The Places That Hold Us

Rural communities are often defined by their resilience, but resilience doesn’t happen by accident. It is built through partnerships, shared purpose, and people who choose to invest in the places they call home. As CEO of the Shiawassee Family YMCA and a longtime leader in education and community development, Laura Archer understands what it takes to help rural communities not just survive, but truly thrive.

​ALLIÉ: When people hear the words “rural community,” they often think about what those communities lack. What do you think people overlook about the strengths that already exist there?

LAURA: I think it’s important that people recognize every single community is different.

My experience in rural communities comes from having grown up in one about the same size as the one I’m living and working in now, here in the Upper Peninsula. The same thing held true when I was a kid and teenager: you better watch what you’re doing, because everybody knows you and your family.

​At the time, that probably didn’t always feel like an asset, although I was never really in trouble. But as an adult, and as a transplant into this community, now mind you, a 30-year transplant, I see those strong family ties differently. People know the community and know each other. Those family ties, in some way, infiltrate the community culture so that people are more likely to have conversations and collaborate at a different level than they might in a community where nobody knows anybody or who they are connected to.

One of the biggest assets small communities have is that there are so many people who care about the community. When you find people who align, especially in organizations where there is mission overlap, you can develop really strong and powerful collaborations and partnerships. But even when there is not a lot of overt or very clear mission overlap, if you care about the community, you care about the community. We find ways to care about it together.

Some people think of a small rural community and think about agriculture, which may be part of it. They may think about higher levels of poverty, which may also be part of it. They may think about free and reduced lunch for all, which is true in many places. However, what is often overlooked is that level of collaboration based on our common care and concern for the community.

Because it is a small community, many individuals are really invested. If you can tap into that interest, and I would argue that passion, you can find partners in sometimes very unusual places. There is collaborative, overlapping care. It is a community caring for itself.

Even in a world where so much feels divisive, people are open to having conversations when they care about the community. It is fun to be in a place where so many people care. I have seen it in two different parts of our state, and I would argue I have seen it in my work statewide and nationwide as well. When you find people who care about your community, you can find a way to collaborate, develop momentum, and make some powerful things happen.

ALLIÉ: I agree a thousand percent. To summarize, it’s community first. If you are community first, and you make that the priority, then it’s not about what divides us but what unites us. We can find a way forward together. We don’t have to do it alone.

LAURA: Correct. As we have lived through the last decade, whether people point to politics, the pandemic, the economy, or whatever perspective they bring to the table, I would argue that we are more collaborative now, sometimes out of necessity. But I also think living in a rural community allows us to see the need in our entire community more clearly than if we were in a larger area moving 10,000 miles an hour.

We do move 10,000 miles an hour, but a lot of times we are moving in parallel directions or in the same direction. There are benefits to being in a community where people care. Even if their organizations have a totally different focus than yours, you can find commonality through that caring piece.

ALLIÉ: Let’s talk about your career for a moment. Throughout your career in education and now nonprofit leadership, you have worked in organizations that serve as community anchors. What role do institutions like the YMCA play in holding a community together?

LAURA: I think it is important to create community spaces where people feel comfortable gathering and connecting.
At our YMCA, someone may feel comfortable coming in to pick up food from the little food pantry outside our main entrance. Maybe they are coming to send their kids to summer camp. Maybe they are a SilverSneakers member who really has not worked out ever, but in the last six or seven years of retirement, they have realized they need to stay active and would like to be with other people who are retired or at the same stage of life.

Being connected to an organization that creates those communities, that serves as a community hub, is really critical. All healthy communities, whether rural, metropolitan, or somewhere in between, have spaces where people can gather, feel like they belong, and feel like they can connect without being asked to check part of themselves at the door.

I was fortunate to be raised as a professional here in Owosso at Baker College. At the time, we were all encouraged as employees to be involved in the community in areas that made sense for us. I had young children then, and I got involved with the American Red Cross. One of my daughters tells the story about the first time she ever volunteered. She was volunteered by her mother. It was a food distribution, and she remembers seeing people she went to school with come through the line. None of the volunteers treated those families, especially the parents, any differently than we would have if we were standing next to each other on the soccer sidelines, at a band concert, or at any other community event.

​There have to be organizations in the community creating opportunities for the next generation to give back. I am not the only one. A lot of us have our kids come help and volunteer.

When you look at organizations like the YMCA, or I would argue Baker College, that encourage their employees and families to get involved in the community, there has to be a place for that. Those organizations are learning organizations. That does not necessarily mean they offer education. A learning organization is aware of its community. It is flexible. It is adaptable. It helps its employees, members, staff, and everyone connected to it change and morph. You do not get stuck in the status quo. To me, that is an organization that learns and changes as it knows more.

All healthy communities need organizations like that. I am grateful that in the nonprofit arena here in Shiawassee County, we have a strong network of nonprofits. I am thrilled that our YMCA is part of that, because it allows us to stand stronger and braver than if we were standing alone.

​ALLIÉ: There is power in numbers, for sure. The more of us who can come together to do this work, the stronger we are. Every rural community faces challenges, from childcare and healthcare access to workforce shortages and food insecurity. Why is collaboration between nonprofits, businesses, schools, and local government more important now than ever?

LAURA: There are two reasons, really. One is that anybody who might be experiencing food insecurity is connected somewhere. Maybe it is through a governmental agency. Maybe they are a college student. Maybe they are working with someone who is classified as a Shiawassee County employee. Maybe they are connected through the nonprofit arena. Through all of those connections, we need to make sure we are creating access points for people to be served.

The clearest example of this is food insecurity. When we were fortunate enough to bring someone on staff in late 2025 as a director of food access and support, he already had connections throughout the entire county. We were able to increase access to food, and it is not just from the YMCA. It is through different pantries, different mobile distributions, and the DoorDash program through the Greater Lansing Food Bank.

We have to have regular conversations so that if somebody is in need, we know where to send them. The need has increased so dramatically. Forty-nine percent of the city of Owosso and 43% of the entire county are considered part of the ALICE population, which is data collected by United Way nationwide. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. These are our working poor. They may have to make decisions about whether they are going to feed their family or pay a utility bill, whether they are going to save money for gas to get to work or buy food.

When 49% of the city of Owosso and 43% of the entire county are struggling to make ends meet, literally living paycheck to paycheck, it is important that all individuals who have connections to citizens, families, and seniors within the community know where to send someone if they need a resource.

It is more important now than ever because the need is greater than it has been in my professional career. If we can create larger and more readily available access points for whatever the resource may be, we are all better for it. These are our neighbors. When around 45% of a population may be struggling, we all have neighbors, family, and friends who are part of this.

It is the responsible thing to do. I say that as a nonprofit leader, but I also say that as a human being. It is important that we give back to our neighbors. A rising tide raises all ships.

When we look at social determinants of health, nutrition is right at the top. If kids do not have food, their growth and development are negatively impacted. If we can create greater access points, and I use food as an example because we feed a lot of people from the YMCA and share access points through the YMCA, then it is the responsible thing to do. It is also the kind thing to do.

ALLIÉ: And it is what is needed right now. Let’s talk about sustainability. Sustainable communities are not built overnight. In your experience, what investments, whether of time, finances, or resources, create the greatest long-term impact for families and future generations?

LAURA: Number one, I think it is important to invest in the long-term health of a community. That means using tools like the Community Health Needs Assessment and the MiPHY data, the Michigan Profile for Healthy Youth data that gets collected. It means looking at statewide data too, because in a rural community, we are not always able to collect data at the same volume. But we know that if something is going on in all the other corners of the state, it is probably going on here as well.

Whether it has to do with feeding kids or some of the other challenges people face, we have to recognize where we are from a 10,000-foot level. It is almost like continuously sticking a stick in the sand to see where you are today so you can have a vision for tomorrow.

As you do community building and community health work, and by health I mean people having access to what they need, you have to have a vision for what needs to be done immediately and what needs to be done long term to be sustainable.

How are we helping build skills? How are we helping create avenues and access points to resources that organizations may need? What kind of public relations campaigns are we getting out there so families know they have the Shiawassee County Health Department, the Great Start Readiness Program, and other programs available when they become a family or become a parent for the first time?

Part of it is getting the word out. Part of it is also making sure the people in decision-making positions are aware of what is going on in the community, what initiatives are being worked on, talked about, piloted, or put in place. That way, when resources outside the county become available, whether state money, federal money, or another source, we are poised and ready. We know the need. We know our data. We know the organizations best suited to partner for that funding opportunity.

The challenge is that many of us do work that is not self-funded. In the nonprofit world, we rely on donations and grants. Yes, some of us have revenue streams, but very often the money we spend on food access, childcare efforts, or out-of-school-time programs comes from grant funds.

For an organization and a community to be sustainable, we have to develop the right partnerships. That also includes having partnerships and ready access to individuals who have decision-making power at the state and federal level. That is where the advocacy piece comes in. You need to know who to talk to, and they need to know who you are. They need to know what you are doing.

For some of this work to be sustainable, I cannot make enough money as a YMCA to offer everything that is needed. We have to look at other funding opportunities and other sources that are willing to invest in our community.

Having conversations with leaders of governmental agencies, county-led institutions, other nonprofits, and school systems matters. When we are all talking about the same issues and looking for solutions, we become thought partners. Then we can share in decision-making conversations with those who have the power to make decisions.

ALLIÉ: It is all about connecting the dots the right way with that common denominator. It is also about looking at how we sustain what is needed now while also sustaining what comes next. It is a blend and balance between the now and the next. If we cannot figure it out now, we cannot get to the next. And if we do not think about the next, the now will not properly support it.

One more question for you today, Laura. If someone wanted to make a meaningful difference in their own community, where would you encourage them to begin?

LAURA: Find an experience that Is important to you in your own life and find a way to connect to that. We cannot sustain work when it is hard if we do not care about it and are not passionate about it. If a young professional is interested in trying to have an impact in their community, they need to think about what experience they have had, or maybe what experience they did not have. Perhaps it is the absence of something that makes them want to ensure other kids do not have that same absence.

​Whatever it is, the work is hard. You know this. We know each other well enough that there have been times when I have said, “Oh my gosh, this day has been insane.” Sometimes insane can be good because it is leading to something. But sometimes the work is hard. Sometimes it is really just sad.

For anybody who wants to do sustainable work in giving back to a community, you have to find a passion, and it has to come from you. This is not work that only happens out here. This is heart work.

When I go home some days, my head is tired. You know this because we have had these conversations. My head is tired. But my heart does not get tired. It gets sad. Then that helps re-motivate me to go back the next day if it has been tough.

Everybody has to find that within themselves. What is really important to you as someone who wants to give back to a community? Then you find a connecting point. You find an organization that shares that passion. Whether it is feeding people, making sure kids get bicycles in the summertime, making sure seniors have someone to help with financial decision-making or taxes, or something else entirely, you have to find something that is important to you.
When the work gets hard, if you do not feel passionately about it, you will just walk away. We need people who are going to stick.

ALLIÉ: I love that. Sustainability has to be heart-centered, because that is what you need to keep going.

LAURA: Exactly. That is why one of my favorite things to do here at the Y is the work with different generations. I am not talking about millennials versus Gen Xers. I am talking about kids working with seniors, young adults working with seniors, adults working with kids. We run the gamut here at the YMCA, and I absolutely love it.

There are different needs at different phases of life. It is important to recognize that we are helping people be healthier. Sometimes that is physical, but sometimes it is emotional. Sometimes it is mental. We are not licensed practitioners here, but we create opportunities for people to be active, to connect, and for kids to make friends they would not have made in their own little neighborhood.

You have to find where that heart work is. We can use our heads, but community-building work has to have heart work in it, or it is not sustainable. When you look at it, the people with the biggest passions are the ones who find the resources, find the right partners, and create the opportunities. It is about creating opportunities. I would love it if we had enough resources for all the organizations that serve kids to help create equalized experiences, so every child who wanted to dance could dance. Every child who wanted to take an art class could take an art class. Every child who wanted to play soccer could play soccer.

It is important to recognize that it has to come from the heart if it is going to be sustainable. ∎

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Learn more about the Shiawassee Family YMCA: www.shiawasseeymca.org