STRATEGIC POVERTY REDUCTION PLAN
Washington Horizons Community: Trout Lake
Topic or focus area: Affordable Housing for workers and professionals employed in Trout Lake.
Why is this a focus area? Trout Lake has always been an established dairy and agricultural community with well-established, and successful, farms. In recent years the focus has gone to organic dairy and organic farming with fewer farmers and dairies but larger organizations requiring many hired hands. The residential portion of the community growth has been professionals with a successful career who come to this peaceful valley to establish a substantial home and live a retired life. Before the real estate fall-off in the Fall of 2007, the price of land and homes in the valley had risen to the $400,000-$800,000 level, beyond the reach of most work-a-day people. Even many of the teachers at the outstanding Trout Lake School were commuting in to work here!
Why did our community believe this focus area would lead to the reduction of poverty? Being able to live where you work is a great boon to reduction of poverty. Commuting costs are eliminated, people will develop a “shop at home” attitude. A sense of pride in, and belonging to, the community will be enhanced.
WHAT WILL WE DO?
We have found, as we study what “Affordable Housing” is, that it is a very large project. The Planning Commission of our Community Council has just finished a 3-year Comprehensive Plan for land use in our valley. Included in the plan is a large portion of the valley will remain in 20-acre plots for dairy, farming, and forest. A portion to the south and west of the community center is being considered for “smaller parcels” of 1-5 acre sub-divisions and even some quarter-acre plots which could be used for “Affordable Housing.” The Planning Commission next needs to make a survey of the land use, especially as it pertains to a septic/sewer system that can accommodate smaller homes. There is no sewer system in Trout Lake; each home is on a separate septic system. The survey will include a study of the feasibility of communal septic systems shared by up to six small dwellings.
WHO IS OUR TARGET AUDIENCE?
Our audience for this survey will include the current land owners of the proposed subdivisions, the people who now dwell close to these land plots, and those who would consider living there if such an opportunity to do so would present itself.
WHY ARE WE DOING IT?
Poverty will be reduced by allowing the workers of the valley to be able to afford living where they are working. We have often heard, “Oh, Trout Lake!! I would move there in a heartbeat if I could afford to live and work in that beautiful community!” The entire economical health of our community would strengthen with an Affordable Housing Program.
INDICATORS OF SUCCESS
The indicators would include identifying land owners who would be willing to use their land in this manner, even through a CLT program perhaps. Another indicator would be the discovery of methods of waste disposal that would be agreeable to the inhabitants. And, lastly, identifying a group of people who would move to Trout Lake to enjoy affordable housing here.
TIMELINE
The Comprehensive Study is complete. The Planning Commission is eager to take the next step, perhaps in the Summer and Fall of 2008, to do the study and prepare the survey which will help to guide them in the development of the Affordable Housing Project for Trout Lake.
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Showing posts with label Poverty Action. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poverty Action. Show all posts
Thursday, June 5, 2008
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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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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Thursday, August 5, 2004
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