Taking Action on Poverty and Structural Change
bridges-out-of-poverty-ppt.pdfbridges-out-of-poverty-ppt.pdf
In looking at the work Horizons has done in WSS, the question may be asked, “What concrete steps has the community taken to address poverty?” Through the visioning process, WSS identified that the primary means of addressing poverty in the community is to develop a sense of community pride. The steering committee read some of the work of Ruby Payne in trying to better understand generational poverty and what we could do with Horizons that might impact the community long term.
In the presentation that is attached, we learned that three of the four factors that Payne’s research identified for moving people out of poverty include: having a goal or vision, mentors or leaders that can be looked to for guidance, finding a specific talent or ability that an individual can use. We have tried to develop actions that address these issues.
Community beautification was identified as an essential element of addressing the idea of having a future. Through the visioning process, our community identified that the look and feel of our town communicates that we have little hope for the future. The Horizons group felt that if we could raise the standard of how we look, we might help individuals to have hope and vision for the future as well.
In all of the work of Horizons, we have tried to recruit diverse groups of people to help us make things happen. Because of this diversity, we have been able to draw together individuals who have never interacted in the past. This idea of diverse groups has taken root in other aspects of the community, as the Horizons project demonstrated that there are many people who want to be involved, but need to be asked to participate. Not only does this help everyone to network, but through this process individuals are able to identify skills and talents that they can use to help the community.
Leadership Plenty further helped us to train new leaders that can help to guide people through change in the community.
We have also taken on the task of implementing a mutual-self help housing project in the community. One project is reaching completion and others are slated to start rolling soon. However, in this project, we have learned that some of the homes in our community are in such poor condition, the government programs cannot assist them. (The costs for repair and renovation are too high to warrant given the condition of the structure.) Therefore, we are applying for a planning grant to determine how we might remove the existing structures and develop new housing inventory that provides people with safe, energy-efficient places to live.
What resources are necessary to sustain the community’s efforts to reduce poverty? The bottom line that emerged from Horizons is that we need to stimulate our economy. Without jobs that pay a living wage and businesses that can afford to pay those wages, we cannot influence the fundamental lack of fiscal resources in our community. However, the question of what economic stimulus in WSS looks like is not an easy topic to address. The visioning process illustrated that our community does not want to recruit businesses that are inconsistent with our current culture. Further, the community does not want to sacrifice its legitimate small town culture to attract tourists. For now, our task is to make WSS the best place possible for the people who live here. As Dan Shilling, director for Civic Tourism, pointed out to us during his presentation (following Study Circles), if we can make WSS a place we enjoy living in, economy will follow. People will visit because they like being in a place that we are proud to call home. Businesses will want to move to a community that shows a strong sense of itself.
So the resources that we need are those that help us to become better at being who we are. Community beautification is a huge component of that work. Assistance with funding engineering work and other components of community planning would also help us toward that end. Finally, understanding from funding sources that improving the look and feel of the community does change the nature of poverty in our community helps us to move both this community, and its economy, forward.