Sisseton, SD

The Sisseton Horizons group recently met with me (Cheryl, the Horizons Community Coordinator) and we had a chance to discuss some of the great things going on in the community as part of the 6 week Spring Sweep Campaign. I also had a chance to ask the group about things they see as barriers or things that we need to continue to work on to sustain the momentum for future change. Here’s a few of their thoughts…

Poverty

• Some of the comments from the group included realizing that many people in the community have a disconnection or a lack of a sense of belonging. People havea  “what’s in it for me” attitude instead of a sense of pride and wanting to get involved as a civically engaged community member.
• “Their houses are like garbage pits inside, so why would they care what the outside looks like.” The group talked about people in poverty not living by the same rules and obligations as the middle class, a concept learned from the Ruby Payne books. The same idea applies to acceptable behavior, like having respect for property and things, not littering, no spitting and overall behavior that is typical y learned in the home–whether that’s a positive or negative influence.

Vision

• The group talked about being really energized by the recent events and projects, but also realized that it takes a lot of effort to get it done and a vision or plan to make it a reality.
• The group discussed wanting to be inclusive of everyone’s ideas and plans, but realizing that not everyone has the same passion to get those ideas and projects accomplished. So there are lots of projects that could be done, but it takes finding the right person or group who is willing to take it on as a project.

Attitudes

• Attitudes can have a big impact on the ability to get people involved and willing to be part of a community process. There has recently been a new blog created that got a lot of attention. Many of the posts were negative and really showed the bad side of what’s happening in the community, but didn’t focus in on any of the good things. Combating negative attitudes can be a full time job, and it’s important to keep reporting on the good stuff. Actions speak louder than words.

Thanks to all who attended the meeting on Monday. Keep up the good work that you are doing in your community!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 20th, 2008 at 12:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.