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Rural Communities From Seven States Take Bold Steps to Fight Poverty

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162 Communities in Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington Embrace the Horizons Community Leadership Program

St. Paul, January 15, 2007: Communities in seven states from Minnesota to Washington and with poverty rates ranging from 10 – 94 percent have signed up for a program that will give them the chance to reverse economic and social decline and move to hope and prosperity. These 162 rural communities, all with populations of 5,000 or fewer, are enrolled in the Horizons program, an 18-month effort focused on community leadership development to reduce poverty. The recently completed pilot of this program showed that when communities have stronger leadership, they are better equipped to confront the core causes of poverty and move to action to increase opportunities for all community members.

“These communities are saying ‘Yes, we can fight back. We can reduce poverty.’ By working together, by owning the problem, and creating strategic solutions, communities can make dramatic changes,” said Karl Stauber, president and CEO of the Northwest Area Foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota.

A unique aspect of the program is that it is delivered directly into communities by respected, regional organizations. These include the extension services of the Universities of Iowa, Idaho, Minnesota, Montana State, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, Washington State, and Sitting Bull College in North Dakota. Two national partners also lend their expertise around community decision-making and leadership development. All of the partners help to bring resources, training, and coaching to rural and reservation community members.

Local delivery helps Horizons meet a goal of recruiting and including as many community members as possible in efforts that will yield lasting change. The program leads community members through a four-phase process in which they implement steps that help them understand poverty and take action to reduce it. Communities that were involved in the program’s pilot saw striking results:
• Bridgeport, Washington learned how new people and new ideas can revitalize a community. They have embraced the skills and talents of new Latino immigrants who now make up nearly 80% of the population. New jobs are being created and new leaders are emerging.
• Isabel, South Dakota learned it couldn’t just wish it to retain its younger generation. It took action to reverse outward migration by improving options for housing, daycare, and jobs that would enable more young families to stay in town.
• Jackson, Minnesota found that a community visioning process with 500 people working together generated big change. A powerful shared vision has allowed business, government, and non-profits to align their efforts more effectively; in less than a year they spruced up the business district and expanded the industrial park.

“We’ve learned that communities are ready to move forward,” said Jean Burkhardt, Horizons program lead at Northwest Area Foundation. “We’ve seen that they can move from despair to hope and from stagnation to action when provided with just a little help. We are very excited to be working with 162 communities that represent the wonderful diversity of rural America – mining, agriculture, timber and American Indian reservation communities,” she said.

By the end of 2008, The Northwest Area Foundation will have supported the delivery of approximately $100,000 of technical assistance to each of the nearly 200 rural communities that have been or are currently involved in the Horizons program.

The Northwest Area Foundation is dedicated to helping communities reduce poverty for the long term. The Foundation works on strategic efforts with a small number of rural, urban, and American Indian reservation communities, and the organizations supporting these efforts, in its eight-state region: Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. These states were served by the Great Northern Railway, founded by James J. Hill. In 1934, Hill’s son, Louis W. Hill established the Foundation. Since 1999, the Foundation has invested approximately $150 million in community-based poverty-reduction programs. It expects to invest at least an additional $50 million within the next three years. The Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant requests.