Building Strong Communities:  Asset-based Strategies and Tools Workshop

with Dr. John “Jody” Kretzmann

Don’t miss this opportunity to attend this one-day workshop, taught by John!

Jody Kretzman is the Co-Director of the Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) Institute at Northwestern University (Chicago, IL).  He has international recognition as an inspiring, straightforward, and wise advocate of strength-based approaches to building healthy local communities. He is also the author of Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets.

Come learn more about the six assets to discover and mobilize:

§ The skills and interests of individual residents§ The power of local voluntary associations§ The resources of local institutions§ The physical assets of the community (e.g. land, buildings, transportation)§ The local economy§ The community’s culture and stories This workshop is co-sponsored by Hopa Mountain, Montana State University’s Horizons Program, MSU Leadership Institute, ASMSU and Opportunity Link.  The cost of the workshop in Bozeman is $15, which includes lunch.  There is no charge for the Havre workshop. DatesMarch 25, 2008, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Holiday Inn Bozeman, 5 E Baxter Ln, $15 Registration fee includes lunch March 27, 2008, 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Best Western Great Northern Inn Havre            No Charge in Havre For more information or to register, please call Hopa Mountainat (406) 586-2455 or email bsawyer@hopamountain.org.

RURAL COMMUNITY CONFERENCE 

Promoting Healthy, Thriving Communities

SAVE the DATE

May 12-13 2009 at the Strand Union in Bozeman

Sponsored by Montana State University Extension, Horizons, in collaboration with Hopa Mountain, and Montana State University Office of Rural Health / Area Health Education Center, College of Letters and Science, and Department of Political Science.

Share what works to grow community prosperity.

The Rural Community Conference is for service providers, educators, researchers,
policy-makers, business and civic leaders, faith leaders or private citizens looking for community-focused strategies to build a thriving rural Montana.
This state-wide gathering is for you:

Learn from the members of neighborhoods, schools, cities and towns who are bringing all kinds

of people into creative community problem solving and building a future for rural Montana. They’re addressing entrepreneurship, youth, health, housing, education, and issues of poverty, and more.

Network with other communities, organizations, agencies, nonprofit, youth organizers,

healthcare providers and organizations, public officials, researchers, and educators to share success stories and find solutions to challenging issues facing rural Montana communities.

Adopt new tools to help broaden and strengthen your community change efforts.

Connect and Mobilize with others dedicated to creating a thriving rural Montana.

The Rural Community Conference is designed to give community members and service providers the tools they need to move from waiting to leading — from talk to action. It will touch on a wide range of solutions in a variety of venues, highlighting best practices for community success, emphasizing proven strategies and introducing emerging ideas.

Break out sessions • Panel Discussions • National Keynote Speakers

Attendees can also participate and learn in a Community Resource Fair —
Exhibits and displays highlighting community opportunities, effective strategies, and community successes.

Don’t miss this opportunity to share, learn and connect!

Online registration is now available. Click here to register.

For more information, contact:
Paul Lachapelle, Community Development Specialist
Phone: (406) 994-3620
Email: CommunityDevelopment@montana.edu

Choteau is on the web!

The internet is a valuable tool for networking, finding the news, shopping for the cheapest deals, and watching your favorite videos. Youtube is a great way to post family videos, sporting events, and it can even be used as a tool to market your community. Below is a video posted by Choteau-a Horizons community.

Blogging–in Plain English

Are you having a difficult time explaining what a blog is to your friends and family? Well here is a neat video that explains the basics of blogging.

Need Help Blogging? Use this Tool…

If you are still having a hard time blogging this blogging manual may be able to help you. This guide was developed by the Idaho Horizons program and it could be a great tool to give to community members if they  are interested in blogging.

 **Note, there will be some things in the pamplet that are specific to Idaho, just make sure that if you have questions call Halsey at 406.994.6976 or email me at hbishop@montana.edu .

How can blogging be fun?

Good morning fellow bloggers! Many of you have contacted me about how to get more people involved in the blog. While it is not always easy to get citizens to participate, here are a few suggestions that may help

1. Create an online scavenger hunt. Have participants look for something specific on the web or in the blog, then  have them comment where they found it on your blog page.

2. Do a question every week. i.e. What do you like most about our community? Then analyze the answers and report back to the community with your findings.

3. Create a community calender. Citizens will visit the blog because you will have the up-to-the-minute information on what is happening in your town.

4. Provide doorprizes for participating.

5. Have online forums where people can talk and discuss important issues. A great link to use would be www.uservoice.com (an online discussion board)…and it is FREE.

6. Post online surveys…they are also FREE…www.surveymonkey.com

7. Upload videos, pictures, and documents. More pictures+less text=a more fun blog.

Have fun with your blog, personalize it, make it fit your community, and create a place where everyone is welcome. For more fun ideas visit the blogs of past Horizons communities….they contain a world of information!!!!

WELCOME HORIZONS III COMMUNITIES!

Welcome everyone! As you may have known this blog webpage is devoted to communities who want to share their experiences and successes surrounding the Horizons program.

Take the time to read through the Horizons II blogs. Their blogs are fun, enlightening and full of wonderful ideas  to reduce poverty. Furthermore, their blogs showcase incremental steps  to create an atmosphere of creativity, understanding, and charisma in their communities.

Moreover, do not be alarmed if you cannot write on your blog page at the current moment. Within the next week or so the community blogging coordinator for your community (that may be you) will be getting a password and username. This will allow them/you access to the community blog webpage. Once logged in you can write, edit and post comments on your community webpage.

Thank you once again for being a part of Horizons! Please check the Montana Horizons main page often. This page is dedicated to updates and “need to know information” about the program.

Thank you!

Seven New Community-Friendly Grant Opps have been added to the Extension Community Resources Program webpage at:        http://extn.msu.montana.edu/CommRes/grantopps.asp

Grants for Community Development, Education, Human ServicesWells Fargo is proud to support organizations working to strengthen our communities. Through the efforts of our enthusiastic team member-volunteers and our contributions, we share our success within our communities by giving back to non-profits and educational institutions that address vital community needs and issues.  We direct our giving to areas that we believe are important to the future of our nation’s vitality and success: community development, education, and human services. 

Wells Fargo accepts grant proposals throughout the year and requires a minimum of four weeks for review and decision.

Grant Opportunity for Community-Based Nonprofit Organizations

 Applications available:  June 30, 2008 

Application deadline:   August 29, 2008 

Awardees notified:      January 2009 

The National Eye Institute (NEI) recognizes the importance of strengthening the capabilities of community-based organizations to develop innovative eye health education and promotion projects. The Healthy Vision Community Awards Program provides awards of up to $10,000 each and is intended to stimulate collaborative initiatives that support the vision objectives in Healthy People 2010. The objectives address examinations and prevention, eye diseases, injury and safety, and vision rehabilitation. 

Nonprofit organizations are encouraged to apply, including community-based organizations and agencies, minority-based organizations, schools, faith-based organizations, civic and fraternal groups, community clinics, local Agencies on Aging, and state and local health departments and agencies.