Visioning Blastoff

Please join us to help make Chewelah a thriving community!We invite you to attend Chewelah's community event and help develop astrategic plan for creating this thriving community.Come view the results of the community survey and help us plan and vision! Tuesday, November 275:30-8:30 pmChewelah City Council Room301 E. Clay AveDinner will be served! Gas cards for travel and child care money is available too.Call Debra Kollock at WSU Extension for any questions: 684-2588Chewelah has been answering the question "What does it take to become athriving Community?" by participating in the Horizons Project sponsored byWashington State University Extension. Chewelah has been working very hardon this grant-funded program for a full year.The Minnesota-based Northwest Area Foundation's mission is to helpcommunities reduce poverty. This Horizons program focuses on reducingpoverty in rural communities in an eight state region, of whichWashington is one of them. The foundation has designed an 18 month programthat included four major parts: 1. a facilitated discussion called StudyCircles where regular people gathered together to talk about what poverty looks like in their communities, 2. Leadership Plenty, which taught leadership skills to people who did not consider themselves "leaders" and 3. A Visioning Process to determine which projects could be realistically completed. A survey was part of the Visioning process. It was mailed to all residences in the 99109 area. Chewelah needed 15% of the residents to participate in the survey. The results were tallied by WSU students.The fourth and upcoming part will be putting the Vision results into action.This phase will provide training and education and community involvement toassist Chewelah in beginning steps to achieve their Vision. Communityvolunteers have been dedicated in meeting all the requirements for the prizeof $10,000. So we now need your help. The Visioning Session will provide the opportunityin prioritize projects and set the action plan for the remaining seven months of the program. The Horizons Project wants everyone to be involved,come to the Visioning Session on November 27th, 5:30 to 8:30, City CouncilRoom, 301 E. Clay Ave. to be included in the exciting process. If you have any question please contact Debra Kollock at 684-2588 or dkollock@wsu.edu. We thank the volunteers who answered the first call to participate in theHorizons Project in 2005. The community was awarded $5,000 which is held intrust with the Chewelah Economic Alliance, who's Mission statement says, "We will partner for progress by promoting balanced growth, diversification andstability of the area's economy through targeting and recruiting businessescommitted to meaningful employment opportunities and quality of life in a an exceptional natural environment." This money will be added to the $10,000 from this year's grant. Debra Kollock, Director WSU Stevens County Extension 985 S. Elm, Suite AColville, WA 99114Phone: (509) 684-2588Fax: (509) 684-9790 http://stevens.wsu.edu/ Extension programs and employment are available to all withoutdiscrimination. Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Extension office.