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The Study Circles Resource Center has a web article about 2 of our Horizons communities, Bonners Ferry and the Coeur d’Alene Reservation. Check out what your neighbors are up to! The website also talks about other study circles across the nation and the topics they are talking about (education, immigration, racial equality, police & community, etc.)
The University of Idaho College of Agricultural and Life Sciences publication, Programs & People, has devoted its winter 2008 issue to poverty and programs that the college offers to work with individuals and communities dealing with the real world impacts of poverty. To read the articles (including one about Horizons), please visit the publication’s website.
According to analysis of data by USA Today, Idaho remains in the top 5 states people are moving in to. Others in the top 5 include Washington DC, Nevada, Alaska & Wyoming. Are we prepared for this? Do we welcome newcomers to our towns? How will this change the realities of day to day life?
Cheryl Jacobs, South Dakota Horizons Community Coach, has created a section on their state blog that has helpful blogging tips for beginners and advanced bloggers. Check out the “Helpful Hints” such as:
Adding color – Assigning Roles — Adding community RSS Feeds — Adding Opinion Polls — Off line photo editor — Moderating comments — and MORE.
From KnowledgePlex Week in Review: A Poverty, Work and Opportunity Task Force appointed by Providence, R.I., mayor David Cicilline, has outlined ways to help low-income people find pathways out of poverty, reported The Providence Journal. Among the recommendations: advise low-income families to use regular furniture stores instead of rent-to-own stores; keep a check on high-cost lenders and check-cashing businesses; expand adult education; and, work harder to prevent teen pregnancies. Cicilline is acting on some of the Task Force’s recommendations but has not committed to all of them. Meanwhile, in Chicago, 430 low-income tenants at the former Henry Horner Homes have been enrolled in the experimental Pathways to Rewards program, said the Chicago Tribune. The core idea: find ways to reward positive behavior instead of exclusively punishing negative behavior. Under the program, parents earn points by looking for a job, paying rent on time, and being involved with their children’s school. Children earn points for keeping a clean room and getting to school on time. One point equals one dollar, with other kinds of assistance-new clothes, for example-also offered (and funded by private grants). In New York, a similar program offers as much as $5,000 to poverty-level families who “do right” by their kids.
From the Small Business Advocacy Small Business Profile of Idaho:
“Small businesses are the heart of Idaho’s economy. Research by the Office of Advocacy shows that small businesses create most of the nation’s net new jobs, and they bring dynamic ideas, innovative services, and new products to the marketplace. They account for almost all of the nation’s employer firms and generate half of non-farm private output. New business creation is key to a state’s ability to increase its gross state product, state personal income, and total state employment. This small business profile uses the most recent data available to demonstrate the valuable contributions that small businesses make to Idaho’s economic health.” Click to download the pdf.
For more information about starting and running a small business in Idaho, please visit the
Idaho Small Business Solutions webpage.
Dr. Rula Awwad-Rafferty’s University of Idaho Senior Interior Design students are working in several Horizons communities who have identified a community center as one of their vision/action items. The students will present their initial design concepts during a class presentation on Wednesday, November 14 from 2:30 – 5:30 at the UI campus. The students will also be sharing their initial concept designs with individual communities electronically.
The students will also host a final presentation/reception at the conclusion of the semester for all Horizons communities. The class is also researching best practices for community center design, funding and other related issues. The UI students will present their final designs and answering questions. We are still in the planning stages and will get more information to you shortly. The event is tentatively scheduled for the 2nd week in December. We’ll post more information here as soon as it’s available.
Here’s a fun article about Spain’s 95 year old Amelia Lopez, her blog and her newfound stardom as a cybercelebrity. It’s a great example of the power of a blog and an inspiration to those who think they’re “too old” or “nobody wants to hear what I have to say.
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In the article, Amelia says “When I saw my grandson using the Internet, it caught my attention. I said to myself ‘What’s this? You can find out about anything. I want an Internet!’”
Her weblog is available here.
A recent report by the Carsey Institute shows that rural mothers with children under age 6 have higher employment rates than their urban counterparts, but have higher poverty rates, lower wages, and lower family income. Find the report here.
Inspired by the successful and innovative Handmade in America collaboration in the Blue Mountains of North Carolina, Two Degrees Northwest is about creating a place-based economy, where dollars are firmly tied to heritage, landscape and community. Moreover, it fosters regional thinking, entrepreneurism, and community and resource stewardship.
Uniquely Idaho is a collaborative effort of… University of Idaho Extension — Idaho Dept. of Commerce — USDA Rural Development — Idaho Rural Partnership — Idaho Transportation Department — Idaho Commission on the Arts — Idaho Department of Agriculture — Idaho State Historical Society — Idaho Parks and Recreation — And countless local and regional partners!
Click here to read the first issue of the Uniquely Idaho Newsletter and see what’s going on in YOUR community.
For more information, please contact Lorie Higgins, University of Idaho Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology (higgins@uidaho.edu; 208-885-9717)
From the Idaho Food Bank Website
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