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Community Improvement
Through Natural Resources: Creating Healthy Ecosystems- Healthy
Communities
The
Healthy Ecosystems/Healthy Communities (HEHC) Project is now accepting
applications to begin working with five new communities! Funding is
currently available for PRIDE Communities located in the following
watersheds: Milford, Melvern, Neosho, Toronto, and the Upper Wakarusa.
Please see the map on the HEHC Website:
PRIDE WRAPS
Communities
Participating communities receive a $5,000 "mini-grant" to complete
water quality projects or activities and $1,500 to support public
meetings and events for community resource planning. If your community
is not located in one of the watersheds above, but you are interested
in the HEHC program, please contact
Sherry Davis, HEHC Project Coordinator, at (785) 532-3039 or by
mobile at (785) 313-5283.
The
HEHC program helps civic groups, such as PRIDE, and local government
groups engage more citizens in resource planning, explore sustainable
resource uses, promotes community health and new leadership
opportunities, and improves citizen appreciation and investment in the
natural resources that support your community.
The
HEHC Program helps citizens understand and value local natural
resources that shaped your community's past and will determine its
future. The program helps community groups:
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Establish
new partners within their community and the local watershed.
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Explore
hew agency resources and "link-up" to their expertise and assistance.
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Identify
water quality projects appropriate for their community and expand
project benefits through educator and youth involvement programs, new
cultural events, and access to new recreational resources.
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Engage
citizens in a community planning process (using an impartial
third-party facilitator) for your community's future and to protect
local assets and natural resources.
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Identify
new funding sources to support sustainable community development
projects.
Sherry
will meet with your PRIDE group to discuss program details and help
your team identify important local stakeholders. She will work with
each community to apply for funding to support the HEHC Program in your
community. If your PRIDE Group is interested - please call today!
The
HEHC Vision. . .
Our vision for the Healthy Ecosystems-Healthy Communities Project is
citizen-lead planning and actions to sustain environmental quality and
community health. |
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| What is the relationship between your community and its
ecosystem?
The health of a
community and its local ecosystem is dependent on the intricate
relationship between the people that live there and how they interact
with their surroundings–the land, water, plants, animals, and
natural resources. By definition, the word “resource” means
reserve, supply, or store; so the health of a community is dependent on
the health of these natural “supplies.”
Water, incredibly rich
soils, lush grasslands and a wealth of wildlife enticed settlers to
Kansas over 150 years ago and supported our state’s agricultural
economy and heritage. However, as with any limited store of supplies,
using them in a way that sustains the quantity and the quality is
necessary to ensure that these resources will be there for us and for
our children in the future. But how do we know what’s left of the
“reserves, supplies, or stores” that our community was
built upon? How do we measure the health of our community’s
natural resources?
The Healthy Communities
/ Healthy Ecosystems Project is here to help!
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