Community for Us by Us
The Community for Us, By Us group will convene their second meeting on June 28th in Wisconsin Rapids. The kickoff meeting in May had a great turnout of about 50 participants. At the end of the kickoff meeting, participants were asked to bring along a friend to the next meeting, so an even greater turnout is expected this time around!
I’m excited to see what actionable community priorities this group will come up with next week. The first meeting had folks from all different walks of life join the conversation about how to improve upon their community, and how to best build off the strengths and resources that they already have. At our June meeting we’ll have trained table hosts to encourage the voices of all to be heard, and to keep the groups of about 6-8 at each table focused on answering questions that will guide them forward. The questions will include:
- Which identified topic is achievable and had the most potential for impact?
- Do we have adequate, accessible resources we can utilize?
- Do we have balanced buy-in from community members?
- Do we need to do some homework and find out more about topic areas?
After everyone is heard in round-table formats, the group will report out and start a narrowing down selection process. The hope is to have it narrowed down to two or three top priority topic areas by the end of the evening. Staff from the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service and Incourage will help facilitate the meeting and answer any questions the group might have. Judging from the energy and community leadership exhibited at the last meeting, this next one will most likely take some big steps forward towards making a positive impact in Wisconsin Rapids. I can’t wait to see where it takes us!
-Gail Kell, Program Manager, Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service