Idaho

Idaho Horizons is part of a large-scale poverty reduction/leadership development program funded by the Northwest Area Foundation. Six other states and their communities have blogs that are authored by community members just like you. Check out what those communities are doing by starting at the state pages and exploring. These blogs are informative, interesting AND inspiring…

• Iowa (click on a community blog listed in the ‘blog roll’)
• North Dakota (click on a community blog listed in the ‘blog roll’)
• South Dakota (click on a community blog listed in the ‘blog roll’)
• Minnesota (click on a community blog listed in the ‘blog roll’)
• Montana (click on a community blog listed in the ‘blog roll’)
• Washington State (click on each individual community and then click on their ‘blogspot’ link)

Rules:
Post your answers on your blogsite by Tuesday, April 1 (no jokes about April Fool’s day!) by midnight and be entered in the drawing for a fabulous prize.

Reflective Question: How is your community thinking about/planning for sustainability after the end of the Horizons program on June 30? What will Horizons-related groups look like in your community in one year? Are you optimistic/worried? (relieved?)

Scavenger Hunt Question: Which community has been approved to receive a $65,000 Idaho Community Development Block Grant for work on their city water reservoir?

HINT: don’t forget to check ‘previous entries’ (the link at the bottom of the blog page, or check archives in the column on the right)

This week’s winner will receive BOTH of the following books:

The Magic of Dialogue : Transforming Conflict into Cooperation by Daniel Yankelovich

Population: 485 –Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time by Michael Perry

More free cartoons available at weblogcartoons.com

Our winner from last week’s blog scavenger hunt / answer is….. Judi from UpRiver. Please visit their blog to read her answers (http://upriver.communityblogs.us/)

Judi gets to choose a book title from our community development library:
Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets - John P. Kretzmann  or

Teaching the Commons: Place, Pride, and the Renewal of Local Schooling - Paul Theobald

As promised, here are your two Weekly Questions!

Rules:
Post your answers on your blogsite by Tuesday, March 25 at midnight and be entered in the drawing for a fabulous prize. This week’s prize-the weekly winner can choose from one of these book titles
Building Communities from the Inside Out: A Path Toward Finding and Mobilizing a Community’s Assets - John P. Kretzmann or
Teaching the Commons: Place, Pride, and the Renewal of Local Schooling - Paul Theobald

The Questions:
1. A reflective question–What do you think of Horizons blogging? What do you like, what do you dislike? What can the UI Horizons Team do to help improve the blogging experience?

2. A scavenger hunt question (visit other community blogsites to find this answer) What is a PUG Mark and in which community would you find them?

Instructions:
These questions will be posted on your blog so you can post the answers on your website.

Find out using the Southern Rural Development Initiative’s Federal Funds Analysis Program. You can also find out what types of local programs are receiving federal funding and how local federal funding compares to that of neighboring counties.

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?