The Horizons Program
BACKGROUND
The Horizons program is a community leadership program aimed at reducing poverty in rural and reservation communities with populations of 5,000 or fewer and with histories of economic decline and significant population change.
The Horizons program is about the changes a community can make to move from waiting to leading, from decisions by a few to the participation of many, and from indifference to pride. Ultimately, it is about community leadership that can act to reverse a community’s economic and population decline and move toward prosperity.
A program of the Northwest Area Foundation, Horizons was launched in 163 participating communities and is delivered by eight partner organizations: Sitting Bull Tribal College and state extension services in Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and Washington.
PROGRAM FOCUS AND OUTCOMES
The program is intensive and challenging. Communities must invest time to achieve long-term results. During the 18-month program, Horizons participants explore the perceptions and the sources of poverty, recognizing that poverty isn’t always about the lack of money. The program builds stronger community leadership, acknowledging that everyone has something to contribute, and for communities to thrive, everyone has to have an opportunity to prosper.
a bit of history
Horizons launched as a pilot program in 2003-2005. The program was designed by a team of 11 organizations that were already working with communities across the Foundation’s eight-state region. The pilot phase engaged 36 communities over 18 months, with an additional eight communities completing a shorter and more intensive version of the program. They ranged in population from 100 to 4,800 with poverty rates from 10 percent to 96 percent. One-third of the communities were located within the boundaries of American Indian nations.
Read about the experiences and achievements of previous Horizons communities based on their participation in the pilot program that ran from 2003 to 2005.
Prevailing in the Long Run is a report on the pilot program and lessons learned.
The Horizons Community Guide gives in-depth detail on the four phases of the 18-month program.
Based on the success of the pilot, staff and community members recommended improvements for the broader implementation of the Horizons program, which runs from 2006-2008.
After the 2006-2008 Horizons program is complete, the Foundation expects that over 40,000 people from across the region will have a better understanding about poverty and its causes. They will have learned new leadership skills to take action to move their communities forward to achieve poverty reduction.
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