Letter to WA Horizions Alumni

Doreen's letter:

August 4, 2010

Dear Washington Horizons Alumni Communities,

Congratulations to our fifteen Horizons 3 communities for “graduating to Alumni status:” Benton City, Beverly/Schawana, Big River, Deer Park, Grand Coulee, Grand Mound/Rochester, Lyle, Onalaska, Othello West, Rockford, Rosalia, Tum Tum, Wellpinit, Wishram, and Valley.

WSU Extension is extremely proud to have 40 communities across the state as Washington Horizons Alumni Communities.
As many of you have read in the news releases, the Northwest Area Foundation has awarded WSU Extension, and the other six Land-Grant Institutions in their service area, grants to continue training and limited coaching through July 2011. Grant dollars will also be used to provide educational trainings that will further community action plans, leverage public and private funding and provide electronic communications that identify resources communities can tap into to sustain their work.
Specifically, in Washington we will be taking a more regional approach to accomplish these tasks within the budget. The team includes:

Linda Williams will coach the Southern and Southwestern WA communities of: Trout Lake, Glenwood, Klickitat, Goldendale, Big River Reservation, Lyle, Wishram, White Salmon/Bingen, Stevenson/Skamania Co., Cathlamet, Mossyrock, Pe Ell, Onalaska, and Rochester/Grand Mound.
Tony Garcia will coach the Central Washington communities of: Benton City, Mattawa, Beverly/Schawana, Warden, Royal City, Othello West, North Moses Lake, Sprague, Ritzville, Bridgeport. Jenelle Ottman and Christy Price (WSU Grant County Extension) will team with Tony to support Grand Coulee.
Krisan LeHew will coach the Northeast and Eastern Washington communities of: Republic, Northport, Kettle Falls, Colville, Chewelah, Valley, Hunters, Springdale, Tum Tum, Wellpinit, Deer Park, Rosalia, Rockford, Omak and Tonasket.
Patrick Malone will serve as resource specialist for micro-enterprise and related community development subject-specific training.
Cindy McHargue continues as our administrative and financial support person.
Doreen Hauser-Lindstrom will provide overall project administration and provide team support for each coach as needed with their large territory coverage.
In addition to our Washington State University Extension support, the additional six Land-Grant Institutions in the region will be organizing and inviting all 260 communities to take part in monthly webinars. It is our hope that community members will build connections, develop awareness of others’ work, learn about potential collaborative efforts and increase knowledge about successful asset- and wealth-building strategies, leadership and capacity work, and public policy education.
Currently, the WSU Extension Horizons team and our many partners have submitted multiple grants to enhance and expand our work. As the results of these applications are known, we will update you.
I would like to thank Ronda Gollehon, JoEllen Wollman, and Joe and Joy Baisch for their unparalleled dedication, hard work, and commitment during their service with the Horizons program in rural Washington communities.
Finally, I want to thank-you for your dedication to your community which is a part of the tremendous work that is taking place in our state to reduce poverty and build thriving, rural Washington communities.

Sincerely,
Doreen Hauser-Lindstrom
WSU Extension Horizons Director

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