On October 16-17, 2025, Rural Studio hosted the ACES Housing Forum, a gathering of extension specialists and other Alabama housing experts. ACES, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, is an outreach program that provides education and resources to citizens statewide. In collaboration with Alabama A&M and Tuskegee University, Auburn University works with farmers, communities, youth organizations and other organizations to bring the expertise of universities and help solve the problems of Alabama citizens.
Another aim of ACES is to address housing challenges in underserved communities, so they partnered with Rural Studio to share knowledge and build support networks. Rural Studio’s own Emily Glohn and Betsy Garcia are Auburn Extension Specialists, and they organized the ACES Housing Forum. The meeting brought Rural Studio faculty together with experts in property tax, heirs property, health and wellness, and disaster preparedness. Through two days of meetings, they explored myriad ways in which housing impacts the lives of Alabama citizens—monetarily, physically, and generationally.
Along with hosting, Rural Studio faculty introduced several facets of the Studio’s mission: student projects, the Front Porch Initiative, the Farm, and the Wasterwater Project. Combining the expertise of the extension participants with Rural Studio’s embedded knowledge and experience in West Alabama offers the potential for innovative extension partnerships roots. Emily believes this partnership can help expand Rural Studio’s impact:
The ACES Housing Forum provided the opportunity for Rural Studio’s team, Extension Specialists, and housing experts to collaborate about the needs of Alabama citizens. The meeting strengthened the relationship between Rural Studio and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System by exploring many implications of housing—the rural housing crisis, in particular—and how homes impact people and communities.
One strong connection was homesteading and farming. ACES works with individual homesteaders to better leverage their land for self-sustaining food production. Eric Ball, the Rural Studio Farmer, provided a tour of the Farm and explained how he uses organic methods and natural resources like sunlight and rainwater to grow about 6,000 pounds of produce a year, which provides fresh ingredients for meals served to the Rural Studio community. Rural Studio’s farming techniques may provide strategies for homesteaders in Alabama’s food deserts, communities without regular access to fresh fruits and vegetables.
The Front Porch Initiative team gained valuable insight from experts in heirs property. Dr. Portia Johnson and Dr. Ryan Thompson from the National Heirs’ Property Research (in collaboration with the Southern Rural Development Center, SRDC) and Dr. Adam Rabinowitz and Dr. Portia Johnson from the Alabama Heirs’ Property Alliance explained the housing challenges of heirs property, which is land that has been inherited over generations to multiple family members who co-own the property, often without the legal benefits of deeds and other ownership documents. The presenters also described the informational resources being provided to Alabama property owners about the ownership and deeding rights of heirs property holders.
Emily sees the ACES Housing Forum as a starting point for more collaboration between Rural Studio, ACES, and other housing specialists: “The two-day event created connections that will lead to future events and collaborations. We look forward to developing this partnership and providing more resources for the citizens of Alabama.”