With the goal of reducing poverty in small rural towns and reservations in Montana, Horizons works with communities struggling with economic decline to create lasting positive change.
A community leadership-based program, Horizons partners with rural Montana communities to help combat demographic change and poverty. Founded in 2004 by the Montana State University Extension program with funding from the Northwest Area Foundation, Horizons began with four pilot sites, each with populations fewer than 5,000 and poverty rates larger than 10%, launching a program that identified and addressed issues of poverty in these communities.
This comprehensive program focused on building a community discourse around poverty to understand the underlying issues. Horizons then worked with the community to discover local leaders and identify assets that could be turned into action plans to improve and bring out the community’s character. At workshops, meetings, and assemblies, participants held discussions about what poverty means in their community and ways in which they can combat the economic decline.
After the success of the pilot program, sixteen more communities joined Horizons for the second year of the program in 2007-2008. In these communities, over 4,000 locals participated in building a positive vision of their town’s future. Over 500 of these participants also attended leadership training, creating a core group of local leaders to maintain and monitor the changes in these communities.
Horizons’ goal, as articulated by Douglas Steel, Horizons Principle Investigator, is to empower impoverished rural communities to take control of their own future. “When community members focus on a specific outcome, join hands with collaborating partners and keep their eye on the future, the possibilities are never-ending. A new spirit and passion for community involvement is created when a common goal is identified and shared broadly.”
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