National Rural Health Day

This is a day to celebrate the uniqueness and charm of rural America and its citizens. Each state office of rural health will be working to increase awareness for rural healthcare and highlighting the efforts and achievements towards advocacy in rural communities. Below you’ll find a few of the highlights and happenings for this year's celebration. When you visit the Power of Rural Website, you’ll see what else is happening across the country.

Ways to Celebrate

Read Governor Gretchen Whitmer's 2025 Rural Health Day Proclamation

2025 Proclamation

Meet the 2025 Michigan Community Star: Kari Granz!

The Michigan Center for Rural Health is proud to join NOSORH in honoring Kari Granz as Michigan’s Community Star. Kari serves as the Program and Communication Specialist at the Thumb Community Health Partnership, where she brings people, organizations, and healthcare providers together to address the most significant health challenges facing rural families in Michigan’s Thumb region.

Kari’s work focuses on building cross-sector partnerships and developing community-based solutions in behavioral health, chronic disease, workforce development, and social determinants of health. She also leads region-wide outreach and stigma-reduction campaigns and supports local Health Insurance Navigators to ensure rural residents can access and enroll in health coverage.

Kari is also deeply committed to investing in the next generation of rural healthcare workers through TCHP’s youth career awareness programming. Her leadership in innovative efforts—such as the Man Therapy campaign addressing men’s mental health—and her collaboration on workforce initiatives like the FERN Program - Flint Educates Rural Nurses reflect her dedication to strengthening rural health.

Congratulations, Kari, on this tremendous honor!

Read the Full Story | Learn more about Kari and other Community Stars nationwide.

Explore New NRHD Key Messages & Data Points

The Key Messages & Data Points resource is made available each year to educate various stakeholders on the realities of rural through stories and data. Though the statistics and facts presented in this resource do not tell the whole story, they are essential to understand when developing policies and programs that affect the health of rural communities.

Read More

NRHD Promotional Toolkit

Help support National Rural Health Day and join the “Power of Rural” celebration with the Promotional Toolkit! These free downloadable tools are designed for rural communities, hospitals, clinics, first responders, public health, non-profits, civic organizations, and others who serve and support the health needs of rural communities.

Toolkit

NRHD Hashtags & MCRH Social Media Tags

Make sure to tag the Michigan Center for Rural Health when sharing your 2025 National Rural Health Day celebrations on your social media channels!
MCRH Facebook: @MCRH91
MCRH LinkedIn: @Michigan Center for Rural Health

Questions? Contact

Michigan Center for Rural Health
Aleah Huse | Projects & Communications Coordinator
husealea@msu.edu