Rural Reporting
From 2014 until 2019, Elizabeth Zach was the staff writer at the nonprofit Rural Community Assistance Corporation, based in California. Founded four decades ago upon the principles that guided Cesar Chavez and his farmworker housing movement, RCAC has gradually taken on more causes such as clean water, affordable housing, and economic development. Elizabeth's writing focused on the depth of challenges facing the rural American U.S. West, namely drought, an affordable housing shortage, and both Native American and generational poverty, and illustrated how RCAC addresses each with sustainable solutions.
Economic development + lending
- Building Rural Economies helps Hatch launch farmers, artisans market
- Entrepreneur’s Dream comes to Fruition
- Investment Collaborative Helps Fund Native-owned Business
- Building a Sense of Community in Kunia Village
- Fallon Food Hub Brings Farm-to-Fork Choices to Community
- Breathing New Life into Enterprise, Oregon’s historic OK Theatre
- From Vine to Wine—Cedar Band’s Beverage Company Secures its Place in the Industry
- Idyllic Farmers Markets, Despite Good Intentions, Leave Farmers Disillusioned and Yearning for Reinvention
- Don’t Fence Me In
- Success and Setbacks
- Sew Pieceful in Lewistown, Montana
- OverTime Sports Bar & Grill Serves Up Entertainment in Historic Setting
- RCAC Loans Help Rural Communities Expand Healthcare Services
- Hoopa Valley Tribe Helps Community Access Healthy Food
- RCAC Loan Helps Restaurant Owners Realize Their Dream
Housing
- Dreams Become Reality in Zero Energy Affordable Homes
- Southern Montana’s Crow Tribe Works to House its Homeless Veterans
- 502 Direct Loan Packaging Program Increases Access to Home Ownership
- Housing Counseling Helps Build Financial Stability
- Self-Help Housing Provides Home Ownership Opportunities for Low-Income Alaska Residents
- Women Find Opportunity, Hope in Self-Help Housing Program
- Community Rebuilds Continues to Break the Mold for Self-Help Housing
- Family Spotlight – Alex and Angela Anderson
- Crossroads: Art Meets Affordable Housing
- Keep Napa Green?
- Hualapai Tribe Puts THE Academy Training into Practice
- Working Together to Preserve Affordable Housing
Water + Wastewater infrastructure
- Tribal circuit riders build water and wastewater capacity
- Tribe, School Collaborate to Provide Safe Water for Students
- Elk City Water and Sewer Association Takes Steps to Sustainable Solutions
- Matheny Tract Has Access to Water After Struggling for Decades
- Coachella Valley Agua4All Program Evaluation Shows Increased Water Consumption
- Small System Solves Water Woes – Cooperation is Key
- After the Fire, a Slow Reimagining and Rebuilding
- Agua4All Providing Access to Safe Drinking Water
- The Story of San Miguel
- Jones Valley’s Special Day
Poverty
- California’s Rural Communities Face Hurdles in Fight Against Poverty
- Blond ambition: Attorney Megan Beaman Pursues Housing and Social Justice for Eastern Coachella Valley Residents
- Sarah Deer, lawyer and 2014 MacArthur Fellow, examines poverty and domestic violence on tribal lands
- RCAC Loans Help Rural Communities Expand Healthcare Services