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| HORIZONS IS ABOUT MOVEMENT AND CHANGE From waiting to leading...from talk to action...from poverty to prosperity...from a few to many...from despair to hope...from indifference to pride. What Does it Mean to be a part of a Horizons Community?
South Dakota State University Cooperative Extension Service is the delivery organization for Horizons in South Dakota. Horizons focuses on practical strategies and tools, providing locally delivered training, skill building, and coaching to strengthen community leadership and civic engagement. Experience has shown that small communities can thrive if they have a strong leadership system. People are the key to thriving communities. The Horizons program is about the changes a community can make to move from poverty to hope, from population and economic decline to prosperity. The Horizons initiative is for rural communities of fewer than 5000 and with poverty rates of at least 10 percent.
The Horizons II project was completed in Summer 2008 with the celebrations of 21 communities across South Dakota...but the work is just beginning for our Horizons II communities. Learn more about some of their progress by reading Celebrating 21 Horizons II Successes or find their community blogs at southdakota.communityblogs.us. THE HORIZONS II PROJECT Community Spotlights - SDSU Cooperative Extension Service in partnership with the Northwest Area Foundation hosted several Community Spotlights in Fall 2006:
Sitting Bull College in cooperation with the Northwest Area Foundation also hosted two Spotlight Events at the following locations: From these Spotlights, a total of 32 South Dakota communities were chosen as Horizons communities. 24 communities will be working with South Dakota State University and 8 communities will work with Sitting Bull College.
Study Circles - Groups of 8-12 people use a facilitated process to discuss poverty and a plan for action.
LeadershipPlenty® - 10 sessions during which groups of approximately 25 community members participate in intensive leadership training. Community Visioning - Community members come together to create and adopt a shared vision for poverty reduction in their community. For this portion of the Horizons project, communities are blogging their progress on poverty reduction, increasing leadership and working on community change projects. Visit each of the 21 Horizons communities on the blogs.
TOOLS FOR COMMUNITIES
Horizons Community Guide: Download this helpful guide from the Northwest Area Foundation that describes the Horizons II project in depth over the 18 month process. Get the Expanded Community Guide booklet here or the 2-page version of the Community Guide here. See a map of Poverty Rates in South Dakota Ice Breaker Ideas for Groups Download this worksheet with ideas for working with groups. Friday Findings Archive: Find the "Friday Findings" from Project Director, Kari Fruechte here. These weekly updates are packed full of useful information for communities, including community updates, project deadlines and important dates. Conducting a Community Clean-Up: This resource from K-State Cooperative Extension may be helpful for many of our Horizons Communities who have chosen a community wide clean up as one of their Action Projects. Horizons Community Profiles: Each Horizons community was given a profile of their community's demographics and trends regarding population, poverty rates, income and employment data. View the Community Profiles.
RELATED LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Karla Trautman Kari Fruechte Cheryl Jacobs Dan Oedekoven Carolyn Hendricks David Olson Martha Landes
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Page last updated on 05-06-09
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