Rural areas may be hit hard by state, federal policy changes. New group organizes, builds support

Rural communities are forced to grapple with significant policy changes to social service programs at the state and federal levels. An organization in southern Indiana is bringing people together around a shared mission — that they deserve better.

Everyone had their own reason for being in Friendship Park on Main Street in Mitchell, Indiana.

A mother shared how Indiana’s Applied Behavioral Analysis therapy cuts would affect her and her family. An Army veteran held a poster that explained her presence was something she felt fell under her oath to serve the American people. Someone else carried a sign telling the U.S. representatives and senators for Indiana that they represent all of Indiana, “not just the 1 percent.”