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.

The decay of the town of Grand Junction was gradual, creeping up on the town like obesity creeps up on so many of our bodies. Like a pound here and a pound there, a rundown house here, an unmowed vacant lot there, ten pounds here and twenty-five pounds there, crumbling bricks and mortor here, abandoned buildings there, it happens. If dealt with immediately, these problems can easily be remedied, but over time, they all add up to the same thing: unattractiveness, dysfunction, and a deadly risk to the health of an individual or a community.
Grand Junction is facing a deady risk from its decay and is in a fight for its life as a community. As is the case in the treatment of obesity, sometimes a group approach, like the Weight Watchers program, can lead to success. The group approach in the case of Grand Junction is Horizons.
In the past, there have been people in leadership positions in Grand Junction who would serve, but not lead, or try to lead, but no one followed. Leadership Plenty had given Grand Junction the opportunity to recruit and train a new generation of leaders. The Horizons program has planted the seeds of enthusiasm and support that will help sustain this new leadership.
This enthusiasm and support has helped develop a fellowship within the community. The fellowship leads to more communication and interaction. There is an increase in volunteerism. Fund raising for community groups is more successful. Snowbirds from the community want to stay informed on community activities while they are away instead of trying to forget about life in cold snowy dysfunctional Grand Junction.
More people are participating in the group effort to heal the community because they want change. Success with small efforts builds confidence to try more. And the gradual snowball effect of many small successes may lead to a giant snowball of success in working toward eliminating poverty, community decay and their devastating effects on the well being of Grand Junction. Just as obesity has no overnight or instant cure, stopping the gradual decay and eliminating the problems of poverty in Grand Junction will take time, patience and good leadership to achieve. We are on the way.

On a very cold Saturday in January, nine community members participated  in the Expanding Horizons Workshop.  They learned about new resources available to residents living near the poverty level.  Participants considered community attributes and how these attributes can help their community thrive.  The afternoon was spent considering the impact of decisions made today on the future of a community, 20 or 30 years into the future. 

Developing and encouraging partnerships among and between existing groups in our community is crucial in maximizing the efforts made by each group. With cooperation, the results can be magnified, benefitting all of our residents.
The tentacles of the Horizons’ octopus are reaching out in all directions. Partnerships are developing between Horizons and the local volunteer fire department. In a new program currently being developed, emergency welfare checks in a time of crisis can be conducted by the fire department based on a list of those in need compiled by the Horizons Communications committee. The fire department, recognizing the need for a new community center is working closely with the Horizons group on plans to expand their facility, including a community room which would help fill that need.
An exciting new era of community cooperation has dawned with 2 active Horizons members joining the city council after the local election. This partnership is one of the most important ones that can exist, and it is essential in order to move forward with community and Horizons goals.
Existing, and new, church and civic organizations, including a local garden club, Lions club, church boards, volunteer fire department and others are being led by Horizons participants. Horizons has partnered with the public library and the local school to include community news on the library website and in the school newsletter. Horizons has partnered with local churches to provide a meeting place and meals for Horizons meetings, and “what’s happening with Horizons?” is a hot topic at other local meetings and events.
All of these partnerships have helped develop more of a fellowship within the community as we all realize that we are not alone in working to improve our community, and that by joining hands and working together we can accomplish surprising things.

When we talk about what is different in Grand Junction since we started the Horizons program, one word comes up over and over: Communication. And we all agree that communication is the key to keeping the changes coming. We are constantly looking for new ways to get the word out about what is happening with Horizons.

The interactions that are a result of the new lines of communication have helped us to develop a structure in which to accomplish things here in Grand Junction. A more unified effort to achieve our goals has been apparent.

Poverty is very isolating. Horizons activities have enabled people who felt isolated to feel more included-more a part of the community. New contacts and relationships have helped the community learn more about the contributions others can make. People are serving on committees with people they have never worked with before and with the new lines of open communication, all are feeling more comfortable to contibute ideas and help to implement those ideas.

The election of one Horizons leader to a city council position and a subsequent appointment of another to fill a vacancy will now lead to a closer working relationship between city government and Horizons efforts. That is cause for great excitement and optimism.

Winter weather is isolating, too. It’s hard to schedule meetings and events when the weather may or may not allow the events to be held. The evidence of our level of committment to improving our community came when a scheduled Horizons meeting was held one December evening after a day of unpleasant wintery weather had cancelled schools and many other evening events.

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.

Greetings from your new Grand Junction Horizons blogger.