resources and access in a way that I think so many folks that are in rural areas don't get that opportunity.

Thank you so much for covering this because this is good news.

And as you said, you know, this is a step in the right direction.

Thank you, Jared.

It's great to be here.

That was Madeline de Figuereda reporting for the Daily Yonder.

Sarah Burton is our featured musician this week.

Sarah is from Toronto, but moved to rural Texas, where she makes music when she's not on the road in her trusty van.

Okay, well, we're talking to Sarah Burton right now and her cat, Buddy.

Right?

Okay, Buddy, you're doing great.

And literally a driving force in music.

And I say literally because your van.

You had always had a van, it seems like. a lot of stories I've read about you, there's a van.

It's true.

There's always been a van.

I consider the van to be my most important tool, like above a guitar and everything like that, because I could still put on a show, just me and my voice, you know, like somehow, but I can't get to that show without the van.

Well, I was listening to Smiling for the Camera.

This is from a few years ago.

I said it's a Robin vibe.

You know, the Swedish singer and producer who is really forced to.

Do you dig that?

I love Robin.

There's a few of her songs which are totally anthems for me.

Okay, so I'm not too off base.

Not at all.

And it's somebody you respect.

Oh, yeah. does that bug you when when somebody's like oh you remind me of no not at all um when i was first started you know playing music and open mics and stuff like that i remember i was i was traveling in Europe, freshly graduated.

And I had like a little ukulele with me and I was singing in hostels.

And I remember these people from other countries would be like, you're just like Celine Dion.

You're just like Shania Twain.

They would just name any Canadian artist.

And they were all so much better than me.

And so I couldn't possibly be offended, even though I was like, oh, it's really not quite the comparison, but it was a nice compliment.

And then when I went on my first tour in 2006, I had my first review.

And in the review, the guy compared me to Jenny Lewis.

That was a really apt comparison.

And she's been a big influence.

When people make these comparisons, everyone is so nuanced in style.

And so when people make these references, It gives you something to cross-reference to help put a name to the nuance that makes you different.

Terlingua, Texas keeps popping up in musical conversations.

What is happening in South Texas next to the Mexican border that has Terlingua a thing?

I mean, for me, I discovered Terlingua for my side spot.

We all say I discovered Terlingua.

None of us discovered it, but I was first there maybe 12 years ago, and it really piqued my interest.

One of the first shows I played was in Terlingua.

I fell in love with this place.

I'd never been to the desert.

I'd never met people so relaxed.

I didn't realize how much anxiety I had until I felt it like lift off of my shoulders.

So I kept coming back and eventually decided to move there.

Your music, Scopes Magazine says that you create a world of your own.

Tell us about that world.

This is a funny question for me because I don't think, I don't know that I have my own world.

Although I was, as a child, I daydreamed a lot and people would always say that I was in my own world.

I think musically, the world that I am trying to paint, I think it's less me trying to describe a world so much as me asking questions about the world that we do live in.

Yeah, I do get a playfulness in the music.

Oh, yeah, definitely.

I mean, I think that humor is one of the most important things in life.

Humor, gratitude, the two things that, at least for me, like keep me sane.

So any time that I can sort of poke fun at something, whether it's myself or a situation, then that's good.

And I've always liked music that can make me laugh. you are a serious musician who's not taking yourself seriously.

Oh, definitely.

It's fine for people to take themselves seriously, but I run best with people who also don't take themselves too seriously.

A friend of mine, we're deep in conversation about music and the industry.

And he said, would you die for your music?

And I was like, no, like I love music, but there's so much more.

There is no music without everything else.

Well, of your songs, what's the closest one you'd get into hand-to-hand combat for?

Probably Love is in the Air.

Love is in the air I can hardly breathe It's heavy and it's thick In the city streets Love is all around In the lost and found That song sounds like it's going to be a sweet love song, but it's not.

Mer.

Is that how you say it?

Did I get it right?

Mer.

Mer.

Oh, that's so French.

That's so awesome.

What can the world expect from Mer?

M-E-R.

It's a bilingual French-Canadian, French and English duo that I have with my best friend from back home, Cindy Douar.

I've been working on a song for Mère called C'est Dommage.

It's a little, c'est dommage, mais c'est pas grave, ce n'est pas un match, mais ça va.

Something like that.

But yeah, no, I have a whole album's worth of new French music.

I get the feeling that you will never not be the young woman with the ukulele at the hostel.

Like, that person is always there.

Yeah, that's true.

And I should set the record straight.

I said ukulele out of convenience.

It was actually a gita-layle, which was like a little six-string ukulele.

It was small enough to strap to my backpack.

I'm glad you cleared that up.

The gita-layle's not getting a lot of credit, so thank you.

You got to give that gita-layle.

It's do's.

At Sarah Burton Show, B-U-R-T-O-N on Instagram.

Thank you so much for your time and your cat.

Thank you for having me.

Started looking at the movies just as soon as he could Fell for his high school sweetheart And he still treats her good That was Sarah Burton out of rural Texas.

Stay tuned for another one of Sarah's songs, and it is so good.

We're going to bring on another one of her projects with her buddy, Cindy Doir.

That song on the way.

But first, our initial clue to the answer to this week's trivia. a celebrity whose lifetime achievements include both military medals and an Oscar for Best Lead Actor.

So leaning towards Total Package here, who is this?

We'll have more clues along the way.

And Appalachian Beautiful, bring it in the uninfluencers to unwash the brain of what you think about Appalachia.

Coming up on Yonder Radio.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now this is Yonder Radio.

I am Jared Ewey, bringing rural conversations with National Reach.

And if you were sitting next to me, I would hand you a beer.

If you're driving, that wouldn't happen.

But that's what we do here as far as casual goes, bringing conversations like our next one from Kentucky, where photographer Malcolm Wilson has been making photographs of people of Appalachia for decades.

His current project, called Appalachian Beautiful, aims to combat stereotypes of Appalachian women by photographing them in a style reminiscent of the old Hollywood glamour shots from George Harrell.

He's joined by Jessica Lee Hall, one of the subjects in the photographs.

Malcolm, you're a photographer in Appalachia.

How long have you been doing this?

I've been doing this for nearly 50 years.

The roots of everything I do have been in Appalachia since the very beginning.

My artist statement is pretty simple.

My work is of the people, by the people, and for the people.

It's not for pundits, scholars, or critics.

It is for my neighbors, their neighbors, the neighbors in the next county and the next county and the next county that comprise central Appalachia.

I work to make them proud to be Appalachians.

And that's what the work's about and always has been.

That's been my driving force just as I was six years old.

When I was about eight years old, for some reason, I started packing a camera around.

I didn't use it.

Mom and dad couldn't afford film, but I still packed it around and pretended.

And something that you said that I love is you've become an uninfluencer because you saw these stereotypes of Appalachians.

And go ahead, tell me what this is.

Everybody thinks they can run to Appalachia, come up, drive up some holla and interview somebody.

They find the worst of the worst.

I could find these same people in L.A. or New York or anywhere.

But for some reason, we still allow and the country still believes it's okay to pick on us.

It's okay to make fun of us.

I was uninfluenced by these so-called influencers.

So that's when I devised this project, Appalachian Beautiful, as a very, it's different than the work I normally do.

It's way different.

But it is a very unique way to change how we feel and how outsiders feel about Appalachia.

I lived in Cincinnati for nearly 18 years.

I went up there to go to college and ended up staying.

And if I had not found my people, displaced Appalachians, I would not have survived in that city.

I would not have made it.

But while I was up there, I went to an art exhibit at the Cincinnati Art Museum of George Harrell.

He became the most prominent starlet photographer from the late 20s all the way through the 1950s. and that that had stuck in the back of my mind these things stick in the back of my mind and I said one day I'm going to use this or I'm going to think it you know and me and an intern that I had at the time her name is Delay to Saywood and we had a long probably three or four hour discussion about how we could change the stereotypes of Appalachia if imagining that these women of Appalachia like Jessica here went back in time and were photographed by George Harrell as Appalachian starlets.

This all culminates in the person sitting next to you.

Jessica, I don't know if you know this, but Malcolm sent the photo he took of you, which is part of this exhibit.

And it is incredible.

Jessica, you're looking up like a dreamer, but not a hapless one.

You're looking up and you're kind of challenging it.

Dream, you're up there and I'm going to get you.

It doesn't stand a chance.

Incredible photo.

Tell me about this experience and being part of this exhibit with Malcolm?

It was really great.

I know Malcolm personally, but from before, he comes and does a lot of involvement with the community center.

He had gave me a camera to start taking photography myself.

And so it was really nice working with him.

It means a lot to me too.

Well, your story means a lot to me.

And I'm sure anyone who hears it, I was looking up information.

I'm like, okay, who is this person?

And I get into this podcast, you're talking to a local reverend.

And you say in there, my past is my greatest asset.

Could you explain that a little bit?

Life is not always came easy.

I had a lot of hardships.

This area was swept up.

I don't know if you've heard of the Oxycontin epidemic.

It killed many of my generation and the ones that, you know, didn't die or most are still lost.

Very few made it out of it.

And I was one of the ones that got swept up in all of it.

And I made it out.

I have seven years sober.

That has became my greatest asset because I have a view and a compassion on life that a lot of people don't have.

And I thought this was so interesting because you say your past is your greatest asset.

And this whole exhibit is a nod to the past.

Tell me about sitting there, Jessica, and you're well lit.

You have makeup on.

You're wearing this gorgeous dress and accessories.

How did that feel?

I felt very beautiful.

You know, I really enjoyed all of it.

And Malcolm's a good coach because I've never really done a lot of photography or been photoed.

So he coached me through all of it.

And then when I finally seen the final piece, I was just, I was blown away.

He's a wonderful photographer.

Malcolm, you've done a lot of pictures for this project with 62 women, I think, and more to come.

But with Jessica, is this what you wanted?

Is this what you'd always hoped for with the final result?

Yes, it is, but I've asked her to come back to do it again because I think she's pretty special and her story is pretty special.

I've met some amazing, amazing women during this thing.

I've heard stories.

There have been tears shed in my studio.

There's been laughter.

There's been heartache.

Jessica's story needs to be heard by everyone, especially in Appalachia, because we're still fighting this problem.

We're still fighting.

We're fighting so many things in these mountains.

We're fighting for jobs.

We're fighting for our environment, the opioid epidemic.

We're fighting people leaving.

Letcher County, the county I live in now, has the lowest population it's had in over 100 years because of people leaving here.

We can see with your photography what you see through your lens.

What do you want people to see through their lenses in Appalachia?

I want them to see that this is the most beautiful place on earth.

And I've been, I've traveled around the world, never come across a place so beautiful and so wonderful as Appalachia.

We're beautiful and we are caring people.

We care so much about our culture, our history, our music, our landscape, our mountains, and each other.

That's what makes it special.

That's what makes Appalachia a very special place in my heart.

Your work is incredible and indefatigable as you expand Appalachia Beautiful.

We look forward to more.

Thank you so very much, Jared.

It was so wonderful to talk to you and have this opportunity.

Well, Jessica, thank you so much for your time as well.

Thank you for having me.

Malcolm Wilson and Jessica Lee Hall, thank you so much for joining us from Eastern Kentucky.

You can see Malcolm's work on his website, humansofcentralappalachia.org.

And stay tuned for where the Appalachian Beautiful Show pops up next.

And now, the debut single from Sarah Burton and her project Mer.

This is Let's Fight, but fight in a passionate way.

And this is a fantastic song.

Let's fight.

You play a role but nothing holds Your light, I That was Sarah Burton in Mert with Let's Fight, a French-infused song that's less about fighting and more about other things.

Okay, now we're returning to a story I've been covering for several years now.

This young man, Carlos Valdez.

At the age of nine, he lost his legs in a horrific boating accident.

He was not supposed to live.

But he has.

He has thrived.

He played football.

And now he's off to college, and he has a whole new venture.

You can learn more about it. whynotme22.com.

Let's follow up with this, I was going to say kid, but now college student and his incredible story.

Friday Night Lights, a football game in rural Colorado between Briggsdale and Otis.

Just another game on a windy night when this happened.

A touchdown catch like none other by Briggsdale's Carlos Valdez.

He was a sophomore then, but when he was nine, he lost both of his legs in a horrific boating accident.

And I was in the hospital for five months.

The first three months, I was in a coma.

And they kept telling my mom, the doctors, he's not going to make it.

He's not going to live.

Just unplug it.

I have over 27 scars.

I went through 27 surgeries.

Now I'm doing this.

No one could ever expect.

And now, two years later, he's graduated high school.

He's on his way to Colorado State University, and he's found his passion going on stage and inspiring others.

Let them create you, because the very thing that makes you different today might be the exact thing that makes you successful tomorrow.

So when life hits you, and trust me, life will hit you, don't stop.

Keep going.

My name is Carlos Valdez.

Thank you so much.

Well, we can just bask in that applause for a little bit, Carlos.

I'm glad we get to catch up again.

I first met you, I guess, two and a half years ago after the touchdown catch.

And now you've got to tell me how the speaking is going.

Honestly, I think it's going, like, incredible.

I had my most recent one in middle school.

And I don't know, that one has just led to so many things.

Funny story, one of the students that went there, went and told his dad and his dad like makes vinyl stickers and like shirts and hats and everything.

And he reached out to me.

He was like, oh, you want some stickers?

I can hook you up with some stickers.

So I got some stickers made with my brand or my logo, I guess.

We're getting shirts and stuff.

I'm going to sell them off my website and stuff.

It's been incredible, honestly.

Like, I don't know.

I didn't think it was going to go like this high up, but yeah, it's like, it's been great for me.

Well, and I bet a lot of people would argue that you've been great for the community.

I mean, even accident aside, if that's even possible, I know you've been dedicated and contributing regularly to future farmers of America.

So I'm going to have to leave that, that blue corduroy jacket behind.

But I think that the lessons, just like the opportunities I had, the experiences I had with that blue jacket, I'll always carry with me for the rest of my life.

And came with that blue jacket like is something so meaningful and powerful to me that I'll always have with me for the rest of my life and like I can take into every aspect of my life.

So has growing up in Little Briggsdale has that been good for you and how would you explain that?

I think they'd say something that they say in Briggsdale is like you're protected like in the Little Briggsdale bubble because you're you never go out you're from a super tiny community and like They say you're super protected, but like doing everything that I've done and being involved in everything that I've done, all my extracurriculars, I like I've been exposed to a lot more.

And I think it has prepared me like a significant amount because it won.

It gave me the relationships.

It gave me the close insight on on things.

But two, it gave me the opportunity to get involved in all those extracurriculars to where I can now like I now have that knowledge. and like I see things differently now.

So I think it has prepared me like a significant amount for my next steps.

Well, I want to mention how I know you, which is a magic small town journalism moment because the publisher of the Jackson County Star in Walden, Colorado reached out to me and said his friend Jerry Patterson of the Otis Telegraph had published a photo that I needed to see and I should follow up on.

And it's you and you're being held up not by your own teammates, but both your teammates and the Otis team.

How did that affect the community?

I think, honestly, like that moment, I think has like changed.

Just for the people who saw it, honestly, people who see the post is like, I honestly do think it like changed.

I don't know, like if a lot, but it changed something because to see two teams come together for that And for something like that is inspiring.

And it just felt great to me.

And I'm sure it felt great to other people too.

But yeah, I think it did change the community.

Well, when I was up there in Briggsdale talking to people about it, a lot of them struggled to put words to it, how they felt.

The announcer, the voice of the Briggsdale Falcons, Ken Snyder, he did a pretty good job capturing it.

Every year you see something on YouTube where you see a kid out there that never gets any playing time.

And it's up there with all those to where you're just like, yeah, heck yeah, man.

It was awesome.

Yeah, even the refs came up to me too after the game and were like, man, that's awesome.

That's incredible.

I even had some other people from the other team that were not players come up.

And yeah, it's just like a great night and great game overall.

I'll always talk about that moment to my future family, to my future kids.

And I'll always talk about that.

Well, right now, when you're out there on stage and you're talking to schools, what are you telling the kids?

What is your message?

I first share some funny stories just to get them laughing, just to get them engaged and moving into the process forward.

But I tell them just overcoming adversity, just facing your challenges.

And I focus on the whole why not me message because that's what my brand stands for overall.

But that why not me message, like you can spend so much time asking yourself, state the two letter questions is like, why me?

Why me?

Like when something happens in your life, when something bad happens in your life is like, why would this happen to me?

Why me?

But if you just change your aspect, if you just change your perspective and ask yourself, why not me, your eyes and your whole perspective changes and your whole world changes from asking yourself, why not me?

So in your conversation to yourself, just make it a simple change.

Yeah, and your whole life can change after that if you just change that question.

And yeah, I feel like a lot of people's minds change you.

And it sounds like extremely simple because it's like, oh, it's not that easy.

It can't be that easy.

It's too good to be true.

But like, honestly, if you do change that mindset, then your life can change with it, you know?

Well, we'll be in touch.

And I'll likely be trying to live vicariously through you and your awesome college life.

Yeah, I'm super excited.

That was Carlos Valdez, and the website is whynotme22.com.

Now it's time for our second trivia clue.

This actor's distinctive drawl is so famous, it's actually imitated by the voiceovers at the crosswalks of his hometown of Indiana, Pennsylvania.

Who is this?

Well, around the bend here, gonna meet up with Whitney Kimball Coe and a story about a woman who bought a church.

And of course, we will have the answer to our trivia on the way on Yonder Radio. guitar solo guitar solo guitar solo Yonder Radio, rural conversations with National Reach.

We have another episode from our partners at the Rural Faith Initiative.

Here's Director Whitney Kimball Coe interviewing Reverend Claire Brown.

LGBTQ plus advocacy and welcome in rural southern communities can look different, maybe quieter or more subtle than in urban communities.

This segment of our Rural Faith series will explore the considerations of care, safety, and visibility for welcoming congregations and look at how they share their community welcome in often oppositional cultural and political climates.

Reverend Clare, we're here to talk about considerations of care, safety, and visibility for welcoming congregations.

I wonder what your research has told you.

We've got some really good data from the Trevor Project, from the Movement Advancement Project, Human Rights Coalition. we can get a pretty good picture about how LGBTQ folks are experiencing safety in the rural South in their day-to-day lives.

Not only are some of the worst states in the U.S. in terms of safety Southern, with West Virginia and Tennessee, Louisiana and Arkansas in the very bottom, but there's really several specific markers that are shaping life for LGBTQ plus folks in the rural South.

We know young people are more likely to report bullying and discrimination at school.

They're more likely to be kicked out of their homes by their families.

We know that these residents have longer travel times to receive affirming health care.

In the rural South, LGBTQ people are less likely to be homeowners, and they're more likely to report experience of discrimination while looking for housing.

And then, of course, there's alarming rates of physical violence that victims report.

And regardless of whether this shows up as a criminal charge for a hate crime, victims feel that this is due to gender identity or sexual orientation.

And it's at a higher rate than other parts of the country.

So the data is really challenging.

And it's really hard to hear about all that at once.

Yeah, you know, to see that this place that I love, that I know you love, can be so hostile.

And this is really the backdrop that the affirming churches and the LGBTQ Christians that I spoke with are navigating right now.

As I mentioned in our first segment, when I first arrived to Athens, I realized there wasn't a clear consensus on how publicly people wanted to live or get the word out about St. Paul's being an LGBTQ affirming space.

Pretty mixed bag among members of our church and members of the community-wide PFLAG group that we host.

PFLAG is a great advocacy organization, and the acronym stands for Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

We actually have a little chapter right here in our town in rural Tennessee.

Some folks wanted to be loud and proud and like, let's put this in the newspaper.

And other people with a very real sense of fear for their physical and social emotional safety wanted to fly under the radar.

In fact, a gay member of our church specifically said, I hope you're not going to start putting a pride flag outside of the church.

I mean, based on some of the data you shared earlier, I can imagine what some of those worries might be.

But specifically, what kind of safety and risk are we thinking about?

Yeah.

So this is a it's an intersecting concern.

We might see, you know, social and emotional safety.

This could affect whether or not members of your family want to speak to you.

It could impact your livelihood.

I know a small business owner nearby who immediately lost clients when he came out.

We also think about physical safety.

Anti-LGBT violence has worked in the United States as a sort of terrorism.

There are nightmare stories in our cultural imagination that make people wonder all the time if they're going to be the next Matthew Shepard or Dime Doe.

Folks are nervous.

They have different levels of comfort and courage when this kind of opposition shows up.

Yeah.

So what does this mean for churches and how they respond?

The most important thing is that there's really not a one-size-fits-all plan for safety in witness and gathering.

But one of the places where I've seen this done really beautifully is through the work of Pastor Amy Vaughn in Catawba, North Carolina.

She's a deacon in the United Methodist Church and leads the Lakeshore Collective.

Now, not only are the gatherings not your typical worship service, but Pastor Amy is convening people in both hyper-public spaces, like a local bar or coffee shops, and very private ones, like a moderated Zoom room or someone's home.

This conversation about safety brings to light the wisdom of diverse gathering spaces.

In a really public space where there's lots of people all gathering for food and drink, a small, diverse group of people who are there to study the Bible or have a prayer and discussion group that's LGBT affirming can just sort of blend into the hubbub.

And not to mention, this environment might be more approachable for those who've experienced religious harm in traditional worship spaces.

But then there are these additional offerings to have a way for people to gather digitally in community, but from the safety of their own home, or have a more screened invitation process for meeting in someone else's home.

You have to know somebody to ask for the address.

And this can give a layer of security and privacy that helps people connect to community when they need that greater protection.

I mean, what you're describing here just really reveals to me that safety questions are really tricky and nuanced and require a level of creative ministry.

It's not just as simple as deciding whether to put up a flag outside your church or not.

Yes, and there's other good tools for safety that might not seem on the surface LGBTQ affirming specific.

There's a long tradition of really great de-escalation practice that is formally taught in nonviolent peace movements.

And this is something also that these churches are picking up on.

I spoke with congregations who are doing incredibly beautiful and important work on how to de-escalate conflict, have difficult conversations.

These are also safety measures.

It's just one of these areas of community and church work that has to be contextual, nonjudgmental, pastoral.

When I was in seminary, we would always pit prophetic witness, that sense of the church's voice for social change and pastoral concern for members of a community against one another.

But in rural communities, they're developing advocacy for a faith gathering and hostile culture.

These things have to walk hand in hand.

Visibility and vocal presence can only unfold, ebb and flow at the speed of trust.

And with the voices of the LGBTQ church leaders, leading that pace.

Today's conversation is part of a rural faith series that looks at research and stories from LGBTQ plus affirming churches in the rural South.

This research and these stories are collected by the Reverend Claire Brown, an Episcopal priest in rural Tennessee.

We hope you'll tune in for our next segment of this series in which we'll talk about what it's like to get kicked out of the Jesus Parade.

That was Whitney Kimball Coe and Reverend Claire Brown with a from the Rural Faith Initiative about LGBTQ plus affirming churches.

And now this story, there's that movie, We Bought a Zoo.

Well, people do things like that.

They extend themselves for the community and beyond, like Madeline Alborn, who bought a church.

The most expensive thing she'd ever owned was her 2002 Toyota 4Runner with 340,000 miles on it.

Now, Alborn is the founder of The Church Project, a community arts center in Monta Vista, Colorado, housed in an old Baptist church.

She's turned the old church into an art center, dance studio, puppet theater, and performance space, hosting events for all ages.

The church project just celebrated its third birthday.

Here's Madeline being interviewed by Daily Yonder reporter Alana Newman.

Can you talk about what it was like to first see the church space?

Did you see the potential in it?

And can you just like walk through the process of what the space used to be and what it looks like now?

Yeah, when I first toured the space, I definitely saw the potential.

Even like all the old smells and everything.

And there was something that was like, Maddie, this is supposed to be your area.

Like I could see myself there.

What did it look like when you first saw it?

It's actually pretty similar to what it looks like now.

The only thing I've done is remove the carpet that was upstairs on the stage and the runners going down the aisles.

All the pews are going to stay in the space for seating, for concerts and theatrical productions.

Because my loan term is 10 years, I phased it out into 10 projects over those 10 years.

My first phase, I titled Floor Saga. and that was the removal of approximately 4,000 square feet of carpet on the ground floor and then scraping the glue off the concrete by hand.

And I documented it in both digital and 35 millimeter film.

What this performance showed, not only to the community, but also to funders, was that I have commitment and I've put in sweat equity because it took about 350 hours.

What are the programs that you're doing?

What are all the different types of art that you're housing within the church right now?

So Fridays, we have open studio time.

We have acrylic paint, watercolor paint, drawing.

And then on Sundays, we call it Sunday school.

So we have Sunday school specials, which is supported through Arts and Society, where I hire a local artist to teach a workshop in the medium of their choice.

But we also host a monthly writing night, a monthly open mic night.

So the second Sunday of every month, we're activating the main stage theater upstairs with local talent.

Can you talk about the importance of art in rural spaces?

Art is the thing that's this catalyst to bring people together, whether you call yourself an artist or not.

I mean, there's still a lot of people that I talk to and they're just like, oh, I don't belong at the Church Project because I'm not an artist.

And it's like, well, you should just come anyways and like check out the community.

I think art gives the potential to reframe conversations that everyone can understand or at least feel like they have some place in it.

What are your hopes for the future?

I've always wanted this project to be a river and carve its own path and really be built by the community.

I hope it's a space that can be open every day.

I hope that this just offers that like extra bit of, you know, oh, it's Friday night.

What are we going to do?

Do we want to go see a movie at the Valley Three Theater?

Or do we want to go see a Midsummer Night's Dream being put on by, you know, like Adam State students at the church project?

I think when we have variety and choice, we have a better understanding of how we can contribute ourselves.

I think we all have an extraordinary amount of potential.

Like what happens when you give people space to create, to be themselves?

And I think that's really just what I've been trying to provide as an artist is hold space for people to share, but then also provide physical space to be, period.

That was Madeline Alborn, founder of The Church Project, a community arts center in Monta Vista, Colorado.

Check out their website, thechurchproject.co.co, for the list of current events and ways to get involved.

Well, it's now time for our third and final trivia clue.

Despite hailing from rural Pennsylvania, this actor is known for movies set in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and fictional Bedford Falls.

Now, some of you already know it.

Just don't ruin it for everyone.

The answer is...

That's right, Jimmy Stewart.

I would try to do an impression, but the only impression I can do is someone doing bad impressions.

So I'll get right into the story.

James Maitland Stewart was born in 1908. in a small town around 50 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

He attended Princeton University, where he acted as part of a theater troupe and performed in several Broadway shows before signing a contract with MGM Studios.

He was the first major American movie star to enlist in the military during World War II, where he was eventually promoted to the rank of colonel in 1945.

After his military service, Stewart returned to Hollywood.

He acted in 80 movies throughout his career, including iconic classics like Mr. Smith's Ghost of Washington, And it's a wonderful life.

Now, this has been Yonder Radio, rural conversations with National Reach.

And you helped me lug these things onto the airwaves.

And I greatly appreciate it.

Learn more and listen to all the shows at yonderradio.com.

And we appreciate you listening.

Thank you for listening to Yonder Radio, a production of the Center for Rural Strategies, publisher of the Daily Yonder.

I'm your host, Jared Ewey.

The Living Tradition segment was produced by Nicole Musgrave.

Thanks to Don Castle and the Tennessee Sheiks, Steph Gunno and the Lone Tones, Quincy Ponfair, Leo Pozel, and Tim Merrimah for the great music.

Our editor and producer is Susanna Brown.

This episode was also produced by Alana Newman with additional support from Anya Patron-Slepian and Julia Tilton.

Our executive producer is Joel Cohen.

The executive in charge of production is Adam Georgie.

Yonder Radio, Rural Conversations with National Reach. guitar solo Thank you.