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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 4, 2019)
18 Wednesday, September 4, 2019 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Commentary... Help needed to achieve vision for Sisters Country By Bill Hall Board President Sisters Community Foundation Sisters Community Foundation is looking for community members to join with it to help provide Sisters Country with the exciting new benefits voted for by the Sisters community in the Community Visioning Project. As many of you know, the recently completed C o m m u n i t y Vi s i o n i n g Project included extensive community input and vot- ing, and resulted in a Vision Action Plan. This commu- nity-based action plan was developed to engage the City and its partners to achieve that vision over time, focus- ing on the next five years. The Action Plan contains a number of strategies, each with corresponding actions to be undertaken. For each strategy, the Vision Action Plan identifies recommended lead and supporting partners to implement the actions. In a number of cases, the rec- ommended partner was a community foundation. The Sisters Community Foundation (SCF) is prepared to assume those responsibilities as part of its tasks. Initially begun in 2016, SCF has been at work laying the extensive ground- work needed for an organiza- tion that can professionally, responsibly, and effectively serve Sisters Country in the role of a locally based com- munity foundation. Its mis- sion, <Serving Sisters and the greater Sisters area by pro- viding support to programs, projects and assets that enhance the quality of life for the people in Sisters= and goals <Establishing a mecha- nism for the community to fund charitable purposes in the Sisters community not served by existing local charitable organizations= and <Providing assistance to local charitable organiza- tions and community proj- ects and programs= show in broad terms the future scope of its work. The actions laid out in the community9s Vision Action Plan that are recom- mended to be assigned to the Foundation in either a lead or supporting role include (a) establishing an online platform as a community human resource database to serve community organiza- tions looking for specialized assistance; (b) establishing an online platform to enable community members to sug- gest innovative curriculum ideas to the school district and volunteer their skills; (c) creation of a <pitch night= to present and potentially crowdfund new school pro- gram ideas; (d) re-purpos- ing a portion of the existing elementary school facil- ity (upon its availability) to serve as a multi-purpose community center; (e) assist- ing in the effort to establish subsequent ownership and operation of that commu- nity center; (f) implementing community-wide leadership training for Sisters Country; (g) identifying and address- ing existing leadership bar- riers that deter people from pursuing leadership oppor- tunities; and (g) develop- ing a mentorship program to pair existing commu- nity leaders with emerging leaders. Each of the proposed actions dovetail with the goals and mission of the Sisters Community Foundation, and SCF is looking forward to doing its part to help achieve these important community goals. To accomplish this, SCF is looking to increase the size of its Board of Directors, strengthening it for the tasks that lie ahead. The Board of Directors, at this early stage of the foundation9s growth, is a working board. Besides fulfilling the traditional board responsibilities, board members will additionally assume some of the tasks traditionally performed by staff. Ideal candidates will be Sisters Country residents who believe in and can pri- oritize the mission and goals of SCF, with skillsets and/or expertise in typical founda- tion needs (examples: fund- raising and project manage- ment). They will need to be able to attend monthly board meetings, get up to speed with the existing SCF poli- cies and procedures, and be responsible for the conduct of the projects/services and other activities to which they are assigned. If you would like to join the Sisters Community Foundation, please con- tact us at sisterscommunity foundation1@gmail.com. Let us know a bit about your background and your reasons and motivation to provide an important new benefit to the community we love. Gypsy Wind Clothing Layer up for cool nights… Welcome to the Sisters Folk Festival! Open Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-4 p.m. | Sun., 1-4 p.m. 351 W. HOOD AVE., SISTERS