Patchwork Nation project director Dante Chinni answered your questions about how funds from President Barack Obama's economic stimulus package are making their way across the country and about the Patchwork Nation reporting project itself.

---

When it comes to securing highway funds from the federal stimulus package, there is one clear winner thus far: rural, agricultural America. The 287 counties in Tractor Country have received an average of $144 per capita in stimulus highway dollars, according to an analysis by the Patchwork Nation project and ProPublica. That is by far the largest per capita amount.

---

Health care reform, President Obama's key domestic challenge, cleared a major hurdle Tuesday but a look through Patchwork Nation shows that support for reform is still below 50 percent in 10 of 12 of the project's community types.

---

A look at home prices over the course of a year in Patchwork Nation's community types found that many home owners saw the value of their large lifetime investment fall, a troubling sign for the economy as a whole.

---

As economists and politicians point to a possible economic turnaround, Patchwork Nation's September Hardship Index found that troublesome economic indicators are starting to level off, as they did in August, yet times are still getting tougher in some places.

---

It’s the middle of summer, fishing time, and anyone who has ever cast a line will understand the July Economic Hardship Index. It seems to show an economy that is bumping along the bottom. Occasionally there seems to be life on the line, but those feelings are fleeting.

---

As economists search for signs that the recession is abating, a look at the breakdown of foreclosures in Patchwork Nation's community types finds that a new wave may be impacting the U.S. differently and could stall recovery.

---

As new jobs numbers show Friday that employers cut a larger-than-expected 467,000 jobs in June, driving the unemployment rate up to a 26-year high of 9.5 percent, Patchwork Nation is examining why certain community types are experiencing deeper job losses than others.

---

Even in good times, Edgecombe County in North Carolina has had a steadily declining manufacturing industry and one of the highest unemployment rates in the state. In a Patchwork Nation report, UNC-TV looks at the struggles of this Minority Central community as it tries to weather this recession.

---

John Tulenko of Learning Matters reports on how one school district in Hartford, Conn., a Patchwork Nation Industrial Metropolis and the second poorest city per capita in America, is handling the recession, and how the state is using stimulus funds to close budget deficits rather than increase education spending.

---

As President Obama's administration and Congress tackle the challenging task of health care reform, an examination of the number of uninsured people in Patchwork Nation communities reveals that the areas hardest hit between 2000 and 2005 were the wealthier Monied Burbs and Boom Towns.

---

Patchwork Nation is a NewsHour/Christian Science Monitor reporting project that explores what is happening in the United States by examining different kinds of communities over time. In this audio slide show, project director Dante Chinni explains how America's 3,141 counties are divided into 12 types of communities.

---

St. Lawrence County in New York is the largest land mass county east of the Mississippi, and its low population, around 110,000, makes it one of the most rural. In Patchwork Nation, St. Lawrence County represents Service Worker Centers, the community type made up of small to midsize towns that are especially sensitive to economic troubles.

---

Located in southeastern Virginia, Hampton Roads is one of the world's biggest and deepest natural harbors and home to the world's largest naval base at Norfolk.

---

Unemployment rates of 8 percent and higher are uncharted territory for most communities across the nation, but in Edgecombe County, N.C., those sorts of numbers are familiar ground.

---

In his latest coverage about people hit hard by the economic downturn, NewsHour correspondent Spencer Michels reports from Antioch, Calif., about the growing numbers of people who, despite taking on more hours at work or second and third jobs, are unable to make a sustainable living.

---

The BEGIN New Venture Center at the St. Patrick Center in St. Louis is one of more than 1,200 business incubators in the U.S. In addition to helping small businesses grow with financial aid and office space, it also works to help the homeless and people in disadvantaged communities.

---

National polls show that, even in the midst of rising unemployment, frozen wages and a continuing credit crunch, many Americans remain optimistic about where the economy is headed in these first 100 days. It's no different here, according to many people from all walks of life in St. Louis.

---

St. Louis, like many cities, has watched its downtown decline, but in the past 10 years, business groups and the city have worked to revive the area and attract residents, restaurants and retail.

---

Amid a deepening economic crisis, the unemployment rate in Elkhart, Ind., has skyrocketed to 18 percent as the town's manufacturing base has collapsed. Paul Solman reports on the town's tough economic times.

---

After more than 2 million American workers were laid off in the past three months, the numbers who have lost their health insurance and applied for Medicaid have also risen rapidly. Betty Ann Bowser speaks with Connecticut residents struggling to stay insured.