Sustainable
communities initiative
Mary Steinmaus, Director of Community Development
Over
the last year, Rural Action's Sustainable Communities Initiative's
staff and VISTAs have worked in schools and the small communities
dotting the Appalachian region of Ohio. Our programs focus on building
leadership capacity and providing organizing assistance to community
members interested in becoming a part of new school building design.
Our Communities programs also include jobs training for people
transitioning from public assistance, hands-on science and nature
experiences for our children at school, community murals, traditional
music, and theater.
COMMUNITIES
Partners in Leadership Development (PLD):
In 2001, the Partners in Leadership Development program continued
to work with the 18 community groups that had participated in leadership
workshops over the previous year. Several of the action teams formed
Community Improvement Corporations and secured grant funds for additional
community projects and continued to participate in the Kellogg Foundation's
Managing Information in Rural America (MIRA) Initiative through which
they received small grants and trailing to improve technology and
communication in their communities.
Rural Action's decision to integrate COSI's leadership development
work more fully with our other projects resulted in PLD working
with groups like the Roots of Appalachia Growers Association (RAGA),
the
Continuous School Improvement Committee from Southern Local School
District in Ferry County; and the Athens MIRA (Managing Information
in Rural America, a Kellogg
Foundation Initiative) Youth team.
Ohio Appalachia Community Connections Web Site:
COSI developed this web site to help make information sharing and
learning accessible to the more than 20 small communities that have
participated in our Partners in Leadership Development Program. The
site includes community updates, an events calendar, articles, resource
links and information, a place to ask questions, and funding opportunities.
The Library Project:
COSI surveyed 56 area public libraries to determine the computer
facilities they had available for local residents. Information
included each library's computer procedures, availability of e-mail,
time
limitations, and availability of training. A database was distributed
to the general public, community organizations and OACC participants
in the fall.
Job
Skills Training:
In collaboration with the Athens County Department of Job and
Family Services, Rural Action continued Job Training for people
transitioning from public assistance. During 2001, we worked
with 33 participants many of whom worked with Peggy Gish and
the Appalachian Peace and Justice Network to learn conflict
resolution skills and other strategies for getting along in the
workplace
and with Tri-County Adult Education Center to learn computer
skills. By year-end, 15 participants were off assistance and
either employed or in school.
As a result of budget cuts at the state level, the Athens County
Department of Job and Family Services has eliminated the Job
Skills Training Program. We were forced to lay off our dedicated
staff and work with just a small number of trainees.
The Rural Action Development Corporation:
Rural Action Development Corporation, a project incubated by
Rural Action, continues to provide emergency home repair services
to very low-income homeowners and began construction of 13
new homes for low-income families. In June the group announced
their
new name, Rural Appalachian Housing Development (RAHD).
In 2001, RAHD laid plans to build a demonstration straw bale
house, to purchase an abandoned building in the village of
Glouster to renovate for their office space, and prepared a
proposal for
a Mutual Self-Help Home Ownership construction project. Rural
Action's Executive Director continues to serve on the board
of RAHD.
SCHOOLS
Environmental Learning Program:
In the last year, the Environmental Learnig Program instructed
1,823 K-6 students in four rural school districts with hands-on,
outdoor, environmental education activities. We trained and
supervised seven teaching interns who became Environmental
Education Facilitators
in 2001. Many of the classroom teachers we worked with reported
that students who previously had difficulty in the conventional
classroom setting developed significant interests in science
and math and had greater academic success as a result of the
program.
Community and School Connection:
In 2001, the Community and School Connection's (CSC) work in
local communities involved people in discussions about schools
and school policy. In May, approximately 900 students from 13
Ohio school districts participated in a rally for a solution
to the school funding crisis.
Many took this opportunity to meet with state legislators and
share their views on school funding. The project produced School
Funding in Ohio: The DeRolph Case, a curriculum guide for use
in civics and government classes, 140 of which were distributed
to teachers around Ohio.
With help from the Institute for Local Government and Rural Development,
CSC created the Ohio School Funding Map, which shows the inequities
in the current funding system. The map was given to community
groups and State leaders. CSC also produced two Little Red Schoolbooks,
How Schools are Funded in Ohio and Preparing to Build School
Facilities under the Ohio School Facilities Commission.
Organizers began working with citizens in Federal Hocking and
Warren Local School Districts to help citizens develop plans
for school construction that will meet the needs of their communities.
Finally, the Community and School Connection's work was reported
at Rural Folicy Matters and the Rural School and Community
Trust web site (www.ruraledu.org). We covered the program, formerly
called the Rural School and Organizing Program in the cover
story
of the Rural Report, Fall 2001.
ART: Arts & Cultural Heritage
Community Murals:
At the close of 2001 our ninth community mural,
located in the community of Glouster, was nearly complete. We
also started two new murals in the communities of Amesville and
Nelsonville.
Fight like Tigers:
In collaboration with Hocking College and
Organize Ohio!, A&CH brought internationally-known screen
and stage star, Eileen Pollock, to Hocking College in the critically
acclaimed one-woman show, Fight Like Tigers as part of a state-wide
tour. Fight like Tigers is adapted from the autobiography of
Mother Jones, the very outspoken and courageous United Mine
Workers of America union organizer who was called 'the most
dangerous
woman alive' by West Virginia's attorney general. A story appeared
in the Spring 2001 Rural Report.
Lights in the Darkness Video:
Our Arts and Cultural Heritage
team recently completed production of a 38 minute long professionally
produced video on the role of the arts in treating teen depression
in Appalachian Ohio. It will be distributed statewide through
the Ohio Department of Mental Health and nationally through a
distribution company. In early 2002, Lights in the
Darkness received
a Silver Telly, the highly prestigious national award for non-broadcast
video. A story appeared in the Spring 2002 Rural Report.
Community Murals: Handbook and Case Studies: Arts & Cultural
Heritage staff wrote and published a workbook for communities
wishing to develop community murals and made it available for
purchase on-line through Rural Action's web site. A series
of workshops were held throughout Southeastern Ohio to help
communities
get started.
Traditional Music: A&CH staff worked with local musicians
to record a compilation CD titled Fine Times at
Our House, Musical Traditions of Southern Ohio. When released in 2002,
proceeds
will go to Rural Action.
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