Rural Communities Hosting Resource Fairs Hope to Improve the Outlook for Their Neighbors

Remonica Hudson took painstaking care as she painted a pink heart on the face of a four-year-old girl with purple bows in her hair.

“She’s been very patient,” Hudson said as she outlined the heart in purple paint.

Hudson, a care coordinator for Arkansas Summit Community Care, helped organized a weekend resource festival for the community where her church is located, Bearden, Arkansas. Members of Greater Mt. Olive Church supported Hudson’s idea as an opportunity to serve their neighbors.

“We have a lack of education on the local resources that are available to us,” Hudson said. “A lot of us  are in need of specific things, but we don’t have an idea of where to go, who to call when we need those things. So, this was an effort to bring the education to the community of Bearden.”

Rural areas like Bearden in southern Arkansas are facing some challenges their urban counterparts do not. As the technological divide grows, residents living in rural America have less access to information whether it involves healthcare, financial, or employment. In a 2018 Pew Research study, more adults who live in rural areas reported access to the internet as a problem than those living in major cities. According to the study, 42 percent of rural Americans say an availability of jobs is a major problem more so than respondents in urban and suburban. However, it is healthcare that most often occupies the top of the priority list for residents because rural communities have a disproportionate share of chronic illness.

“It’s part of our responsibility to provide resources and information to our community, and so I’m glad we are able to be here to do that today,” Arnell Washington said. Washington is the administrator for the Southwest Region of the Arkansas Department of Health.

Not far from Washington’s table, Sonya Coleman breathed a sigh of relief as she sat down to talk with the vendor offering free blood pressure screenings.

“I’m doing okay,” she said. “It’s not as bad as I thought. I haven’t taken my medicine.”

There were hamburgers, hotdogs, and plenty of water for guests. The obvious hit in the extreme heat was a snow-cone machine. Children played in a bouncy castle while adults visited the various vendors which included an insurance agency owned by a former church member and held tight to raffle tickets for a long list of door prizes.

Rev. David Thrower, the church’s Senior Pastor, viewed the day as an “effort to bring the community together.”

Hudson stated, “We are praying to make this an annual event.”

With more rural communities looking for ways to overcome some of the obstacles unique to small-towns, Hudson and her fellow church members have found an idea that warrants consideration.