Woodbine, IA

Woodbine has opened up its application time for its annual Paint-a-thon that will happen in August.  New this year was a grant application written and received for $1400 from the Network Neighborhood Grants Program administered by the local Human Service Decat Board. Woodbine High School student council will be reviewing the applications and picking several houses to paint. Eligible entries include those who are in financial need and are not as able to afford paint/supplies to paint their houses, and eligible applicants include those who are physically unable to paint their own houses. Paint-a-thon addresses financial and emotional poverty, but it also incorporates a huge social element within it which helps eliminate the social poverty we face in our towns. This event is totally student driven. The leadership skill set and leadership opportunities for our high school youth are incredible. Students also solicit the help of the community and rely on a huge volunteer base to complete their painting tasks on the actual painting date.

Woodbine received funds from the Iowa Department of Economic Development for housing rehabilitation for eligible owner-occupied households. The program can provide up to $25,000 for eligible households to bring their residence up to Iowa Minimum Housing Rehabilitation Standards. Examples of common assistance include electrical, heating, plumbing, roof, windows, siding, insulation, etc.

Team Mates of Woodbine, a mentoring program for our youth, was initiated as a result of the Horizons Program. The goal set back in January 2007 was to have six mentors matched to six mentees with one week visits during the school day. At the end of the 2007-2008 school year Woodbine Team Mates can boast having reached a goal of 18 mentors matched to 18 mentees. Already the Team Mates volunteers have their goal set for 2008-2009 school year with 28 mentors and 28 mentees.  A partnership with the Woodbine Schools as well as generous support from the Optimist Club, Kiawanis, Methodist men’s group, the Christian Church and private donors have helped make this a very successful program.  These local contributions will continue to be an important resource for the program since an Iowa Department of Public Health grant application applied for was not received.  Sarah Cox, a teacher at Woodbine, volunteers as one of the mentors. “It’s been very rewarding to watch the communications skills and confidence grow throughout the year,” Cox said. “All the students in TeamMates take great pride in it. They seem more comfortable talking with adults in the building, and it gives them another source of help with either studies or social issues. They just seem happier to be in school,” she concluded.

The “Marketing Woodbine” committee formed from the Horizons discussion submitted a grant proposal to Iowa Living Roadways Community Visioning and was selected for the program.  We are now starting an eight month process with a Trees Forever facilitator. The facilitator will guide us (the steering committee) and the community at large as the project collects informational data concerning improving the appearance/architectural landscape/transportation routes of our town. The first meeting was well attended and there was much discussion and brainstorming about the above. At the end of the session, the group voted on their top three ideas to concentrate on…this method worked well in helping the steering committee to distill all the input and come to a consensus upon which ideas, in general, to concentrate. Due to the notice of our meeting in the local paper inviting any interested community member, there were several people in attendance new to the process with some different ideas and input . That was an extra positive…hopefully, these different people will spread the word concerning the intent of the Visioning project so the Woodbine community members will actively participate in contributing their ideas and reflections.

One of our Horizons Work Groups was on Quality Jobs–having current and future employers provide quality good paying jobs in Woodbine to boost the local economy. This work group had heard about the Main Street Iowa program and thought it might be a good program for Woodbine. A group of men and women used their leadership abilities and talents and applied to have Woodbine be a Main Street Iowa Community. They were awarded this distinction on March 4 in Des Moines, Iowa. Already on March 19 the Main Street officials visited Woodbine. They met with the Woodbine Main Street Board and about 100 community members. They presented and discussed the Four Point Design of the program. 1. Organization (political), 2. Business Improvement (economic), 3. Design (physical), and 4. Promotion (social). Woodbine Main Street Board has work ahead but are excited about finding ways to better the Woodbine Community in hopes of providing a place where quality jobs can be found, as well as a beautiful place to live.

I write today to tell you quickly of the work we are doing on the Action committee for Recreation in Woodbine. We worked very hard on our first project the past few months. This project is a community supported fitness center that would be open 24 hours a day and would be accessible by an electronic key. Our hope is/was to find a site on the school campus to have this facility so that the school and community could share resources and so that the youth would be able to take advantage of this facility in a large way during their sports training times. We see this center as a win win for the school and the community at large. As of this posting, we are still working through the process of deciding where this facility would be best located and we are also addressing the appropriate boards to have them help us to better meet the needs of the steakholders (city and school). So far we have had a very successful go at this venture, but some space issues are now holding us up a bit. I believe that this project WILL go through but it may be on a longer time line than we initially hoped.

The recreation committee is also working on an outdoor walking path idea as well as a program called the 5th Quarter. This program is an OUTSTANDING way to involve the youth of the community in positive activity after sporting events. Ideally this program would be held within the school buildings and would be a FREE program offering food, sports, game rooms (electronic and board games), movies and of course positive adult chaperones. We feel that this program addresses poverty of many sorts. Social poverty of the student body is a big concern. Some students have nowhere to go on weekend nights and would greatly enjoy the social interactions they’d have with people they would have NEVER been able to spend time with on a Saturday night before. Just imagine their suprise when two VERY different types of students realize that they are BOTH very passionate and good at the same video game or at dodgeball etc. That could spark into a new level of respect or friendship for them??? Also, with this designed to be a free or very very low cost function, it would allow our youth (who have limited job options here in Woodbine) to be able to go somewhere safe and to enjoy a night out at NO or VERY LOW cost. There is much to be worked out with this project. I have a HUGE materials list for an “ideal” program, but the committee has not met much on the program yet and we have yet to involve anyone outside of the committee in this project….so it’s in it’s beginning stages. I think that the school will find it to be a great concept for keeping kids away from drugs and alcohol as well as a great way to tie into the mentor / mentee program they have established through TeamMates.

Through the recreation committee work, we’ve visited Dunlap’s shared school / community facilities. We see great potential here in Woodbine to be able to take the good things they have done and to duplicate many of them here. Sharing ideas with our neighbors can really catalyze the processes of getting things accomplished. It keeps that energy we have going right now in Woodbine growing and producing good things. Many of which you can read about in these blogs and some of which we have yet to have time to write about.

All of the things I’ve written are very much just thoughts in terms of where things are right now and will certainly evolve as we gain inputs from the school board, superintendant, faculty, city council, and community at large. Our projects are certainly not our own and all that we do is intended to be something that we ALL can appreciate and benefit from. So if you happen to be reading and think that you would like to be involved in the work or have an idea on how to improve or how to get a project going please call anyone you know who works with these programs. We’d love to hear from you! Thanks for reading and for all you do to help Woodbine become a more thriving community!

The action plan for the Caring, Sharing and Learning Center is slow evolving. The committee working on this action plan has a goal that includes a building center as well as a paid staff member. Some of the members want action now, especially one the early Horizon action group members. She is a dedicated leader! That is good! There are things that can be done while the main goal is being worked on. If it comes to no building and/or no one staff person, maybe that will be good too. Time will tell. In the meantime several people from the various churches in Woodbine have come together to form a group who will visit the shut-ins, the sick, the residents of home-care and nursing homes, etc. A list of community members who may benefit from visitors has been compiled and shared with the members of the churches. Anyone from any church can choose a name from the list regardless of his/her faith affiliation. There are no restrictions for who, when or where visitations will take place. Two volunteers within the community offered to crochet dish cloths that will be used as a small gift to give to those visited. Means are being taken to observe for any member of the community who has no church affiliation who may want to be visited. The committee members will monitor the list to be sure everyone is visited. Our numbers are small but sending people off two by two to visit our neighbors who are ill,alone and in need will catch on , and the number of our poor will be less.