Hello Readers! This week we are going to be highlighting one of the major aspects of this class: the topics! We’ve spent the majority of our class periods so far working on this portion of the strategic process. After some light research on the issues in our area, the class came up with over a dozen topics to learn more about. After an entire class period of discussion, we finally brought the number of topics down to 4! The following week we broke into groups of three or four students and got right into researching more about these issues. You are probably dying to know which issues we found the most important, yes??? Our top four areas were Health, Hunger, Youth and Arts. In the following paragraphs we’re going to break down the groups’ researching goals, presentation information, and problem statements.
⇨ One of our interest areas covers the broad topic of health. Health can cover quality or quantity of care, costs, mental health, physical health, well-being, kids, adults, and so on. The opportunities for research are endless. This group decided to find out more about obesity in the area, specifically searching for information and data regarding youth. Unfortunately, the statistics available and research done on children can be scarce. The presentation included a lot of good statistics anyways, including national, state and local facts and information. Can you believe nearly 1 in 4 children in Wisconsin is overweight or obese? Or that obesity and inactivity is the second leading cause of deaths in the U.S.? The most recent LIFE Study came out this February and included a graph showing that 66% of Brown County Adults are either obese or overweight, that is over HALF of the population for adults in the county. (Life Study link: http://lifestudy.info/) On a more positive note, there are multiple organizations and programs in the area working to combat this issue, in many different facets.
⇨ Another interest area that we covered is Hunger. The definition of positive food security is having access to enough food at any given time, allowing you to live an active, healthy life. The group decided to really focus on access to fresh foods, and how to make farmers markets more affordable and accessible to everyone. Brown County definitely has many people who suffer from hunger. In 2015, there were almost 15,000 more visits made to food pantries than in 2011. This statistic does not include trips made to Paul’s Pantry (one of the area’s largest pantries). There are many organizations in Brown County that are already working on this problem. Some of the most well-known include: Brown County Food & Hunger Network, FoodWise, UW- Extension Community Gardens, and Green Bay Garden Blitz. There are also over 25 food pantries throughout Brown County. Due to the many organizations that are trying to fight hunger, the $10,000 would most likely directly impact people, and not used to build infrastructures (because they already exist). This group’s main goal is to seek proposals from the community for programs that promote the consumption of fresh and affordable produce to lower income families.
⇨ A unique subject that one group covered for the class is Youth Empowerment. This was a challenging topic to narrow, however, the group defined youth empowerment at the individual level as exercising power over one's life by being skilled, critically aware, and active in creating community change. They shared some surprising statistics about youth in the Brown County Area from the 2016 LIFE Study such as 18% of students live in poverty, and that hundreds of children are in the foster care system as it increases each week. Youth that are in negative situations beyond their control may not feel that they can make a difference because they do not have the correct resources to teach them what self respect and dignity are. The group found that there are direct links between low self worth and prevalent issues such as high dropout rates in schools, or increased human trafficking in the area. While there would be a wide variety of organizations that could propose for a grant, we as a class would be willing to do the work if we decided to give the $10,000 to an organization that empowers youth in Brown County.
⇨ The fourth interest area our class chose was to focus on the arts. This group decided to focus on engaging the elderly in the art community through different creative outlets. The arts are proven to benefit senior citizens in many psychological areas including communication, stress, pain, motor skills, mental health, and sense of empowerment. With this, many different types of activities can be completed for seniors to participate in. Painting, scrapbooking, knitting, crocheting, macramé, photography, music, dance, and chorus are just some of the activities that can benefit dependent senior citizens. According to the Life Study in Brown County, about 30% of community members and leaders rated Brown County as fair or poor on the issue of care for vulnerable people in the area (e.g., elderly, individuals with disabilities). (Life Study: http://lifestudy.info/) This group also found that there are 14 nursing homes in Brown County, serving 1,299 residents, that could be positively affected from this opportunity. This group would seek proposals for community programs that offer art related events and activities to the dependent older adult community.
What do YOU think is a major issue in our area? There are SO many opportunities to help different groups of people in different situations. We have the opportunity to put REAL money where our interests guide us and with the strategic process, we can find an issue that is worth our time and effort. Keep following our journey to find out where we decide to focus our concern and help us spread the word!
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