This is an early assessment of the Rural Community Service Coordinator Program (RCSCP), organized by the University of Missouri Extension Service using funds from the federal Food Security Act of 1985. Five full-time coordinators were named by area mental health officials to help rural people cope with despair and emotional disturbances caused by the severe economic problems of the 1980s. This report was based on information from 757 evaluation forms received during the first 4 months of the program. A total of 5,080 people were counted as having been contacted directly by coordinators, along with many unreported and informal contacts. About 50% of coordinators' activities involved one-to-one interaction with community leaders. These contacts helped set up networks that enabled coordinators to pull community services together during crises. Almost 20% of the activities identified by coordinators involved consulting with community caregivers and service providers, who often function in relative isolation from one another and find themselves highly stressed. Twenty-three percent of the coordinators' activities involved meeting with community groups to lead discussions or educational sessions. Eight percent of coordinators' contacts involved crisis intervention. Program evaluators expressed desire that the program reach more areas and that more attention be given to changes made in the communities rather than what coordinators were doing there. The data, however, support the view that the RCSCP had a significant impact during its initial term of operation. Document includes excerpts from coordinators' reports, and one table. (TES)