Guest post by Paula Jensen I remember in 1997, just following the birth of my second son, when more than one elder in my community told me, “It is so sad that your children will never graduate from Langford High School like you did!” Those comments told me that the local leaders were questioning […]
We tried that before and it didn’t work!
Guest Post by Paula Jensen When was the last time you heard someone say, “We tried that before and it didn’t work!” In my early days as a local leader those words spoken by an experienced leader often stopped me in my tracks. Their words indicated to me that they had the experience of knowing […]
If they want to lead, empower them to lead
Guest Post by Paula Jensen Leaders are the essence of small towns and rural communities. The success or failure of any housing, community or economic development efforts in the places we call home often rests upon the level of engagement and investment of local citizen leaders. Yet, in so many communities I work in across […]
Are all small towns dying? Can you save a small town?
There have been too many years of disinterest and disinvestment in rural America and at times I grow weary of defending the value of the rural place I call home to a national audience. I have read multiple articles about the rural underclass and the poverty that plagues our landscape from Bloomberg Business, NY […]