Six Stevens County Communities Chosen for Training to Reduce Poverty

Six Stevens County communities have been selected to participate in a community education and training program aimed at providing local residents with tools to create a thriving community and reduce poverty.

These six community teams are part of a group of 23 of communities in the state chosen to participate in the Horizons Project, administered by Washington State University Extension. The selected communities each organized a delegation of local residents who attended a recent regional “Spotlight” meeting to learn about the program, and chose to pursue participation.

The goal of the Horizons Project is to help members of the community develop skills, tools and practical strategies to address needs specially identified by that community. The first local program is a series of conversations that will begin in January focused on how to build a thriving community, using a discussion guide called “Thriving Communities: Working together to move from poverty to prosperity for all.”

The Horizons Project is funded by a grant from the Northwest Area Foundation based in St. Paul, Minn. NWAF’s mission is to fight poverty in rural communities in eight northern states. The Horizons Project focuses on providing resources to communities with fewer than 5,000 residents that have experienced declines in population, income and resources.