Community Matters, v. 9, #4ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development 1Volume 9, Issue 4

2017

a Quarterly Publication for Iowa Leaders from Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development

Page 3 City Data for Decision Makers reports now available

Page 4 Grant Writing 101 helps communities seeking funding sources

Page 5 Declines in population don't always reflect quality of life

Page 6 Pleasant Hill is bringing agriculture to a neighborhood

Page 9 CED provides strategic planning to mental health region

Page 10 Registration for Community Food Systems annual event in January now open

In This Issue

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By Sandra Oberbroeckling Extension Program Specialist

Businesses close. People move away. It happens everywhere. In rural places these losses seem more devastating, are more lamented, and can feel like a harbinger of future doom.

Facing these losses, small communities throughout the upper Midwest are trying a happier approach to retaining their quality of life and marketing the value of rural places. Iowa State University Extension and Outreach’s Community and Economic Development (CED) unit is now able to offer the Marketing Hometown America program that has been successfully used by Cooperative Extension programs in Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota to help communities home in on what people are looking for when they choose a place to live and do business.

The Marketing Hometown America program trains local facilitators to run a four-week Study Circles program. Each week many small groups within a community meet with their own facilitator and work through a different topic. The topics include community connections, a community report card, a community marketing plan, and an action plan. The topics are all contained in a Study Circles Guide that includes readings, discussion questions, and group activities for each session.

“These small groups can meet anywhere, any day of the week, any time of day. There is a huge social capital benefit to discussing community issues in a relaxed, civil, and welcoming space,” said Abbie

Gaffey, CED specialist and a member of the teaching team.

“People LOVE Study Circles! They’re fun! Planning does not have to be a boring activity and more people would engage with their communities if processes were more engaging,” she added.

At the end of the four-week Study Circles sessions, all the participants from all of the groups come together for an Action Planning Forum where each group’s ideas are presented and everyone chooses the ideas they like best to be incorporated into a marketing plan for their community.

Marketing Hometown America Program Uses Civility to Attract New Businesses and Population to Small Communities

Cheryl Burkhart-Kriesel from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln trains ISU Extension and Outreach CED staff on facilitating Marketing Hometown America.

Community Matters, v. 9, #42 ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development

How We Work: CED Knowledge Teams

Contact InformationIowa State University Extension and OutreachCommunity and Economic Development2321 North Loop Drive, Suite 121Ames, IA 50010-8218515-294-8397Fax 515-294-1354www.extension.iastate.edu/communities

To download additional copies of this newsletter in PDF file format, go to:www.extension.iastate.edu/communities/newsletter/vol9issue4.pdf

To change your mailing information, contact Sandra Oberbroeckling at soberbr@iastate.edu.

Find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ISU.Extension.CED and Twitter @ISUExtensionCED

Editorial Board: Gary Taylor and Sandra Oberbroeckling

Community Matters is published quarterly for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development staff and their clients. Comments, questions, and suggestions regarding the content of this newsletter should be directed to:

Sandra Oberbroeckling, editorISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development2321 North Loop Drive, Suite 121Ames, IA 50010515–294–3721Fax 515–294–1354soberbr@iastate.edu

. . . and justice for allThe US Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities based on race, color, national origin, age, disability, and where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at 202-720-2600 (voice or TDD). To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20250-9410 or call 800-795-3272 (voice) or 202-720-6382 (TDD).

Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the US Department of Agriculture. John Lawrence, director, Cooperative Extension Service, Iowa State University of Science and Technology, Ames, Iowa.

The Community and Economic Development program of Iowa State University Extension and Outreach is focused on addressing five critical issues facing Iowa’s communities: housing, demographics, local economies, the built environment, and civic engagement and leadership capacity. Our unit consists of six specialized knowledge teams that develop and deliver programs, develop networks and build coalitions, and provide professional development for team members.

The Team for Promoting Equity, Inclusion, and Respect in Communities identifies and focuses on diverse communities to eliminate systemic barriers to success. Team members have expertise in capacity building, participatory processes, advocacy, facilitation, awareness, and support systems, which they apply to implement cultural competency training, build capacity for the underserved, strengthen coalitions and networks, and deepen diversity of thought and experience.

The Art and Design Applications Team harnesses the power of design thinking to address place-based issues facing Iowa’s communities. Team members have

expertise in the disciplinary knowledge and processes of landscape architecture, architecture, interior design, community planning, art, and historic preservation, which they apply to promote energy efficiency, green building and design, community health and well-being, local food systems, and community building through art.

The Local Economies Team strengthens communities and their local economies by teaching best practices and providing hands-on assistance to retailers and entrepreneurs. Team members have expertise in small and minority-owned business financial planning, customer service, store design and layout, and entrepreneurism, which they apply to promote small-business development and expansion for retailers and entrepreneurs, with an emphasis on those in the tourism, agritourism, grocery, and local-foods sectors.

The Local Governments and Nonprofits Team collaborates with local governments and nonprofit organizations to develop the leadership skills and knowledge needed to generate policies, procedures, and planning for the betterment of Iowa’s communities and regions. The team has expertise in data collection and interpretation; local government budgeting, administration, and law; and board strategic planning, visioning,

and facilitation, which it applies to foster professionalism, build capacity, improve efficiencies, and emphasize sustainable practices and outcomes in the public and nonprofit sectors.

The Civic Engagement and Leadership Team works with other knowledge teams to enhance community leadership structures and broaden community engagement. Its members have expertise in citizen engagement processes, coalition building, and leadership dynamics, which they apply to develop programs for identifying, training, and connecting established and aspiring organizations and people in both the public and private sectors.

The Data and Technology Team provides support to other knowledge teams. The team has expertise in demographic analysis; GIS; data collection, wrangling, repurposing, and education; needs analysis; indicators; evaluation; data systems; human-computer interaction (HCI); mobile technologies; data collection (quantitative, qualitative, non-traditional, survey analysis); data quality assessment; and the ability to repurpose data, which they apply to identify, discover, visualize, analyze and interpret community conditions and trends, and assess programmatic impacts.

Community Matters, v. 9, #4ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development 3

Community Visioning Program Launches 2018 CommunitiesBy Sandra Oberbroeckling Extension Program Specialist

Iowa's Living Roadways (ILR) Community Visioning kicked off the 2018 program with 10 new communities during the ILR Annual Celebration and Luncheon on November 9, 2017.

Coon Rapids, Corning, Decorah, Forest City, Glidden, Graettinger, Moville, Peterson, Plymouth, and Wapello were selected to participate in Community Visioning program in a competitive application process in late September 2017.

To qualify for the visioning program, a community must have a population of fewer than 10,000 residents, existing transportation-related issues, and a committee of volunteers willing to dedicate their time and talent to the visioning process.

This award-winning program integrates technical landscape planning and design techniques with sustainable community action to assist community leaders and volunteers in making sound and meaningful decisions about the local landscape.

In the morning of November 9, steering committee members from the 2018 communities participated in the ILR Annual Celebration sessions and had the opportunity to mingle with volunteers from past communities, view the 2017 community concept presentation boards, and get a glimpse of the possibilities for

improvement available through the Community Visioning program.

Following the ILR Luncheon, the 2018 committees engaged in orientation activities conducted by Iowa State University (ISU) Community Visioning program staff. Program director Julia Badenhope presented an overview of the visioning program. Committee members also learned strategies for engaging with residents throughout the process to facilitate local buy in for proposed projects.

Participants became acquainted with their Trees Forever field coordinators, who will guide them through the visioning planning process, as well as the private-sector consultants who will develop conceptual designs for each community. Trees Forever field coordinators led their committees through a mapping exercise during which participants identified important local destinations and landmarks in and around their communities.

Part of the 2018 kick-off program also included training committee members to post information and upload photos to their respective community web pages.

Locations of the 2018 visioning communities

The 2018 visioning committees will begin meeting with their Trees Forever field coordinators early in 2018. The process will continue through fall, culminating at the 2018 ILR Annual Celebration and Luncheon in November.

Community Visioning is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Transportation in partnership with ISU Extension and Outreach and Trees Forever, an Iowa-based nonprofit environmental advocacy organization. Since 1996, 225 Iowa communities have benefited from Community Visioning.

For more information about the program, visit www.communityvisioning.org or contact Sandra Oberbroeckling at 515-294-3721 or soberbr@iastate.edu.

By Sandra Oberbroeckling Community Relations Specialist

The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Indicators Portal team has released a City Data for Decision Makers report for all 945 of Iowa’s cities. The reports show population trends, demographics, and socioeconomic indicators such as income, poverty, employment, housing characteristics, and health insurance coverage. Data from the US Census Bureau’s 2012–2016 American Community Survey (ACS) are used to generate the reports. City data reports can be downloaded through the Indicators Portal at http://indicators.extension.iastate.

edu/city-data-decision-makers (short URL: bit.ly/2jTlzCg).

The Indicators Portal also provides access to Data for Decision Makers reports by county, Iowa Senate district, Iowa House district, and ISU Extension and Outreach region, as well as reports of youth and 4-H program data.

The 4-H Data for Decision Makers reports have been recently expanded from four to eight pages of youth and 4-H program data. The youth information includes school district enrollment, projections, race and ethnicity, free and reduced-price school lunch, and English language learners. These

reports are available for download at http://indicators.extension.iastate.edu/ddm-4-h.

The ISU Extension and Outreach Indicators Portal was funded as a Vice President for Extension and Outreach Strategic Initiative in 2013 to make it easier to find, use, and visualize information. This tool is designed to be useful at both the local and regional decision-making levels. It is available to ISU faculty, staff, students, and the general public to view content, test user interfaces, and provide comments and recommendations.

For more information about the Indicators Portal, contact Bailey Hanson at bahanson@iastate.edu.

City Data For Decision Makers Reports Now Available

Community Matters, v. 9, #44 ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development

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Grant Writing 101 Helps Communities Seeking Funding SourcesBy Greg Wallace, Advancement Specialist ISU Extension and Outreach

With the current state and federal economic climate slowing the flow of available grant money, Jane Goeken doesn’t have to do much advertising. These days, nonprofits, local governments, and schools eagerly seek out her Grant Writing 101 Workshop.

Over the last two years, Goeken, a community development specialist with Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, has conducted her workshop—which provides hands-on training in seeking and writing successful grant applications—25 times across Iowa. And interest isn’t slowing down.

“What we’ve seen is that when dollars are tight, resources and budgets are tight,” Goeken said.

She noted there used to be programs where everyone who applied got money. However,

the funders have converted them into grant programs, where people have to compete and not everyone gets funded.

Goeken has been an ISU Extension and Outreach specialist for 15 years. She has nearly 30 years of experience writing successful grant applications before and during her tenure with the organization.

Goeken developed her Grant Writing 101 workshop because communities had indicated an interest in and a need for grant-writing skills to find financing for community projects.

Successful grants can provide much-needed funding for projects and community improvements and help Iowa communities thrive, and the workshop shows organizations how to obtain them.

Grant Writing 101 helps participants identify public and private funding sources,

and provides instruction and tips on planning projects and writing successful applications. Goeken discusses the challenges of seeking and utilizing grant funding; planning a project and defining priorities; identifying funders at the local, state, and federal levels as well as privately; and breaks down the pieces of a grant application and ways it can be successful. Goeken typically caps the workshop at 25–27 people and asks participants to bring a laptop or tablet to explore online resources during the session.

RACI Summit Educates Refugees and Service ProvidersBy Anindita Das, Refugee Planning Coordinator, ISU Extension and Outreach

More than 320 refugees, employers, educators, nonprofit staff, and other stakeholders attended the second annual Refugee Summit at Mercy College in Des Moines October 6–7, 2017. The summit is the annual conference of the Refugee Alliance of Central Iowa (RACI), a collaborative between Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and a host of organizations serving refugees in central Iowa.

The summit offered attendees a full day of informative programming for the community about refugee camps, culture, education, and health, as well as a half day during which refugees learned about topics of concern to newcomers to central Iowa.

The Refugee Summit demonstrates the essence of collaboration, with several organizations that serve refugees and refugee groups coming together to increase the capabilities of service providers and community partners and to provide refugees with awareness of and access to services, resources, and programs. This one-of-a-kind event in Iowa addresses

the complex issues of raising awareness about the refugee population in our communities, provides opportunities for them to share their stories, and finally engages various service providers working within and outside the Refugee Alliance who serve the larger refugee community.

Several RACI partners working together at different levels conduct the Refugee Summit. United Way of Central Iowa and 20 other refugee-serving alliance partners from business, government, education, the nonprofit sector, and religious groups collaborate in organizing, planning, and hosting the event.

United Way of Central Iowa managed communications, marketing, and staff coordination for the 2017 Refugee Summit. Mercy College collaborated by donating space, food and other support. Many of the agencies that serve refugees were heavily engaged in the planning of the summit by contributing their time, skills, and expertise, while other agencies also contributed in form of sponsorships.

Minnesota House Representative Ilhan Omar, the first and the highest-elected Somali-American public official in the United States, discusses her path to civic engagement during her keynote address.

Mark Grey, University of Northern Iowa professor of anthropology and director of the Iowa Center for Immigrant Leadership and Integration and the New Iowans Program, opened the event with a presentation on the role of refugees in Iowa’s changing and evolving demographics.

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Community Matters, v. 9, #4ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development 5

By Fred Love, Communications Specialist ISU News Service

You can still live large in a small town.

A new report from an Iowa State University sociologist identifies a dozen Iowa towns where residents believe quality of life in their community is improving at the same time the population is shrinking. David Peters, an associate professor of sociology and author of the report, said these towns, described in the report as “shrink-smart” communities, show that a smaller population doesn’t necessarily denote a withering community.

“People tend to think of rural America as declining. They equate decreases in population with overall decline in quality of life,” Peters said. “We wanted to ask if that’s really true, and we found that it doesn’t have to be.”

Peters’ research is part of a National Science Foundation project on shrink-smart towns led by Kimberly Zarecor, associate professor of architecture and principal investigator on the project. Other research faculty on the project are Sara Hamideh, assistant professor of community and regional planning; Eric Rozier, assistant professor of computer science, and Marwan Ghandour of Louisiana State University.

Peters drew on US census data as well as responses from the Iowa Small Town Poll, a regular ISU survey of rural Iowa communities currently led by Peters. He compared changes in population with survey data regarding attitudes toward jobs, local government, schools, medical services, housing, childcare services and elderly care. The report looked at small towns with populations between 500 and 10,000 with populations that declined between 1994 and 2014. The survey data showed 12 Iowa towns fitting those parameters where citizens reported improved quality of life at the same time the populations decreased.

What did those 12 towns have in common?

Socially involved citizensPeters said the survey results showed a focus on social interactions within those communities. The towns labeled shrink-

smart in the report demonstrate high levels of local involvement, such as volunteering in community organizations. Peters called this “bridging social capital,” a sociology term describing diverse and inclusive networks that tie residents together across demographic and economic lines. He also noted that economic factors, such as income and poverty rates, were not significantly different from the 12 shrink-smart towns and towns that showed declining quality of life and shrinking populations, a result that surprised Peters.

He said the results in the report may empower rural communities across the state because the data show that social interactions playing a major role in attitudes regarding quality of life can be improved quickly and cheaply. Peters said some communities view population declines as a major problem that can be solved only through major investments in infrastructure or by attracting new employers. His report suggests encouraging a more open and welcoming atmosphere in a community may go a long way toward boosting quality of life, regardless of potentially expensive new investments.

Jobs that fit the marketThe data also showed shrink-smart towns tended to demonstrate growth in “goods-producing” jobs such as construction and manufacturing. These jobs provide good

Declines in Population Don’t Always Reflect Quality of Life

wages and benefits while also requiring some training or education beyond high school but not a college degree, a fit for the labor markets of rural Iowa communities, Peters said.

Peters said he and his research collaborators intend to work with officials in the 12 shrink-smart towns identified in his report to determine what strategies the communities implemented regarding community involvement and quality of life. From there, they hope to formulate best practices that can be transferred to other rural towns across the state.

“We found that you can live in a thriving community even with a population in decline,” Peters said. “Towns can control their own quality of life without requiring a lot of money or time, and we think that’s a very empowering message for Iowa’s rural residents.”

Peters’ report, titled Shrink-Smart Small Towns: Communities can still thrive as they lose population, can be downloaded from the ISU Extension and Outreach store at https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/15313.

This article originally appeared on the ISU News Service website at https://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2017/11/21/shrinksmart.

This map shows the locations of 12 Iowa towns, marked by stars inside green circles, determined to be “shrink-smart.” Image courtesy of David Peters.

Community Matters, v. 9, #46 ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development

Pleasant Hill Is Bringing Agriculture to a NeighborhoodBy Willy Klein, Advancement Specialist ISU Extension and Outreach

More than 85% of Iowa’s land is used for agriculture; however, the state is yet to have its first agrihood—a new-home development that includes community agriculture. Agriculture is being woven into new-home communities across the country—in some as an amenity, in others as a way of life.

Agrihoods offer a variety of options, from neighborhoods built around a working farm to those with vegetable garden plots, community gardens, or farm stands. One Des Moines suburb is working toward becoming the first community in Iowa with an agrihood, with help from the Community Food Systems grant program offered by Iowa State University Extension and Outreach through the Local Foods and Community and Economic Development programs.

“Pleasant Hill developed a comprehensive city plan in 2015 through a very public process where we gathered citizen input,” said Madeline Sturms, Pleasant Hill community development director. “From that process we determined Pleasant Hill wants to be a suburb of choice. We want to distinguish our community from other suburbs in a unique way.”

Sturms said there was great interest in local food consumption and procurement expressed during that process. The city was looking for opportunities to make local food more accessible when they became aware of the Community Food Systems program. Pleasant Hill applied and was awarded a grant; they began working with Courtney Long, Community Food Systems program coordinator, in May 2016.

“The Community Food Systems grant program gives us the opportunity to highlight the rural nature of our community as well as promote our close proximity to the city of Des Moines,” said Sturms. “The first phase of the grant program was an in-depth food system assessment. We began talking to people in nonprofits, business, and organizations across the community to discover interests, gather ideas, and build a coalition.”

Pleasant Hill took less than a year to move through the coalition building and assessment phase of the program. Individuals interested in investing time and talent in the Pleasant Hill food system stepped up and joined the coalition.

The Community Food Systems program strategically partners with the ISU Community Design Lab (CDL) for design assistance throughout the community process. Long has engaged CDL in the development of a master plan for the agrihood priority team. At the foreground of every decision are the five core values established by the project team: wellness, stewardship, community, education, and agriculture. CDL will consider the core values as they determine components of the neighborhood for the master plan.

Long worked with CDL to prepare a snapshot of Pleasant Hill that outlined strengths and weaknesses, and identified opportunities with the most feasibility for success.

As a group, the coalition selected five priority projects to work on over the coming years—occupational and workforce development, promotion and education, food center, agrihood development, and farmers’ market expansion.

Sturms appreciates the knowledge, relationships and connections to Iowa State

research and resources that Long brings to the program. Long has guided the Community Food Systems program, formerly known as the Ag Urbanism Toolkit, for four Iowa community groups of varying populations. Pleasant Hill is the first group to apply as a city entity.

An important resource developed by Community Food Systems program is The Agricultural Urbanism Toolkit, a handbook that offers an overview of agricultural urbanism tactics. The toolkit outlines strategies used to develop local food systems and is used as a resource to communities. A second edition will be published in early 2018 with updates to previous food system strategies and the addition of recently researched tactics.

Community Matters, v. 9, #4ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development 7

“The Community Food Systems program is a multiphase process,” said Long. “It offers critical community development tools that foster more creative and robust local decision making as communities explore their ag-related resources and needs and make fresh, local-food products more widely available to residents.”

The program’s second phase focuses on the development and design of the priority projects and further coalition building. The process is flexible, and is intended to meet communities where they are in terms of readiness for food system development, allowing for more or less time as needed.

The Pleasant Hill agrihood project is moving forward. Individuals on the project team have researched, visited agrihoods, and want to invest in this type of development. “We see this as a long-term project with a five-year horizon,” said Sturms. “This priority project has the ability to distinguish Pleasant Hill as a unique community able to provide a wonderful quality of life.”

Long will continue working with Pleasant Hill through the second and third phases of the program, facilitating team meetings and assigning “homework” to priority project team members and herself. Her homework is to bring expertise from Iowa State to the priority projects.

Sturms is encouraged by the progress being made on the priority projects. She points to the relationships and resources that Long has in community development and local foods as an asset benefitting her community. The enthusiasm of coalition members is another key driver and made it

possible for Pleasant Hill to have an early win—becoming a drop site for the Iowa Food Cooperative, a Des Moines area web-based marketplace of Iowa-grown food for buyers and sellers.

“The food cooperative was looking for a drop site on the east side of the metro area,” said Sturms. “Because our coalition had conversations going on around access to local foods, we had volunteers and a location available. It was a good fit. We tested it and it is going well.”

In 2017, the Community Food Systems Program moved from grant-based to a fee-for-service program. Communities can select from a menu of services, choosing the full program or specific tactics. Communities or groups interested in the program should contact

Courtney Long, court7@iastate.edu. To learn more about the Pleasant Hill community food systems project visit www.pleasanthilliowa.org/620/Grow-Pleasant-Hill.

Community Matters, v. 9, #48 ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development

Iowa State Senator Janet Petersen; US Congressman David Young; Angela Connolly, Polk County supervisor; Joshua V. Barr, director of City of Des Moines Civil and Human Rights; and Tom Ahart, Des Moines Schools superintendent; participated in an advocacy panel titled “How have you or will you advocate for a better life for refugees in central Iowa?” Panelists discussed the ways the state, counties, cities, and schools as institutions are working to support refugees; how policy level changes impact the lives of refugees; and how these institutions are hindered in making or have successfully facilitated effective change.

Minnesota House Representative Ilhan Omar, the first and the highest-elected Somali-American public official in the United States, gave the keynote address. Omar described her life experience as a refugee, her arrival in the United States, and her path to civic engagement.

The evening program included a reception honoring the cultures of refugees in our community that featured art, dance, music, and literature from eight different ethnic groups. RACI, along with 24 alliance partners providing various refugee services, laid out interest tables for attendees to visit to learn about available programs and resources.

During day two of the summit, event organizers welcomed more than 60

refugees. Iowa International Center and the Community Voices program of Visiting Nurses Services furnished interpreters speaking several different languages to help our newest neighbors understand what their rights and responsibilities are regarding their children’s schooling, how to assist their children at school, and how to advocate for their children.

Ahart opened the morning with information for refugee parents and individuals about changes that the Des Moines School District has been making to cater to the needs of refugees and to welcome them to the community. This was followed by Omar’s address to Des Moines refugee community members.

Refugee attendees also had the opportunity get free flu shots and health and dental screening. Collegiate Wesley Church from Ames distributed more than 35 winter coats for refugee children. Des Moines Area Regional Transit (DART) distributed free bus passes and free rides for refugees to attend the summit. The event, which included breakfast, snacks, and lunch, was free of charge for refugees.

The Temple Lion Troupe from Des Moines was one of several ethnic groups that performed during the Refugee Summit.

Overall, this collaborative approach relies on champions from resettlement agencies and other agencies that serve refugees, and most importantly recognizes the value of a common agenda/goals, transparency in formal and informal communication, and mutual support to improve the lives of refugees living in central Iowa. RACI demonstrates the need to encourage noncompetitive relationships among partners and to share resources and knowledge. This networking among volunteer service providers consisting of nonprofits, educational institutions, religious groups, and ethnic-based community organizations is a key component in RACI’s operation. The collaborative model has allowed for a stronger connection of “better together.”

Refugee Summit from page 4

Two counties are participating in the first round of Marketing Hometown America in Iowa: Charter Oak, Ute, and Mapleton in Monona County and Mondamin, Modale, and Pisgah in Harrison County will begin their facilitator training and Study Circles in late January.

“At Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, we offer research-based programming and what I like about this program is that it tracks outcomes,” Gaffey said.

“By working in partnership with the other universities we can track impacts in expanded leadership, amenity improvements, increased networking, expanded civic awareness, marketing

actions and increasing adult and youth engagement in these communities.”

The cost of a Marketing Hometown America program is $2,000 and includes the Study Circles Guides for each participant, facilitation materials and training, and the marketing action plan. Communities interested in more information or getting on the schedule can contact Gaffey at 712-539-1169 or by email at agaffey@iastate.edu.

“I feel like there is a lot of frustration out in our rural communities and few positive outlets to channel those negative thoughts into positive actions,” Gaffey said. “In some respects, we are at a time when we need to relearn the basic tools of citizenship without it being a chore or a fight. I think Marketing Hometown America is the right thing at the right time.”

Marketing Hometown America from page 1

Community Matters, v. 9, #4ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development 9

crisis response from page 8

CED Provides Strategic Planning to Mental Health RegionBy Greg Wallace, Advancement Specialist ISU Extension and Outreach

The state of Iowa faces significant challenges in dealing with mental health. According to a 2016 report by the Treatment Advocacy Center, Iowa has only 64 public mental health beds available for patients. That is far fewer than neighbors Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, Missouri, Wisconsin, and South Dakota. In fact, Iowa ranks 49th out of 50 states—only Vermont, with 25 beds, has fewer.

“The recommended national level of mental health beds is 50 per 100,000 people,” explained Iowa State University Extension and Outreach community development specialist Steve Adams. “But it’s hard to place people with complex mental health issues—most facilities don’t want to take people who have violence or sexual behavior issues. There are all kinds of obstacles in terms of liability, legality, and appropriately trained staff. It’s a quagmire.”

During the 2017 legislative session, the Iowa Legislature passed Senate File 504, instructing stakeholder work groups to meet and create collaborative policies and processes to support individuals with mental health needs. These work groups include representatives from hospitals, the judicial system, law enforcement agencies, managed care organizations, mental health, substance abuse and crisis service providers, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

In Iowa, 14 mental health development regions exist, including the seven-county CROSS (County Rural Offices of Social Services) region in south-central Iowa. The region, like others in Iowa, was required to create a community services plan to address the area’s needs, using existing funding as well as one-time funding of $3.4 million per region, which will expire in fiscal year 2020.

That’s where Steve and Lynn Adams came in. They helped facilitate the partnerships, fostering a feeling of inclusion that would create a spirit of teamwork when the plan was finalized.

“We came up with the realization that we had to look really hard at being sustainable financially,” said Lynn Adams, who also is

a community development specialist with ISU Extension and Outreach. “Providers of mental health are struggling with hospital closures. The reimbursement rate (from Medicare and Medicaid) has declined and is not covering the cost of services.”

Rural areas such as the CROSS region don’t have immediate access to mental health beds; round-trips to facilities in Cherokee and Council Bluffs range between six and eight hours, and Des Moines hospitals often have long waiting lists.

“They don’t have a crisis stabilization center and lack professionals in the field,” Lynn Adams said. “They’re hard-pressed to locate a psychiatrist to have therapy planning, which is critical to meeting needs for ongoing care. [Crises] don’t happen overnight. Things lead up to it and we need to have prevention in place to identify [situations beginning to escalate].

“With the issues they are struggling with, through strategic planning we put together a plan that is workable for them.”

A statewide mental health system that is properly supported financially is not a reality for Iowa or its individual mental health regions. The CROSS region came up with a plan that was feasible for its own landscape.

“We led them through, ‘What can you afford, what can you do,’” Lynn Adams said. “Here’s what you don’t have—we can’t do anything about housing, that’s bigger than the region, but we have a mobilized unit we can contract out and have a center where people can be taken with professionals on staff who’ll be at their disposal 24/7. We’re looking at treatment and therapy so they don’t go into crisis.”

Many hospital, provider ,and law enforcement staff are not trained in de-escalation techniques. However, CROSS can provide training so emergency rooms and law enforcement officers have these techniques as part of their programs, Lynn Adams said.

CROSS also can improve communication protocols, she continued. For example, an individual’s mental and medical history doesn’t follow them into an emergency room, so the staff doesn’t know what

meds patients are taking. But if they carry medical cards, then service providers can determine what treatment they are receiving and work with providers to obtain more complete information.

As part of the plan, the CROSS region also partnered with a neighboring region to create a crisis stabilization center that will serve both regions. Along with education and therapy, it is a workable way to examine the area’s mental health issues and diverts patients away from emergency rooms, jails, and unnecessary hospitalizations.

“Does it address everything? No,” Lynn Adams said. “But it is do-able for this region.”

South-central Iowa also doesn’t have what Steve Adams called “the sizzle” to attract mental-health professionals like Des Moines or Iowa City can, so the region “identified the gaps on what we needed for underlying problems. We hope the legislature will say, ‘We didn’t realize we had those problems, so what can we do about it?’”

How does ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development help? Lynn and Steve Adams say they provide an impartial view without allegiances to any side.

“People say, ‘Why are you doing that, why aren’t you working on jobs?’” Lynn Adams said. “We look at the overall health of a community. It’s not just about job creation. You have to look at organizations and agencies that are providing services that give a certain quality of life in a community.”

Addressing mental health is just as important as dealing with food deserts and other quality-of-life issues, creating vitality and allowing entrepreneurial and economic development.

“We are taking an across-the-board, holistic approach at what makes a healthy community,” Steve Adams said. “It’s walking trails, food, being elder-friendly. There are so many things you can look at when you’re looking at opportunities for communities to thrive in Iowa, and the shortcomings are mostly in rural areas.”

Community Matters, v. 9, #410 ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development

By Courtney Long, Program Coordinator Community Food Systems

The Iowa State University Extension and Outreach Community Food Systems program will hold the fourth annual Community Food Systems Event January 12, 2018, at the Iowa State University Alumni Center in Ames. The daylong event will highlight best practices across all areas of community food systems from around the region.

The Community Food Systems program and partner community coalitions will be highlighted throughout the day. A successful community coalition process in Dubuque over the past two years will be featured.

“Through quarterly meetings and identification of our mission, vision and values, we have decided to change our coalition model to include a core team to show shared leadership in the development of agendas, implementation and meeting responsibilities,” said Danielle Day, Dubuque County Extension program director. “This shift will help bring out diverse needs and opportunities from our coalition and a range of ideas that will contribute to our area food systems, as well as show shared interests working towards common goals from multiple stakeholders.”

Nine breakout sessions covering food system topics that include edible landscapes, awareness campaigns, food hubs, and shared-use kitchens are on the afternoon agenda.

Tracy Keninger, Cindy Richardson, and Robbie-Morris Riley will discuss different opportunities for persons with disabilities during one session. They will discuss programs offered by their organizations—Easter Seals of Iowa, One Vision, and The Homestead.

“This is an exciting opportunity to discuss

the multiple opportunities that are offered for all individuals to get involved in food production and value-added work. There are many ways that we can be intentional about collaborating with all persons interested in getting involved,” Keninger said.

The January 12 event is open to all individuals, organizations and businesses interested in contributing and participating in their community food systems. Activities will feature local food system partners and promote collaboration, sharing, and networking for creative and collaborative projects.

Online registration for the annual event is now open. The registration fee is $25 and includes a light breakfast and lunch. Participants are encouraged to bring their own beverage containers in an attempt to conserve resources. Registrations should be made by January 10 to provide an accurate meal count.

The Community Food Systems program was developed in partnership with the Iowa State University Community Design Lab and is based on community engagement practices of public interest design, strategic doing, and collective impact. It is a multi-phased, multi-year program within the ISU Extension and Outreach local foods and community economic development programs.

Direct questions regarding travel scholarships, presentations or poster sessions to Courtney Long at court7@iastate.edu.

Registration for Community Food Systems Annual Event in January Now Open

grant writing 101 from page 4

Putting together a federal grant application can be intimidating, she said, and this program helps organizations feel more at ease and find resources that they might not have known about.

“We go through websites and different grant programs and then I talk about parts of a grant and putting the grant application together,” she explained.

“I have 10 tips I go through and things that I have found helpful, things that have helped me be successful—data sources, and some of my favorite online sources for data that are helpful in putting together an application.”

She added that identifying an organization’s priorities before applying for a grant is crucial.

“One of the things I hate to see happen is organizations and communities that see a funding source and come up with a project that fits the funding source. To me that’s backwards,” she said.

“You don’t want the grant to determine priorities. You get money for doing that, but when you put in an application that might not be your top priority, you divert resources from the mission of the organization.”

Interest in the program has been strong, she said.

“I see there being a lot of demand for it,” Goeken said. “I don’t do a lot of promotion in terms of looking for sponsors. It’s word of mouth. People have heard about it and contact me to do it—I’ve done (workshops) this year for Iowa Central Community College, the United Way in Cedar Rapids, and other nonprofits. Basically, it’s been them hearing about it from someone else and they called me. I feel like it’s snowballed—I’ve gotten good responses.”

Anyone interested in bringing Grant Writing 101 to an area or organization, can contact Goeken at jngoeken@iastate.edu or call 712-240-2504.

Community Matters, v. 9, #4ISU Extension and Outreach Community and Economic Development 11

By Anindita Das, Refugee Planning Coordinator, ISU Extension and Outreach

Since 1975, more than 30,000 refugees have resettled in Iowa. Among the many challenges—including securing employment, navigating transportation, accessing services—language acquisition remains a major barrier for refugees.

Individuals with limited English proficiency are less likely to receive responses from the different systems in the American community and to establish rapport or build relationships with their employers, teachers, doctors, and case workers. Hence, they do not receive sufficient information and are less likely to access services or completely participate in the decisions that impact them.

This barrier is also shared with other immigrants. However, due to the tragic and traumatic experience of refugees, inability to communicate often leads to severe and serious consequences. For example, as shared by a refugee mother from Sudan who was born in a refugee camp and had never seen a school, understanding the norms and expectations of the American school system is often challenging. Added to the challenge is the lack of the ability to speak and understand the language.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is the arm within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that develops resources and policies that reflect the needs of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) individuals. USCIS advocates the use of trained, professional interpreters to address language differences and resultant communication/relationship difficulties.

Unfortunately, there is an acute need for trained interpreters, and service provider’s knowledge of the availability of interpretation services is erratic. As a result, when dealing with LEP clients, services providers often rely on the assistance of volunteer interpreters as a practical response to address their needs. Other times, no assistance is used and services are attempted to be delivered with gestures and body language.

These volunteer informal interpreters consist of bilingual staff, clients’ children,

Refugee Alliance Receives Grant to Facilitate Interpreter Training

and relatives and friends who are called upon to provide translation and interpretation assistance.

It is cost effective to use in-house volunteers compared to a paid service or language line services. However, the quality of the language services provided by volunteers can be limited. Volunteer interpreters often have no formal training and their language proficiency is not verified, which could mean that in spite of knowing the language, they may not have the familiarity with technical terminology relevant to the agencies.

This lack of knowledge and formal training on part of refugee volunteers can lead to serious situations with consequences because the United States has several codes of conduct that are not conceivable in other parts of the world, such as HIPPA confidentiality laws. Therefore, using qualified and trained translators or interpreters is extremely important.

To address this issue in central Iowa, the Polk County Supervisor’s Office gave the Refugee Alliance of Central Iowa (RACI) a grant to facilitate a two-day training for those bilingual refugee volunteers who have been or will interpret or translate at their place of work or on informal request.

The goal of the training is to ensure that participants understand the role of an interpreter, as well as demonstrate the necessary ethical and competency standards required of a qualified interpreter.

Participants will receive formal training in the techniques, methods, and ethics

in providing language services. Training includes tips on providing language services, standards of practice, cultural competency, vocabulary development (in some cases specific to agency practice), familiarity with a code of ethics and conduct, role playing, and basic bookkeeping.

Before receiving the grant, RACI partnered with Community Voices program of Visiting Nurse Services to pilot this type of training session in Des Moines with a group of 12 bilingual refugee volunteers. These participants were already engaged in interpretation or translation.

After the training was completed, the participants were requested to provide feedback. Some of the benefits that participants identified about the training are that it validates individuals’ proficiency in both English and the target language, it ensures quality in the services provided by the volunteer, it reduces the need for paid vendor services and lowers overall costs, it creates a volunteer workforce of bilingual individuals who have been trained on the ethics and protocol of providing language services, it builds the existing community network of translators and interpreters, and it develops new resources for the cities and county.

RACI anticipates using the grant money to start the training in January 2018, and is currently in the process of identifying ways to evaluate the impact of the program.

Overall, this training can help address some of the challenges related to language access implementation by ensuring quality in the services provided by the volunteer, lowering the costs of citywide language access, and bolstering the spirit of volunteerism throughout the community. Furthermore, this training can be used as an example by cities and counties looking to meet the need for efficient language assistance policies that provide quality services to LEP customers.

RACI is a collaborative between Iowa State University Extension and Outreach and a host of organizations serving refugees in central Iowa.

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