Meet RuFES

A few years ago, West Central Initiative worked with the Annie E. Casey Foundation to create an approach to helping low-income working families in west central Minnesota thrive.

Rural Family Economic Success, or RuFES, as it's called, is a framework based on three components: Earn it. Keep it. Grow it. These goals describe what families need to do to achieve economic success.

Recently the Annie E. Casey Foundation published a paper on how WCI helps implement the RuFES approach in west central Minnesota. Take a look. You can also find it on WCI's Web site home page, www.wcif.org.

The agrarian life was never so fancy!

While a WCI staffer was in Washington D.C. in "consultative sessions" with colleagues from around the country, her husband enjoyed all that the city had to offer, including lunch at Agraria (pictured).

This cosmopolitan restaurant actually has its roots in the Upper Midwest. It was originally conceived by the North Dakota Farmers Union with the intent to promote and enable the American family farmer to capture a greater share of the food dollar. The restaurant is a family-farmer owned and sourced restaurant with contemporary American cuisine that emphasizes seasonal dishes from across the country. Diners at Agraria are helping to support family farmers that proudly supply the food, “From Our Fields to Your Table™.”

Meanwhile, our hard-working staffer did her own part supporting rural families by offering advice and brainstorming about a Rural Family Economic Success Community Action Guide and Idea Book that is being developed by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and the Aspen Institute.