"Egyptian High Alumni Near and Far Take on Rural-Urban Divide," TheSouthern.com

TAMMS — Shorty after the election of President Donald Trump, Erin Malone penned a piece of personal and political reflection for The Nation challenging the common narrative about the rural-urban divide and more specifically the reasons behind it.

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Together, in the wake of the conversations that followed her column, they created a grassroots organization known as Hometown Connect, which aims to inspire, empower and unite people with a connection to the small Alexander County communities near the bottom tip of Illinois that feed into the Egyptian School District — Tamms, Olive Branch, Elco, Hodges Park, Sandusky, Unity and Thebes — either because they still live in these communities or once did.

“Our goal is to connect people who are in small towns and the people who have moved away, to help these communities stay strong even as people have to move away,” Malone said. “Our long-term vision is to make this a model that any small community could follow.”