Minnesota

Horizons II communities successfully completed the 18-month program and Horizons staff  want to share two documents developed that highlight the many successes the communities accomplished.  The first is a report on activities around the three outcome areas of Horizons - leadership development, poverty reduction, and community/partnership/infrastructure development.  You can access this report by clicking on:  Action on Horizons Outcomes 

The second document highlight the findings from the pre and post test done in the communities during the study circle and LeadershipPlenty components of the program.  You can access this report by going to Community Evaluation Results of Pre and Post Tests

 Amazing work by amazing people that reinforces our belief that Minnesota is the best place to live!

Last January, we compiled an update for the Minnesota Horizons communities that included the vision statement and the ideas each community was looking into.  To take a look at where you were in January and how far you have come, click here:  community-updates-108.doc.  To read the final work plans, visit each community’s blog site.

How to plan and build sustainable affordable housing and communities in Minnesota. 

Minnesota Green Communities is a statewide collaboration of the Greater Minnesota Housing Fund, the Family Housing Fund, and Enterprise. The National Green Communities initiative is a five-year commitment by Enterprise to build more than 8,500 healthy, efficient homes for low-income people and make sustainable development the mainstream in the affordable housing industry.

They are having a statewide conference on May 21-22.  There’s a link below were you can access their conference website.

Featuring keynote speakers: Mark Fenton and Van Jones.

Both days include expert workshops and a luncheon keynote address on a wide array of affordable, sustainable development topics, including residential green building, Minnesota Housing funding requirements, energy conservation and climate protection strategies, equitable green economic development, and healthy homes and communities.

 http://www.mngreencommunities.org/gbd/index.htm 

The following are resources forwarded by Deborah Moore,  Associate Director of the MN Youth Work Institute:

• “Creating Youth-Adult Partnerships” from the Innovation Center.  They can be downloaded or ordered on line at  www.innovationcenter.org
• “Building Community” from the Innovation Center.  They can also be downloaded or ordered on line at  www.innovationcenter.org
• “15 Points – Successfully Involving Youth in Decision-Making”  Youth on Board.  Can be found at www.youthonboard.org

Click on the link below to access the Extension catalog.  The catalog doesn’t list everything that Extension provides but rather the resources we thought Horizons communities would find valuable.  Remember that if any Future Squad would like to access these resources, you can tap into your community funds to cover the expenses.  Talk to your communty coach if you have any questions.

Catalog of Extension Resources

About FreeRice

FreeRice is a sister site of the world poverty site, Poverty.com.

FreeRice has two goals:

1. Provide English vocabulary to everyone for free.
2. Help end world hunger by providing rice to hungry people for free.

This is made possible by the sponsors who advertise on this site.

Whether you are CEO of a large corporation or a street child in a poor country, improving your vocabulary can improve your life. It is a great investment in yourself.

Perhaps even greater is the investment your donated rice makes in hungry human beings, enabling them to function and be productive. Somewhere in the world, a person is eating rice that you helped provide. Thank you.

Click on the link below and play the rice game.  The original game was invented by a father who wanted to help improve his son’s ACT/SAT scores.  He liked it so much, the family donated the game to World Hunger Relief and hence was born the rice game.

One warning, it can become addictive!!

 http://www.freerice.com

With a vision for the future in hand and “Future Squads” (contextual teams) on the move, some community members have been asking, “are we still addressing poverty?” I love this question. By posing this question, you are demonstrating that knowledge and awareness has been raised over the past year, and more importantly, that you want to do something about it.

As many of you have pointed out, your understanding of the different aspects of poverty is underlying your vision statements. However, many of you have asked: “Is this enough?” Here are some questions and thoughts to remember as your community progresses:

Who is participating in the Future Squads?

• During Study Circles and LeadershipPlenty, we had a wide demographic representation of the community. Is this true today? Are youth involved? People in poverty? Current leaders of traditional institutions and organizations?

Are our actions addressing poverty?

• When developing your action plans, think about whether the action directly or indirectly addresses poverty in your community. If the impact is indirect , how can this correlation be strengthened?

Are our meetings publicized in a welcoming manner and have we been inclusive?

• Studies show that people are four times more likely to participate when personally asked. What efforts are being made to personally invite community members who are typically not involved? I know many of you are tapped from all ends, this is even more reason to welcome new leadership and work toward broad participation. Wouldn’t it be great if at the next meeting more than just the “same ten people” were there? It takes more time, but I think you’ll find that your efforts are well worth it.

• Remember that it is sometimes easier to get people involved for the first time if they are asked to help with a specific task. At each step of the way, ask : “How can we bring others in?”

Are we working toward strengthening the “Ten Attributes of Successful Communities?”

• Challenges with transitioning to new leadership and with inclusion came up in every community during the vision sessions. How can your Future Squads model this?

Let people know about the Barrier Elimination Funds.

• Each community has funds to reduce the barriers to participation. Let people who may not come otherwise know about the childcare and transportation stipends so that money is not a factor impeding involvement. Contact your local organizer or community coordinator to find out more.

Participants in Horizons study circles developed this framework to help connect future squad actions and common approaches to poverty reduction: Poverty Resources.

How is your community remaining focused on poverty and engaging often marginalized populations? Add a comment!