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News from 2008

Braun Named First Endowed Chair of Horowitz Center

The Rural Maryland Council (RMC) Vice Chairman and Health Care Working Committee Chairman Dr. Bonnie Braun has been named the first Endowed Chair of the University of Maryland's School of Public Health and Director of the newly created Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy.

Created with a generous endowment from the Horowitz family, the Herschel S. Horowitz Center for Health Literacy is the first academic center for health literacy in the United States.

Dr. Braun, an Associate Professor in the School of Public Health's Department of Family Science and a State Family Policy Specialist with Maryland Cooperative Extension, is a long-time member of the RMC Executive Board. She is also the founder and creator of the RMC's Rural Families Program, a direct service grant program funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation which provides grants to rural-serving nonprofit organizations that help low income rural families become economically stable. Her research focus at the university includes extensive study of low-income, rural family health and well-being.

"I envision the Horowitz Center being a place where different schools, communities, and institutions can come together and learn more about improving the quality of the health decisions people make," said Dr. Braun. "It is a mechanism to achieve something that we couldn't do alone."

The Rural Maryland Council will work very closely with Dr. Braun during the next six months as she begins laying the foundation for the Horowitz Center. By continuing their association during this start-up phase of the Center, the RMC and Dr. Braun will help ensure that the unique needs and concerns of Rural Maryland are considered in the Center's plans and activities as it works to extend health literacy throughout the state.

Health literacy is defined as "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions." It affects every choice families make about their health and welfare, from understanding insurance forms to communicating effectively with their health care providers. The center aims to improve poor health literacy and contribute new knowledge and interventions to enhance and integrate health literacy in all aspects of health, social and education programs and thus improve health outcomes.

As the Endowed Chair, Dr. Braun will lay the foundation for the Horowitz Center in collaboration with the Center's Advisory Board, overseeing the creation of a strategic plan and the implementation of priority research, service and education activities in this burgeoning field of study. Dr. Braun will lead the effort in educating faculty, students and the greater community about health literacy, establishing partnerships with aligned programs within the university and beyond.

Author of more than 100 articles, Dr. Braun is a nationally-recognized researcher in the fields of family health and health policy, and has received numerous awards for her work. She earned her Ph.D. in Family Consumer Sciences Education from the University of Missouri, and recently served as the President of American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences and as Co-Director of the Maryland Family Policy Impact Seminar.

The Center is named after accomplished public health scientist, educator and advocate Dr. Herschel S. Horowitz who is most notably praised for his pioneering studies of fluoride and dental sealants in preventing the most common human disease, tooth decay. A major proponent of health promotion and disease prevention, he advocated for the addition of fluoride to community water supplies, one of the great public health successes of the 20th century.

"I firmly believe that health literacy is one pathway to reducing health inequalities and alleviating chronic diseases in this country," says Dr. Alice Horowitz, Research Professor and wife of the late Dr. Hershel Horowitz. "My goal for the Horowitz Center is to help Maryland become the most health-literate state in the nation, and serve as a model and a catalyst for change to the rest of the country."

Ross Elected to Chair Broadband Coordination Board

(June 16, 2008) -- Charlie Ross, president and CEO of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce and chair of the RMC, has been elected to a one-year term as chairman of the Maryland Broadband Coordination Board, beginning July 1, 2008. He replaces Worcester County Commissioner Virgil Shockley, who served two terms as chairman and will remain on the Board.

Established by the Maryland General Assembly in 2006, the Rural Broadband Coordination Board is responsible for overseeing efforts to deploy broadband infrastructure in rural and underserved areas of the state. The Board is also responsible for reviewing and approving all disbursements from the Rural Broadband Assistance Fund, which was also established in 2006. During the last two years, the Coordination Board has been responsible for more than $13 million in state and federal funding. Read the complete release.

Eleven Rural Communities Awarded Free Trees

(March 19, 2008) – Eleven rural communities have been selected to receive trees through a new pilot project sponsored by the Rural Maryland Council and the TREE-Mendous Maryland Program of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Forest Service. Governor Martin O'Malley called this partnership, "a prime example of how we are working in a more sustainable way to preserve and protect our natural resources and the quality of life that we enjoy as Marylanders." Read more

HCWC Release Review of DAC Recommendations

Impact of the Dental Action Committee’s Recommendations On Maryland’s Rural Communities, prepared by the Rural Maryland Council Health Care Working Commitee, reviews the impact the DAC recommendations will have on rural health care. (February 2008)

Pilot Project Announced: Community Tree Planting

Deadline February 14 -- The Rural Maryland Council and the TREE-MENDOUS MARYLAND Program of the Department of Natural Resources Forest Service are undertaking a pilot project to identify rural communities that want to plant shade trees. These trees can:

What's the catch?

The agency, organization or local government that receives the trees must:

Apply by February 14, 2008 for consideration for a spring planting project. As this is a Pilot Project, only 10 projects will be considered. Apply Now.

For more information, contact Terry Galloway at tgalloway@dnr.state.md.us or call 410-260-8510.

Note: These trees are provided for the purpose of creating shade, wildlife habitat, beautifying town streets and other purposes related to preserving and expanding urban and community forests. They are not provided for riparian buffers or other conservation purposes.

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Waterfront Commission Begins Meeting

(February 2008) - The Working Waterfront Commission, created by legislation enacted during the 2007 Maryland General Assembly session, is charged with studying and making recommendations regarding the protection and preservation of Maryland's commercial seafood industry's access to public trust waters. Governor O’Malley appointed MARBIDCO Executive Director Steve McHenry to chair the Commission, which has recently begun meeting. For more information about the Commission.

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News from 2007

Pharmacy Work Group Briefs Legislative Committees
(January 2007) The Rural Maryland Council co-sponsored three Pharmacy Matters forums around the state during the fall of 2006 to get input about pharmacy issues in rural communities. The team that conducted the forums were among those briefing the Senate Finance Committee and the House Government Operations Committee during Jan. 31, 2007. The Pharmacy Matters forums were sponsored in partnership with the Center on Drugs and Public Policy, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, the Peter Lamy Center for Drug Therapy and Aging, the Maryland Rural Health Association, the College of Southern Maryland and the University of Maryland College Park. Read a summary of the comments made by forum participants. Also see:

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News from 2006

Collaboration to Empower Older People
The Maryland Department of Aging, which was recently awarded a three-year Evidence-Based Prevention Programs grant, will partner with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Governor's Office of Community Initiatives, Office of Service and Volunteerism, the Rural Maryland Council, Towson University, and two health insurance companies to encourage older people to take charge of their health by providing the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP) in six Planning Service Areas and the Active for Life program in one of those six. The approach is to develop state and local partnerships -- including AAAs, aging services provider organizations, local health departments, health care providers, faith-based organizations, and other agencies in their jurisdictions -- to provide the CDSMP in many settings in order to promote the program and make it available to a wide audience.

Rural Maryland Council Elects New Chairman
Charlie Ross, President and CEO of the Garrett County Chamber of Commerce, was elected chairman of the Rural Maryland Council (RMC) during its annual meeting on October 26, 2006. His one-year term begins in January 2007. Mr. Ross succeeds Phyllis Kilby, a Cecil County dairy farmer and county commissioner, who served as council chair for the past three years. Read more.

2006 Rural Impact Awards Announced
Nine rural leaders and organizations (including one state legislator) were recognized for their outstanding efforts to improve the quality of life in rural Maryland during the Annual Rural Awards Luncheon held during the 9th Annual Maryland Rural Summit on Thursday, October 26. Read more.

Rural Maryland Broadband Coordination Board Holds Inaugural Meeting.
A major step in the development of a statewide broadband network serving rural areas of Maryland occurred on August 14, 2006 at the Offices of the Maryland Rural Council in Annapolis when the Maryland Rural Broadband Coordination Board held its inaugural meeting. Read more.

Six Organizations Receive Grants to Help Strengthen Families
Six organizations serving Rural Maryland have been awarded grants from the Strengthening Rural Maryland Families Initiative, which is administered by the Rural Maryland Council with funding from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. This is the second year of the initiative and these are the second round of grantees to receive assistance for programs that help rural families achieve financial self sufficiency. Read more.

2020 Rural Prosperity Initiative
(January 25, 2006) RMC has issued a special report on the 2020 Rural Prosperity Initiative, Building on the Past; Investing in the future which outlines a vision for Rural Maryland through 2020. Download the Report(PDF). January 2006

RMC's December 2005 Updates
RMC has issued two end of the year updates. Read the RMC Fall 2005 Update as well as the end of the Maryland Agricultural and Resource- Based Industry Development Corporation or MARBIDCO Fall 2005 Update. Both were released in December 2005

2005 Rural Achievement Awards Announced (posted Oct. 28, 2005)
Four rural organizations and four rural leaders (including two state legislators) were recognized for their outstanding efforts to improve the quality of life in rural Maryland during the Annual Rural Awards Luncheon held during the 8th Annual Maryland Rural Summit on October 28. The Rural Awards and the Annual Rural Maryland Summit are sponsored by the Rural Maryland Council, the Maryland Rural Health Association, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Office of Primary Care and Rural Health, and the state’s five rural regional planning and development councils. Click here to read about the award winners.

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