Idaho

Rules: Post your answers on your blogsite by Tuesday, April 8 by midnight and be entered in the drawing for a fabulous prize.

Reflective Questions: What does the phrase ‘living in poverty’ mean to you? How has your definition of ‘poverty’ changed in the past year? Does your community think differently about poverty now? How can you tell?

Scavenger Hunt Question: Which community (in partnership with ComBAT (Community Based Access to Technology)) will be having a FREE concert on April 23, 2008?

This week’s winner will get to choose ONE of the following books:

One Nation, Underprivileged, Why American Poverty Affects Us All / Mark Robert Rank

or

Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community / Robert D. Putnam.

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)

Some Idaho hunger statistics from the Idaho Food Bank:

–An average of 66,300 (14.6%) Idaho families worried they could not afford food (known as food insecurity) between 2002 and 2004. And 17,377 (3.7%) families had members who actually went hungry (food insecurity with hunger) during the same period. This makes Idaho the 8th hungriest state in the country.

–In another study, the US Department of Agriculture ranked Idaho the 4th worst hunger state and found that 4.5% (22,098) of Idaho households experienced hunger between 1999-2001. In its previous study, done between 1996-98, USDA rated Idaho in a tie for 25th. This descent, from 25th to 4th, was the second worst among the 50 states and Washington, D.C. Only Utah’s decline was worse. (USDA: Household Food Security in the US, December 2002)

The Idaho Food Bank website has info on how to organize a food drive in your own community as well as other statistics and resources for your community and information about programs such as ‘Grow a Row’ (planting extra plants in your own garden to donate to food banks or other organizations).

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.

We have lots of interesting opportunities for Idaho Horizons Communities. Please check the Horizons Website!

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.

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.

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)