On behalf of TruEvolution (Riverside, CA) and the Community Education Group (Shepherdstown, West Virginia), I am writing to invite your organization to join a coalition of rural-serving Community-Based Organizations (CBOs), rural health organizations, and Federally-Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) in asking the House and Senate to include in the forthcoming COVID-19-related stimulus bill specifically appropriated funding dedicated to supporting, expanding, and mobilizing Rural Health Service Providers (#RHSPs) and the long neglected and underfunded public health infrastructures in rural America.

While the definition of "rural" varies, we hope to find a common ground in the disproportionate underinvestment of infrastructure, transportation, and geographic isolation experienced by many of our canyons, hills, plains, mountains, woods, and deserts. We invite you to participate on a call where we can discuss developing a coalition-led approach in our advocacy. The full text of the letter can be found here, and here are some of the highlights of we have requested:

• Dedicate $5b in federal grant monies to be used for:
• Sustaining and supporting existing operations rural health organizations, clinics, and CBOs;
• Expanding operations in order to add or broaden their capacity to provide telehealth/telemedicine services;
• Mobilizing operations by procuring and outfitting mobile units to take healthcare services where rural Americans live;
• Investing in building and expanding the public health infrastructures in rural areas to increase access to services.

We have also provided a ten-point Fact Sheet, which you can find here. We hope that your organization will sign on to this letter and call your members of Congress. Individuals may also sign on to this letter - simply enter "Individual" or your field of work in the "Organization" field. We encourage you to join us and to share this sign on letter and fact sheet with your networks.

Thank you, for taking the time out of your very busy schedules to read this E-mail. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to Gabriel Maldonado (TruEvolution) or A. Toni Young (Community Education Group).

Be well,