The youth mentoring program takes off!
View Promo Flyer at this link:
Application form (print and complete) found here:
Though the application has a November 15th deadline, applications will be accepted through November 19th.
Needed: bond financing
Go to the Watford City City Hall at 6 p.m. on Wed., Nov. 19 to participate in a public hearing. At issue is the issuance of Municipal Industrial Development Act bonds for the construction of 24 housing units in Watford City. LSS Housing, Inc. is asking the city to allow up to $1.6 million in 
this type of bonds to be issued under the city’s bonding authority.
LSS Housing, Inc. would then be enabled to obtain bonds at a lower interest rate and be accountable for meeting the bond payments.The mission of LSS Housing, Inc is to provide 
housing and housing-related services and thereby support the continued vitality of North Dakota communities.
Zoning approval was given to LSS, Inc. on Nov. 10, 2008 as the work on finalizing the site plan goes forward, according to Jessica Thomasson, LSS Housing, Inc. director, who can be 
reached at jthomasson@lssnd.org or by phoning 701-429-4258.
The Traveler’s Gift
by Andy Andrews.
Another book report on one of the fine selections the Horizon’s program has donated to our area. The books are located at the McKenzie County Library in Watford City.
Decision for Success
1. The buck stops here. I accept responsibility for my past. I am responsible for my success.
2. I will seek wisdom. I will choose to act. Charge!
3. I am a person of action.
4. I have a decided heart.
5. Today I will choose to be happy. As soon as I wake up, I will laugh for 7 seconds.
6. I will greet this day with a forgiving spirit.
7. I will persist without exception.
This would be a great text for today’s young persons. Besides giving them a glimpse into famous persons’ lives and a brief tour of the world, it gives some wonderful advice.
The partnership of the Horizons program in McKenzie County and the Watford City Community Coalition asked the Forrest E. Williams American Legion Auxiliary Unit # 94 of Alexander to co-host a public political forum to be held in Alexander in September. The unit agreed unanimously during their regular meeting of June 18, 2008 to support the forum which will allow commissioners to share their positions on pressing issues, especially those that involve what makes communities thrive.
I’ve received three new resources for our box of resources available at the McKenzie County Library. Check out these:
Impacting Community Vitality: Software for Demonstrating
Economic Impacts of Customers CD
The “How To”: Grants Manual
See Poverty…Be The Difference! Discover Missing Pieces for Helping People Move Out of Poverty Book
Thanks to the Center for Community Vitality with the NDSU Extension Service for purchasing all these wonderful resource materials for us!
Horizons has added a wonderful collection of materials to the McKenzie County Library. The book titles below will address community leadership, poverty reduction, entrepreneurship and self improvement. You will find them to be inspiring, enlightening and some will also be quite humorous! A couple curriculums, DVD’s, lessons for groups, and children’s books are included. Please request the McKenzie County Horizons library to check out these books titles and other materials:
The Leadership Secrets of Santa Claus
Making Vision Stick
The Traveler’s Gift
Leadership Gold: Lessons I’ve Learned from a Lifetime of Learning by John C. Maxwell
The Quilt Makers Gift
The Quilt Makers Journey
8 Challenges Facing Community Leaders
Who Moved My Cheese?
Leadership 101: What Every Leader Needs To Know
Attitude 101: What Every Leader Needs To Know
Good To Great: Why Some Companies Make The Lead…and Other Don’t
Smart Communities: How Citizens and Local Leaders Can Use Strategic Thinking To Build a Brighter Future
The 21 Irrefutable Laws Of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You
Rural Communities Legacy + Change: Third Edition
Your Field Guide To Community Building
The Magic of Thinking Big
Blink
The Tipping Point
The Power of Positive Thinking
Leading Without Power: Finding Hope In Serving Community
Everyday Creativity: Leader’s Guide, Workbook and DVD
6 Myths About The Future of Small Towns
Better Schools Through Public Engagement
Better Local Leadership: How To Start a Program For Your Town or County
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People–DVD
Establishing A Shared-Use Commerical Kitchen
Who, Me Lead a Group?
Vision To Action: Take Change Too Curriculum
The Entrepreneurial Community: A Strategic Leadership Appraoch To Community Survival resources material
The Leader In You: How To Win Friends, Influence People and Succeed In a Changing World
Do Something In Your Community
Energizing Entrepreneurs: Charting a Course for Rural Communities
Turning To One Another: Simple Conversations To Restore Home To The Future
A Framework For Understanding Poverty
Bridges Out of Poverty
Oh, The Places You’ll Go! (children’s book)
Getting Ahead In a Just-Gettin’–By Wolrd: Building Your Resources for a Better Life
Stone Soup (children’s book)
Striving to improve living conditions for families and individuals who struggle with poverty. Searching for proven or emerging approaches to reduce the numbers of people who struggle on a daily basis–long term.
These were underlying themes for the business and political leaders and nonprofit organizations and government service providers, including many Horizons program volunteers and staff who attended the Grassroots and Groundwork conference in Minneapolis May 28 to 30.
For me the experience was eye-opening and inspiring, to say the least.
One of the most interesting things I learned more about was social capital. Social capital, the relational foundation of a community, consists of trust, connections (networks), and involvement (action).
Strength of communities rests on the relationships we have with one another. Research has shown that communities with a strong foundation of trust between and among different individuals and groups are healthier and thrive economically and educationally.
These types of networks are an important part of social capital in communities:
Bonding Networks — close ties that help people to get by. These connections are usually with family, friends and neighbors.
Bridging Networks — weaker ties that can help people to get ahead and gain opportunities. These connections are usually with people who are different from themselves, who have different types of networks.
Linking Networks — Links to organizations and systems that can help people gain resources and bring about broader change. These connections are usually with organizations that have resources, both within and outside of the community.
Take a look at the social capital in your community. It will help you learn a lot about yourselves today and into the future!
Retailer training necessary step in poverty prevention, addiction reduction
Determined to help the community in Watford City responsible for legal sales of tobacco and alcohol do so with integrity, the Community Coalition on June 4, 2008, pressed ahead with plans to present training and information to the Watford City Area Chamber of Commerce during, and possibly immediately after, a Chamber Coffee session.
“Preventing early addiction to tobacco in underage users can have a dramatic effect on tobacco use rates,” states Javayne Oyloe, Health Promotion Team leader for the Upper Missouri Health District. “Most people who start using tobacco are younger than 18 years of age, and this training will help concerned business community members reduce access to tobacco by underage users.”
Oyloe may be delivering the information and training as she does similar work in Williston.
High on the leadership skills list is collaboration. According to Vicki B. Luther, author of Managing Collaboration in Small Towns and Neighborhoods, it is a necessity, not a luxury. Her booklet suggests a “simple approach for managing collaboration at the community level, called ARC, standing for Alignment, Relationships and Communication. The method helps analyze potential for collaboration, organize to take action, then nurtures and maintains a collaborative effort.
To sustain and improve community, ARC seeks the ways to help groups and organizations at the local level by working together.
Luther points out in bold print, “Collaboration happens when groups work together for their own benefit and for that of the community.”
The first step is to measure how potential partners might match up. Mission and membership qualities are prime considerations.
Second is the work of building relationships. Needed is a clear understanding of why the collaboration is worthwhile and which roles and responsibilities are shared and which are shouldered separately.
Trust is built over time and meeting valued expectations/goals consistently. Trust-building behaviors include following through on assignments, meeting deadlines and attaining predictable attendance at work sessions.Clarifying the relationships can be any degree of formal or informal, with either minutes of record or letters with summaries providing evidence and reiteration of agreements among the collaborative parties.
“The care and feeding of relationships must receive a high level of attention,” notes Luther.
With regard to communications: “Clear and consistent communication keeps the collaboration going strong,” adds Luther. “It’s motivational force keeps commitment in place when times get rough.”
Consider the public and private face of community collaboration and structuring messages consistently helps the information make its way back through each group, in addition to the community at large.
Luther is connected to the Heartland Center for Leadership Development, which is a nonprofit, independent organization to develop local leadership that responds to future challenges. The Center activities focus on leadership, training, citizen participation, community planning, facilitation, evaluation and curriculum development. Dr. Vicki Luther and Milan Wall earned national recognition for their landmark research, publication and curriculum, Clues to Rural Community Survival, which examines the characteristics that communities need to compete in a changing world.
These are the Heartland Center’s 20 Clues to Rural Community Survival. Recognize any of them in our McKenzie County??
1. Evidence of community pride.
2. Emphasis on quality in business and community life.
3. Willingness to invest in the future.
4. Participatory approach to community decision making.
5. Cooperative community spirit.
6. Realistic appraisal of future opportunities.
7. Awareness of competitive positioning.
8. Knowledge of the physical environment.
9. Active economic development program.
10. Deliberate transition of power to a younger generation of leaders.
11. Acceptance of women in leadership roles.
12. Strong belief in and support for education.
13. Problem-solving approach to providing health care.
14. Strong multi-generational family orientation.
15. Strong presence of traditional institutions that are integral to community life.
16. Attention to sound and well-maintained infrastructure.
17. Careful use of fiscal resources.
18. Sophisticated use of information resources.
19. Willingness to seek help from the outside.
20. Conviction that, in the long run, you have to do it yourself.
Now, if you see yourself in #20, please call me…or leave me a comment by clicking on the word comment immediately below. Thanks, Dale A. Swenson
One of the four best methods of poverty reduction is for youth (teenagers) not to engage in criminal behavior. Underage alcohol consumption is CRIMINAL behavior! not just because it’s against the law but because it brings about an 300% increase in the risk of addiction AND it vastly increases the likelihood of living in poverty.
An early age at onset of drinking (AOD) is a strong predictor of subsequent alcohol dependence (AD)
Don’t want to be poor? Don’t drink ’till it’s legal!