Strategic Planning Grange Hall/Community Center Rejuvenation

STRATEGIC POVERTY REDUCTION PLAN

Washington Horizons Community: Trout Lake

Topic or focus area: Rejuvenation of the Grange Hall as a “Community Center”.

Why is this a focus area? It was revealed in the Horizons Study Circles, as well as the community survey, done by Horizons, that Trout Lake needed a physical central focus point where the community could meet for social events, educational meetings, and sharing of goods and services.

Why did our community believe this focus area would lead to the reduction of poverty? According to the Klickitat County Census of 2000, Trout Lake has a poverty rating of 14%. We believe that “poverty” in Trout Lake is more about “enrichment” than about “wealth”. We further believe that the enrichment that can be shared by the citizens of Trout Lake was largely going un-tapped. Many of our new citizens were folks retiring from a successful career in the working world and whose potential contributions to our community were being kept as a carefully guarded secret. The Grange Hall, celebrating its Centennial this year, had become a building of very little activity and then only by the few pioneer members who were struggling to keep it going. The two main events there were the Annual Saturday Market in the summer and the monthly meetings of The Quilters. In the details below we will show how this focus area will lead to the reduction of poverty in Trout Lake, Washington.

WHAT WILL WE DO?
Horizons will provide the impetus to get more people interested in the Grange as an organization, who will then elect new leadership. Horizons will provide the impetus for new activities to enrich the life of Trout Lake such as: a monthly Soup Supper and Community Dance, a regular forum of speakers and films on issues of concern from an understanding of the local Organic Dairy Industry to subsistence living in Cuba. Horizons will provide the funding for forum events such as Subsistence Living on a Limited Budget and a film series on social concerns. Horizons will provide the funding for upgrading the kitchen facilities for community use while using the building, and for media equipment and a film library for the film series.

WHO IS OUR TARGET AUDIENCE?
The Grange is often viewed as a group of adults in agricultural careers. We plan to involve families in many of these newly planned events; we plan to develop a summer activities program for the youth of our community with a film series especially of interest to this age level. These summer activities would also involve tapping into the rich leadership potential that lives in our community to lead day activities combining the interests of both youth and adult. We plan to develop a food sharing program involving the many master-gardeners in our community, to provide quality produce at economical prices to the non-gardeners, and to develop other community gardens.

WHY ARE WE DOING IT?
We believe a vital Community Center at the Grange Hall will provide an enriched life in Trout Lake. This Center can also provide a source of poverty reduction for those with produce and crafts to sell at the annual, and well-established, Saturday Market (July 4 weekend to Labor Day weekend), an event that adds considerably to the economy of the community as it gathers the locals together and brings in many visitors for weekend activity.


INDICATORS OF SUCCESS
The indicators of success will be the number of people who are drawn to the events at the Community Center, especially the number of new people who become involved in the leadership and active life of these events.

TIMELINE
The rejuvenation of the Grange as an organization began with the Horizon Study Circle discussions in the Fall of 2006 and took action in the spring of 2007 when the membership increased from 5-8 hardy pioneers to over 30 in a matter of weeks! The monthly Soup Suppers began in the Fall of 2007 with about 15 people responding to the initial idea. Subsequent months have included dance lessons, theme parties, and even costumes so that the current attendance is between 50-60 community members of all ages. The Horizon sponsored Workshop Series on Sustainable Living on a Budget will begin on May 25, 2008 and continue on June 8 and 22. The Community Forum Documentary Series began in early 2008 and has a schedule of film events to carry through for the next 12-15 months. The proposals for the kitchen appliances and the media equipment will be generated in June 2008 for presentation to the Foundation.
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