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Elk City, Idaho, Framing Our Community, Inc. Wins $100,000 Great Strides Award from Northwest Area Foundation

The Award Recognizes Poverty-Reduction Efforts and Successes

ST. PAUL, Minn. (January 25, 2008 ) – The Northwest Area Foundation today named Framing Our Community, Inc. of Elk City, Idaho, a 2008 Great Strides Award winner for a cutting-edge initiative that intertwines forest restoration with reducing poverty. The award is given in recognition of innovative strides communities have taken to reduce poverty for the long term. Every year up to four communities are selected for a Great Strides Award; each winner receives $100,000.

Affected by high unemployment and low wages due to a downturn in the timber industry, people in Elk City, Idaho, refused to give up hope for their rural way of life in the Nez Perce National Forest. Town leaders recognized a source of their struggles could be transformed into a source of prosperity: wood from diseased, dead and downed trees could be carved into value-added products. Thinning out the ravaged trees reduces hazardous fuels resulting from the scrap wood, which in turn helps restore the forest environment. The idea spawned Framing Our Community, Inc., a non-profit, that in partnership with the state and federal land management agencies, tribal governments and private landowners, could build capacity to reduce poverty long-term. Switching from an extraction-based economy to a restoration-based economy has created new jobs for Idaho County, and a small business incubator that encourages entrepreneurship through training, support and e-commerce.

“Framing Our Community in Elk City is most certainly having a region impact through sharing ideas and lessons learned with other communities. From the beginning, it sought to involve all of Elk City’s residents in its projects, holding widely advertised community meetings to invite input and participation. The Great Strides award will help this organization and community increase efforts to develop local leaders while building on local human, natural and cultural assets,” said Dr. Lorie Higgins of the University of Idaho.

Other 2008 Great Strides winners include the Eagle Butte, S.D., Four Bands Community Fund; Glendive, Mont., Community GATE; and Roseburg, Ore., Umpqua Community Development Corporation. The $100,000 award will go to community organizations to be used for community benefit. Northwest Area Foundation has asked each winner to work with the Foundation to share key lessons about their efforts and programs so that other communities can learn from their experiences and possibly replicate the success.

“In our work, poverty reduction is neither fast nor easy. This year’s Great Strides winners have proven that by identifying new economic engines communities can make sustainable changes to reduce poverty over the long run. They have valuable lessons to share,” said Kari Schlachtenhaufen, interim president and CEO of the Northwest Area Foundation.

Twenty-three communities from the Northwest Area Foundation’s eight-state region applied for the 2008 Great Strides award. Six finalists hosted on-site visits by the Foundation after which the four winners were selected.

Great Strides Award recipients were selected using the following criteria:
• Inclusiveness: community involvement from diverse sectors and groups.
• Regional impact: interaction with and awareness of other communities facing similar issues in their geographic area.
• Asset-based perspective: recognition of the community’s existing strengths.
• Economic engines: involvement with businesses and other organizations that fuel the local economy.
• Leadership: efforts to nurture leaders from different public and private sectors, ages and genders.

The Northwest Area Foundation’s mission is to help communities reduce poverty long term. The Foundation's service area includes Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington – the states once served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, Hill’s son, Louis W. Hill, established the Foundation.