Visit the Good START Communities

What can Good START do for your community?

Rural communities often grumble about what they do not have and what's wrong. This type of negative talk creates an overwhelming sense of DESPAIR and only leads to more GRUMBLING.

If they started talking about the things they do have and what's working, rural communities would automatically create the opportunity for community development.

The greatest asset of any rural community is the people who live there, specifically their unique skills and talents. Taking the time to talk with community members about their abilities has a dramatic effect: people suddenly want to get involved!

So, the first step of community development is to engage community members by taking an inventory of their many skills and talents.

The second step of community development is to bring community members around the table to discuss both what they want their community to become and how their skills can help bring this vision to life.

When rural communities start talking about what they do have, despair is replaced with a sense of POSSIBLITY. When they start talking about how they can build on those existing assets to create a better community, grumbling is replaced with ACTION.

Project Good START leads a community through the steps of community development:

ENGAGE: The Steering Committee engages community members through Individual Asset Inventory Interivews and conducts a Community Survey which helps people begin to think about the possiblities for their community.

DREAM: The Steering Committee hosts a Community Forum which brings all community members together to develop a vision and plan for their community.

CREATE: A Community Development Taskforce is established and work on specific community development projects identified in the plan that brings the vision to life.