Community Rules

 It's been a great week for community networking in Gilpin County. I am working on a project that is designed to raise awareness about community action here in Gilpin and hopefully will draw more citizens to volunteer for various community projects. It doesn't have a name yet, but the working title is the "Gilpin Welcome Wagon" and so far involves a neat booth at the Gilpin County Fair in August, and may expand in an attempt to create a county-wide volunteer system.
I attend many community meetings and though there are pockets of people heavily involved with specific projects, it's easy to feel like Gilpin County lacks a "community spirit" to draw everyone together.
The Planning Committee struggles to define a "county identity" among so many individualists, and the recent health forums brought up concerns about how many sources of information one needs to consult to know the full county calendar. While some residents devote many hours to supporting our Fire Districts, interest in volunteering or participating in board activities is at an all-time low. Some service organizations are simply looking to increase communication between the various groups, while others are hurting badly from a lack of community interest.
The community disconnect is really felt at Our School. Some think school participation is high based on their own experiences, while other parents feel they're all alone in interacting with school administration. It's not uncommon for me to hear "we have great school pride" within five minutes of "our school doesn't have the pride it used to." What gives? How do we align our personal perceptions of community with a bigger, more accurate picture of what our true Gilpin Spirit looks like?
Personally, I think that Gilpin has a lot of "social capital" that hasn't been tapped into yet and I'm hoping that a little communication and promotion can bring more Gilpin residents into the pool and increase our sense of community identity. While many move here to be isolated from the world and go out of their way to avoid others, I have found several folks who said they had no idea how many community projects need help in the county and may just need a little information or encouragement to come out of their shell. In their honor, I have started to design a fair booth that is geared toward informing both new and long-time residents of the many programs and services available in Gilpin and how they can participate.
I've started by contacting those organizations who already have booths at the fair or who really need help from the community to survive. High on my list of needing assistance are the fire departments and the school, but I've also been coordinating with the CSU Extension office, the Community Center, the Health Department and the Seniors to see how their groups can be promoted in the community. It's been a wonderfully informative week!
I've received a great deal of help and super ideas from people all over the community, and the one thing I've noticed is that the elusive "community spirit" is alive and well here in our mountains. The more I participate and get to know the community, the more it seems like we really do have a strong sense of identity which is blossoming here and there throughout the county.
It's easy to think there's not much holding us together when participation is limited to a single group or missing altogether. Just introducing yourself to a stranger/neighbor can go a long way toward fostering that "community spirit" that will help us all endure changing times and difficult circumstances. I've been able to visualize how a project like this can help everyone - helping residents to find information and services that assist them in bettering their lives, helping organizations to locate volunteers, helping leaders to coordinate with each other on common goals.
I'm really enjoying putting this project together. I've spoken with folks from the school, the Fire Departments and county government. I'm eager to work with the library, GCART, the sheriff's department, local businesses and various clubs throughout the county. The booth will offer information on all county departments and services and focus on how individuals can contribute their own personal spirit to our county identity. We'll have goodie bags, a fun project for the kids and a means for different organizations to cross-pollinate their volunteers and communicate with each other.
If you would like to participate in this project either as an individual or an organization, please contact me at michelle@poulin.com or at (303) 582-3934 to sign up. The project is still in the beginning stages with plenty of room for your unique idea or contribution.
I know what you're thinking and yes, I'm an individualist myself - I appreciate the "leave me alone" attitude and I don't view a healthy community as a collective mass that works like a herd. (Herds are scary - they jump off cliffs for no better reason than the guy in front of them did it.) So why go out of my way to promote a community identity in this county full of loners?
I believe that Gilpin's diverse character is just the sort of character that creates the strong community spirit that many are hoping for. To me, healthy communities are made up of sovereign individuals who share their unique perspectives with others to increase our overall IQ and life experience. Healthy communities are made up of a diverse group of people who respect differences. They understand the value of networking, friendship and family and go out of their way, voluntarily at every step, to make it work.
That's "voluntarily", folks, as in "volunteer". Hint hint.
--Michelle Fire Eater Northrup