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Dakota Dreams: Partnering for Prosperity
A Plan to Reduce Poverty in Northwest North Dakota EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Introduction Northwest Venture Communities, Inc., in response to a generous invitation from the Northwest Area Foundation, created Dakota Dreams: Partnering for Prosperity. This broad-based planning and leadership development process resulted in a comprehensive and inclusive plan to systemically reduce poverty in northwest North Dakota and the Fort Berthold Reservation. More than 650 people from 65 communities participated in some or all of these planning activities, including in excess of 125 from the reservation communities. More than 550 additional people are registered in the project’s database and receive regular updates on the planning process. More than 1,250 people participated in the project survey and 100 others contributed their stories to the project’s poverty definition process. Finally, nearly 150 local residents, including 30 persons under the age of 18, participated in the community-based plan review process. As a result of these efforts, NVCI has crafted a plan to transform the region from a “landscape of loss” into a “landscape of opportunity.” With input from many people during this process, we have developed this plan to reduce regional poverty and nurture prosperity among people currently in poverty. In so doing, our plan will carve out a new role for the region—a role that builds on the assets of the people and the land in which they live to respond to new opportunities of the global economy, and a role that creates and enhances assets across the region. Living in a Landscape of Loss For the past 200 years, rural communities have supported the needs of urban areas. For the last century and a half the vast and rich natural resources associated with rural living have been expropriated to build the American industrial machine. Beginning in the 1920s rural communities began exporting their labor to power this machine. And, in the past 50 years, rural communities have increasingly lost their youth to the metropolitan corporate and industrial appetite for new talents and skilled workers. Now, with the country poised to experience the largest generational shift of wealth ever, rural communities are on the brink of losing significant levels of local ownership of their surviving resources as vast amounts of owned assets transfer from one generation to another. These trends have left rural areas poorer, older, and more powerless, with an increasing flight of youth and young families to more populated areas. Nowhere is this picture more accurate than in northwest North Dakota. Home to many farmers and ranchers who have provided meat, grain and minerals to the growing American population, our own population now is in decline. A drive through the area offers a series of portraits of once proud and thriving communities now struggling to retain their previous vitality and small town identities. Higher-than-average unemployment in the more rural areas and severe underemployment characterize the workforce. Despite these conditions, indeed in response to them, rural residents of the area have organized to proactively shape a future that not only mitigates the impacts of their current economic situation, but also reaches out to reshape a “landscape of loss” into a “landscape of opportunity” compatible with the region’s resources and building off of its strengths. Defining Poverty A critical first step in this process was defining what poverty means to people in our region: The federal definition of poverty provides an income baseline that will not support families beyond mere survival. A more accurate income definition of poverty would address the sustainable income required to meet basic needs based on family size and local costs. Poverty, however, cannot be measured by income alone; it is also a function of place and possibilities. When you are poor, society doesn’t always see you, so you are often on the outside of supportive, hopeful and helpful community networks. The basic amenities of life cannot be taken for granted. Living on the edge often beats down one’s aspirations and leads to hopelessness and a succumbing to both the cycle of poverty—making it through one day at a time—and the culture of poverty. Perfecting skills for surviving one day at a time leaves little opportunity to expand one’s horizons. The fragility of survival teaches one to distrust others and the system, and to regard helping hands as suspect. In our region, we see poverty as an attribute of communities as well as individuals: Poor communities often suffer from shrinking populations or shrinking resource bases, conditions that foster an ongoing decline in the ability of the community to meet the needs of residents. The lack of growth results in empty and dilapidated houses and downtowns, overgrown and weedy yards, and an ongoing loss of vital resources such as schools, post offices, and local retail and service businesses. The feeling of hopelessness engendered by these circumstance plays out in the lack of trust and reciprocity among residents, an absence of unity or common purpose, a lack of attention to efficient management of existing resources, and a dearth of support for local businesses and entrepreneurial efforts. Often poor communities are dependent on a single industry or source of income. Their experiences lead to lack of faith in local institutions, and laws regarding community safety and appearance are rarely enforced. Without community spirit, efforts among schools, churches and government are fragmented and few residents feel called to volunteer their efforts in the community’s interest. The sole common element is that they share the same zip code. From the outside, northwest North Dakota appears as a land of immense distances and extreme isolation. Small towns nestle among the rolling prairies and along riverbanks; lonely roads connecting these communities are often treacherous due to the harsh climate. Bad weather and poor infrastructure further hamper communications. Dependent primarily on agriculture for the last century, the region reels from the impact of global economic restructuring with few resources to facilitate diversified economic development. High unemployment in some areas, severe underemployment throughout the region, and outdated job skills characterize much of the workforce. Reversing the Landscape of Loss Although northwest North Dakota is a land of glorious sunrises, magnificent sunsets, and awesome displays of the northern lights, too many of our families, our children and our communities are losing ground. For those of us living in the throes of persistent poverty the horizon is bleak and colored with hopelessness. As we work together to replenish our landscape of loss we must create integrated solutions to several inter-related challenges:
Northwest North Dakota is a community of communities: a tapestry of diverse individuals, cultures and generations woven together through creative and inclusive community partnerships. Our efforts yield healthy and safe families, children who achieve prosperity though satisfying work, a vibrant and diverse economy and excellence in education. We value and care for our elders, and we work to preserve our natural landscape where we enjoy sunrises, sunsets, and the northern lights. Together, we invest time and energy to build on our past to create the future.
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