08/31/06 WSU grant to fight rural poverty

Washington Ag August 31, 2006 As many as 25 small rural communities in Washington state may get help in reducing poverty, thanks to a grant to the Washington State University Extension Center to Bridge the Digital Divide. The Northwest Area Foundation in St. Paul, Minn. has awarded up to $1.7 million to the Center to bring its Horizons program to small rural communities that have poverty rates of at least 10 percent. WSU Horizons project director Doreen Hauser-Lindstrom says the focus is on more than economics, utilizing an holistic approach. Hauser-Lindstrom: "And it also is holistic in that it includes youth and adults in looking at the community in what we can do to help so that everyone can thrive and we have a prosperous, thriving community. It is really built on the capacity of a community and the assets a community has because what might happen in the southwestern corner of Washington and how they choose to fight poverty and help everyone thrive may be different than what they do in say Colville or the eastern part of the state. So it is very individual to the community themselves." Before a community can participate it has to have at least five people attend a workshop to learn about the program. More on that tomorrow. I'm Bob Hoff.