2010 begins a series of community training opportunities for community PRIDE groups. By matching the grant assistance from the USDA Rural Development program, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development, Kansas Department of Commerce, K-State Research and Extension, PRIDE, and the KSU Center for Engagement and Community Development have pooled resources and expertise to offer a series of community planning academy workshops.

The Community Development Academy will be offered three times in the state:

• Southeast Kansas on February 25th, March 3 and 4th, and March 10 of 2010. This academy will take place at Memorial Hall, 410 N. Penn Avenue, in Independence.
• Northwest Kansas Community Development Academy will be held in Hays on September 23, 29, 30, and October 6. 
• Northeast Kansas Community Development Academy will take place in Manhattan in Feb. 17, 23, 24, and March 2 of 2011.

To participate, communities need to construct teams of five community volunteers that can dedicate the time and energy to go through the training. During the training, the teams will meet over three weeks, one to two days per week. Between sessions, they will be given homework. During this three week experience, community teams will:

• Assess their community assets

• Devise a public engagement plan

• Make initial contacts for a community-wide effort

• Devise a draft community development process plan

• Identify needed resources

• Meet resource providers

Registration for the three academy sessions is available online. This is an excellent opportunity for PRIDE communities to organize for broad community assessment and project planning! For more information, visit www.ksu.edu/cecd/cda.

Please take a minute to view this video that highlights three Kansas PRIDE Communities: Kinsley, Courtland, Melvern and includes photos from Park City and Wilson.

As we approach our 40^th year of community improvement work in Kansas, we want to tell your story, the PRIDE story. When PRIDE is working, community members are pulling in the same direction. What communities choose to do is as unique as the community itself. Over the past 40 years, communities have organized to support local schools, supported area museums, hosted medical clinics, built fire stations, managed food pantries, established libraries - in fact, if there is something to be done in rural communities, there is a good chance that a PRIDE group has done it!  What all of these projects have in common is that each community builds on the assets or strengths of their people, local history, resources, or culture to create projects that are valuable and important to their quality of life.

To access Enrollment, Resolution, and Quarterly Report Forms CLICK HERE

To contact PRIDE Staff, CLICK HERE

To view the PRIDE Newsletter, CLICK HERE

To view Community Resources, CLICK HERE

To access the Healthy Ecosystems/Healthy Communities Sustainability information site, CLICK HERE

To access PRIDE Day 2009 Images, CLICK HERE.