“Be the change you want to see in the world,” is a quote most of us are familiar with. It’s wise advice to anyone looking to make their community better. That’s exactly what happened during the Community Based Action Planning (CBAP) sessions in early October.

A group of folks from teens to seniors (referred to as Launchers), representing diverse roles and geographies within Rush County, analyzed local data and community input for ideas to make positive change in Rush County. They embarked on the monumental task of prioritizing the community’s input.

With the target issues and opportunities identified, Launchers self-selected the areas that interested them most, capitalizing on their motivation. In no particular order, the prioritized issues are:

1) Mental Health; Explore New and Existing Programs; Accessibility
2) Improve Local Gateways
3) Downtown Beautification
4) Tourism Promotion Behind Existing Assets
5) Post-secondary Skill Trade Education and Apprenticeships
6) Parks Programming: Add Value to Existing Parks
7) County-wide planning; Land Use Planning Update; Zoning (Road Map)
8) Local Pride Campaign (Blight Elimination/Clean up)
9) Improving internet access

A scoring system helped them prioritize projects that were deemed “most essential” and “least complicated”. This method sets up the work for early success and helps build momentum toward
solving some of the more complex issues.

Launchers were asked to identify the networks available to help accomplish the first steps and to assign deadlines. Finally, Launchers considered how they would measure success related to the initial action items. The nine prioritized issues all had a vast range of networks that could assist, from knowledgeable individuals to community groups and organizations. Initial deadlines were established, and discussion of the financial capital that will be needed in each area was laid out.

The volunteers broke into groups, identifying opportunities related to tourism (for both residents and visitors), mental health, beautification/blight removal, post-secondary skill trade education/apprenticeships and new parks programming as some of the top priorities. They created action plans and identified other groups and individuals to help implement their plans. Read the full report compiled by our partners at Ball State, which are offering guidance along the way. We are grateful to everyone who took the time to share their input.

CBAP is a people-focused, placed-based approach to creating positive change. No one person or organization leads the way. Everyone has a say in CBAP. This work is being done by the community, for the community.

The Rush to Action Fund was created to implement these short-term projects for long-term impact. All donations to this fund will be matched $1 for $1 until March 1, 2022, up to $50,000. As of 12/6, $20,350 has been donating, including the match – thank you!

NOW it’s your turn, Rush County. “Rush to Action” with us via a financial gift, reach out and let us know what issues you want to volunteer to help with OR both. If you are interested in being involved with any of this work, please reach out to us at (765)938-1177 or info@rushcountyfoundation.org. We will gladly connect you! Your involvement can be as much or as little as you want it to be, but we need our Rush County residents in order to make the projects the best they can be! Who knows where this can lead…we have more projects we’d love to get to!  We look forward to sharing details and progress along the way. These plans won’t sit idle on a shelf; they will help write new chapters in our story within the next year.