The Way Through

Readers of this blog probably think it's the end of the road for our dreams and all the work we've done to develop a community center for our area.

Think again.

Although time has passed with no updates here, behind the scenes leaders in this community have been putting their ducks in order to pave the way to our center.

Leaders like Phil Hansen, commissioner of the Coulee Area Park and Recreation District , J. Scott Graham, Chief Executive Officer of the Coulee Medical Center, and Geary Oliver, a commissioner on both boards. The leaders of these entities have learned about and/or participated in the Horizons community meetings; they are moving forward to find other leaders to join in making a community wellness center a reality.

The Star - Online Newspaper shared Graham's idea: "Preventing illness rather than curing it, he said, is becoming an important part of the future of medical care. And a family-friendly, well-used wellness center, complete with fun, safe exercise options for year-round activities, would encourage a lot of prevention."

It's not the end of the road; we've just turned around and found the way through.

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Photos:
Kruk Road to Banks Lake
Kruk Road from Banks Lake
Sheri Edwards

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HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing PovertyWorking together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.
Mary Schilling at 633 3033 or email at mschilling@gcdsd.org
Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

Meeting August 26: WAG Strategic Planning

The Wellness Action Group is a local community organization in it's infancy. Its sponsor is the Horizons Group and WSU with a purpose to reduce or eliminate poverty in this area.

The focus of the Wellness Action Group is to build a community center for the Grand Coulee Dam Area. Our community has a major need for a comprehensive center to address the central issues associated with poverty.

Most of the efforts so far include planning and background research and input from community members. Soon, the W.A.G. hopes to begin the process of coordinating funds and building the community center. At that point, the support of the entire community will be needed.

Won’t you join now?

Tonight's Agenda:

Review minutes from previous meeting
Reports
Old Business	· Strategic Plan · Increase community participation and buy-in/partner with local government · Train the Trainer training for Futures Game · Mind Mapping Exercise
New Business	·

Next Meeting

September 9, 2010 Time, Location TBD

Minutes July 10:

Meeting Minutes

July 15, 2010

Horizons Grand Coulee WAG Action Meeting

Pepperjacks Restaurant, 6:00 p.m.

Present:

Scott Hunter

Sheri Edwards

Jenelle Ottmar

Christine Price

Lee Stockhorst

Old Old Business

Scott – After Tom Jensen’s idea from the hospital renovations, our community project can cut and paste from another community plan. See Ephrata, Bellevue plan from the Parks and Recreation District. How was it written? Merge them. This may be a good project for Lee. Find the digital version of these plans.

Lee can also make a calendar of grants to apply for, adding this to our strategic plan.

Lee – We can also host finger painting days and the like, sponsored by WAG to survey the market and earn community buy-in. Currently eleven softball teams are using the park (which is not being watered). Anything you can take your kids to hear is appreciated. We may also sponsor a financial planning workshop and job/scholarship application workshops.

Jenelle – Horizons can easily sponsor a financial education workshop. This is one of the program specialties. We can offer babysitting as well.

Scott – To partner with local government we may have to “shame” officials into participation. North Dam Park is being let go to waste. It is a huge asset.

Lee – I will return from summer vacation on August 22.

Jenelle – We will bring project supplies for Lee to our next meeting. I believe Nate Pitturaschatit or Amanda Poch are in possession of the project business cards. Kevin Lind may have the camera.

New Business

Mind Mapping Exercise scheduled for Thursday, September 9, 2010 at 6:00 p.m.

Christy – The Gates Foundation is giving grants to support community foundations. You must be a 501c3 to receive this money. The application process and award criteria are very simple.

Next Horizons WAG Meeting	August 26, 2010 PepperJacks Restaurant, 6:00 p.m.
Coulee Area Park and Recreation District (CAPRD) Meeting

Minutes by Jenelle Ottmar

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HORIZONS:

Community Leaders Reducing Poverty

Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.

Mary Schilling at 633 3033 or email at mschilling@gcdsd.org

Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

What picture will we paint for our community?

WAG Horizons Community Meeting
6/10/10
6:30-8:30 PM
Center Elementary
Notes and Thoughts
Sheri Edwards

Help us choose the next big steps to bring us from past poverty and divisions to future hope and unity...

Text:

Christy Price
Paul Allen Foundation
Poverty
Fill gaps
Community needs
Build Capacity

Barbara Engstrom
State grant-- maybe rotary

Michelle --
Mark Neal, Architect
Tell the story

Wellness center
Master plan

Needs Assessment
Competition to community

Daycare
Kids prepared to learn
Atmosphere

The Package
The Story
The Evidence

Ownership
See Handout

Food Service-who, how
Bureau and others--
"Membership"
Hotel/motel tax

Jenelle Ottmar
Impact Statement


Connections
School-- pool, fitness, conference rooms, health agencies;
Medical-- therapy pool, conference rooms, health agencies, elder help;
Daycare-- learning prep, safety, health agencies;
Parks and Rec-- pool, parks, funding, conference rooms, education;
Culture-- activities, education, shared history, conference rooms;
Daily health-- community and school access;
Tourism-- year-round access;
Conferences-- CCT, BLM, GCDSD, CCH, Others (church, Rotary, Chamber, Businesses);
Fiber--access for community
Community--cohesion, five towns/one home center, employment, youth activities, wellness, 1935-2010+, future vision reality...

So...

What picture will we paint?

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HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty

Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.

Mary Schilling at 633 3033 or email at mschilling@gcdsd.org

Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

WAG Meeting 4/26

The Wellness Action Group is a local community organization in it's infancy that is sponsored by the Horizons Group and WSU to reduce or eliminate poverty in this area.

The focus of the Wellness Action Group is to build a community center for the Grand Coulee Dam Area. There is a major need for a center here and much of the central issues with poverty could be better addressed with this type of facility.

Although at this time the majority of efforts and needs have been directed towards planning, in the very near future the W.A.G. hopes to begin the process of coordinating funds and building the community center. At that point, the support of the entire community will be needed.

For now it is enough to get the word out about what the goals of the W.A.G. are and let the entire community know to be ready to help however they can.

Thank you,

W.A.G.
Rick Morton, Member

Next meeting:

Monday, April 26, 2010
Grand Coulee Senior Center
6:30 pm

Funding Possibilities Meeting 4/8/10

What happened at the meeting?
A Lesson in Self- sustainability: Outcomes That Change Communities

Patrick Malone, Presenter
WSUE Horizons Coach




4/8/10
Senior Center, Grand Coulee, WA

Outcomes

The most important aspect of funding any program is to focus on the outcomes for people that you hope to achieve.

What will change?
How will you know?

How much? What is your budget? What will you fund? How committed are those involved?




Create the value in the community--
The Horizons group-- How can you generate own income?

What about your core membership?
You as leaders?
Board members?
Have you shown your commitment?




Fees for service
In today's economic times, be entrepreneurial in your design.

• Social enterprise....Earned income. For what can you charge a fee?
• Donors... individual are base -- 85% of all donations
• Grants....hardest and slowest
• Government earmarks... Yes, that word: pork. Think of the West Central Community Center, Spokane. What will catch the eye and heart of those involved?

Gap funders...a
Again, what has the community given and developed to which the funders fill the gap?

Ideas:
Community garden members develop and sell a product from their produce (example: salad dressing in LA).

Expertise from community members we serve (sales, accounting, art, etc.) provide the foundation for themselves and a new service --a thrift store, an art gallery with lessons, a local book). Jobs created and funds (social enterprise) reinvested.
........

Other Topics
Nonprofits --membership fees

Pricing-- think of our Horizons group as the business across the street.

Marketable expertise. -- What skills do our members and our community have that can be marketed?

How about...
Art
Culture
Garden
Drama
Animal care
Story telling
Music
Poetry
Photography

Resources

Directory of community nonprofits

Grants.gov. Funds
Earmarks - apply.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

Foundation Directory Online ask library to subscribe to the Foundation Directory Online

Foundation center...online search section...

Federal funds ... Own those items forever... Be prepared...

Consider: Public vs private money

Foundations don't want continued connection but DO want sustainability. Remember to focus on and tell the stories of your outcomes.

Funder contacts. Enjoy contact. People. Relationships.

Build a culture of service ... Philanthropy

Everyday Democracy

....

Needs
Meshing and blending group goals

Park & Rec district...
1st Monday, 5:00. Center School teacher lounge
New school needs more to obtain its original ideas
Letters---lots of letters

Tourists will be part of help--- need more to do, so our vision will add to their needs for which they will pay the fee to use our center.

Year round use... Yes, the pool and more.

The vision: community center: pool, child care, classes, etc.

The message:
How much will you help so we can make it happen together?
Our initial output will promote help for the community, market our community skills, and support the quest for further funding.
...


-- Post From IPad by Sheri

Location:Senior Center, Grand Coulee, WA

Community Meeting: Bring a Friend

Let's get up to speed!

The Wellness Action Group (WAG) and community meeting is confirmed for Thursday, April 8, at 6:30 p.m. at the Senior Center in Grand Coulee. Bring a friend, bring a neighbor, hope to see you there!

We will have a special guest speaker, Patrick Malone, Horizons Community Coach and Microenterprise Assistance Project Team Member, for a presentation on Nonprofit Fundraising Basics, followed by a question and answer session.

Let's find out how to move forward with the community vision, the strategic plan of which is here.

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Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons by Great Beyond

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HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.


Mary Schilling at 633 3033 or email at mschilling@gcdsd.org


Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

WSU Sociology Students at Work for You!

Sociology 433, an undergraduate class at Washington State University, has been researching options and resources for topics that are important to your rural communities as you work to reduce poverty. Topics include: affordable housing, neighborhood safety, youth activities and much, much more.

Your community may be in contact with one of these teams, but all of their research may be relevant to the issues you are addressing. Click to the Horizons website http://www.horizons.wsu.edu/project/horizons3/community.html to read about their work.

WAG: Wellness Action Group Meeting

The Wellness Action Group will meet in a third community meeting:

Senior Center in Grand Coulee Thursday night at 6:30.

The core WAG group has been busy getting an education in community centers and has come to believe things even I would not have embraced a week ago. Time to get everyone up to speed and get some working assignments out there for anyone willing to be involved.

I'll have a video tour ready of three sites we've visited in the last couple weeks. Here's sneak peek:

Scott Hunter

Come on! Jump in and make a splash for your community! Get involved!

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Photo Credit: Flickr by Éole

HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.

Mary Schilling at 633 3033 or email at mschilling@gcdsd.org

Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

WAG: Wellness Action Group Tours

WAG: Wellness Action Group Tours
Community Center
Is it possible?

Yes! The WAG tour group included Scott Hunter, Bill Black, Michelle Campobasso, Phil Hansen, Tom Jensen, Troy Johnson, Rick Morton, Nate Piturachsatit, Jerry Sands, Jesse Utz and Christy Price.

The group toured impressive community centers that began with similar dreams as this community has envisioned. They visited centers in Usk, Washington and Plummer and Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Is it possible? According to a report of the committee in The Star Online, "First, the business side. The revenue sources possible to help pay for the ongoing expenses of a good community center are surprisingly robust. Usk, about the size of the town of Coulee Dam, is drawing members to its YMCA-like program from as far away as north Spokane (over an hour’s drive) because the place is beautiful and functional... the fact that they can do THAT, tells me that we can do SOMETHING to make our community more livable for ourselves and our children, more attractive to newcomers and more sustainable culturally and economically. If we pull together on this, we can."

Click here to read the full article, and when your community needs your help and ideas, please dive in so we can make this happen, for all of us.

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Photo Credit: Flickr CC by Paul Nicholson

HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.

Mary Schilling at 633 3033 or email at mschilling@gcdsd.org

Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

WAG: Wellness Action Group

WAG: Wellness Action Group
Finding A Direction

On Wednesday June 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Grand Coulee Senior Center, community members took the next steps in moving towards a common vision for Nespelem, Elmer City, Coulee Dam, Grand Coulee, and Electric City.

The group included leaders from the community, including Coulee Area Park and Recreation district Commissioner Susan Chaffee, Grand Coulee Counclmember Solveig Chaffee, Electric City Mayor Jerry Sands and council members Rick Morton and Birdie Hensley. In addition several organizations were represented: PTA, Rotary, Lions, and Moose Lodge.

The group dreamed a mighty vision for the community: a community center with a convention center, an auditorium, an aquatic center, day care, and more. Why? Because such a establishment would center the community with a gathering place that meets many needs: fitness, health care, day care, meetings, performances, etc. Such a benefit would keep families in the community and provide employment.

How could this dream become a reality? The participants decided that a committee needed to bring all possibilities together. Several people volunteered, including some grant writers: Bill Black, Glen Raymond, Christy Price, Troy Johnson, Phil Hansen, and Scott Hunter, with alternates and resources to be Tom Jensen, Rick Morton, Jerry Sands, Nate Piturachsatit, and Jess Utz. The committee, The Wellness Action Group (WAG), would meet to tour several other small communities who built their dream centers.

With a community vision focusing on wellness for the whole community, a definite benefit would be to provide resources that alleviate poverty.

How do you think a community center would benefit our community -- all of our community, from Nespelem to Electric City? Are we moving in a positive directon?

Please comment. Thank you.

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Photo Credit: Flickr CC by cafemama

HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.

Mary Schilling at 633 3033 or email at mschilling@gcdsd.org

Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

Visioning: Your Community Needs You

What's Happened?

On June 10th, the Grand Coulee Area Chamber of Commerce sponsored a community meeting at the Senior Center in Grand Coulee so community people could take control and offer ideas to reduce poverty and improve the community for everyone.

The Horizons Project is moving into the Visioning phase. The article Community center meeting calls for another bigger one --Momentum builds for a new facility

in the Star Online notes:

"The goal of the meeting is to gain an approval in principlel for the community center goal from as many facets of the community as possible.

Items up for discussion will include considering:

• what types of facilities should be included in the overall plan, such as a swimming pool/aquatic center, small convention facility, daycare, gym, skate rink,

• possible location sites,

• funding possibilities."


What's Happening?

Community members will address the ideas from the Action Forum and move forward with skills developed at Leadership Plenty to form partnerships (like with the Chamber of Commerce, Hospital, Government, etc.), form a 501c3, and apply for grants to achieve the community's vision.

Next week, Wednesday June 17 at 6:30 p.m. at the Grand Coulee Senior Center, come as a community member to take the next steps in moving towards a common vision for Nespelem, Elmer City, Coulee Dam, Grand Coulee, and Electric City.

Please bring your ideas and join the future.

Click image to download flyer.

HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.


Mary Schilling at 633 3033 or email at mschilling@gcdsd.org


Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

A Step Closer: Community Center Meeting Needs Your Input

We're a step closer to solving answers to these questions:

Worried about access to child care?

Interested in more activities for everyone, especially the youth?

Want to create an active community?

Would you want to see a focal point of community spirit?

Join other community members from Nespelem, Elmer City, Coulee Dam, Grand Coulee, and Electric City at the Coulee Dam Community Church on Thursday, March 26th at 5:30.

If you step up to add your input, YOU can help make all of these a reality.

Please leave your footprint on a positive future for our community.

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Photo Credit:
Flickr Commons by szeretlek_ma beginning and mattbuck4950 end

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HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.


Mary Schilling at 633 3033 or email at mschilling@gcdsd.org


Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

Leadership to Action

Module 7 - Moving from Talk to Action

Members of Leadership Plenty training group have completed their training and are ready to help the community move to action.
Ask yourself:

How does the organization work together to implements its goals in the neighborhood or community? What happens as a result of these actions?

How do leaders of the organization know if they have accomplished what they set out to do?

Do you sense a far-reaching vision for what the organization really wants to accomplish in the community? What is that vision?

What kinds of knowledge and skills would enhance the organization’s ability to work together to plan for that vision?

A main lesson from Leadership Plenty is that all of us in the community have qualities that guide leadership to action.

Will you join the spirit and add your expertise as we progress to developing resources that help all of us. We can move from poverty to prosperity together.

CONTACT

HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.

Mary Schilling at 633 3033 or email at mschilling@gcdsd.org

Another great resource with ideas from other communities is:

http://www.everyday-democracy.org/

Subscribe to their newsletter.

Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

Community Center, Child Care, Leadership Meetings

Important Community Meetings ---
Please come to one! Be part of the solution!

January 21st Leadership Plenty 5:30-9:30 5:30 Dinner

January 22nd Community Center Meeting 5:30 Dinner

January 24th Child Care Needs Meeting 2:00-4:00

All at: Coulee Dam Presbyterian Community Church in Coulee Dam

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Leadership Plenty 3

What: the third session of leadership training – The first and second training sessions were very productive and engaging! Clock Hours available.

When: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 from 5:30-9:30

Where: Coulee Dam Community Church

Dinner will be served at 5:30 pm and the training will start soon after. Remember, you can join in at any point in these trainings, you do not have to attend each one. They will be every Wednesday for the next 8 weeks or so; same place, same time.

Childcare available. Money available to pay adult care in your home. You will need to arrange for your own care provider and then complete a reimbursement form at the meeting. Please RSVP to me, indicating the # of children, if you will be attending the meeting and will be requesting reimbursement. This will ensure that I have enough cash available.

There is also gas money available if you need assistance.

Thank you!

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Community Center Meeting

What: Focus on Goals

Where: The next meeting Community Center Action Team will be held by the Community Center Action Team will be January 22, 5:30 pm. at the Community Church in Coulee Dam. Dinner and Child Care provided. Gas money available.

Why: Our team believes that a centrally located community center would greatly benefit this area. We envision a facility that could offer social activities, learning activities, health and wellness programs, etc for all ages. We believe that this could have great potential to benefit all aspects of our community from the schools, to the senior programs, hospitals, clinics, even the police department.

It is our hope that we will be able to come together in this endeavor to strengthen our community and possibly work toward consolidating many of our individual programs into one unit working together.

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Child Care Town Hall

What: We will be holding a town-hall-type meeting on Saturday, January 24 from 2-4pm at the Coulee Dam Community Presbyterian Church in Coulee Dam (across from the Tribal Museum). Free trained childcare will be provided at the church. Gas money available.

What: The team is looking for community members to partner with us as we approach this broad, important subject. Our main areas of focus will be on the need for childcare facilities and additional preschool options. We need your ideas, experiences, concerns and expertise, even if you would not like to be directly involved long-term.

This group is made possible by the support of the Horizons grant program for Grand Coulee. Please RSVP to Kevin Lind at kevinllind@gmail.com or 631-0774 if you plan to attend or have any questions.

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Photo by Sheri Edwards: Snow Fort by Kids in Coulee Dam

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HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.


Mary Schilling at 633 3033 or email at mschilling@gcdsd.org


Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

Synergetic Strengths

Synergy: the cooperation of members such that the resulting combined effect of their work is better than the effect caused by the effect of one member's work

Focus on strengths. What does that mean? It means that four towns and one tribe have five times the resources available; call on them. It means that diverse ideas provide more options. It means that many small events combined meet more needs.

Module Two in Leadership Plenty helped attendees refocus limitations to reducing poverty through a lens of strengths. They found creative and nontraditional ways to work with leadership assets within the organization and the greater community for a synergistic effect.

"Individuals, associations, and institutions -- these three major categories contain within them much of the asset base of every community." The evening event brought these avenues together while planning for economic development, resource books, child care, and a community center.

"Deficit-based thinking discourages action, fragments communities, and encourages dependence on outsiders."

Rather than worry about the problems created by different governmental agencies (towns, tribal, parks), instead focus on the resources available -- probably many more than other areas.

Build strengths: find unusual partnerships, and bring traditional and nontraditional leaders together.

What does that look like? Just one example from the synergy of the group brought forward by Janice Elvidge:

Assimilate all the various school and church child care and after school activities under one umbrella in order to highlight for grantors all that we already do in separate venues, and the services of which would greatly improve under one community center.

Real change will only occur when we engage the full community: school, church, associations, institutions, individuals. Won't you join us? Please contact:

Mary Schilling at 633 3033 or email at mschilling@gcdsd.org

HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.

Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

Life Stories: Steve

Who: Steven R. Carson

Occupation: Colville Tribes Parks & Recreation

Years in Community: I moved to Elmer City when I was 6 years old. I lived in the area until I was 23. My wife and I then moved to Florida for 2 years to attend college. After some training and experience we moved back to the area to raise our family.

Education: High School Diploma 2001, Training at SEU Florida.

Favorite community memory: I am big on taking advantage of the great outdoors. I love fishing, hunting, camping, and hiking. My favorite community memory is before 9/11 we were able to fish below the Dam on the rocks, and above off the east side of the Dam. You could always see others teaching the kids how to fish.

Hopes for community: That we all could see and vision the potential our whole surrounding area has and can become.

Why I am part of the project: To help be a voice and solution in bringing out that potential.

HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.

Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

Working toward a Community Center

Who: Horizons Action Teams

What: Three Action Teams have come out of the Horizons Program: A Childcare Action Team, Resource Action Team, and a Community Center Action Team.

Where: The next meeting Community Center Action Team will be held by the Community Center Action Team will be January 22, 5:30 pm. at the Community Church in Coulee Dam. Dinner and Child Care provided

Why: Our team believes that a centrally located community center would greatly benefit this area. We envision a facility that could offer social activities, learning activities, health and wellness programs, etc for all ages. We believe that this could have great potential to benefit all aspects of our community from the schools, to the senior programs, hospitals, clinics, even the police department.

It is our hope that we will be able to come together in this endeavor to strengthen our community and possibly work toward consolidating many of our individual programs into one unit working together.

Agenda: Focus on setting goals


Learn more about the Horizons program @ http://horizons.wsu.edu/ and follow our progress by visiting our blog site http://grandcoulee-wa.blogspot.com/

Photo Credit: Tape Art - Education and works in progress at Flickr Commons

HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.

Learn more about the Horizons program @ http://horizons.wsu.edu/

Reminder

What: the second session of leadership training – The first training session was very productive and engaging!

When: tomorrow evening, Wednesday, January 14, 2009 from 5:30-9:00

Where: Coulee Dam Community Church

Dinner will be served at 5:30 pm and the training will start soon after. Remember, you can join in at any point in these trainings, you do not have to attend each one. They will be every Wednesday for the next 8 weeks or so; same place, same time.

Unfortunately, we will NOT have childcare at the next meeting. There is money available to pay for childcare/adult care in your home. You will need to arrange for your own care provider and then complete a Child Care reimbursement form at the meeting. Please RSVP to me, Mary Schilling, indicating the number of children, if you will be attending the meeting and will be requesting reimbursement for childcare. This will ensure that I have enough cash available.

There is also gas money available if you need assistance.

Mary Schilling

HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.

Learn more about the Horizons program http://horizons.wsu.edu/

Childcare Action Team to Hold Community Forum

Child Care Forum Press Release:
Childcare Action Team to Hold Community Forum

Do you have young children or grandchildren? Have you ever worked in childcare or early childhood development? Have you noticed a need for childcare and preschool in our community? We want to hear from all of you!

The Community Childcare Action Team is a group of community members who are concerned about our children, the availability of quality and lasting childcare options for them, and the opportunities for preschool in our community. As one community member recently said, “Children are the center of any community.” If we want to invest in our future, we ought to start by investing in our children.

We will be holding a town-hall-type meeting on Saturday, January 24 from 2-4pm at the Coulee Dam Community Presbyterian Church in Coulee Dam (across from the Tribal Museum). Free trained childcare will be provided at the church.

The team is looking for community members to partner with us as we approach this broad, important subject. Our main areas of focus will be on the need for childcare facilities and additional preschool options. We need your ideas, experiences, concerns and expertise, even if you would not like to be directly involved long-term.

This group is made possible by the support of the Horizons grant program for Grand Coulee. Please RSVP to Kevin Lind at kevinllind@gmail.com or 631-0774 if you plan to attend or have any questions.

Photo Credit: Flickr: Creative Commons by doviende

HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.

Coulee Stuff: Resources when you need them

Shelly Stine, Lake Roosevelt High School Resource Room Teacher and community member for almost thirty years, envisioned one place people could find information when needed. Situations arise in which health care, employment opportunity, or child care information is needed immediately.

With five towns, four counties, and a tribal government encompassing our area, people don't often know where the services exist.

As part of her Masters Degree from Washington State University, she searched out that collection of resources for her hometown and the families that needed them. She published a booklet and disseminated the information. Yet, the information still seemed elusive.

Shelly joined the HORIZONS Project and discovered that her work fed right into one of the group's goals: a centralized information area for people in need of services.

An action team formed, comprised of Roberta Haines, Alan Cain, Sheri Edwards, and Shelly. After discussion during HORIZONS meetings and as a committee, the team created a wiki (PB Wiki -- for Peanut Butter Wiki) that could easily be updated collaboratively and available any place with Internet access. The team's dream includes kiosks and a published booklet. The goal is to provide information in a central as well as frequently visited areas so access is available for people who need to find the information.

If you have information that needs to be added, or if you have a need for information, please contact Shelly Stine, whose vision has provided not only the heart of the project, but also the focus for the future.

And, please, visit the site and offer suggestions; we're just starting -- but what a start, thanks to Shelly. She's an example of a community leader committed to finding many ways to reduce poverty.

Welcome to Coulee Stuff !

A resource guide for needed services for health, families, emergencies, etc.

http://couleestuff.pbwiki.com/

HORIZONS: Community Leaders Reducing Poverty
Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.