Minnesota

If Microfinance is the Answer, What is the Question? MCN partners with the Midwest International NGO Network (MINN) for an innovative free event

A loan as small as $30 can help an indigent person in the developing world gain access to capital, open a small business, and become economically self sufficient. This practice of offering financial services to the poor is called “microfinance” and it is commonly used in places where formal banking institutions do not exist or where incomes are so small that individuals do not qualify for banking services. Yet the efficacy of this growing field is full of debate. Join us to hear from experts representing several local nonprofits to learn about the practice of microfinance and to hear about the successes and challenges they experience in their work. But microfinance is a growing field, and there are many points of view regarding its effectiveness. Join us to hear from experts representing several local nonprofits to learn about the practice of microfinance and to hear about the successes and challenges they experience in their work. Presenters will also share stories of clients around the world who run a variety of businesses, which may sell goats, weave textiles, or offer tailoring services.

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.

National campaign to Stamp Out Hunger is Saturday, May 10!!  It is the nations largest single-day food drive.  If you’d like to participate, just place bags of non-perishable food next to your mailbox or bring them in to your local post office.  The postal service will take care of delivering them to your local food shelf.

 To learn more go to http://www.helpstampouthunger.com/ 

This approach focuses on learning about and understanding all the assets that are available in a community. Assets can include people, skills, buildings, nature (like parks and rivers), etc. If a community can identify all the assets in the community, those assets can be used to help people in need.

Here are examples of what is happening in some communities:

• a program to help people buy and repair their own cars (assets identified to make this happen included a retired mechanic and an unused car garage)
• starting a “buy local” program or campaign
• pooling financial resources to create a “lending circle” program to help people get credit to start a business of their own (assets identified include people with business start-up experience and people who have ideas and interest in starting a business)

We’ve already seen some of these ideas listed in some community plans in Minnesota and we look forward to adding other ideas to the list!

As always, if you’d like additional information on all the approaches, please log on to Everyday Democracy’s (formerly Study Circle Resource Center) website at

http://www.everyday-democracy.org/en/index.aspx

and click on the poverty link under issues on the right hand side. From there you’ll see the link to the “Thriving Communities: Working Together to Move From Poverty to Prosperity for All” guide.

This approach focuses on bringing people together to find better ways to deal with conflict and face hard issues. Actions that are happening include:

• letter writing, phone calls, and emails to elected officials to request new or different policies to assist people living in poverty
• creating a co-operative buying group to get better prices for purchasing necessary health and food items
• uniting community members to jointly celebrate unique cultural attributes
• instituting programs such as “Circles of Support” (http://www.movethemountain.org/index.cfm?nodeID=9229&audienceID=1), a community-wide approach to assisting families as they move out of poverty

As always, for more information, please go the Everyday Democracy website at http://www.everyday-democracy.org/en/index.aspx

Here is an inspirational story about on this snowy day:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080325.wbc-flowers0325/BNStory/National/home

A third approach identified through the Thriving Communities Guide is Help people meet their urgent needs  This approach focuses on individuals basic needs of food and safe shelter.  Actions that have evolved from this approach include:

• a community starting a food pantry
• starting an emergency shelter in the winter
• programs that deliver food to homebound people
• health care facilities that also provide food and emergency assistance information
• developing a community resource list of where to go for help
• creating a pool of money to help with emergency needs (heating bills, car repairs, etc.)

Read more about this approach on the Everyday Democracy (formerly known as Study Circle Resource Center) website at http://www.everyday-democracy.org/en/Issue.12.aspx

In the second day of revisiting the Thriving Communities Guide I’ll focus on the second approach to reducing poverty, CREATE MORE AND BETTER JOBS.  This approach focuses on helping businesses create jobs, getting rid of barriers to a creating a healthy business climate, and having a workforce that has adequate skills and is paid a livable salary.

Some examples of action taking place around this approach includes:

• holding an “entrepreneurship showcase” to create interest and support for people starting new businesses
• raising funds for a local community owned bank or credit union so they can create a pool of loan money for new businesses
• increase the number of people visiting your community to generate more funds being brought into town
• work with different individuals who have similar independent businesses and create cooperative business entities (like a farmer’s market or a quilt store)

Are there any other ideas your community is doing that fits under this approach?  Let us know!

All of you who went through the Thriving Communities conversations last fall and spring may remember that part of the discussions focused on how communities could actively address poverty reduction.  As new folks have joined in Horizons activities, I’ve noticed some folks who didn’t participate in those conversations ask, what specifically can we do to reduce poverty?   what are other community’s doing?

Read more here… (more…)