For this is what America is all about. It is the uncrossed desert and the unclimbed ridge. It is the star that is not reached and the harvest that is sleeping in the unplowed ground.

-Lyndon B. Johnson

rural people, rural policy initiative

rural people, rural policy initiative - sponsored by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Thanks to funding, training, and technical assistance from the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, ISDA is now part of a five-year national Rural People, Rural Policy Initiative.

Each year five organizations in each of five regions will be selected to join this Initiative-25 organizations each year, until there are 125 working together nationally to make a positive impact on rural policy.

ISDA was selected as one of the first group of five in the Southwestern region which is comprised of Arizona and New Mexico. ISDA board and staff have been attending national training sessions hosted by the foundation for the 25 organizations focused on policy, communications, how-to-frame-issues, etc. We have also been meeting with our regional group to explore rural policy issues that impact all of our region.

Organizations selected for the Southwest regional group are:

• Colonias Development Council (Las Cruces, NM)
• McKinley Community Health Alliance (Gallup, NM)
• DNA Legal Services (Window Rock and Flagstaff, AZ)
• a partnership of Arizona Rural Development Council and Arizona Community Foundation (Phoenix, AZ)
• ISDA in (Ajo, AZ).