Horizons
Iowans Worry Their Paychecks Won’t Cover Basic Costs in 2008 4/23/2008
4/23/08
AMES, Iowa -- Nearly one-third of Iowans worry most of the time that their total family income will not be enough to meet expenses and bills in 2008, bringing the struggle to make ends meet to a very personal level, according to a nationwide survey released last week by the Northwest Area Foundation.
Ruth Freeman, Iowa State University Extension specialist, directs the Horizons project in 20 Iowa communities with funding from the Northwest Area Foundation. “Whether due to the depressed housing market, record numbers of home foreclosures, mounting debt or a wavering stock market, the survey shows a majority of Iowa’s residents rated the local economy as only fair or poor. Nearly two-thirds say they are worried the economy will get worse this year,” said Freeman. read more...
Communities Work to Reduce Poverty Amid the Backdrop of the Iowa Caucuses
As the parade of candidates from the 2008 presidential election marches through Iowa, many people living in rural areas are determined to overcome difficulties common in small towns across America: significant population change and economic decline. 12/19/17 more...
HORIZONS Community Spotlight on Elsworth
The flood of ’93 hit Ellsworth pretty hard. Then a decade later, the only grocery store closed and it was devastating to the residents. “It sure wasn’t a compliment when we qualified for the Horizons program, but Horizons has been amazing for our community of just over 500 people!” said Gina Spohnheimer, an Ellsworth resident on the Horizons organizing committee. More (pdf)
It’s time for action in Horizons communities
HORIZONS is featured in the Summer 2007 edition of the Extension Connection newsletter.
Twenty communities move from LeadershipPlenty® to Visioning.
All citizens of a Horizons community are invited to build on the ideas and skills generated during Study Circles and LeadershipPlenty® and help create a vision and action plan for a thriving community during this stage of Horizons.
Communities continuing with the next stage of Horizons include: Allerton, Alta, Bedford, Chariton, Corydon, Ellsworth, Elma, Grand Junction, Greenfield, Humeston, Keosauqua, Morning Sun, Olin, Oxford Junction, Rockford, Sac City, Scranton, Seymour, Waukon and Woodbine.
Twenty communities complete LeadershipPlenty®
LeadershipPlenty® is a nine lesson leadership development series developed by Pew Partnership. Participants in the 30–40 hours course represent a cross-section of the community--varying ages, involvement in community, and personal understanding of community issues. LeadershipPlenty® builds on individual experiences to develop a community leadership and offers leadership training to those that might not consider themselves leaders, but have much to offer their communities. It is an experiential and practical tool for training emerging leaders.
Emmetsburg, Iowa was a pilot community for Horizons in 2004. Their Horizons’ leadership training – similar to LeadershipPlenty® - included participants who were new leaders and others not regularly involved in community decisions. After participating in the leadership program, one long-time Latina Emmetsburg resident said, “I felt very motivated when I saw how people wanted to be more open minded and inclusive. We learned what it takes – a lot of hard work and an openness to new ideas.” As a result of the process, she became an Emmetsburg business owner, tutoring under the former owner before successfully carrying on the business. She credits networking and skills gained during the leadership program with making this possible.
Communities completing LeadershipPlenty® include: Allerton, Alta, Bedford, Chariton, Corydon, Ellsworth, Elma, Grand Junction, Greenfield, Humeston, Keosauqua, Morning Sun, Olin, Oxford Junction, Rockford, Sac City, Scranton, Seymour, Waukon and Woodbine.