Public Information on Sex Offenders

The Rockford Community Center will be hosting representatives from the Spokane County Sheriff's Department at our next RCC general meeting scheduled for Monday, January 3rd at 6:30. THIS MEETING IS BEING HELD AT TOWN HALL . Captain Werner will be there to discuss the sex offender map, what the levels mean, how the public can access information and to answer your questions. We will hold the general meeting after this presentation, time permitting. The board meeting will be held prior to this meeting beginning at six o'clock.

State Representative Susan Fagan Will Hold Town Hall Meeting

On Monday, June 21st at 7:00pm State Representative Susan Fagan from the 9th Legislative District will be holding a Town Hall meeting in the Rockford City Hall.
She will be discussing the state budget as well as important legislative bills and issues. Plan on attending and expressing your ideas and concerns as this helps Susan as she does her job "for us" in Olympia.

For information call (509) 291-4716.

Rockford Horizons Poverty Reduction May 3, 2010 Meeting Minutes

The Strategy meeting held on April 28th was intended to provide the committee with strategies for the last part of our program. This was attended by Mary-Lou Benson, Kathy Creeed and Vivian Plank.
Patrick Malone (our coach) laid out the areas:
Asset Building
Earned Income Tax Credit
Micro-enterprise i.e. through SNAP
Community Leadership
Community Capacity
More people are needed for these programs
Public Policy
Community Endowments
A way to increase the money received (our $10,000!!!)
Wealth Sustaining
The group learned of the existance of The Book Parlor in Spokane that carries new and used books at reasonable prices, has a coffee shop and "Fair Trade Gifts". This is one example of micro-enterprise.

Vivian Plank and Mary-Lou Benson attended a luncheon presented by AWALL (Adolescent Women Actively Learning Life's Lessons). The purpose of this organization is to provice a sense of empowerment to adolescent girls who are from low-income families, by mentoring them and giving them skills and confidence to improve their lives.

Bill Benson offered an example of micro-enterprise by citing the impact of the closure of the Rockford Mini-mart (excluding the gas station). The Town has lost a place to purchase small essentials, truck drivers and local residents have lost the quick and available coffee in the early morning and the Rockford Emergency Response Committee has lost the use of coolers and food keeping capacity in case of emergencies. His proposition is that there be a co-op that would maintain the Mini-Mart, open a coffee shop/internet cafe and a deli for quick "to go" sandwiches and pizza. He reminded us that the Mini-Mart used to have pizza but the owners did not want to maintain the ovens, so no pizzas were sold. The plan would add jobs to manage the deli, Mini-mart and internet cafe. Mayor Micki Harnois noted that several people have looked at the Mini-Mart to puchase and are waiting for the price to be lower.

The Rockford beautification project is primarily in the City park along the fence, the basketball court and around the memorial. The bush by the south entrance of the park is blocking the view inside the park. It was the consensus that it should be trimmed back due to the return of drug paraphernalia being found around that side of the park. Local businesses and organizations will be contacted and invited to take part in this project. It is thought that if the park is a safe place and it looks as though the people care about the appearance of the Town there will be more interest in businesses relocating here.

The discussion about public development authorities is on hold.

The Community gardens will be tilled once the ground is dry enough. The local 4-H group is willing to help because they need service hours. Barb Gady is the contact person once there is a schedule for planting.

Approval was given to use retaining stones for the triangle area in front of the restrooms in the park. The cost of $200 will come out of the Community Center budget. There was a suggestion that people can donate a tree, preferably a willow, to plant in the park. Keith Wigen explained that the willow trees will absorb alot of the water and the park won't be so wet. By having the park drier, there won't be a large amount of standing water thus decreasing the mosquito breeding grounds, making the park a healthier place. Also, the existing trees should be sprayed to control the aphids. A suggestion was made to find ladybugs to solve the problem.

The Town webmasters are scheduled to meet with Mayor Micki next Thursday, May 6th at 4:30 pm at the City Hall.

The next meeting will be on May 17th at 6:30 pm at the Harvest Moon Restaurant.

Respctfully submitted,
Mary-Lou Benson

Horizons Poverty Reduction May 3, 2010 Meeting Agenda

Starting at 6:30 pm at the Harvest Moon Restaurant

Agenda
Status of 501 c 3
Report on April 28th Strategy Meeting
Asset Building
Community Leadership Community Capacity
Public Policy
Community Endowment
Wealth Sharing
Reports on Rockford Beautification Project
Process of selecting sites to identify
Businesses to contact
Names of organizations to contact
Public Development Authority
Identify specific people for Board of Directors
who, why and if they would be willing to serve
Request "blessing" from the Town Council
Gardens
Rototilling time frame for garden #1, #2 and #3
4-H will be willing to help with the gardens
Webmasters meeting
Other
Adjourn

Rockford Community Center May 3, 2010 Meeting Agenda

Starting time is at 6:00 pm at the Harvest Moon Restaurant

Agenda
Members present
Call to order
Minutes
Treasurer's Report
Old Business:
Status of 501 c 3
Surveys for RCC distribution
Garden plots
Report on progress with plowing and rototilling
Background checks cost before 501 c 3 status
After 501 c 3 status required
Lighting updating cost from Avista
New Business:
Progress on getting the RCC ready for occupancy
Work crews needed
Moving equipment, cleaning, sorting donations, itemizing donations and equipment,
categorizing books
Meeting with town people to determine colors, paint donations, wall decorations, etc
Other
Adjourn

Your Money--Earn It! Keep It!! Save It!!

The United Way's CASH Coalition and its members and volunteers are working together to help you get cash back!

EARN IT--Did you earn less than $43,279 in 2009? The Earned Incom Tax Credit (EITC) could pay you as much as $5,657 based on your earnings and family situation (individual results may vary. You must file your taxes to receive your credit)
KEEP IT--Don't pay to file your taxes. Visit a free tax preparation site to have your taxes carefully prepared and e-filed quickly and without a filing fee (free tax preparation and filing services available subject to eligibility)
SAVE IT--Want to own a home, go to school, buy a car or start a business? There is a program that can help you save money, reduce your debt, and learn to manage your money. For information contact: SNAP Financial Access-509.456.7174, www.snapaccess.org

Taxes can be done free at the following locations from February 1 to April 15 (subject to eligibility on a first come, first served basis):

Spokane Valley Library, 12004 E Main Ave
Spokane Moran Prairie Library, 6004 S Regal St
Call 509.358.3526 for an appointment.

Sign up now for the Hope & Power workshop

The Inland Northwest Spokane YMCA Alternatives to Domestic Violence Program is putting on a very special Hope & Power workshop. This group offers financial workshops and resources for survivors of domestic violence.

The YMCA location is at 930 N Monroe Street. The Holiday on a Budget workshop will be on November 16, 2009 starting at 5:30 pm. The workshop includes resources for free and inexpensive holidays activities, handmade gift, decoration and card ideas, free crafting supplies and activities for moms and kids to do together. There will also be drawings for special holiday gifts!

Childcare and dinner will be provided with registration. Dinner will be provided by the Campus Kitches Project. Please call (509) 789-9297 to register. This workshop is made possible by a grant from the Allstate Foundation.

Hope and Power offers the following financial programs:
1) Match Savings
Up to $400 to help achieve an education or work related goal.
2) Checking Account Access
Help obtaining a checking account for those who may otherwise have difficulty
doing so
3) Secured Credit Card
Help obtaining a credit card to assist in rebuilding your credit. The security
deposit is provided by the program
4) Life Coaching
Intensive Certified Life Coach lead support to help you achieve your career
related goals.

Please pass this on to those who deserve a great holiday season!!

2010 U. S. Census is coming to your house soon!

The 2010 U. S. Census forms will be mailed on March 15, 2010. Every household will be given the short form with 10 questions to answer. The American Community Survey (the long form) will be sent to an average of 1 in 6 households nationwide.

It is so important to your community, school and you to complete and mail back the form. This gives the Town of Rockford and Freeman School District information regarding such topics as population, median income, education, buildings constructed, and travel time to work. This data is necessary for grants and programs such as free and reduced lunch program. The ability for Rockford to be included in the Horizons program stemmed from this information.

Please send the completed survey form back as soon as you can or the Census takers will either phone or visit your home to gather this needed information. This takes billions of extra dollars to do. So please participate!

Reminders of this important topic will be posted on this blog periodically.

Poverty Action's Vote Campaign

Taking it to the Streets in 2009
Poverty Action Vote Campaign is Back

This fall Poverty Action is hitting the streets to register newly eligible voters.

We hope you'll join us as we pound the pavement across the state. For more details or to get involved, check out the Poverty Action website or contact Poverty Action organizer Kate Baber.

Building Assets, Strengthening Communities
Join us November 5 and 6, 2009 at the Tacoma Convention Center for a conference with the Washington State Asset Building Coalition.

Register Today:
http://www.frbsf.org/community/resources/2009/1105/index.html

It is important for individuals and families to have access to asset building and financial planning in order to move out of poverty. Poverty Action and the Asset Building Coalition have led the charge in asset building advocacy, passing and funding the Individual Development Account program in 2005 and the Working Families Rebate in 2008. We are excited to announce the Survive and Thrive: Building Assets, Strengthening Communities conference, the largest statewide gathering around asset building. This conference is dedicated to helping improve the financial lives of low and moderate income Washingtonians--promoting financial education, home ownership, savings and smart borrowing.

Asset building strategies include:
-Increasing financial education, savings and individual development accounts
-Expanding home and small business ownership
-Increasing the availability of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and free tax prep
-Providing programs to assist in credit repair and avoiding high-cost loans

Why join this conference?
-Weigh in about how asset building could help improve your financial situation
-Plan ways to expand financial opportunities for people with lower incomes
-Meet fellow state and national leaders as we learn together about the growing field of asset building
-Join the largest statewide gathering around asset development

Register Today:
The Survive and Thrive: Building Assets,Strengthening Communities conference on November 5th & 6th will inspire and educate you to start or expand an asset-building initiative in your community.

Scholarships available:
To apply, please send a paragraph describing why you need a scholarship to
pknox@washingtonabc.org

Strengthen your voice in the state capitol. Making change depends on you. Poverty Action works to eliminate the root causes of poverty with real solutions. As the state's largest anti-poverty organization working to influence decisions in Olympia, we work to ensure everyone can have a better future. Become a member today and help us continue to achieve crucial victories.

Community BBQ was a Big Success

The Horizons Community BBQ that was held in the Park on September 10th was attended by over 40 residents. All ages were represented and the food was great! Pete Abbey, manager of Fredneck's Beanery & Saloon (a local business) catered the event and served yummy pulled pork, coleslaw, beans and cornbread. Nobody went away hungry!
The Horizons team presented a brief summary of the proposed Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan and received valuable comments and additions from those in attendance. This information will all be evaluated in developing the long-range plan.

END OF SUMMER ACTIVITIES

What a great car show the Rockford Lion's club held last Saturday, August 22nd. There were around 90 cars, pickups and a motorcycle in the City park. Participants said that for the first time for this kind of show, it was very organized and alot of fun. Good job!

Speaking of alot of fun, this is the last Thursday for the "Movies in the Park" series as school starts next week. At 6:30pm there will be free hot dogs available and the movie "Sandlot" will start at 8:30pm. Remember there will be free popcorn and pop.

The Wednesday night basketball in the park will continue until it gets too cold.

The Farmer's market will be on going until September 19th. There is alot of fresh produce available from the three community gardens.

The Horizon's group is now developing the plans to continue with the community gardens in the future. Suggestions that you may have will be appreciated-such as types of crop, a gleaning program, etc.
The Rockford website is continually being updated at www.rockfordwa.com. Josh and Andrew are doing well as are webmasters.
The Rockford Community Center (RCC) group meets on the first Monday of the month in the Harvest Moon and with the help of the Horizon's committee are diligently drafting plans on the future of this project. Various programs are being researched that will be a benefit to the community such as a day care, lending library, computer lab, tutoring, veteran's mobile medical clinic, youth activites, and meeting rooms. Once a location is established a community building will be available for all to use.

MONEY SAVING IDEAS

I was recently given two websites to look at that offer ideas on saving money on groceries and other living expenses. They are www.frugalchicliving.blogspot.com and www.yearofplenty.org and are local websites. This is a major resource for low income familes. If you know someone who is in need and doesn't own a computer, please share this information with them. When the Rockford Community Center is in a building, a bulletin board with this sort of information will be valuable. If you know of other helpful websites, please share.

HORIZONS COMMUNITY PROJECTS UPDATE

Community Website-It is up and running and can be viewed at http://www.rockfordwa.com/. Josh Grandinetti and Andy Coumont are doing a great job as the webmasters and are entering new data as it becomes available.
Community Gardens-They are producing a great crop and are being picked by the gardeners for their use and also for those in need who can not get fresh produce on a regular basis. Some items are being sold at the Saturday Farmers Market with proceeds going into the Rockford Community Center (RCC) fund. At the closing of the market each week, perishable produce is delivered to low-income families.
Rockford Community Center (RCC)-Even though no building or facility has been designated as the town's community the fund is still being maintained. Eventually the hope is to have this money go toward a building as a small portion of a down payment, matching funds if a grant becomes available or future facility maintenance. Programs targeting senior social activities, a lending library, and a computer lab are currently being established so when a facility becomes available the programs can opperate in a central location. Income from the Farmers Market and donations from organizations and individuals are going directly to the RCC fund. Soon we will have 501C 3 status for those interested in tax-deductible gifts.

Spokane physicians voice opposition

In an unprecedented move, physicians and staff at Heart Clinics Northwest are urging people to contact federal representatives and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and tell them how damaging the currently-in-process President's Health Care proposals for reform would be to patient's medical care.

"The proposed reimbursement schedule is devastating to the care of all patients," says the July 15,2009 open letter sent to HCN patients. "Tell them (federal representatives & CMS) how damaging this would be to your care and they absolutely can't implement these cost reductions."

Heart Clinic Northwest foresees a dramatic decrease in:
Access to care
Substantial reduction in ability to provide high quality care
Probable future reduction in quantity of care.

Comments will be received at CMS no later than August 31, 2009 at 5:p.m. Eastern time and will ONLY reach the proper CMS department at the following:

Electronically submitted comments: http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=SubmitComment&o=09000064809f0082.

Written comments sent via US Mail:
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services
Attention: CMS-1413-PP.O.
Box 8013Baltimore, MD 21244-8013.

By express or overnight mail:
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services
Attention: CMS-1413-P
Mail Stop C4-26-05, 7500 Security Blvd.
Baltimore, MD 21244-1850.

Email to elected officials must go through their websites:
Senator Patty Murray (Ph: 202-224-2621; Fax: 202 224-0238; website: http://www.murray.senate.gov/.)
Senator Maria Cantwell (Ph: 202 224 3441; Fax: 202 228-0514; website: http://www.cantwell.senate.gov/.)
Representative, Cathy McMorris-Rodgers (Ph: 202 225-2006; Fax: 202 225-3392; website: http://www.mcmorrisrodgers.house.gov/.)

E-mail forms: Senator Patty Murray, http://www.murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm

Senator Maria Cantwell, http://www.cantwell.senate.gov/contact/

Representative, Cathy McMorris-Rodgers , http://mcmorris.house.gov/?sectionid=82&sectiontree=4,82.

CMS is responsible for reimbursement to hospitals and physicians, and will only be open for comment until August 31, 2009 on proposed cuts in reimbursement for medical care (physician services, outpatient procedures, and imaging services.)

Heart Clinics Northwest is a major provider of cardiac care in the northwest, and advise that "the proposed cuts would amount in total to between a 25% to as much as 50% reduction ... the reduction will be superimposed on an already implemented 15%-20% reduction in the current fiscal year. Our practice cannot sustain this insult and if they are implemented January 1, 2010 as proposed, the impact to you, as a patient, will be radical."

"The risk to you is tremendous and the outcome potentially devastating." HCN wrote.

Please attend: Important meeting

Mary-Lou Benson, Team Leader, Horizons Poverty Project said, "Important decisions about upcoming projects that affect area residents will be made tonight."

Benson urges all Rockford residents to attend the meeting tonight at 6:30 p.m. in the Harvest Moon Banquet Room.

The agenda includes reviewing Horizons' team leader strategic planning, and selecting which of the outlined projects will be adopted to move forward.

Patrick Malone (MS/PCED), WSU Extension-Horizons Community Coach will be there to guide discussions and offer advice.

Good news & bad

At Wednesday's July 15th Town Council Meeting, 7 p.m. at City Hall, Josh Grandinetti and Andy Coumont will explain and demonstrate the fine points of their creation – Rockfordwa.com – the town's official website.

As always, the public is welcome to attend.

The sad news is, in spite Town Council Member, Micki Harnois efforts, and Horizons' team leader's hours of strategic planning, getting lower cost Broadband access for Rockford residents is not going to happen.

Broadband is provided by Air-pipe.com to customers who are within line-of-site of their equipment, atop the seed elevators near the entrance to town. And although even the lowest installation fee, $199 for three years, is beyond the reach of the majority, because it takes three years for the company to recover their equipment and installation expenses, fees cannot be lowered.

Two other high speed internet providers, Hughes and Wild Blue, are advertised online as also providing service to area customers, but connectivity varies by location and is not less expensive.

Add to that the $49.95-lowest monthly rate, and it's not hard to realize that the majority of Rockford's youth and senior citizens won't have Broadband access.

That Rockford's residents suffer poverty of Broadband access is not only sad, it's almost criminal. Statistics show that without competitive access to the Internet, every segment of society lags farther and farther behind their more fortunate peers; in job markets, in education, in government services, to say nothing of social activities.

Broadband users can read daily newspapers and trade journals from around the globe, and have access to information that can make or break a company dependent on breaking news. They can easily zoom in on any segment of the earth, via GoogleEarth; and talk long distance, via Skype, freed from enormous long distance fees.

The options and opportunities available to Broadband users leave dial-up and cable-dependent Internet users desperately handicapped. There is no foreseeable solution in sight for Rockford.

Both webmasters kept this fact in mind when they created the town's website. Utilizing the best available resources, they designed fast loading pages and options that will greatly benefit Rockford citizens.

These fine young men are hard at work now on a website for their web design business. Watch for the advent of http://www.andrewcoumont.com/.

Phase II Rockford Visioning

In an intensive three-hour-long session, July 30th, Rockford's Horizon-trained leaders produced detailed strategic/action plans for Horizons 2009-2012 Visioning.

At the Harvest Moon Banquet Room, of eighteen projects outlined at Phase I of Horizons Visioning, six were nominated from three criteria categories: Individual Assets, Community Capacity, and Public Policy.

Participants divided into groups and wrote plans and set deadlines for accomplishing projects they believe can reduce local poverty: Increased job opportunities, and job training and retraining; Grocery store/shop local/buy local, and more reliable/affordable Broadband Wireless Access; Encouraging small business, and getting more local government officials to take an interest and become involved in Horizons Poverty Project efforts.

Horizon Leadership will make final selection of projects soon at a Tuesday evening meeting. Leaders and team members are convinced that with increased community volunteerism, linked with the Horizons Poverty Project resources, much will be accomplished to create a better future for all residents in the Rockford area.

Leaders want residents and members from each of Rockford organizations and civic groups to attend the twice-monthly Tuesday evening meetings at the Harvest Moon Banquet Room and contribute their skills and knowledge, too. Call Todd, 291-4601 or Mary-Lou, 291-3146.

Rockford's "Vision"

June 23, 2009


Twenty three Rockford residents came together at the first of two meetings and began defining their "Vision" of projects aimed at further reducing poverty in their community.

Applying skills learned in the nine-week Leadership Training phase, the process of reaching a concensus on goals was accelerated. Two groups formed, brainstormed, and then each condensed potential goals into eighteen, highest priority, most achievable projects addressing individual assets, community capacity and public policy.

All community members are invited to attend next week's Part II Visioning Horizons Poverty Project meeting, June 30th at Harvest Moon Banquet Room, beginning with food at 5:30pm. The goals will be combined and further refined. Plans for achieving the final selections will be drawn up. Project leaders will then solicit volunteers from the community to complete the projects by target-dates.

Poverty Labels

Please do not delete this post. NWAF and WSU Horizons requires labels to be added to each post.