Be sure and check out the other Horizons blog sites…there has been some interesting things happening that, according to the bloggers, would not have happened if it were not for the Horizons program that we have almost completed. When you read them, you understand the ” heart” of South Dakotans.
Farm families who have experienced a major injury or illness may apply for planting assistance of up to 1,000 acres free of charge. If you know of any family who is in this situation, please forward this information. For more information you may contact Farm Rescue or call 701-252-2017. Email address is www.farmrescue.org
The Rural Office of Community Services in Lake Andes is sponsoring a Garden Project for low income individuals, families or community groups. The project will provide gardeners with seeds, plant sets and garden assistance for their own home garden usage and food consumption. This would be a wonderful way to supplement the food budget by growing their own food. For more information and guide lines please contact the ROCS office in Lake Andes. The telephone number is 487-7634.
Committee members and 2 guests met at the Cavalier Corner, with Dave Olson present on April 8th. Shirley Mann, director at the Bon Homme Food Pantry, reported on her role and the purpose of the pantry, its supporters and its present needs. It has been in existence for 17 years and she has worked with the program for 14 years! Presently they serve 40 - 45 families in Bon Homme County, who have been recommended by Social Services, a minister, or a doctor as per the guidelines. She and her helper Pat and other volunteers prepare 50 commodity boxes once a month also. They get $1000 from the state once a year and the rest of the year are solely dependent on food and cash donations. It gets pretty scarce from May to November……ideas anyone?
Day care has become a concern, or the impending lack of it actually….. A new goal in our strategic plan has been identified, according to Chad Jodozi, and a committee is now working with the Governor’s office (Governor’s Day Care) on this issue. They are required to do surveys of our present daycares (which parents are very grateful for!), along with a bunch of other hoops to jump through. Of course, funding is a key component. More to come on this new goal. Our young parents are the future of Tyndall-we owe them our support!
The Bargain Shoppe didn’t meet yet this month, but are planning to donate funds to a project in town, after expenses. They did $100 business on the Open House day! How cool is that? They have added a day to be open….now open Wednesday through Saturday from 10 - 5. Now taking spring/summer items, and they have also been selling appliances, furniture and big things like that in addition to the regular items.
The website committee will meet next week on the 17th. Things are going a little slow right now, but our volunteers have been busy with regular jobs. Businesses and residents with events to share can have them posted on the website community calendar. Go to www.tyndallsd.com - click on community calendar. School events continue to be listed on their own website.
The public policy committee, Mark and Joe, has set up a public forum for April 16th on tax issues, low income issues, etc….there will be free blood pressure screenings by the hospital ( glad to have them participate!!!) and a guest panel to answer questions. Cathy Brechtelsbauer from Bread for the World will be the speaker. For the free supper you need to call asap by the 12th to Mark 589-3097 for food count for you and guests. Open to all and important for all!
The Cavalier Corner is going along smoothly at this time. The board is looking into setting up a GED program. There is a tutoring program is place, but up to now the students are not taking advantage of this. More education on this is probably necessary, as many parents and students may not know about it. Dave offered the board the possibility of a meeting to help them plan a 5-year strategic plan.
The Community Foundation committee has taken a back seat this month to some other things that popped up over Easter vacation ( like a light manufacturing plant looking at Tyndall and other communities!) so they will get a date set for a public meeting, etc. soon.
LeadershipPlenty training is hopefully going to be offered for credit in the fall. Janet is still working with administration on that. There are two certified trainers in our school system to do the course and it would be just for upper class students.
The committee for Community Economic Coordinator has not met. Judy is hoping to seat a feasibility study committee to research this more. The planning committee members urged the importance of this committee for the future of Tyndall. Persons interested in serving on this can contact her asap.
Marilyn reported briefly on the Marketing Workshop and how communities have begun to “brand ” themselves to claim a uniqueness about their community that would attract business, shopping, and new residents.
Dave urged members to continue blogging and to recruit “commentors” and even more bloggers. He had helpful suggestions throughout the meeting and has been a great help to our committees.
The next meeting will be May 13th - same time, same place!
The deadline to call for supper reservations ( we want to have enough food!!!) has been moved up to April 12, so call Mark at 589-3904 and tell him how many in your family are coming. You can reserve for your friends too. Hope to see many of you…..if you can’t get there for supper, come to the meeting. There will be good information for everyone.
The public policy committee has been working hard to get information out about tax breaks, programs already in place for low incomes and many of the social services contacts are listed in our Tyndall business and service directory, which is just about ready for distribution.
Tyndall Horizons Planning Committee will meet with Dave Olson on April 8th, Tuesday. We will meet at the Cavalier Corner and will have a light lunch prior to the meeting at 7 pm. Two topics have been added to the agenda: we will have a report about the Food Pantry from its director. Also, there will be the topic of daycare discussed. Seems Tyndall is having a baby boom, and we have some of our daycare providers either retiring or choosing not to provide daycare anymore in the near future. There are some ideas and it looks like the city is just as concerned about this as the new parents are, so partnering will again be in the forefront and since we have the new non-profit status at the Cavalier Corner….well, just imagine!! Anybody up for running a daycare????
On Wednesday, April 16, at the Tyndall Community Center, there will be a public forum on policies concerning low income and high poverty issues. Cathy Brechtelsbauer, Bread for the World volunteer, is going to speak. There will also be a guest panel to answer questions on these topics. This is really for everyone. There will be free blood pressure screenings from 6 - 7 pm and other information brochures on general health and wellness. There will be a free supper catered by Eric from Sportsmans Rendezvous- we will need a supper count preferably by April 7th. Call Mark at 589-3904 to give him your family’s count. The meeting starts at 7 pm, in case you don’t want to join us for supper.
This is another example of Tyndall Horizons, helped greatly by Kari at SDSU Extension Services, providing an informational forum to raise awareness of this issue. It also shows a community mobilizing to address the issue of the many faces of poverty. The public policy committee has been a leader and instrumental in the organization of this forum-an example of community structural change as we did not have something like this before. It is also a committee that will need to be active in the future, as policies change and information made available.
New members to the committee are welcomed. Come and check it out. Hope to see you at the forum. Do you have concerns about policies now in place that affect the low incomes? Leave a comment here.
Volunteering a few shifts at the Bargain Shoppe (located next to the Cavalier Center on Main street Tyndall) the past couple of months has proven to be a great experience!
Each time I have volunteered, I have been pleasantly surprised by the “new treasures” that appear. I have noticed other “new treasures” from the previous volunteer shift that have found new homes. It IS true: “One man’s/(woman’s) trash/(more than likely a result of a spring cleaning effort) is another’s treasure”!! I have seen this adage verified by the flow of items through the Bargain Shoppe.
While having certain responsibilities when volunteering at the Bargain Shoppe, there are certainly ‘perks’ as well. For example one can scope the shelves of kitchenware and household items. One can investigate the titles and genres in the book shelves as well. It can be noted the “Spring is in the air’ when straightening and placing clothing items on the racks in the center of the store and on the walls rack as one notices more of the light spring/summer style of clothing that is arriving. I have been happy to place a few maternity clothing items, as well as baby items on the shelves as well this past week. (Need a car seat that stays in YOUR vehicle for that new grandchild, niece, or nephew? Yes, we have some!) Oh…don’t forget to let the kids explore the toy bins. Kids are wonderful little explorers who seem to find treasures buried in the bin that one would not notice at first glance…..Just try it! I have also noticed an assortment of children’s books as well, along with a couple of puzzles boxes and ….Paper dolls! (Remember playing with paper dolls as children? Remember how much fun it was to use our imagination?) I’ve also seen a few CD’s, a CD case and children’s videos from time to time.
Kudos to the person(s) responsible for hanging the wall racks for clothing. It certainly is an asset to the space challenged Shoppe. My thanks to Nelson Stone for his carpentry skills when the free arm hanging dress/curtain racks fell from the wall last Friday.(Who said vounteering was ever boring?) We also have acquired an ironing board, iron , and water spray bottle for providing a little TLC to items that may have had a difficult transit to the Shoppe.
Another ‘perk’ when volunteering at the bargain Shoppe are the wonderful people you meet and greet as they come through the door! I have been privileged to meet and greet both new people (to me anyway) as well as re-acquaint with familiar faces. How Wonderful! As you can see, not all of the “treasures” are found on shelves or racks when one is volunteering at the Bargain Shoppe!
I encourage anyone and everyone to volunteer a shift or a few hours here and there at the bargain Shoppe or stop by to see what is new to you. (I may be what’s new to you…who knows?) I have certainly found my experience to be: Challenging(I’ve never taken a bookkeeping course/barely balance my checkbook, so find much joy when columns of numbers equal the amount of cash in the till), Creative(arranging a temporary home in the Shoppe for items donated), Soothing and Peaceful(the rhythm of the pace is pleasantly different from my job as an ICU nurse), Exciting(remember the racks which fell), and Wonderful(whether I meet you for the millionth time or for the first time)
Come and explore the treasures to be found at the Bargain Shoppe both as a volunteer and an explorer!!
jeannieb.
We can see what other Horizon communities are doing by going to the community list on the right of the blog site and click on any one of the towns. I could say from reading the blogs, that all of the communities have been affected and have educated their town on the many faces of poverty and as far as “reducing” it, that will take many years, if at all. More funding would be needed, we have all found out. Most of the towns have implemented projects that help those in need, and it has also raised awareness of the importance of supporting the local economy and school district if there is to be any viability in the future. Many have learned of programs that can assist those in need. Many have learned that they have important programs already in place and needed to advertise them more. I think Horizons has helped, but what do you think? Leave your comment here!
Tyndall Horizon committee members met with Dave on March 11 at the Cavalier Corner. Seven members were able to attend.
The Bargain Shoppe reported sales of around $300 for the past month. They gave some to the Cav Corner and they also discussed giving a portion to another project in town next month. They are trying to build their treasury so they can advertise, etc. Volunteers continue to run the Shoppe and they are looking at adding another day to be open. Yay!!! They had a bag sale and sold lots of bags. There will be an open house on April 5.
The website www.tyndallsd.com is progressing. Our volunteer designers are now putting businesses online. They have the Assistance page done which guides visitors to our Social Services and other areas of assistance for folks in need. Other pages include “History of Tyndall”, “Community Calendar”, “New to Tyndall”,”Organizations”. The next focus is advertising the website. The website has been supported by a donation and is taking other donations for future financial needs. At this time, all pages on the site are free. The Development Corporation funded the initial set-up and it has also been supported in part by the city.
The Public Policy Committee has been working with Kari F. on a workshop meeting on April 16 addressing poverty/low-income issues. Speaker will be Cathy Brechtelsbauer ” Bread for the World”. Activities will start at 6:30 at the Tyndall Community Center, west of Gemars Market. Open to the public! The Policy committee has also checked to make sure Social Service and food assistance numbers, etc. are listed in our community business/service directory that is being worked on now by the Chamber.
The Cavalier Corner is doing good-some days not so busy, but continues to provide a safe place. They have added booths and more food items. There will be some added usages this summer-hopefully Hunter Safety Classes, CAP meetings occasionally, 4-H meetings, and church youth group bake sales. The board is working on other youth programs. The computer lab is up and running. The space is available for rent also-a great place to have a birthday party!
The Tyndall Community Foundation has begun work on getting organized….Dave stressed the importance of setting goals-meeting dates, agenda, etc…there will be a public information forum at the end of April and they will also begin fundraising. They are in the process of seating a diverse board of directors.
Two of our LeadershipPlenty instructors ( who are teachers at Bon Homme) are working on providing a leadership course in the high school for the fall term. They are currently working with the administration and school board on details. This is huge because leadership begins early in a person’s life and these instructors are great at what they do.
Our last committee for Community Coordinator has stalled and there is discussion on how to proceed with that important project. Economic development and economic maintenance is critical to a viable business climate. Dave suggested a steering committee to regenerate the process. As always, funding is a huge issue. What else is new!
Our next meeting is Tuesday, April 8 at the Cavalier Corner at 7 pm.