Columbus, MT

A successful Farmer’s Market, a new welcome sign, and an afterschool program are all great examples of how poverty is being addressed in Columbus, Montana. These projects were all made possible with grant funding through the Northwest Area Foundation Horizons program. As this program begins to sunset, the Columbus Horizons Steering Committee has come to realize that a source of funding to continue addressing poverty issues, such as those aforementioned, is imperative.

The focus of the Horizons Steering Committee has become the development of the Columbus Community Foundation. This Foundation will assist Columbus in being a more self sustainable community and will serve as a financial partner for all non-profit organizations in the community of Columbus. In this capacity, the Community Foundation will be a neutral organization operating through donations, endowments, bequests in a will, planned giving, etc. Our mission is to promote philanthropy, receive and administer charitable gifts, and invest in programs that improve the quality of life by building a permanent endowment perpetuating the vitality of the Columbus Community.

Utilizing a $1500 Horizons grant that was administered through the Montana Community Foundation, the Steering Committee organized the Columbus Community Foundation Kick off Reception. This event was held on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at the home of Kent and Pam Williams. Approximately thirty Columbus community members attended the event. Cathy Cooney of the Montana Community Foundation educated attendees on the opportunity that exists in establishing a community foundation in Columbus. Millard Cox, the founder of the Absarokee Community Foundation shared the benefits that the Absarokee community has seen through their foundation.

Kent and Pam Williams presented a challenge to the community to match $5,000.00. This match was quickly met by Joel Harris for Yellowstone Bank. The Columbus Community Foundation was founded immediately with $14,550.00 through generous contributions of others in the Community.

The Horizons Community Action Grant made this extraordinary event possible. The funding from the grant supported the development and printing of invitations, brochures, thank you notes, donor cards, and mailing labels as well as the food catering for the evening. The grant allowed the Steering Committee to contract Jessica Burch, Columbus High School alum with expertise in graphic design and marketing, to develop a logo and theme for all of the foundation materials that will be used into the future for promotion of the foundation. The grant provided a prestigious and professional head start to the foundation that would have not been possible otherwise.

The efforts of the evening, the establishment of a significant amount of funds, and affiliation with the Montana Community Foundation will allow the Columbus Community Foundation to do some immediate granting in the community. The focus of these grants will be determined through the Columbus Community Foundation Board of Directors. These grants will be open to the non – profit organizations in Columbus and will assist them in reaching their goals and fulfilling their missions. These non-profits represent a broad segment of the community and represent all social economic classes including the young people and senior citizens.

The reception was also an opportunity to once again share the success stories of the Horizons program. People were again made aware of the leadership capabilities within the community, as well as the skills to facilitate group discussions that have been gained through the Horizons process. In a small community, such as Columbus, new events and projects surface often. Not everyone is aware who is accountable for those successes. Credit due was given to those successes, such as the Farmer’s Market, that have been made possible through Horizons.

The Horizons Steering Committee is grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the Horizons project and utilize the grant funding to support poverty reduction and make Columbus a more thriving community. The Community Foundation has been a very promising and gratifying effort in bringing the community together to battle these issues. This Community Foundation will benefit the community as a whole and its unique structure as a foundation will allow all members of the community to be philanthropic at any level and leave a lasting legacy in Columbus, the community that has served individuals, families, organizations and businesses alike.

http://columbus.communityblogs.us/2008/05/30/community-action-grant-ii-report/

Estate Planning isn’t always the most exciting topic. However, on April 17, 2008 Marsha Goetting of Montana State University Extension grabbed the attention of 55 individuals from across Stillwater County to enlighten them on the topic. Her games and enthusiastic approach to the topic made estate planning a little more exciting and an imperative task for those who attended. Goetting was invited into the County by the Columbus Horizons Project. The Horizons steering committee thought that estate planning was a topic that needed to be discussed in our community. By hosting this FREE seminar, everyone interested was able to attend and learn invaluable information that is often costly to learn. Through Horizons the barriers that may often exist were eliminated and helped make this seminar a great success.

http://columbus.communityblogs.us/2008/05/30/estate-planning-seminar-a-success/

Assistant Professor, Extension Community Development Specialist of Montana State University, Paul Lachapelle, was invited into Stillwater County on February 27 to share information on being an effective and confident board member. The presentation also detailed the many legal issues that surround the actions of formalized boards and their decision making processes. Approximately 96 individuals from across Stillwater County were in attendance. The information is invaluable to the boards that exist in all of our small communities and will assist the various boards in operating more effectively. Having this knowledge will also make them more attractive to members of the community as they step into leadership roles with the knowledge that these boards are well trained and empowering to their new members.

http://columbus.communityblogs.us/2008/05/30/board-members-in-stillwater-county-are-trained%e2%80%a6/

Many people are not aware of the role that Horizons has taken in encouraging cooperation between the people of Columbus. Though some may know that the Farmers’ Market was brought in part by the Horizons Project, they sometimes forget the many things that went on before anything that visible could be accomplished. They don’t remember the things like Study Circles or Leadership Plenty.

Leadership Plenty was one of the biggest successes of Horizons, because not only did it bring together people from Columbus, but people from surrounding communities such as Absarokee. Different people would be at each meeting, but everyone still managed to cooperate and learn about the best kind of change that could be brought to their own homes.

Study Circles were another huge accomplishment. Not only did the people in those groups have to cooperate with each other and respect different opinions, but the three main areas that Horizons is focused on–Mentoring, Beautification, and the Farmers’ Market–grew from the Study Circles.

Now, Horizons can be seen in the beautification projects that it has already completed, and ones that it will do in the future. The strong Farmers’ Market is another accomplishment. The most important thing that Horizons has done is not an individual project, but the unification of a community. Many steps still have to be taken to truly accomplish this goal, but come later this summer, the first step can already be seen in the turnout for the Farmers’ Market.

http://columbus.communityblogs.us/2008/05/27/horizons-makes-a-difference/

Thanks to Columbus School District, the Horizons Mentoring Committee had a tremendous response to their afterschool survey. Approximately 160 surveys were turned in at the elementary and middle schools.

Following is a summary of results:

1. 93% of the respondents indicated that an afterschool program would benefit children in the Columbus community.
2. Youths in upcoming grades 4-6 seemed to have the greatest number of youths who would participate in an afterschool program.
3. The highest ranked activities which respondents thought should be a part of the afterschool program included: homework/study help, reading/writing, arts & crafts, fun, playing games/fun activities, sports, learning with fun activities, exercise/physical activity, art/music/acting.
4. 47% indicated that they would need some form of transportation for their child(ren) to get to the afterschool program.
5. Many comments were also submitted with the surveys.

The Horizons Mentoring Committee wishes to thank everyone who responded to the survey. It wishes to thank Superintendent Al Sipes for his support of distributing the survey in the Columbus Schools Newsletter, and the administration from the Columbus Middle School and Columbus Elementary School as well as the teachers and office staff for their assistance in distributing the survey to the classrooms and providing places to turn in the surveys. In addition, thank you to Roxie Holden from Stageline Pizza and the Stillwater Coalition for supplying treats for the kids for doing their part by returning their surveys to the schools. Most of all, thank you to the parents; your community support is greatly appreciated.

http://columbus.communityblogs.us/2008/05/20/after-school-program-interest/

This article has also been in several newspapers in the surrounding area, including the Stillwater County News and the Billings Gazette.

Now’s the time to plan, and plant, for the 2nd annual Columbus Farmers’ Market. Based on the success of last year’s market, which began as an August-only event and was then extended into September, this year’s market will begin in mid-July and run until mid-September. It will once again take place on Thursday afternoons in Railroad Park, beginning July 24th and running through September 11th. We hope to welcome back most, if not all, of last year’s sellers and add several more. Anyone interested in selling fresh garden produce, eggs, plants, baked goods, preserves or other market items, can pick-up a registration form at the Extension Office in the Courthouse, or call Marcia at 321-1377 for further information.

More information about Farmers’ Markets in Montana can be found at the Montana Department of Agriculture.

http://columbus.communityblogs.us/2008/05/20/columbus-farmers-market-will-begin-in-july/