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Towns Strive to Rebuild Community:
volunteers organize, take action It wasn't the issues of declining population and struggling commerce that drew representatives from 10 small Kansas communities to Hutchinson for the weekend. It was to hear about the growing energy and newfound harmony those communities are now using to stop the decline. From the eastern and western edges of the state and a scattering of counties in between, the 10 are drawing on the ideas of consultant Terry Woodbury and his Kansas Communities LLC to revive their flagging, often acrimoniously divided towns. The meetings Friday and Saturday at the Grand Prairie Convention Center allowed all of the participants to boast about their accomplishments, to learn from each other and, most importantly, Woodbury said, to challenge each other toward bigger objectives. Local volunteers work with Woodbury through a methodic and slowly building process that's repeated in each community - "rebuild the town square," which used to be the connecting fabric for communities but has all but disappeared, Woodbury contends. The problem, Woodbury said, is that all the entities in a community - those in business, health, human services, education and government - are focused on their own needs and issues, and don't talk to each other or even talk the same language. The process brings together all voices in the community, not just "the usual suspects" in economic development or the local government. It identifies the positive assets that exist in their town and builds on them, rather than focusing on negative issues and attitudes. Representatives from the organizations created in Greeley, Wallace and Hodgeman counties and the city of Chanute shared their accomplishments and struggles over the past two years. In Greeley County, for example, where 12 percent of the county's population turned out for the initial "community conversation," they've worked over the past year to unify city and county governments, develop a community center, revitalize Main Street, increase health care services, and expand services to the retirement community. In its second year, the community has been able to cross several goals off the list and add three more, while working to expand or refocus those not yet accomplished. Communities in the program a year or less, including Lindsborg, Girard, Fort Scott and Decatur and Chase counties, also gave updates on their progress. Part of what he hopes comes out of the weekend, Woodbury said, "are some million-dollar ideas" within some of the communities and a more regional focus by many.
Reprinted permission of The Hutchinson News |
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