I have spent a lot of time in this column talking about communities . . . but I don’t think I’ve ever explained what I mean when I say, “community.”
As a definition, I like this one from the University of Minnesota Extension program:
When I talk about my job and my accountability region of 10 counties, I also mention that I have 85 communities. To be more accurate, I should say 85 political subdivisions (cities or villages). There are hundreds or even thousands of communities in my 10-county region. Each church in my region is a community. Each organization like the Lion’s Club, Jaycees, or other social group is a community. There are so many of them that I could never visit with all of them.
One of my goals each year is to make contact with someone in each city or village in my area. Sometimes that is with a city or village clerk, perhaps it is a business owner, or a social organization that reached out to me. I am not limited to working with cities and villages. I can work with any type of community, cities and villages are the easiest to find and to contact. In the past, I have been driving out to communities and hoping to find someone in the city/village office. In the past several weeks I have started making quick phone calls, which seems to be more effective in continuing relationships that I’ve built with in person visits.
As I reach out to the cities and villages, I always ask if there are groups or individuals doing good things in the community. This provides me with information about what is happening in the community, and it also gives me an idea of other people to connect with in the future. Rural Prosperity Nebraska is focused on rural communities, no matter the form.
If your community is working on a project, or is stuck thinking about what to do, please reach out to me or another RPN educator. We would love to hear about your situation and work with you to improve your community. We have leadership development programs, we provide meeting facilitation, or we can facilitate planning sessions. We also can share experiences from throughout the state that may provide you the next idea for your community.
If your community could benefit from any of the Rural Prosperity Nebraska ideas that I’ve discussed in this column, please reach out to me. I’d love to speak to your community about these topics. You can reach me at jason.tuller@unl.edu or at the Thayer County office at 402-768-7212.
Jason Tuller is an Extension Educator for the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. He works in the Rural Prosperity Nebraska program and covers ten-county area including Kearney, Adams, Clay, Fillmore, Saline, Franklin, Webster, Nuckolls, Thayer, and Jefferson Counties.