Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:A wide range of audiences were reached by our efforts this year as part of the Windham Community Food Network. Surveys: 12 Farmers were surveyed during the reporting period, to identify challenges and opportunities. 14 Faith Community Leaders were surveyed about their networks, youth groups, and community outreach activities. 36 Merchants and restaurants were surveyed, to learn about their customers, priorities and level of interest in sourcing local products. 2 Institutional food providers (ECSU and the Windham Public Schools) were surveyed to learn about their interest in sourcing local products. 5 Service Provider Agencies (Generations Family Health Center/SNAP Outreach, Access Community Action Agency/WIC, Covenant Soup Kitchen, NoFreeze Hospitality Center, and Windham Area Interfaith Ministry (WAIM) were surveyed to learn about their needs and opportunities that they identify for projects to meet them. 15 Food Stores were surveyed and a price analysis was conducted on a market basket of food products. Trainings and Events: 32 Community Members were trained as dialogue facilitators. 58 Community Members participated in Community Dialogues, at which they identified local needs and articulated project ideas to address them. 36 Community Members participated in an Action Forum, at which pilot projects and working groups were selected 185 Community Members participated in Outreach and Celebration events hosted by the WCFN (Salsa Festival, Coquito Festival, CLiCK Orientations, Community Table) Project Development and Pilots: 18 Community Members served as Working Group Leaders and as part of the Network Core 29 High School students participated in and supported a wide range of community projects 14 Community Gardeners participated in the Plant-a-Row Pilot project (producing 330 pounds of produce) 18 Community Members particpated in the Local Planting Pilot project 17 Community Members participated in the Healthy Windham Coalition Pledge 35 Community Members participated in the Satellite Farmers' Market Outreach: 177 Community Members participated in interactive surveys as part of the WCFN. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? A Facilitator Training, in January 2015, conducted by Everyday Democracy, to prepare 32 facilitators to lead the upcoming Community Dialogues. A Project Development Workshop for Working Group leaders, in July 2015, to support the successful development of projects identified during the Action Forum. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of this project have not been formally disseminated, but have been made available to interested local partners through formal and informal means. A range of products were created throughout this process, to guide other groups through the Dialogue-to-Action process, and to inform about local food needs. These have been requested by three groups - Leadership for Educational Equity, who works to mobilize school system stakeholders, who was interested in the networks that we had tapped; the Access Agency, who was interested in community feedback about food security; and the Windham Parent Network, who wanted to learn more about our strategies for bilingual interpretation. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
IMPACT STATEMENT: The Windham Community Food Network has created both a forum and a set of values and priorities for ongoing assessment and action that will strengthen the food system in Windham, CT. As a result of this year-long planning grant, dedicated community members and food system stakeholders have come together to develop a sustainable, community-led forum for networking and communication to support community food projects. This forum (which has chosen to continue to call itself "The Windham Community Food Network") represents the core of a broader network of food system stakeholders who have committed to collaborating on diverse projects and activities. They have also generated, from feedback from diverse participants, a core list of community-generated values, needs, and priorities to inform future project development and problem-solving. GOAL 1:To organize, mobilize and sustain a diverse, inclusive, broad-based community network to identify and address food security issues. Outcome(s):Objectives: Recruit "community food advisors" to participate in the Network from a broad base of local institutions and networks Promote the Network through community events Develop community dialogue and problem-solving skills and processes Launch the network (community members, youth, social service providers, community food advocates) and set assessment priorities GOAL 2:Create and maintain an interactive, online map and data hub that reflects the current resources, needs, and assets of the local food system. Outcome(s): Conduct Community Food Assessment, using the USDA Community Food Security Assessment Toolkit as a guide; Assess needs and assets for local food project development; Design and build an interactive online map and data hub to sustainably maintain information related to the local food system and track changes over time; www.windhamfood.org, that represents and connects the activities and participants in our local food system. Develop protocol for Network partners to update map and inventory two to four times per year. Outcome(s): Convene the network to: prioritize needs and gaps, identify resources to fill those needs,and brainstorm projects to connect resources to needs Explore feasibility of brainstormed projects Develop three projects ideas into "funding-ready" plans Pilot projects through the Windham Youth CORE Summer Program
Publications
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Progress 09/01/14 to 08/31/15
Outputs
Target Audience:A wide range of audiences were reached by our efforts this year as part of the Windham Community Food Network. Surveys: 12 Farmers were surveyed during the reporting period, to learn about challenges and opportunities that they identified. 14 Faith Community Leaders were surveyed about their networks, youth groups, and community outreach activities. 36 Merchants and restaurants were surveyed, to learn about their customers, priorities and level of interest in sourcing local products. 2 Institutional food providers (ECSU and the Windham Public Schools) were surveyed to learn about their interest in sourcing local products. 5 Service Provider Agencies (Generations Family Health Center/SNAP Outreach, Access Community Action Agency/WIC, Covenant Soup Kitchen, NoFreeze Hospitality Center, and Windham Area Interfaith Ministry (WAIM) were surveyed to learn about their needs and opportunties that they identify for projects to meet them. 15 Food Stores were surveyed and a price analysis was conducted on a market basket of food products. Trainings and Events: 32 Community Members were trained as dialogue facilitators. 58 Community Members participated in Community Dialogues, at which they identified local needs and articulated project ideas to address them. 36 Community Members participated in an Action Forum, at which pilot projects and working groups were selected 185 Community Members participated in Outreach and Celebration events hosted by teh WCFN (Salsa Festival, Coquito Festival, CLiCK Orientations, Community Table) Project Development and Pilots: 18 Community Members served as Working Group Leaders and as part of the Network Core 29 High School students participated in and supported a wide range of community projects 14 Community Gardeners participated in the Plant-a-Row Pilot project (producing 330 pounds of produce) 18 Community Members particpated in the Local Planting Pilot project 17 Community Members participated in the Healthy Windham Coalition Pledge 35 Community Members participated in the Satellite Farmers' Market Outreach: 177 Community Members participated in interactive surveys as part of the WCFN Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?A Facilitator Training, in January 2015, conducted by Everyday Democracy, to prepare 32 facilitators to lead the upcoming Community Dialogues. A Project Development Workshop for Working Group leaders, in July 2015, to support the successful development of projects identified during the Action Forum. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of this project have not been formally disseminated, but have been made available to interested local partners through formal and informal means. A range of products were created throughout this process, to guide other groups through the Dialogue-to-Action process, and to inform about local food needs. These have been requested by three groups - Leadership for Educational Equity, who works to mobilize school system stakeholders, who was interested in the networks that we had tapped; the Access Agency, who was interested in community feedback about food security; and the Windham Parent Network, who wanted to learn more about our strategies for bilingual interpretation. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
IMPACT STATEMENT: The Windham Community Food Network has created both a forum and a set of values and priorities for ongoing assessment and action that will strengthen the food system in Windham, CT. As a result of this year-long planning grant, dedicated community members and food system stakeholders have come together to develop a sustainable, community-led forum for networking and communication to support community food projects. This forum (which has chosen to continue to call itself "The Windham Community Food Network") represents the core of a broader network of food system stakeholders who have committed to collaborating on diverse projects and activities. They have also generated, from feedback from diverse participants, a core list of community-generated values, needs, and priorities to inform future project development and problem-solving. GOAL 1:To organize, mobilize and sustain a diverse, inclusive, broad-based community network to identify and address food security issues. Outcome(s):Diverse stakeholders, especially the most marginalized, will steer Network decision-making and assume leadership roles in Network activities and projects. This outcome was fully realized through the funding period. A core of 18 diverse community members have taken ownership of the Windham Community Food Network, defined its mission and roles, and identified methods to sustain the group and its mission moving forward. Objectives: Recruit "community food advisors" to participate in the Network from a broad base of local institutions and networks 32 facilitators for the Community Dialogues 55 participants in the Community Dialogues 36 participants in an Action Forum and subsequent working groups. Promote the Network through community events 185 Community Members participated in four events (Salsa Festival, Coquito Festival, CLiCK Orientations, Community Table) Develop community dialogue and problem-solving skills and processes Everyday Democracy supported the Network through the entire Dialogue-to-Action cycle, including formal trainings (Facilitator Training, Project Development), as well as coaching to develop strategies to make meetings and decision-making more inclusive and participatory, and ongoing feedback, advice, and resources to develop skills as needed. Throughout the course of this process, the Network began to build on this foundation in order to develop skills independently. For example, through numerous group discussions in the lead-up to the Community Dialogues, the group derived on its own a set of Strategies and Best-Practices for Bilingual Interpretation. These strategies were extremely effective - so much so that two other community organizations have reached out to learn more about them. These requests led to the development of the "Best Practices for Interpretation at Bilingual Community Events" which can be shared with other groups in the community. Launch the network (community members, youth, social service providers, community food advocates) and set assessment priorities This took place throughout the year, through formal meetings (Community Dialogues and Action Forum hosted in February - March 2015) and surveys targeting merchants, farmers, food assistance providers, and institutional food departments. Out of the process, needs, ideas and priorities were gathered, and documented, and then developed into projects. GOAL 2:Create and maintain an interactive, online map and data hub that reflects the current resources, needs, and assets of the local food system. Outcome(s):Local food system data will reveal gaps, resources and opportunities that form the basis for creative project development. In addition, this data will be publicly available to support other community development initiatives. This outcome was realized throughout the funding period, though not in the form that we had initially anticipated. Over the course of the project, our notion of "data" broadened considerably beyond what we could gather from census records. Through community outreach and recruitment activities, we began to realize the effectiveness of informal interactive surveying strategies as a means to gather "real-time" community input, to inform needs and asset assessment, programming and project development. Conduct Community Food Assessment, using the USDA Community Food Security Assessment Toolkit as a guide; This was completed by service-learning students and interns, and focused primarily on identifying prices for a market basket of goods at local food stores and supermarkets, and identifying local farmers and producers. The qualitative component of the assessment was incorporated into the discussion at the Community Dialogues. Assess needs and assets for local food project development; This was the focus of the extensive community surveying and outreach conducted throughout the funding period, including surveys of farmers, merchants, institutional food providers, agencies that provide food assistance, and community outreach interactive surveying. Design and build an interactive online map and data hub to sustainably maintain information related to the local food system and track changes over time; One of our local partners, CLiCK, Windham's Commercially-Licensed Cooperative Kitchen, received a LFPP grant in which they proposed to create an online networking site that would connect local producers and consumers. We have collaborated with them, to create a website, www.windhamfood.org, that represents and connects the activities and participants in our local food system. Develop protocol for Network partners to update map and inventory two to four times per year. The website includes an "updates" section that is maintained by the GROW Windham VISTA Service Member and updated as needed. GOAL 3:To identify and plan three "funding-ready" community food projects that engage local resources and residents to: improve local food security, create economic opportunities, and strengthen community networks. Outcome(s):Low-income community members will partner with local food producers in projects that promote food security and create economic opportunities. This outcome was realized through the development of three project areas (described below) and through pilot projects throughout the summer. Objectives: Convene the network to: prioritize needs and gaps, identify resources to fill those needs,and brainstorm projects to connect resources to needs This took place at an Action Forum in March 2015. Explore feasibility of brainstormed projects From the Action Forum, Working Groups were developed who worked throughout the summer developing and piloting projects. Develop three projects ideas into "funding-ready" plans The Working Group leaders convened in July, 2015 to organize the priorities into three focus areas that were formulated into grant proposals: a "community food share", to increase local production and access to local produce by low-income community members; a "community table" initiative, that integrated community members and built leadership skills; and a "Windham Grown Network", that connected local farmers to merchants, processors and restaurants. Pilot projects through the Windham Youth CORE Summer Program Three pilot projects were developed over the summer: one to connect low-income residents and farmers, through a satellite market at a local senior housing facility, to connect community members with FMNP vouchers to local produce; and two to build networks of local growers: a planting workshop for low-income residents at an affordable housing complex; and a Plant-a-Row initiative that supplied seeds and seedlings to community members wllling to grow produce to donate to the local Soup Kitchen and food banks.
Publications
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