We are excited to announce the launch of our Neighborhood Involvement and Community Engagement (NICE!) virtual series.  

Neighborhood Development is one of our key strategic pillars and we’ve decided to take a multi-pronged approach.  Establishing the Main Street Coalition was our first step.  Our role is to guide Main Street organizations to take a collaborative approach to improve our downtown business districts, increasing foot traffic across all Wayne County downtowns, and providing space to learn from each other.   

The second step was to create a program to provide residents and community organizations with the tools, resources, and steps for enacting community development through encouraging residents to become co-producers of their community’s well-being.  We believe it will take collaborative efforts to solve our county’s toughest challenges through asset-based community development and collective means.

What is NICE? 

NICE! Is a 6-part virtual series is to bring together members of the Wayne County community to learn: 

• why it’s important to have a NICE! Group 
• how to create a NICE! Group 
• how to sustain the group’s momentum 
• how to improve neighborhoods and communities through the idea of social infrastructure and interaction 

Who should join this series?

NICE! is ideal for organizations that work in community development like Main Street organizations, church groups, food pantries, neighborhood associations, and individuals who may want to start their own neighborhood association. This series is for people who have a passion for their neighborhood and the health of its residents.

Why attend?  

At the end of the series, participants will receive a NICE! Certificate.  Not only will participants have the tools and resources to better organize and engage volunteers in tackling projects, they will also have the opportunity to apply for funding to bring a project to life.  By attending the entire 6-part series participants may be eligible to apply for a grant in late May.   

What kind of projects may be eligible?

• Community events such as block party, holiday celebration, or music night
• Develop a community space like a small pocket park
• Create safety watch and camera systems​
• Coordinate community street clean up and end with a party​
• Helping paint an elderly or disabled neighbor’s house on your street
• Create a community-friendly front yard by establishing a Beautification Program​
• Commission a new community mural​

What to expect?   

• Action-packed 90 minutes workshops hosted weekly. 
• Some light homework between sessions will take less than 30 minutes to complete. 
• Have fun and enjoy connecting with other community development minded people in Wayne County. 

There are 2 virtual series options available:

• Virtual Series 1 – Every Tuesday Evening from 5:30 – 7:00p from 02/16 through 03/23. 
• Virtual Series 2 – Every Thursday Evening from 5:30 – 7:00p from 04/08 through 05/13. 

To join Neighborhood Involvement and Community Engagement Webinar Series: 

1. Complete a quick application form located here.  
2. Register using Eventbrite when you receive the email. 
3. Watch for additional emails with links to the participant documents.  

If you have questions regarding NICE! please email support@forwardwaynecounty.org.

The post Neighborhood Involvement and Community Engagement (NICE!) virtual series appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

• One, that we are strong and capable.
• Two, we need to make some improvements.
• Last, that despite obstacles, good work still happened.

More importantly, it showed us that good work is coming in 2021. We are excited about what we can accomplish as a county.

Forward Wayne County, a county-wide effort to align community resources, provides backbone support in a collective impact style. This model has led us to

Our 2020 accomplishments:

• Champion Causes and Coalitions- We are working with threes strong groups: Employability, Early Childhood, and Neighborhood & Main Street Development.

• Grants- Through Coalitions and Forward Wayne County, we raised more than $275,000 to do work in the county.

• Early Childhood Success Coalition: Starr and Vaile Schools in Richmond were awarded Paths 2 Quality Level 3 designation. This doubles the On My Way to Pre-K classes in Wayne County.

• Partner- Next Level Jobs Rapid Recovery. We promoted and presented to employers, schools, and community partners on short-term credentials and certifications from Governor Holcomb’s office.
  • This supports the work of the Employability Coalition’s goal to increase educational attainment rates of our residents.

• Supporting our Affiliate Groups – First, we promoted events and programs via our newsletter and social media. Second, we advised groups on strategies for 2021. Last, we assisted with program review and writing letters of support.

• Invitations to be a part of conversations and projects:
  • Strategic Planning—Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County
  • Community Relations—Earlham College’s EPIC Grand Challenge
  • Regional Collaborations—21^st Talent Network partner
  • Network facilitation—Connect internal partners; connect outside resources with Wayne County Partners; and connect regional and statewide partners on potential projects in the county.

What We’ve Learned:

• Residents love where they live. Are there concerns? Yes. But they are hopeful. That’s a good thing.
  • How do we tackle those concerns and create real change?

• The county is ready for change and we need to bring together groups and get them on board to tackle large projects. Our Steering committee is working on this big project idea.

• Coalitions work- individually, organizations do good work. Collectively, they are doing great work.

• People like that Forward Wayne County is focused on county-wide efforts and not just devoting all of its energy to Richmond.

• People want to see our progress. Which is why we are redesigning our web site and the impact page. So our progress can be easily seen and understood.

What’s coming next year:

• Employability Coalition– We are looking at a Career Awareness campaign for in-demand Jobs in Wayne County. We’ll start with some short-term credentialing efforts to increase our educational attainment numbers.

• The Western Wayne Schools Childcare Center will open. This is a partnership between the Early Childhood Coalition, Western Wayne Schools, YMCA, Sugar Creek Foods, and the Wayne County Foundation.

• NICE! Programming- This will be neighborhood development work on how to create a group, work together, and keep it going. There are project grants attached to this programming.

• Main Street/Downtown Coalition- Working on metrics and projects. How do the towns work together to improve our downtowns?
  • What projects can be done to create attraction to our main streets around the county?

• Freedom Seeker’s to Future Framers- This is a project with the local NAACP chapter to look at the history of our black community in the county. It will also look at how we continue conversations and future work.

• Guest Blog Writers- We’ve partnered with key community stakeholders and groups in Wayne County to speak on some of our eight focus areas. Be sure to visit our web site.

• A Forward Wayne County web site redesign. Specifically, the impact page. By doing this redesign, visitors will be able to easily understand our successes as well as see a list of our current projects.

• The Forward Wayne County Steering Committee will guide a big project for the county. There are many focus areas: broadband, housing, safety, childcare, education, etc.
  • What project can we address that will move our county in a positive direction?

How you can be a part of our work:

• Get involved with a local organization. They need your support to keep their work moving forward.

• Respond to Coalitions and provide the feedback they seek.

• Give us your ideas. We don’t assume to have all the answers. We’d love to hear from you.

• Sign up for our monthly newsletter off of our web site.

• Visit our website often. We write two monthly blogs.

• Follow our social media accounts on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at @forwardINwayne.

We wish you the best for 2021. Happy holidays and have a safe and Happy New Year!

The post Good Things Are Coming appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

Hardest Hit Industries

Some businesses saw a huge increase in volume – like grocery stores. Others came to a screeching halt – think anything deemed “non-essential,” like the small retailers that you might find in the downtown parts of our communities. Now, according to Melissa Vance, President and CEO of the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce, we’re seeing an impact on our local restaurants: “Restaurants focused so diligently on overcoming all of the precautions and regulations. They adapted to serve the community in new ways. Now that time has passed and the initial government assistance has run out, their capacity is still incredibly reduced. The State has lifted capacity per se, but social distancing is still required, which affects the number of tables they can seat at any given time.” 

Schools were also thrown into unfamiliar territory. “Our teachers did their best and it was overwhelming. We planned for two weeks out of the classroom and we ended up spending the rest of the year at home. Teachers taught with whatever resources they had available at home,” said Dr. George Philhower, Superintendent of Western Wayne Schools.

He continued to point out that the COVID-19 crisis highlighted all the different services schools provide within the community – and how noticeable it was when those services weren’t available. “You don’t realize how complex this organization is until you have to rethink everything that’s happening. When we’re operating, there’s a lot of families that depend on us for childcare. The economy of Wayne County depends on us to fulfill that need in addition to providing education. There’s also a growing number of families that need us for food.”

Local non-profits saw a significant increase in demand of services. Pre-COVID, there were hungry people and people struggling to pay rent. There were children with social and emotional needs. “What the pandemic did was exacerbate those existing issues and multiply the numbers,” said Tamara Brinkman, President of the United Way of Whitewater Valley.

“Those that were already in need – their need became greater. Families that didn’t previously have a need for outside help found themselves in need or on the verge when government support ran out. Those families were previously teetering on the edge but doing ‘okay.’ Now they’re ALICE families. It won’t be forever, but if you ran reports on where they stood in January of 2020 and where they ended up over the summer, you would see that change. It remains to be seen how long this will last.”

Our Local Response

Wayne County is no stranger to tough times, we shared how we have gotten through those times in We Will Get Through This Together article last spring. We’ve seen many examples of the community working together to ensure we came out of a crisis stronger than before. Although COVID-19 was a change we hadn’t faced before, Wayne County residents knew what to do to survive. Here are a few ways we banded together to weather the storm – and some on-going endeavors you can support if you’re looking for ways to make a difference.

Business Support

“We don’t have an exact number, but we know of a few businesses that closed permanently,” said Melissa Vance. “We received $250,000 in funds for small businesses in the downtown area. Those grants of $5,000-$10,000 helped tremendously, but it only helped for so long. We have to start utilizing our local economy again.”

Education is widely available for business owners looking for help. Roxie Deer, Director of Professional Development at the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce, added, “We encourage our businesses to think outside of the box: if something isn’t working right now, try a new business model. We’ve taken some of our educational initiatives and shifted from pre-COVID topics, like marketing, insurance, and retirement, to more relevant topics like managing remote workers, and marketing during a pandemic.”

“One role that the Chamber plays is advocacy for our businesses,” said Melissa Vance. “When all of the new programs were being rolled out from a Federal and State level, we were busy taking it all in, digesting it, and translating the information in an easy-to-access way for our members.”

The Chamber of Commerce also offered monthly Think Tank sessions with experts across the state to answer questions and ensure business felt heard by our senators and representatives. The government officials got the chance to tell our local businesses about aid programs they were working on and they heard directly from our members about the biggest challenges faced by local business owners due to COVID-19 – with the hope that they’d take the message back to Washington, D.C. and Indianapolis.

“The challenges were very different: from a boutique owner who couldn’t access masks to allow shoppers to enter the building to a large manufacturer whose employees desperately needed reliable childcare so they could come back to work,” said Melissa Vance.

The Richmond Innovation Center’s biggest goal is to get businesses back on their feet. Beth Newton, Executive Director of Innovation Center, joined in June and was given the opportunity to write the city’s COVID grant. “The $250,000 grant was a good size. We were able to have two rounds of distribution and were able to include microenterprises in the last round. We’re working on getting a third round distributed as the State approves more businesses,” Newton said. “There are still grant opportunities out there. A lot of businesses have seen a decrease in revenue and there’s no guarantee that PPP loans will be forgiven. Grants are peace of mind for business owners.” She encourages business owners to keep looking for grant opportunities and to rely on the Innovation Center to point them towards these resources. Grant and loan opportunities can also be found on the Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce website.

The Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County worked with several partners in the community to develop a zero-interest loan program to support the hardest hit businesses. “I’m really proud of the support we’ve been able to provide. Since the loan program began in June, we’ve distributed $746,000 to 32 businesses in Wayne County, supporting multiple industries: hotels, bars, restaurants, service providers, dance studios, retailers, and manufacturers,” said Valerie Shaffer, President of the EDC.

$900,000 was pooled by five partners: the EDC through EDIT funds, the existing Wayne County loan fund board, the City of Richmond, Wayne County government funds, and the Economic Growth Group. “We are developing another program to utilize the remaining funds to focus on locally-owned and operated restaurants where colder months are going to hurt those surviving by serving outdoor seating. Restaurants are at huge risk right now,” continued Shaffer.

Restaurant Week

“We are in the midst of planning Restaurant Week. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we couldn’t do our Annual Taste of Wayne County event, but we still want to celebrate and promote our local restaurants,” said Roxie Deer. “We’re adapting the original event to promote their businesses and we’re using our marketing budget to promote it. We’re hoping people get out and try something new – and maybe find a new favorite. Hopefully, they’ll see more foot traffic during October 17-25 – which spans two weekends. We’ll be doing radio advertising. Instead of asking people to come out to an event, we want you to support those restaurants by dining out or carrying out.”

Foundation Support

The Wayne County Foundation immediately established a COVID-19 Crisis Relief Grant program as we started to see the effects of the pandemic on Wayne County. Their goal was to get grants out to organizations that needed to stay open to serve highly vulnerable communities. (Curious about some of the recipients? Read about how they used their grants.) The Foundation also continued with their normal Spring Grant Cycle.

“An amazing handful of donors came forward who were interested in doing something for the community,” said Rebecca Gilliam, Executive Director of the Wayne County Foundation. “They wanted to assist the county by targeting individuals and families that were suffering either from working on the front lines or from positions that had been eliminated.” That began the Wayne County Cares Fund. Individual donors contributed and the Foundation added gifts to the fund. They made grants for rent assistance, grocery gift cards, utility assistance, and medical coverage. The Foundation is still doing this: “There’s still tremendous need, so that fund will stay in place,” said Gilliam.

The next source of aid to come from the Foundation was the Non-Profit Loan Program. The Foundation noticed there was a gap in coverage from the government’s aid packages where non-profits were excluded. Non-profits didn’t have access to much else in the way of aid and these were the same organizations the community was relying upon for immediate assistance to individuals. The loan program allows non-profits to get the help they need to stay open and focused on their mission.

The Foundation also allows individuals to work through them to serve the community. “The funds we make available are because of incredibly generous individuals and families. We’re just helping to grant those dollars back into the community,” said Gilliam. “Think of it this way: instead of one person writing a $50 check to help, we’re working with 50 individuals writing $50 checks – and the impact can be much greater. A larger impact has huge ramifications in a crisis. You may feel paralyzed about what to do. The Foundation makes it possible for you to help by connecting generous donors with the most important causes.” 

School Food Deliveries

“We did a lunch pick-up where students could get five days of breakfasts and lunches,” said Dr. Philhower. “For families that weren’t as mobile, we would personally deliver the meals to their homes.” The district also worked to ensure students were prepared for any future virtual learning in the event of a second wave of COVID-19. Students already have access to computers as part of their regular school program, but families without reliable internet were able to borrow portable Wi-Fi devices to ensure their students could keep up with classmates. The district continues to keep families up-to-date on COVID policies and programs on their dedicated COVID-19 Information page.

Non-Profit Collaboration

Organizations have taken their core mission to heart and acted like First Responders during the COVID-19 crisis. “They’ve stepped up to extraordinary lengths and taken on roles they weren’t occupying previously,” said Tamara Brinkman. “Amigos started working with Gateway to do food distribution to our Latino community. There’s a language barrier, so some members of that community may avoid coming to food distribution pick-ups. This was a great partnering of organizations to solve an immediate need. Gateway also set up a program to deliver meal boxes to senior citizens who were unable to get out to distribution locations. This was a need in pre-COVID-19 times, but it became a greater need when they were identified as a high-risk group and asked to avoid crowds. Organizations have shifted to find new ways to connect to people.”

A Final Message to the Reader

We gave each Wayne County community leader we spoke with a chance to send a direct message to the public about community needs, ways our readers can contribute, or where they see Wayne County going from here. This is what they had to say.

“Because of the economic and pandemic situation, local college graduates that would have normally found jobs by now and started their careers are struggling – and at risk of leaving Wayne County to seek opportunity elsewhere. One thing we’d like to encourage local businesses to do is set up internships for students and recent graduates.”

Melissa Vance, President/CEO, Wayne County Area Chamber of Commerce

“Kids are more resilient than we give them credit for, and they bounce back better than adults. Our teachers and staff are working incredibly hard to accommodate all the changes and ensure everyone is safe. Seeing the students on campus makes us feel better and gives us a purpose for all the things we’re doing.”

George Philhower, Ph.D, Superintendent, Western Wayne Schools

“We all have risks. We’re all vulnerable. Organizations have tried to do more collaboration to support the community and that’s how we’ll succeed as a community in the long run. We can’t exist in silos. We need everyone working together to make this a community where people can be successful – and where people want to live.”

Tamara Brinkman, President, United Way of Whitewater Valley

“We want businesses to realize they have someone here to help all the time – good times, bad times, we’re here to support them no matter what they need.”

Beth Newton, Executive Director, Richmond Innovation Center

“A crisis gives you an opportunity to see things differently. My hunch is that many organizations will be changing their philosophy and engagement as a result of being forced to see things differently and see new opportunities to serve the community. I think we’ll see a lot of innovation. There’s what’s going to be exciting: seeing how we build back up.”

Rebecca Gilliam, Executive Director of the Wayne County Foundation

“I’m very impressed with the collaboration I’ve seen from the EDC, Chamber, Foundation, Tourism, local government, and more entities that have come together to meet regularly to establish programs that support our community.”

Valerie Shaffer, President, Economic Development Corporation of Wayne County

Ways to Help

Feeling inspired? Here are some simple ways you can make a difference in Wayne County and our COVID-19 response:

• Dine out if you’re able. Support small restaurants. Restaurant Week is October 17-25.
• Order take out if you don’t want to risk a crowd.
• Purchase gift certificates from your favorite local restaurants and retailers as holiday gifts.
• Shop locally. Avoid the temptation of Amazon. Many local stores are adopting online shopping, so sometimes you don’t need to leave your home to shop locally.
• Offer internships to recent graduates. It’s a great way to provide experience and augment your team.
• Be patient with your kids’ teachers and school staff. They’re juggling a lot and working to keep your kids safe.
• Respect businesses’ safety rules – #WearItWayneCounty so, #maskupHoosiers!

Stay connected with Forward Wayne County by joining our Newsletter or by following us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn! Also, be sure to use the hashtag #forwardINwayne when sharing how you are forwarding our community every day!

-Article provided by Jessica Shrout with Circle Three Branding-

The post COVID-19 Impact on Wayne County appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

Forward Wayne County helps make the impossible, possible. How? More on that later…

First, let us explain why having organizations like ours is important.

Have you ever tried to put together an 8-man tent by yourself? It is nearly impossible! Believe me, I tried it this weekend. An 8-man tent is big – very big – and has many parts that need to stand up at the same time while the camper threads the poles through, works the clips, and secures the flaps – all at the same time! After nearly an hour, I gave up and called out for help. With three people, we had the tent up and ready to use within just a few minutes.

I could have struggled alone for several more hours and maybe, just maybe, I could have gotten it put up. However, I realized working with others would make the impossible possible and much faster.

So, imagine the tent is our community and the poles, clips, flaps, and more are all the moving parts of a community like neighborhood development, early childhood success, the health and wellness of residents, the workforce, the schools, and more – way more! They need to be ‘stood up’, often working on all of it at the same time to make our community thrive. Just like my tent. Likewise, with the tent, getting all the moving parts working together takes more than just one person.

What is Forward Wayne County?

We are a backbone organization that supports collective impact coalitions. Curious about the term “backbone organization? We shared the details of what a collective impact coalition and backbone organization is in this 2019 article. So, why do we need a backbone at all?

Why Forward Wayne County Exists

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.”

– Henry Ford

This Henry Ford quote sums up Forward Wayne County. 

Coming Together Is A Beginning

Society is full of increasingly complex social issues and Wayne County Indiana is no exception. We have lower than the state average educational attainment rates, we have higher number of our residents at or below the poverty line than the state’s average, and more. Wayne County faces significant and persistent problems – often to a greater degree than other communities in the state. Years ago, a group of community members came together to identify our toughest challenges and examine what we have working for us. 

Fortunately, we have a remarkable number of assets and resources at our disposal to mitigate the problems and create a vibrant community. For example, we have:

• Strong Not-for-Profit and Faith Communities
• Forward-Thinking Government Entities
• A Diversified Economy
• Attractive and Unique Amenities

Keeping Together Is Progress

There have been many attempts over the years to address the issues. All achieved some degree of success, but none have attained a critical mass needed to affect broad-based systemic change. If you’re like me, you’ve been on a committee or a volunteer group that starts with a lot of enthusiasm but…then it fades away and the group disbands.  

It’s hard to keep up the enthusiasm when the group is solving some of the most complex challenges – often challenges that take years to solve. It can be disheartening when your goals are so large.

But that’s why Forward Wayne County exists. We are here to keep up the energy and focus, so we move from collective ideas to collective action. Our community tent has two main poles, the people living here and the community itself. And, like my tent story – those two things need stood up at the same time to make a strong community. 

Working Together is Success

So, how do we keep the groups working together? Our role is to convene organizations and stakeholders to create and maintain coalitions. Those coalitions work together to solve our toughest challenges. We exist to not only keep up the energy and focus, but to also guide the work, collect data, measure results, and maintain open and continuous communication. Our team works to coordinate the efforts of the group members and ensure the activities of participants remain in concert.

One of the biggest challenges facing community change leaders is impacting systems and policies to improve the well-being of citizens. Over the last twenty years, community change leaders have engaged in single and cross-sector collaboration to begin to uncover and address some of the largest challenges we are facing like poverty, homelessness, educational attainment, and environmental impact. Achieving sustainable success only occurs when we make systems changes. Therefore, our coalitions and FWC must develop a plan for enacting policies that address the root cause of issues like poverty, lack of education, and other social problems.  

Our Way Forward

As residents of Wayne County Indiana, we, by that I mean, me, you and every other resident, are stakeholders of this community. As stakeholders, we want the community to grow and thrive. Keeping a community growing and thriving takes more than government leaders, schools, or nonprofits – it takes me and you doing our part to improve our community and a coordinated effort to ensure resources are used to make the biggest impact. 

Stay connected with Forward Wayne County by joining our Newsletter or by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! Also, be sure to use the hashtag #forwardINwayne when sharing how you are forwarding our community every day!

The post Why Does Forward Wayne County Exist? appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

Our work is informed by YOU! 

In February 2020, FWC administered a countywide survey to better understand several factors that affect Wayne County residents’ quality of life.  The survey explored:

• Early Childhood Success – What are the current norms, challenges, and expectations regarding childcare, and how do families find providers?
• Neighborhood Development – How many residents live where they want, like where they live, and what do they like about it?
• Quality of Place – What does a “vibrant” town center look like to Wayne County residents, and do our communities provide active, entertaining, and enriching opportunities for families?

Collectively, these categories influence current and prospective residents’ perceptions of livability in Wayne County, which impacts migration trends, community involvement, and the local economy.  The information collected in this survey will help FWC develop projects and partnerships to help attract, develop, and retain a highly competitive workforce in Wayne County.

What did we learn, and how will it help?

We received responses from 406 residents of Wayne County, with representation from 14 of 15 towns.  Here’s what we learned in each key category:

Early Childhood Success

We heard from 58 parents who have children who are five years old or younger.  Of those, 47% use unpaid in-home childcare, which may include a parent, relative, or older sibling.  21% use paid daycare, and another 21% use public pre-k.  However, 29% report that they have not been able to find safe, affordable, quality childcare for their child(ren) during work hours. 

Wayne County parents primarily find childcare through personal networks – 79% report using friends, family, colleagues, and neighbors to find suitable providers.  The top three factors in selecting a childcare provider are reputation, price, and location.

Research shows that high-quality early childhood education are critical to success in school, and a focus on Early Childhood Success can help close the achievement gap.  91% of Wayne County parents plan to enroll their child(ren) in early childhood learning programs before kindergarten, and FWC is committed to improving the accessibility, affordability, and quality of programs throughout the county.  Our Early Childhood Coalition convenes local experts and service providers to improve access to high-quality daycare and preschool options.

Neighborhood Development

Overall, 82% of Wayne County residents live where they want to live in the county, but only 73% of residents who are 25-44 years old agree.  With 31% of residents listing “more young families” as a top three priority for the future of Wayne County, it is important for us to understand what people love about Wayne County, what could be improved, and how FWC can help define and achieve these visions through programs and advocacy.

The primary reasons people want to move out of Wayne County are housing-related.  Residents feel their homes are too expensive, too big, too small, or too close to town.  Additionally, there is a reported lack of quality homes/apartments available, and few options for downsizing or assisted living in preferred locations.

One of FWC’s program pillars is Neighborhood Development, which focuses on the community-led revitalization of spaces that enhance the lives of residents.  Survey respondents report that they would like to see improved public and private property maintenance, more parks, and increased safety precautions throughout the county.  With these priorities identified, FWC can help residents define “development” for their own neighborhood, and discover and mobilize existing resources to work towards stabilizing, revitalizing, and enriching their community.

Quality of Place

Finally, our survey asked residents about how they perceive the “quality of place” in Wayne County.  Is it a great place to work?  Raise kids?  Is it a beautiful area, with fun things to do?  Nationwide, these are the types of things that incentivize young families to stay in, and move to, a particular place.

The majority of residents strongly agree that Wayne County is an affordable place to live, with many options for an active lifestyle.  There is equal agreement that Wayne County is a beautiful area, a great place to raise kids, and there are good schools in the area.  However, most residents agree that there are not many fun things to do, and few “great” jobs in the county.

In 20 years, residents’ top three priorities for Wayne County include: a stronger local economy, thriving small businesses, and restored historical charm.  When asked if their town has a “vibrant” center, 15% of residents said, “yes,” while an additional 40% said “not yet,” indicating optimism about the future state of the county.  “Modernized town centers” is a top-three priority for 19% of residents, who define a “vibrant” downtown as having retail and restaurants, regular community events, and family–friendly entertainment.

FWC is addressing improved quality of place through multiple programs targeting employability, arts, and culture.  Our Employability Coalition connects residents with available employment and training opportunities, and works to attract businesses to our communities and leverage existing opportunities for economic growth.  In conjunction with our workforce development initiatives, FWC is also supporting arts and culture programs to improve communities, address social and civic needs, and foster broader organizational change. 

Our Commitment to Our Shared Future

Guided by the experiences, observations, and opinions of our fellow residents, the team at FWC is excited to continue developing community-led initiatives that target Wayne County’s top priorities and concerns.  In these uncertain times, it is more important than ever to ensure our programs are well aligned with both current and evolving needs, and this survey provided us with that invaluable knowledge.

Through this survey, we learned that Wayne County has many unique assets, and many opportunities for creative, community-defining growth.  With a greater level of community involvement, increased cultural amenities, and a comprehensive workforce development infrastructure, Wayne County will be well positioned to attract and retain the next generation of local business and community leaders.

The post Forward Wayne County: Your Partner in Strengthening Communities appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

At a recent Agbioscience Innovation Summit held in Indianapolis, a panel of experts discussed industry challenges: “What’s the key factor in a startup’s success? Employees. Why had a particular agbioscience company moved to Indiana? The people. What does a CEO think is the most important thing to invest in now? Talent.”

It seems like a simple equation: investment in your workforce equals economic growth. Talented, skilled employees attract new employers, increase community satisfaction, and raise the median income. Workforce development builds up the potential of everyone: not just the currently employed, but also the unemployed, underemployed, disabled, and veterans. When we focus on building up our people, the entire community thrives.

How do we do it?
Forward Wayne County has created an Employability Coalition with members from Ivy Tech, IUE, WorkOne, EDC, local employers and more. The mission of the Coalition is to drive a collaborative and collective effort to move the dial forward on connecting our residents to opportunities and developing the talent we currently have.

The Employability Coalition started meeting in December. We began by understanding the current state of the Wayne County workforce. We reviewed workforce surveys and focus groups. In January, the Coalition took a huge step towards prioritizing workforce development locally by agreeing to work toward becoming part of a 21st Century Talent Region.

21st Century Talent Region & Wayne County
Wayne County will become a 21st Century Talent Region by committing to using a systems approach to attract, develop, and connect Hoosier talent. Communities work toward building and implementing a plan to increase educational attainment, raise household income, and grow population – all things that would help elevate Wayne County.

We all benefit from prioritizing workforce development:
– Students: able to identify a career and education path best suited to them earlier, leading to credentials for employment.
– Educators: get the opportunity to further align learning with the needs of the community.
– Adult workers: are able to transition more easily to new careers if impacted by technology, displacement, or other circumstances.
– Businesses: access the talent needed to grow.
– Community leaders: are able to invest resources to develop, attract, connect, and retain talent.

This program has been effective in other regions in the state and we are eager to implement it here. This is a large undertaking, but a critical next step to move Wayne County Forward and develop a workforce that is responsive to industry needs, ready to work, and sustainable for the future.

21st Century Talent Source

The post Prioritizing Workforce Development appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

Collective Impact

Collective Impact requires several things:

1. A common agenda for coordinated change

2. Shared measurements for data and results

3. Mutually reinforcing activities

4. Open and continuous communications

5. A coordinating entity that acts as the backbone of the operation

            When all of these elements are present, collective impact initiatives are able to thrive. Data, while a helpful tool for communication, collaboration, and accountability, can sometimes be left out of the plan for change.    As Forward Wayne County evolves, we will begin to focus more on shared measurement for data and results.  As the backbone for collective impact, we have a responsibility to collect, analyze, interpret, and report data.

Using the Data

Data has many uses:

1. Helps groups collaborate

2. Initiates community development work

3. Creates accountability

4. Communicates goals and progress

Helps Groups Collaborate

            If agencies all have a shared understanding of the goals through numbers, they can help guide each other toward the goal.  It is easy to get bogged down in each individual person’s vision when you are working collectively.  Having the same set of data, with the same measurements, gives a group a common language and clarifies the goal.

            During the home buying experience, we were bombarded with a lot of data.  How was our local housing market performing?  How did that performance affect our options?  Did the options fit in our budget?   When buying our home, this data helped us collaborate with the lender, the realtor, the various sellers and the title company.    

Initiates Community Development Work

            Data can help us more specifically understand the state of our neighborhood and give us a start to our community development work.  When we look around, we can see signs that our neighborhood is strong, such as green space and functioning playgrounds.  We can also look around and see signs that our neighborhood needs some tender love and care, such as abandoned buildings or unmanaged litter in the streets.  Checking in on this data makes community members more motivated to make changes.

Without regular check-ins, we were not always motivated to make progress.

During the home buying process, we also needed regular check-ins to keep us on track.  We would take account of the number of houses we had looked at, the houses we still needed to view, the features of the houses we had seen, and how each option fit in our budget.  When we did not check-in and review the data, we ended up forgetting these details and doing rework.  Without regular check-ins, we were not always motivated to make progress.  

Creates Accountability

            Data can help us stay accountable.  If we are not sure where we stand, how do we know what to work on next?  Neighborhoods can benefit from data to help increase accountability in areas such as safety and cleanliness.  Using data to report the number of street lights in a high-crime area of the neighborhood versus a lower-crime area of the neighborhood can help boost the credibility of a city directed request.

            Understanding our incomes and the prices of homes, taxes, insurance, etc. helped us stay accountable and find the right fit for a new home.  When I tried to drive us in the direction of expensive homes with all the bells and whistles (Hello, 150k home with 4 beds and 2 baths!), the data helped get us back on track. 

Data Tools

There are many different ways to communicate data.  In the monthly newsletter, data updates are provided alongside evidence of progress in our areas of Our People and Our Community.  Along with the newsletter, the Forward Wayne County website is a great place to stop if you would like a more in-depth look at current facts and figures related to Wayne County.  Soon our website will house dashboards with a wealth of updated figures related to county benchmarks.  Dashboards, also known as data dashboards, are information management tools that help users easily see key data related to change progress.

Dashboards are a helpful method to using data more effectively.  Dashboards can provide a quick look at data across a timespan and can offer insight into the data being tracked. Organizations can quickly track progress month-by-month and make fast judgements about the effectiveness of their chosen plan for change. For example, our realtor helped us stay on track by using a dashboard of data that looked at our local options, funding capabilities, and home prices across a set span of time. 

How do you think up-to-date data and the use of dashboards can help Wayne County move forward?  Tell us your thoughts!  Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and use #forwardINwayne when talking about the use of data in your community change plans!

The post Using Data for Collective Impact: Measuring Impact and Success appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

A little background about Muncie. The city is just a little bigger than the largest city in Wayne County.  Despite its population being larger than Richmond’s, it has faced and is currently facing a lot of the same problems. Muncie has been a victim of factory closings, drug abuse, and urban blight which are all problems Richmond, and surrounding towns, knows too well. A lot of local organizations have taken it upon themselves to better their city for the future, and they have made great strides in doing that even though it’s been a slow process. Their progress has brought the community of Muncie closer together and has given them a clear goal of what they need to do to continue making a brighter future for residents. 

The first organization visited is affiliated with Ball State University. Muncie has the privilege of having the university who has been very active in promoting community development. The Ball State Office of Community Engagement, whose mission it is to better connect the community and the school through the idea of community redevelopment, had a hand in the Building Better Neighborhoods Initiative. The main goal of the initiative is to provide support to local Muncie Neighborhoods by connecting them with Ball State’s vast resources. Through the service they have been able to do neighborhood studies, provide workshops for neighborhood leaders, directly support neighborhoods with community development projects, and holding an annual conference for neighborhood association members. They have been able to compile a vast amount of data on neighborhoods that has been used to help them. One of the main actions they have done is helping the neighborhoods establish neighborhood associations, and identify leadership for those associations. The Office of Community Engagement actively promotes neighborhood pride and helps support neighborhood-focused projects.

The second and last organization we visited has been making great strides in helping and redeveloping neighborhoods. The 8twelve Coalition, whose mission it is to advance the goals and aspirations of residents through planning and action, have a vision to revitalize neighborhoods in Muncie. Their service area encompasses the neighborhoods of South Central and Thomas Park/Avondale, and, to date, a great deal of work has been completed. Spearheaded by the Greater Muncie Habitat for Humanity and the Vectren Foundation, the forward-thinking coalition has been able to complete a number of projects. Some of these projects include restoring and building houses, establishing community gardens and pocket parks, tearing down an abandoned factory building, and improving local businesses. The coalition is made up of residents, businesses, and non for profits. The 8twelve Coaltion’s steering committee includes many different community leaders and residents.

Through planning and action, the 8twelve Coalition advances the goals and aspirations of residents.

Our visit to Muncie was very educational and inspiring. We learned a lot about how they have addressed some of the needs in their community and the plan for continued revitalization. Muncie has experienced a lot of the same problems faced by a number of Wayne County areas.  The 8twelve Coalition provided a network for businesses and residents to team up for change.  Services provided by Ball State’s Office of Community Engagement provided invaluable resources to help get the ball rolling. The work done in Muncie by these organizations can serve as an inspiration to many neighborhoods in the Wayne County area. We just need to get together and figure out how to do that.

What are some resources found in Wayne County that can help with neighborhood improvement?  How do you think Wayne County can use examples from other rural areas to fuel community change?  Share your thoughts with us!  Be sure to tag us in your comments using #forwardINwayne.  Keep us in your conversations about community change on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

The post How Muncie Did Community Redevelopment appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

The forum started out with an introduction from Wayne County Foundation Executive Director Steve Borchers to welcome the forum attendees, new and veteran.  Of the new attendees were the new president of Earlham, Anne M. Houtman, dean of the IU East School of Business and Economics, Denise Smith, and the Executive Director of the United Way of Whitewater Valley, Tamara Brinkman.

Attendees learned about collective impact, the responsibility of a backbone organization, and engaged in discussion regarding measuring success within a large-scale initiative like Forward Wayne County. Collective impact is a framework that looks at the effect of large-scale organized change.  When organizations come together to form a common agenda that will solve specific problems in a community or business, big things can happen. This idea serves as the main method Forward Wayne County utilizes. The forum attendees also learned about backbone organizations; organizations that help improve social outcome factors by organizing groups of people to change a system the is not working at peak efficiency. Backbone organization success is focused on 6 key areas and they are an important part of the collective impact process. Lauralee also went in-depth on systems changes and the four key phrases of collective impact.

Forward Wayne County focus areas were discussed and information was provided on the next steps for the current focus areas. The NICE! Program, a neighborhood development project being used in the Neighborhood Development focus area of Forward Wayne County was discussed. Future efforts in Neighborhood Development were also presented, including listening sessions at Jubilee Days in Hagerstown and in Downtown Richmond.

The Leadership Forum included an open floor for a number of county organizations. Megan Broeker, Executive Director of Drug-Free Wayne County Partnership, was the first to present. She highlighted the function of the Partnerhsip and how it employs the use of the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF). Megan also went over Drug-Free Wayne County’s future Youth Coalition which will help educate and invite kids on drug prevention in the community.

Dr. Nancy Green of the Early Childhood Coalition for Wayne County Kids then presented. Dr. Green highlighted the many efforts her organization has been doing in the community. They have been very involved in different schools and have been helping them with their early childhood education programs. One of their biggest efforts was getting grant money to provide 4 Pre-K classrooms to different schools in the county. Dr. Green then showed that Richmond Community School’s use of a food truck to provide food to kids in the community has been a huge success.

Patti Peterson of the Diplomas Task Force then spoke on the efforts of her organization. The closure of Diplomas decreased the amount of support provided to teen parents in the Richmond Community Schools system.  It also inhibited the support network that was set up through the program which included valuable parenting education and hands-on guidance for new parents. The current Diploma’s Task Force made recommendations that included increasing the number of childcare seats available in Wayne County and providing more opportunities for parent education for parents in the area.

Eric Nicholson of Richmond Neighborhood Restoration (RNR) then presented what he and RNR have been doing throughout the community. RNR has been able to obtain two historic houses in Richmond, and they have been working on restoring them to make the houses livable. Located at 2009 East Main Street and 2237 East Main Street, these two houses represent the 4^th wave of projects taken on by RNR. Eric noted the projects started by RNR have been able to add jobs to the community, increase home values, and bring new residents to Wayne County.

Steve Borchers provided insight into Wayne County Foundation’s Key Initiative Grant Cycle.  Steve highlighted that there is $75k available in grant money to fund projects that align with the Forward Wayne County framework.  He also encouraged the group to provide insight into their experience in Wayne County.  Feedback gathered at initiative gatherings are so helpful when paving the path for future efforts.

The July Leadership Forum was a huge success and a lot was accomplished! Want to review what was discussed? Check it out here! Did you attend the July Leadership Forum?  How has Forward Wayne County helped you or your organization grow your efforts of change in Wayne County? How can Forward Wayne County best help move Wayne County forward?  Check us out on social media @forwardINwayne and use the tag #forwardINwayne so we can be part of the conversation!  

The post Making Progress Through Collective Action! appeared first on Forward Wayne County.

Quick!  Think about the last experience you had with solving a significantly impactful problem.  Got that idea in your mind?  Did you work by yourself?  If you did, do you think it would have been easier to accomplish with others?  Maybe you are saying, “I know how it goes when you work with others…”  I know, group work can be a dreaded task.  You might not be sure who is responsible for what or if the people responsible for each part will come through for the team.  What if I told you there is a process to help decrease the stress of group work when addressing complex, large-scale problems and it is being used right here in Wayne County.  Think again!

Forward Wayne County is actively using collective impact to gain commitment from local actors across multiple sectors to align with a common agenda to solve BIG social problems.  It would probably be helpful to highlight what collective impact is, right?  Collective Impact (CI) is a framework for influencing systems change, which has been used internationally to spur positive change in many complex areas such as:

• improving health on college campuses
• using donor dollars more wisely
• helping youth learn life skills 

These complex areas directly align with focus areas many Wayne County residents have for the county.  But what does it all really mean?

When I was first introduced to CI, I craved more information. I understood the concept at surface level, but I needed more substance and details to this explanation. To me, it seemed CI was just a fancy way of saying collaboration. I was not 100% clear on the connection between CI and Forward Wayne County – the concept all seemed overly complicated.

Within the CI framework, there are five conditions that, when met, will allow Forward Wayne County to support change in the areas Our People and Our Community.  The following five conditions set simple, collaboration and CI apart. 

As the backbone organization for Wayne County change, Forward Wayne County focuses on many things, including:

• guiding vision and strategy
• supporting aligned activities
• establishing shared measurement practices
• building public will
• advancing policy
• mobilizing funding

These activities change over time. Day-to-day, Forward Wayne County provides support to organizations in many different ways in order to help positive change happen with partners, funders, policymakers, and community members… like you!

At the start of this post, collective impact might have been a new concept for you. At this point in time, it is likely very clear that collective impact aims to have entities coordinate efforts and resources in order to create lasting large-scale changes when addressing social issues. This view is vastly different than the idea of “isolated impact” where orgs, groups, and businesses work alone, in silos, to make changes for the commmunity-at-large. 

What do you think?  How might collective action, shared agreement, and continuous communication be used to make meaningful and sustainable change for Wayne County? Are there any current issues that affect Our People or Our Community that could be best addressed by agencies and funders coming together and taking collective action? Where can Forward Wayne County make the most impact by facilitating change within Wayne County? 

Leave me your thoughts below and be sure to stay connected with Forward Wayne County on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn! Use the hashtag #forwardINwayne when sharing your stories so we can stay updated on how you are moving Wayne County forward!

The post Collective Impact for a Thriving Wayne County appeared first on Forward Wayne County.