Thanks again for your help with this project.

Through the community visioning process, it was identified that getting trash out of town is a top priority.  This additional dump day has not only doubled the amount of trash removed from White Sulphur this year, but has also prompted local government to examine alternative means of keeping garbage collected and out of town.

We are still investigating flower stands that can be placed on Main Street.  Our original plan was foiled, but we are hard at work to find a new solution.

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.

Attached are minutes from the May 19th MCCF Board meeting.

Mammoth efforts have been made to recruit diverse groups of people to develop action plans and to move efforts forward.  Recognizing that one in two people in the community are living in poverty has helped leadership groups in the community to realize that strategies for implementation need to be very grassroots in nature and need to be sustainable without burdening already stressed financial resources in the community.

 So…In what ways has the community attitude about poverty changed?  This is, perhaps, the most significant question that we have addressed through Horizons.  When we started Horizons in WSS, many questioned whether anyone would participate in discussions about poverty.  To recruit for study circles, the topic of poverty was minimized so that people were not intimidated and afraid to engage in the conversations about our community.  Now, we talk openly about poverty, and we recognize that at least half of the people in any meeting that is help are living at or below the poverty level.  The perception has shifted from poverty conversations being restricted to only some residents or certain ‘pockets’ of town, to a more general understanding that poverty is a reality for most in our community.

Evidence in this shift in thinking can be seen throughout the community.  Three recent examples include - at a state-wide meeting on climate change, a representative from Meagher voiced concern that the concepts of regulating changes to homes and vehicles to make them more “green” might have implications for impoverished communities, like White Sulphur.  At a May 19 meeting of the Chamber of Commerce, discussion of the local circus coming to town involved a conversation about the large number of kids in the community that could use free or reduced price passes because they could not afford to attend without assistance.  Outreach to local businesses to sponsor tickets for kids is planned.  The city council is considering changing the structure for trash collection in the community.  The variable that they are trying to manage are 1) getting trash out of the community so that health and human safety concerns are mitigated 2) implementing changes, while trying not to negatively impact impoverished families.

While these examples are small stories of small changes, they reflect a distinct shift in our conversations about poverty.

• CTA Architects- following the community visioning session, where CTA donated “quick draw” skills to illustrate our vision  of the community, Sarah Hamlen and Commissioner Jamie Doggett, traveled to Bozeman.  There, CTA outlined the steps involved with street scaping and planning for community beautification.  They also identified budgets and expenses that might be required in planning phases of street scaping.
• Gateway Economic Development- The team at Gateway Economic Development has been called on to help with many different aspects of planning for beautification.  Gateway has helped to research designs for flower planters and has helped to identify the requirements for submitting a CTEP application.  They may also have grant funding available to help with leveraging the $8,500 grant available through Horizons for street scaping.
• Northern Rocky Mountain RC&D- The RC&D has worked on two significant projects identified in the action plan - self-help housing rehabilitation and community wind.  Both of these projects are moving forward and helping our community to be more sustainable.
• MidWest Assistance Program- While working on street scaping concepts, it became clear to MCCF that a capital improvements plan for community infrastructure (primarily water and waste-water management) is a critical component for moving forward.  MAP is meeting with city council members and the mayor, as well as with representatives of Gateway Economic Development and the RC&D, to discuss the development of a capital improvements plan for the city.  This would provide a great foundation for any community beautification effort.
• Montana Community Foundation- In rebuilding the Meagher County Community Foundation, the board has relied heavily on guidance from the Montana Community Foundation.  They have provided ideas, support, and recommendations on both organizational structure and long term goal setting.
• Horizons Across Montana - Throughout the process, MCCF has called on the folks at Horizons Across Montana to bounce ideas, gain outside perspective, and to find new resources.  They have helped to keep MCCF on task with reminders about the principles of Horizons and have helped to challenge the community to obtain higher standards of performance.
• Disposal Services - The big issue for Meagher County has been community clean up.  Many in town hoard their household garbage and wait for the one “free” day of dumping per year to dispose of their trash.  Disposal services has worked with Horizons, and is now working directly with the city, to determine new ways of handling the transfer station billing so that we can get this health and human safety issue removed from town.