Lamont, IA

On January 27th, Erin Ludwig presented Budgeting Basics to a dozen attendees. It was a very informative and interactive class. We all took home ideas on how we can develop a new budget or tweak the budget we may already have. A declicious meal was served and child care was provided. Feb 23, we will be hosting a class called Healthy Meals in a Hurry and many of the attendees have signed up for this class as well. It is great to be able to provide good educational opportunities in Lamont without having to travel.

Lamont now has their own web page at www.lamontiowa.com and there is also a Facebook page as well. Come check it out. The web page is work in progress and the Facebook page as almost 150 fans already!!

The Lamont Kid’s Center received a $1,000 grant from Thiesen’s for the Community Garden. Sounds like the Kid’s Center is exploring the opportunity to purchase a green house. We look forward to hearing more about this in the future.

The steering meeting met and it was good to hear that progress is being made in several areas. Community Enrichment committee is working on plans for a spring event. Daycare/Kid’s Center committee is in the research stage and making contacts with other daycares and resource people. Website committee is looking into what programs will work best for the webpages. They have set up a Facebook account for the City of Lamont and it is excitiing to see activity on the page.

The Education committee has classes scheduled for Jan, Feb and March for the community. We are working with Iowa State University and focusing on budgeting and nutrition. First meeting will be on Budgeting and registrations are startign to flow in for that. BankIowa is also help sponsoring the class as we will provide a meal and child care for the event.

We filled out the application for the next phase money and waiting to hear back on that. Those funds will then be used to help move some of the committees forward as funds are necessary.

I have had community members comment that is it exciting to see that we are still working on projects and just to have the community talking is a good thing.

The Visioning stage in the Lamont Community has been a very successful stage so far and we look forward to the Action Phase.. We started out with some organizational meeting with just the steering committee to get ready for the Visioning phse. We obtained our 15% threshold of the community involvement at our kick off meeting on July 23rd. The Kids Center catered a free steak supper with fresh produce from their Community Garden and it was a delicious meal. During our kick off meeting we determined the action items that we would survey our community about. Those included child care, website, senior meals and activities, learning opportunities for kids and adults, block parties, community improvement and the Kids center. After the kick off meeting, the steering committee put together the community survey.

This survey was available at many of the businesses and also at the Lamont Day’s steak supper. We felt like we were able to reach a wide variety of community members from the senior citizens, business owners, lower income, people that commute outside of the Lamont area for work but yet reside in Lamont. We felt that all community members had an opportunity to voice their opinions. Again we met the threshold with people responding to the survey..

We then held a Results and work session based on the survey. Again the kids Center catered a free steak supper with fresh produce out of hte community garden. We had a good attendence at this meeting as well. And comittees have been organized to followup on those action items.

We have low-income people involved in our Horizon project from day one and we continue to draw more people to join us. There are low income people on the steering committee, participating in all the meetings and committees, completed the surveys. There have been community members that have lived in the community and are just now beginning to become involved and some of these are low income. The Lamont Kids Center and Community Grounds has provided an opportunity for people to gain job skills through volunteering. The Community Club is open to anyone. The Church’s all social-economic classes to participate.

The Lamont City Council supports projects and welcomes members of the community to the monthly meetings to voice their concerns. Members of the community have come together on projects that have had a positive effect on poverty in our community.

We have the Mayor and city council members involved as will in our committees and meetings. Our local groups and organizations are also present. Our Committees will be partnering with the local groups and organizations to make the plans a success. Partnering with ISU, County and state level organizations, the Local School district, local businesses, churches and surrounding communities.

We have been successful in involving people that have not previously been involved in the commumnity and they are feeling welcomed in the new leadersihp roles. Many have been in the community for years and are now feeling like they belong to the community. The community is becoming more comfortable with each other and I believe that is helping draw more people out and therefore we are listening to a larger percentage of the community to address their needs. Recruiting has been easier because we are getting to know members of our community and it is always easier to work with people that you know and you know their talents. Plus, the word has gotten out that we have an Action plan and they are willing to become involved. Also, there is a greater understanding of poverty and the different kinds of povery.

THe various work groups have been formed and each group is working on their own projects. Breaking down the different projects with its own groups makes the projects seem more attainable because they are just working on one specific project. It isn’t just a few people working on every project. We will be using the outside rescources listed above as we move thru with our projects.

Committies that were set up:
Educational Oppportuinities for Adults
Kids Center/Daycare
Community Website
Community Enrichment and Involvement -
Community Improvements
Senior Needs/Meals

It is so rewarding to know that thru this HOrizion’s program that people in the community are getting to know each other and also become aware of the activities and services already provided within the community. We have had a family that was in the Leadership Plenty phase the became aware of the Grace United Methodist Food Pantry and have been able to utilze it to get them through to the next paycheck.

Lamont-The Volunteer Town
By Sarah Prendergast
What does this motto mean? Volunteering is defined as giving of one’s services or time for no financial gain. Volunteering can be found everywhere in Lamont from Common Grounds, Grace United Methodist Church, our volunteer emergency services, our ladies who make quilts for Lutheran World Relief and locals in need at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church to everyone who has participated in Horizons. These dedicated people are working to make Lamont and the world a better place.
We are a town full of volunteers. There are more than 22 organizations with 32890 hours spent serving our community and those in need. That is 89 hours per Lamont adult per year. This is great compared to the national average of 52 hours of volunteer service per year per adult, according the U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Volunteering is beneficial to you as an individual; it gives an opportunity for creating social connections within a community, builds skills for your resume, and gives a sense of pride and accomplishment. Research has found that volunteering has health benefits including less illness and an improvement in insomnia. Older volunteers have an increase in life expectancy and a decrease in medication, cane and support usage. Volunteering is a win-win situation for everyone by providing a sense of purpose and social connections.
You may ask what you and a group can do to, but as Margaret Meade said, “Never doubt that a small group of committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Volunteers come in all forms. Everyone has skills and talents that they can share within our town. Maybe you have a talent or activity you can teach the youth at Lamont Kids Center or maybe you have knowledge of Lamont history you could share at the Lamont Museum. There are many possibilities where one’s talents and skills can be utilized in Lamont to make it an even greater community. Our organizations would greatly appreciate your help whether it is for an hour or a few hours any of your time is valuable. Don’t ever question the value of volunteers; Noah’s Ark was built by volunteers; the Titanic was built by professionals.

Mother’s Day Brunch - On May 10 the Kid’s Center had our first Mother’s Day Brunch–I had always wanted to do something for the MOMS so after some discussion at our monthly board meeting in April we decided to do it–we had a buffet brunch of scrambled eggs, sausage, ham, chessey potatoes, biscuits & gravy we had 6 kids help with the brunch, they did a great job.

Community Garden - At the present time we have onions, potatoes, radishes and sweet corn planted and will plant other vegetables as the ground dries out. We are anxious to get the rest planted.

By Joyce Geistkemper

Lamont Kid’s Center opened March 2005 after a group of concerned Community members felt a need for a place for kids to go after school–to keep them off of the street– Steve Sanders has been the backbone of the group–as it was his idea and building. So with the help of volunteers and a lot of work we opened the doors in March of 2005. We obtained a 501 C3, nonprofit number and sponsored by Grce United Methodist of Lamont, Ia. We are run by volunteers, donations, grants, pop cans redemption and of course our most valuable assest is the KIDS. We are open M-W-F 4pm to 7pm, serving an evening meal. We have computers, board games, pool table, air hockey, wrestling and fitness facility.

Last May after the flood in Lamont we wanted to help the Community so we served Omelets and Waffles to families in the community. Our omelete–waffle breakfast has continued on the 1st Sunday of the month. Our kids help with waiting on the tables, in May we had 14 kids helping. We served 107 omelets and 108 waffles and hash browns. Our breakfast is a free will offering meal.

In are in partnership with NE Ia Food Bank out of Waterloo and fill 100 Backpacks twice a month and deliver to Starmont School and Head Start at Strawberry Poit. Last summer we did the summer food program and will offer it again this Summer and will deliver backpacks to Arlington, Strawberry Point and Lamont families.

The past year we have taken kids to the movies, Gr Harbor Water Park at Dubuque, Heartland Acreas at Independence, Zoo and Pumkin Farm at Manchester, Fishing Derby. We have a monthly birthday party, bike safety, fire prevention, Helped with Horizon Program, Camp Noah, Lamont Days, Heatlh Night at the Center.

In 2006 a volunteer suggested a garden to help with our meals at the Center. Our garden did so good that we offered fresh produce to the Community and the garden has grown from a small plot to 2.5 acres plus.. The past year when we had excess produce we delivered to the Buchanan Co Food Bank at Independence. We also offer flowers for sale at the Center or Common Grounds Coffee House at Lamont.

As a board member and volunteer the Lamont Kid’s Center has been a rewarding experience and I continue to learn every night from the kids and the Community
By Joyce Geistkemper

I was one of the facilitators for LeadershipPlenty training. I had a great time. We had such a great group of people. After the first session we had such a great vibe in the air, an excitement to learn and become involved in the community.-Sarah

I would like to share a couple of testimonials from our LeadershipPlenty participants-
1) I learned that when you get people togewther that really care and want to get things done- they will work together for a better community. You need every level of poverty to work it out.

2) A cross-section of people came together and actually shared common interests. This program provided a place to get to know residents and share personal stories. We came to apprieciate talents revealed during the process.

Welcome Wagon committee is working with the churches in the community to help them develop brochures for the packets. The Welcome Wagon folders will contain, list of businesses and hours, City services, List of agencies that are available, Church brochures, school information, Tourism details and Community events. The committee understands that the Welcome Wagon packets will be need to be updated on a regular basis, so we are not printing alot to begin with so that we don’t have outdated information in them. HOpefully as we provide the welcome wagon packets to new members of our community they will want to become involved in the community as well.