October 31, 2025
Thursday, November 20, 2025 | 4 – 5:30 p.m. ET
Each year, as we recognize the third Thursday of November as Rural Health Day, it’s important to acknowledge that mental health is the foundation of overall health for the 46 million people living in rural communities across the country. There is a mental health emergency in rural America due to inherent barriers to mental healthcare that lead to suicide rates that are 49% higher among rural residents compared to urban residents. You may not realize it, but regardless of where you live – a city, the suburbs, in the country – you depend upon the mental and physical wellness of the people living in rural America for the food you eat every day. Rural communities include those who labor to raise, harvest, process, and package the foods that fill our shopping carts and satisfy our appetites.
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Jeff Winton is the Founder and Chairman of Rural Minds. A family tragedy led to Jeff founding Rural Minds with the mission to serve as the informed voice for mental health for the 46 million people living in farming, ranching, and agriculture communities, small towns, and isolated areas across rural America. Rural Minds is the only national 501c3 nonprofit focused on advocating for rural mental health equity, promoting mental wellness, and providing educational content to confront rural mental health challenges.
Living on a dairy farm in rural New York State throughout his life, Jeff recognized the greater stigma that surrounds mental illness in rural communities as the biggest barrier to people getting the help they need. Jeff is also the CEO of Jeff Winton Associates, a full-service communications and corporate affairs agency he co-founded in 2020 after a communications career with major U.S. and international biopharmaceutical companies.
NAMI HelpLine is available M-F, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. ET. Call 800-950-6264,
text “NAMI” to 62640, or email. In a crisis, call or text 988 (24/7).