Looking back over the past year, we have seen many
efforts come together to solve community problems and take advantage of new opportunities.
With the help of County Departments, the Board of Supervisors in its Strategic Plan has articulated a
vision of Siskiyou County as a “people working
together to provide a high quality of life for all of its citizens.”
http://www.co.siskiyou.ca.us/ In its Mission Statement the County pledges to work “with local communities in a collaborative
effort to enhance and protect the safety and quality of life for all of its citizens.”
What does all that mean and what does this look like on the ground?
The countywide Enterprise
Zone (EZ) is one example. (This includes various tax and other incentives for new and
existing businesses.) A government grant was obtained by the Economic Development Council
to do the considerable research work to apply for a new expanded countywide EZ. All of the
cities in Siskiyou County assisted in the zoning, mapping and statistical work
involved. They all pledged a certain portion of their budgets to help market and
administer the zone. As a result of working together, Siskiyou county was awarded the
first ever countywide designation in the state of California. http://www.siskiyoucounty.org/ Great partnership - what else can we do together?
In doing the prep work on the
EZ, it was noted that many communities in the unincorporated area of Siskiyou County
are in need of upgraded or new community water and sewer systems. The County Environmental
Health Department compiled a list of needs and ranked them according to severity. The County Auditor
was instrumental in writing a successful four staged grant to complete the engineering and
assessment work on 12 community water and sewer systems. (Provisions include initial
start-up assistance for the low income.) This integrated grant is novel. It will likely
put us in a great place for competition with other areas for infrastructure stimulus money
and for money from Propositions 50 and 84. The approach is being used as a model by the
North Coast Integrated Regional Water Quality Management Plan.
First 5 Siskiyou (Children
and Families Commission) http://www.first5siskiyou.org/
includes leadership from the County, Schools, Child Care and the public. A substantial
portion of the Proposition 10 money they receive is invested in core funding of non-profit
Family/Community Resource Centers around the County. This partnership provides basic
funding for a “doors open” physical facility in ten communities. (Various
grants, rental fees and fundraisers provide the rest.) We have the infrastructure and are
developing the relationships to work together countywide and locally on improving our
quality of life and meeting the problems and challenges faced by people in our
communities.
Having a facility creates
opportunities to deliver County services in our communities. It is a local place where
people can find out what resources are available to them and can be used by children,
families and individuals of any age. Partnerships can also be forged to provide programs
for delivery through the FRC/CRCs. A team including the Community Services Council,
social service agencies, the courts, County education and other groups obtained a Ford
Family Foundation grant to provide parenting classes around the county. The Mental Health
Services Act provides funding for an outreach coordinator and an on-site drop-in area. Siskiyou County
has provided funding for a family-based relapse prevention class in several facilities.
Some FRC/CRCs provide Senior services.
The Community Services
Council (CSC) is a private non-profit that has many County
Department, non-profit and Agency heads on its Board of Directors. It helps to coordinate
efforts, collaborate on opportunities and avoid duplication of services. It also serves as
the Child Abuse Prevention Council. The CSC applies for and administers various grants and
programs, such as the parenting classes. It has three subcommittees, Child Abuse
Prevention. Substance Abuse Coalition and the Aging Committee.
The Siskiyou County
Substance Abuse Continuum of Care Coalition is a large group with representatives from a
wide spectrum of interests working on a countywide plan for the prevention, treatment and
recovery from substance abuse. It has been in existence for about a year and has its own
coordinator funded through a California Endowment Grant. It is anticipated that the work
of this group will serve as a template for other rural counties to follow. Out of this
group, we are seeing some community level pilot projects emerge. The communities of Happy
Camp and McCloud are moving forward and have applied for a grant. Each community has an
active Family Resource Center and a local Medical Clinic. In Happy Camp, there are many
community members who also have been trained by the Ford Family Foundation in leadership.
People in the community are brining their talents, dedication, heart and energy to create
a new vision for their community, make a plan to get there and commit personally to see
that it gets implemented.
Next week, I will talk about Fire Safe Councils and other community
efforts and opportunities for partnerships.
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