Horizons
Iowans Worry Their Paychecks Won’t Cover Basic Costs in 2008
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. More...
HORIZONS Community Spotlight on Ellsworth
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...
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.
Northwest Area Foundation National Survey Reveals:
Iowans continue to see neighbors struggling to make ends meet – are very concerned -but remain hopeful of improvement. Download the Full Report (4 pages)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (April 30, 2007) – A nationwide survey released today by the Northwest Area Foundation reveals half of Americans, including half of all Iowans, perceive “a lot” of people are struggling to make ends meet. Whether it might be plant closings, outsourcing of jobs to other countries, default of subprime loans or lack of access to living-wage jobs, Iowans say they are aware of their neighbors’ tough grind. Many of those facing tough times are working full time. More than one-third of Iowans, 43 percent, say they regularly come into contact with people who are struggling to make ends meet, whether that would be through church, work, or elsewhere.
- More than half say it takes at least $40,000 annually to meet basic standard of living needs for a family of four
- Six in 10 say they know people working two or more jobs who are struggling to make ends meet, and their priority is to help them
- Seven in 10 say they think about how well a candidate would help those struggling to make ends meet when they vote
23 Iowa communities continue with the Horizons program
Twenty-three Iowa communities have selected to continue to the next phase of the Horizons program, Study Circles. The communities are Allerton, Alta, Bedford, Chariton, Corydon, Ellsworth, Elma, Grand Junction, Greenfield, Humeston, Keosauqua, Lake City, Morning Sun, Olin, Oxford Junction, Rockford, Sac City, Scranton, Seymour, Wapello, Waukon, Woodbine and Wyoming. Map of 23 Horizons Communities
Study Cirles provide a great opportunity for communities ready to commit to gathering citizens together to work for positive change.
A study circle:
- is a small, diverse group of eight to 12 people from the whole community
- includes people from all walks of life
- meets together for five two-hour sessions
- sets its own ground rules to share responsibility for quality discussion
- is led by an impartial local facilitator who helps manage the discussion, not teach the group
- starts with personal stories, then helps the group look at thriving communities and poverty from many points of view
To learn more about Study Circles visit www.studycircles.org.
25 Iowa communities selected for Horizons program
Twenty-five Iowa communities have been selected for the Horizons Community Leadership Program to Reduce Poverty. Iowa State University Extension delivers the program with funding from the Northwest Area Foundation.
The communities are Allerton, Alta, Bedford, Chariton, Corydon, Ellsworth, Elma, Grand Junction, Greenfield, Humeston, Keosauqua, Lake City, Mapleton, Morning Sun, Olin, Oxford Junction, Pomeroy, Rockford, Sac City, Scranton, Seymour, Wapello, Waukon, Woodbine and Wyoming.
“The Horizons program will help rural communities who are ready to commit to positive change,” said ISU Extension specialist Ruth Freeman, program director. “They’ll receive training and resources about leadership, poverty reduction, community development, visioning and strategic planning. The program continues through summer 2008.”
Horizons gets results
Thirty-six communities from eight states participated in the Horizons pilot during 2003-2004. More than 80 percent were better able to:
- Address housing issues, job skills training, community development, youth programs, business development or community healing
- Engage newcomers, culturally-diverse residents, youth, and individuals living in poverty in program implementation and leadership
- Build community capacity to address communication issues, access volunteers, and obtain financial support to sustain community goals
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.