Rural Voice Hosting Town Hall in Owatonna to Examine Healthcare and Mental Health

Rural Voice, the statewide town hall series amplifying perspectives from Greater Minnesota, will host a town hall discussion in Owatonna at Mineral Springs Brewery on Monday, September 29, with a focus on healthcare and mental health in rural Minnesota.

Moderated by Rural Voice co-founder and Minnesota Public Radio host, Kerri Miller, the free event begins at 5 p.m. with pizza. The town hall discussion, which will be recorded for Minnesota Public Radio, will be held from 6 p.m. until 7:30 p.m. A reception will follow the evening’s discussion.

“The Rural Voice conversations have revealed just how nuanced, thoughtful, and solution-oriented rural communities are,” said Kerri. “Over the past three years, we’ve heard directly from people living rural experiences every day. It’s not a stereotype. It’s a dynamic, evolving chorus of perspectives that deserves to be heard. We are looking forward to our fourth upcoming season this September.”

The Rural Voice series, which has visited more than a dozen rural communities in Minnesota since 2022, is supported by the Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, as well as the Minnesota Initiative Foundations.

“We each carry around so many personal and community stories of the ways that mental health and rural healthcare affect our lives and those of our friends and family — understandably, this can be overwhelming to the point of inaction,” shared Benya Kraus, SMIF president and CEO. “The Rural Voice town hall is an opportunity for not only health experts, but also neighbors and friends, to shine light on what is needed locally. SMIF looks forward to having this initial conversation be a springboard to shaping continued action around an issue that all of us are profoundly touched by in some way.”

The 2025 Town Hall schedule also includes:

● September 3 – Cloquet, Tribal Rights
● September 8 – Wilmar, How Immigration Has Worked
● September 15 – Wadena, Mental Health and Social Isolation

Each Rural Voice event will be broadcast statewide via Minnesota Public Radio about a week after each event.

About Rural Voice
The Rural Voice series was launched in 2022 by former Minnesota U.S. Congressman Tim Penny, Kerri Miller, and Teresa McFarland with ongoing support from the Minnesota Initiative Foundations to foster civic engagement and elevate voices from across Greater Minnesota. Minnesota Public Radio, The Center for Rural Policy and Development, Cherry Road Media and Indigenous Business Advisors (IBA) are partners of Rural Voice. Since its inception, the series has convened dozens of conversations in rural communities, focused on uncovering shared values and surfacing local solutions to statewide challenges.
To learn more about the Rural Voice, visit www.ruralvoice.org.