MARK BRODIE: Four in 10 rural Americans say they have problems paying for medical bills housing or food. That's according to a new poll by NPR the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. This is the second study they've done on life in rural America. And with me to talk about that is KJZZ's Fronteras Desk reporter Laurel Morales in Flagstaff. Hey Laurel.

LAUREL MORALES: Hey Mark.

BRODIE: So how did you get involved with the survey?

MORALES: The survey includes findings from Indian Country. The last time they did this poll my reporting focused on the high number of people living in Indian country who don't have access to safe drinking water. And this time I focused on electricity. The Life in Rural America poll found more than a quarter of Native Americans have experienced problems with electricity, water and the Internet. About one in 10 Navajos live without electricity. It's something you and I take for granted. But with electricity a family can pump water, charge their cell phones, store food even get and maintain a job with the help of the Internet. On the Navajo Nation the homes are so spread out that it costs on average $40,000 to hook up one home to the grid, and half the tribe is unemployed, so you can't raise rates to energize all those homes.

BRODIE: Well how do you see that changing on the Navajo Nation?

MORALES: There's an initiative underway called the Light up Navajo Project. The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority and the nonprofit American Public Power Association have put a callout to utilities across the country to help, so these crews are coming in from all over, from as far away as Massachusetts and Delaware, to volunteer their time to hook up homes to the grid. Still, it's going to take a lot of time. There are 15,000 Navajos without power the 20 or so crews that are coming this year plan to install electricity at more than 100 homes. The tribe is also building solar farms and hooking up families that way.

BRODIE: All right so Laurel what are some of the other key findings from the survey?

MORALES: Almost half rural Americans are dealing with financial insecurity. 49 percent say they can't afford to pay off an unexpected $1000 expense right away. One in three say homelessness is a problem in their local community. On the plus side, the majority say they feel safe from crime in their rural community and they can make a difference in their community.

BRODIE: So Laurel how does this study compare to the last Life in Rural America poll that these groups did?

MORALES: The first survey found the opioid and other drug epidemic. They found that to be the most urgent health issue facing their local community. In this survey, which was done earlier this year, when they were asked about the most important thing that could be done to improve health in local communities, fixing health care was identified as the top approach by more than a third of rural Americans followed by healthier lifestyles, improving the economy and local infrastructure and finally reducing drug and opioid problems. The researchers said these results may reflect an uncertainty about what can be done to reduce the opioid problem.

BRODIE: Alright. That is KJZZ's Laurel Morales with the Fronteras Desk in Flagstaff. Laurel thank you.

MORALES: Thanks so much for having me Mark.

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