Once in his life a man ought to concentrate his mind upon the remembered earth, I believe.  He ought to give himself up to a particular landscape in his experience, to look at it from as many angles as he can, to wonder about it, to dwell upon it.  He ought to imagine that he touches it with his hands at every season and listens to the sounds that are made upon it.  He ought to imagine the creatures there and all the faintest motions of the wind.  He ought to recollect the glare of noon and all the colors of the dawn and dusk.

N. Scott Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain

special initiatives

In addition to our long term "mission" projects, ISDA will always perform shorter-term, more-intensive projects that cut across or combine several of our stated goals.  These Special Initiatives are designed to effect more immediate change in our surroundings, from focusing community attention on a particular issue to exploring rural policy issues that impact the entirety of our region. 

Grants and underwriting for our current Special Initiatives have come from the Ford Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, The Christensen Fund, and the Arizona Community Foundation.  We are grateful for their continuing trust and support.