BEDFORD, Ind.— The IU Center for Rural Engagement's program Sustaining Hoosier Communities not only survived its first year, but made it a great one, Bill Brown, director for the Center, said Wednesday.
Brown and other officials met June 6 in Bedford to speak on the many economic, environmental and social sustainability projects IU and the community had worked on during the year.
"The funny thing about this pilot is that it's always gone a whole lot better than we expected," Brown said.
Over the course of the 2017-2018 academic year, 15 faculty volunteers took charge of 550 IU students who participated in 20 different classes and worked on projects Lawrence County community members created and prioritized.
The pilot program was one of the biggest in the United States, which is not always a great thing for a first-year program to be, Brown explained. But everything worked, both program-wise and logistically, and provided a great learning experience for the Center, he said.
The Sustaining Hoosier Communities initiative is meant to enhance community health and well-being. The director for SHC, Jane Rogan, emphasized each and every project taken on was one that began in the community.
IU did not dictate projects, plans and experiments, she said. They listened to the community and what the community felt was needed.
"We don't choose the projects," Rogan said. "The community chooses the project."
Rogan and Brown both emphasized this was not about coming into a community and dictating down to people. It was about working with and advising people based on their specific situation.
Bedford Mayor Shawna Girgis said IU faculty and people from Bloomington can seem to be intellectuals looking down from ivory towers, but the IU Center for Rural Engagement dispels that myth and also contributes student enthusiasm and energy into the mix.
"We understand the value of the expertise of the faculty and the energy and the passion of the students," Girgis said. "Whenever I have worked with students, it just lends a higher level of energy, people just want to be engaged."
First-year projects in and around Bedford included plans for the decommissioned Avoca Fish Hatchery; a physical activity campaign for Mitchell promoting healthy opportunities and new trails; and a Complete Streets infrastructure proposal to improve roads and sidewalks which was approved by the Bedford City Council this spring.
The Center, which was officially up and running just a few months ago, isn't leaving Lawrence County but it's time for SHC to shift focus to problems inherent to Orange County, Brown said.
The Center is taking with it the successes and logistical learning experiences from Lawrence County and putting them to use with planning for that.
IU School of Social Work Professor John Keesler, who is also a Lawrence County resident, will continue to work with the county and with law enforcement to deal with issues of addiction, mental health, community wellness and the perceptions surrounding those topics.
Keesler conducted a survey earlier in the year about community perceptions and is working with Lawrence County Sheriff Mike Branham and Mayor Girgis to consider how to best support and contribute to solutions.
Even that survey, like class projects and faculty-led research, were designed for Bedford specifically and not just any community.
"The survey was created by students for the community, based on interviews with community stakeholders," Keesler said.
And Keesler, like the other faculty members, volunteered for this work of improving and working with communities without additional pay. At first, he said, he had difficulty explaining why he needed to ask these survey questions or why someone from IU might care about what goes on in Bedford.
Keesler was able, because of his own status as a Lawrence County resident, to show people he really was committed to helping and improving the community.
"For me it's really about meeting people where they're at," Keesler said. "That's the only way you're going to be successful and that's how I've approached this all along."
