Washington State University Extension is proud to be one of seven delivery organizations of Horizons, an eight-state initiative of the Northwest Area Foundation.
Forty Washington communities have participated in Horizons since 2004. Nearly 300 communities have participated overall in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota.
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.
Welcome to the Horizons Program!
When it comes to creating a thriving community, it’s the community members themselves who are the key to success.
The Horizons program is about the changes a community can make to move from poverty to hope, from population and economic decline to prosperity. This initiative is for rural communities of fewer than 5,000 and with poverty rates of at least 10 percent.
Open to all community members, Horizons focuses on practical strategies and tools. More specifically, it provides locally-delivered training, skill-building, and coaching to strengthen community leadership and civic engagement systems. Experience has shown that small communities can thrive if they have a strong leadership system.
Horizons is an 18-month program with four required activities of participation. Communities must meet the thresholds for each activity within defined timeframes before they can move forward. Each threshold is connected to skills and achievement that help strengthen a community.
- Study Circles—Community conversation and action ideas focused on poverty. 12 hours during a 2-month period involving at least 30 people. The goal is for communities to learn what poverty looks like and what it can do about it. Momentum grows as the community builds skills, involves more people and becomes increasingly strategic.
- LeadershipPlenty — Leadership building using LeadershipPlenty training. At least 20 people give 30-40 hours of time. LeadershipPlenty is a curriculum that helps communities focus on developing community leadership. Through this program, communities learn to understand the leadership structure and skills needed to address poverty and sustain community action and change over time.
- Community Visioning —Community visioning and planning focused on leadership growth and poverty reducation. This involves the whole community. Some communities members get competitive, seeing who can involve the most people! Community members come together to create and adopt a shared vision for poverty reduction.
- Community Coaching and Action-- Idea implementation. Delivery organizations and others provide the community with support, coaching and additional resources as they put their plans into action.
You can learn more about the experiences and achievements of previous Horizons communities by visiting: http://communityblogs.us/ OR Welcome to the Washington State - Horizons PR Blog OR by viewing
This 20 minute video from WSU Extension Engaged explores the program with NWAF Horizons grant officer, Jean Burkhardt, and discusses the future of the program with Doreen Hauser-Lindstrom. Bridgeport School superintendent Gene Schmidt and Chewelah resident Krisan LeHew share how the Horizons program has helped engage their communities in moving poverty toward prosperity.
Contact Doreen Hauser-Lindstrom, WSU Extension Educator for more information.
Upcoming Event
Rural Reflections Summit: Building a Stronger Washington
March 19 and 20, 2010
Moses Lake, Washington
Horizons 2 Impact Publication
This is a 5MB pdf. Please be patient while it downloads. A DVD is also available. Please contact Doreen Hauser-Lindstrom for more information.
Horizons 2 Impact Videos
A sampling of successes from four Horizons 2 communities can be viewed on each of their community pages.
Klickitat
Mossyrock
Northport
Royal City
Financial Asset Building Projects:
Rural/Latino Microenterprise Assistance Pilot Project
Rural Family Economic Success Pilot Project
Visitors
as of 4/17/09
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