Northland Foundation CI Report – Interim

What has been most instrumental to your progress?

Northland implemented a community-powered problem-solving process aimed at increasing social connectedness among people of all age groups and socio-economic backgrounds in 3 NE MN sites. One activity that was instrumental in making strides was the AGE to age planning process.

First, we held stakeholders’ meetings to share information about AGE to age, gain buy-in, identify more partners, and plan outreach in Ely, North Shore Area, & Hibbing. Each of these meetings engaged 8-15 people including representatives from City Government, K-12 Education, and nonprofits. Next, 5 work sessions were held in each site to identify needs; map assets; hold intergenerational community dialogues; conduct visioning; and develop projects for testing. Across the sites, 504 people participated in the planning (24% youth, 36% elders, & 40% adults); 50 organizations were represented; and 227 people committed to participating in the intergenerational action teams.

Participation of people from of all ages helps to ensure representation of different perspectives. This is essential to develop local ownership of solutions that foster social connections and improve community.

Providing tailored technical assistance and financial resources has been integral to making progress in the three participating sites. Northland provided technical assistance to lead a collaboration of diverse community partners, including youth and seniors, through a multi-step planning process. The problem-solving process resulted in the development of locally-designed projects and activities that will be tested and implemented during the coming year. In addition to technical assistance, each community received $15,000 in implementation funding for a total of $45,000. In addition, the sites have garnered a combined $45,000 in cash and in-kind support, as well as ongoing contributions of community volunteers. Efforts underway include mentoring programs, after-school enrichment opportunities, arts and cultural opportunities, community service projects, school and community gardens, and healthy living activities. All of these efforts are aimed at fostering social connections across age groups and improving community. Providing technical assistance and financial resources are essential to help communities with testing and implementing solutions that make positive change.

To further support intergenerational community-building in the three participating rural communities, the Northland Foundation engaged local leaders in a regional learning community. This peer learning network is comprised of the community coordinators from the 13 existing AGE to age communities and the three new sites (Ely, Hibbing, and the North Shore Area). Throughout this past year, the local coordinators came together for daylong meetings to share information and lessons learned; participate in training and program evaluation; and develop relationships with community coordinators across the region. The regional learning community assisted the coordinators from the three new AGE to age sites with gaining insights from the experiences of their counterparts across the region, learning about effective strategies for engaging youth, older adults and the generations-in-between, and receiving support to work through challenges. This, in turn, helped the new sites move forward more effectively with providing leadership to their local action teams to test and implement local solutions.

Key lessons learned

During this past year, Bush Foundation support helped Northland further test our intergenerational planning process, which was previously implemented in 13 rural sites, including three Indian Reservations between 2008 and 2012. Over the past 12 months, we worked with the communities of Hibbing, population 16,355; Ely, population 3,477, and the North Shore Area which includes Silver Bay, Finland, Murphy City, Beaver Bay, Little Marais, and Isabella with a combined population of approximately 2,500 people. Our partnership with the Bush Foundation allowed Northland to affirm the effectiveness of our AGE to age planning model as an innovative approach to join youth with older adults and the generations-in-between to build relationships and undertake creative problem-solving aimed at improving the well-being of residents of all ages and enhancing community vitality. All three of the participating sites rated the community planning process as highly effective with mean ratings of 3.5 to 4.0 on a 4-point scale with 1 = not at all and 4 = a lot.

During this past year, a number of lessons were affirmed from our previous community-based work, including: a) The multistep AGE to age planning process helps foster community ownership; b) Learning community meetings facilitate information-sharing and provide ongoing support; c) Linking community coordinators from the 3 new sites with coordinators from the existing 13 sites helped the new sites with moving to action with the benefit of the effective strategies undertaken in the existing sites; d) Communities are enthusiastic about building intentional pathways to connect people from different generations; and e) The planning process is effective in strengthening relationships among and between people of all ages. We believe that our efforts this past year were highly effective in helping the 3 participating sites generate locally-designed solutions to promote cross-generational connections and help enhance community vitality.

Reflections on inclusive, collaborative or resourceful problem-solving

Northland is deeply committed to be inclusive when working on community-powered planning. We worked with each of the 3 sites to engage community partners and ensure that youth, older adults, and the generations-in-between were actively involved in the AGE to age planning process. Being inclusive helped each site generate strong engagement across age groups and develop creative ideas that can be implemented to foster intergenerational connections and benefit the community. While inclusion was a key element in making progress, we also focused on collaboration and resourcefulness. For example, community members in each community worked together to make a decision on a local coordinator to provide local leadership, oversee the testing and implementation of community-powered plans, and serve as a link to Northland. Members at each site worked together to prioritize ideas, and come to consensus on the priorities for testing and implementation that respond to needs. Finally, throughout the planning process, each community focused on how to build upon local assets and resources to maximize opportunities that bring generations together and for community improvement.

Other key elements of Community Innovation

Through all of our community-based efforts, Northland has honed our learning community model. When implementing a community planning process to address an area of need we have learned that it is highly beneficial to connect representatives from the participating sites together.

Our learning community promotes sharing effective intergenerational strategies. This network facilitates information-sharing and assists with maximizing resources by generating ideas that can be easily replicated and adapted by other communities. The learning community model also serves as an effective vehicle for training, technical assistance, and evaluation activities.

The coordinators from the 3 new sites participated in quarterly meetings with the coordinators from the 13 existing AGE to age sites. This opportunity helped the new coordinators to capitalize on the experiences and advice from the seasoned coordinators. The relationships that developed during these meetings will serve as an ongoing resource after the grant concludes.

Understanding the problem

We worked with each site to identify breakthrough solutions that inspire and unite local residents from different age groups to build social connections and improve their community. The sites conducted surveys to gather information on the community’s strengths, needs, challenges and opportunities. Across the three sites, 272 community members completed surveys and 110 people participated in the Intergenerational Community Dialogues that were hosted by the Foundation. These steps helped each of the sites to develop unique approaches that respond to identified needs and build on community assets. The implementation plans of each site are designed to tap the talents of older adults to help young people thrive, such as mentoring programs, school and community gardens, arts and cultural opportunities, and healthy living activities. Through the volunteer engagement of people of all ages, the participating communities are able to pilot a wide array of projects that improve the health and well-being of children and older adults and enhance community vitality.

If you could do it all over again…

One learning we would share with ourselves prior to launching the planning process is thaworking in a relatively large community like Hibbing, takes more time than working in smaller sites like Ely. While we were able to meet our year one goals, we experienced some delays in getting started in Hibbing. After some initial challenges, we determined it would be more effective for the Foundation staff to make personal phone calls and hold individual meetings with local leaders. During the first quarter of the grant, Northland President Tony Sertich and Vice President/KIDS PLUS Director Lynn Haglin met with the administrators from Hibbing Schools, the Mayor of Hibbing, business leaders, and leadership from the Hibbing Community College. This allowed them to share information about the goal of AGE to age and gather names of key stakeholders to participate in the initial meeting to launch AGE to age. As a result, Hibbing had a high level of participation during the planning process including 167 people representing different age groups and 17 local organizations (e.g. city government, the chamber of commerce, businesses, higher education, congregations, nonprofits, and service clubs).

One last thought

The Northland Foundation is pleased with the progress made during the first year of the Bush-supported AGE to age initiative in Hibbing, Ely, and the North Shore Area to pursue breakthrough solutions that bridge the generational divide, tap the underutilized talents of older adults, help children thrive, and improve community. During the coming year, we will continue to provide ongoing technical assistance and support to the communities as they test and implement their locally-designed solutions. We will also be working with each site to monitor progress, make adjustments as needed, and assess impact.