Grand Junction, IA

Two Grand Junction Horizons projects were recently awarded grants from the Greene County Community Foundation. On Monday April 21, the Foundation announced that the Grand Junction Betterment annual clean up day had been awarded $1800 for that effort which will again be held in June, and the Grand Junction after-school tutoring program, developed and begun by volunteer community Horizons members early this spring, had been awarded a $3000 grant to help continue this project.
Great news for our community!

Horizons activity is continuing in Grand Junction this spring. The second annual clean up day is scheduled for early this spring. Under the leadership of two of the newly elected city council members, who are active Horizons members, the city will soon begin the big job of tearing down the first of numerous abandoned houses in town. This is a task that the Horizons group has been actively pursuing from the beginning. Some downtown painting projects are also in the works.
After last year’s successful Fun Day, planned and organized by Horizons committees, we are in for more fun this year on July 5. The success of last year’s event was a big boost to the feeling in the community that we can achieve goals we set out to strive for.
Another group that formed as a direct resut of the community’s Horizons participation is the local garden club. This active group has more than doubled in size in the past year, and is working hard to raise funds to support community beautification projects. The group, called The Naked Ladies Garden Club, has recently produced and sold a calendar which is now in its second printing, due to popular demand. The membership of the group brings together community members from all walks of life who may have never interacted, but are now forming solid bonds of friendship and cooperation.
These events are doing a lot to create a real sense of community here in Grand Junction.

Beginning March 17, 2008, East Greene Elementary School students in grades 1 through 5 were invited to participate in an after school tutoring program sponsored by the Grand Junction Community Horizons group.
Volunteer director Joan Tiffany filled 18 volunteer tutoring positions with Horizons participants and other community members who submitted to background checks prior to their first meeting with the children. Each volunteer participates once or twice per month. Other volunteers are providing snacks for each session.
The students meet from 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM each Monday and Thursday afternoon at the Grand Junction Public Library. Following a nutritious snack, the students first complete their assigned homework and then spend extra time on reading, math and spelling. Often the computer is used for educational games in math that the students especially enjoy. Short breaks are taken for physical activity.
Initially, three students in the 3rd and 4th grades took advantage of this opportunity, and a fourth student is scheduled to begin this week. Small enrollment in the program has allowed for a one-on-one tutor to student ratio, and much has been accomplished.
The volunteers look forward to a great finish to this school year, and plan for an even better program next year.

As our community has worked through the various phases of the Horizons program, one thing we have realized and identified is that there are several kinds of poverty to address in our community, each with its own unique issues to deal with.

Through our Horizons activities we are attempting to address financial poverty, as well as emotional and social poverty, among our residents. When discussing the steps we are taking to address poverty, one word seems to come up more than any others–communication. Lines of communication have opened up between people who have felt the isolation and depression of poverty and other members of the community who now have a better recognition of the faces of poverty in Grand Junction.

Our first major action was our community clean up day which was so important to the overall attitude here in Grand Junction. The clean up initiative included community members from all socioeconomic levels, as well as extensive intergenerational interaction. Everyone wanted to be involved. Those who could not help financially helped physically. Those who could not help physically helped the social atmosphere to flourish. The enthusiasm and can-do attitude has led to a greater feeling of community self worth and overall sense of community.

A second major action was a community Fun Day, planned and successfully carried out in just a few months. This was another unifying activity, using time and talents of all community groups and a diverse range of community members. People here are talking and getting to know each other again. As more and more people join in with each phase of Horizons, they are finding new friends among their neighbors here in the community. People care more about what is going on here and about the well being of their community.

Most of our community groups now have participated in some way in Horizons activities. Two active Horizons leaders have recently run for city council and one was elected. We are excited about a stronger and more cooperative relationship in the future between the Horizons group and our city government.

Grand Junction has an awesome fire and rescue department. Horizons and the department plan to work together to form a network of care and concern to check on and respond to those with special needs during times of crisis such as a power outages or weather emergencies. We hope to work with the department on future community projects still in the planning process. Our local churches have all been actively supporting Horizons activities. We are working to make use of all local resources available to help in our assault on poverty in Grand Junction. It will be a long term, difficult battle, but we are determined to make some significant changes.