A Rural Learning Center, being constructed on a
small South Dakota community’s Main Street, is all about developing partnerships
throughout the state and the region.
The Howard, SD facility is symbolic of the rural
culture, Miner County Community Revitalization Executive Director Randy Parry
states. “It is a unique design that honors our heritage and signifies moving
into the future,” he says.
The $750,000 first-phase project will be completed
in July. The next step is an estimated $2 million conference and hospitality
center that includes an adjoining motel. A Rural Renaissance Capital Campaign is
starting to fund the second phase that is expected to be completed by the end of
2006. NEXT, Inc., headquartered in Sioux Falls, is the project manager during
the construction phase of the Rural Learning Center.
The Rural Learning Center is unique in its
connection to the rural community with a layout that duplicates a typical farm
yard; organizing the working components of the facility around a center space,
in this instance, a rotunda that visitors pass through to different areas. The
entire building reflects imagery common to the rural landscape.
The exterior and interior architecture, learning
space and resources are being designed so that the facility will both educate
and inspire visitors. Alternative energy sources and systems will operate the
Rural Learning Center.
The Center offers unique programs that include
community teams working together focusing on rural issues and customizing
learning and resources and also unique facilities that will be developed and
utilized by partners committed to rural life. It is the only rural-based center
in South Dakota.
The Rural Learning Center focuses on two issues:
developing an attitude and aptitude to successfully work together; and sharing
learning between and among rural-based individuals, organizations, and
communities.
The Center will host individuals, groups and
organizations. In addition, a state-of-the-art, electronic-based distance
learning technology and information systems will help serve rural organizations,
individuals, and groups across the nation.
Another key is the Center’s programming that is
designed for collaboration and shared learning. At the core of this is a
methodology addressing unique local needs and providing structured interaction
with other communities.
The Center’s programming revolves around a shared
learning approach where small teams of four or five people from 10-15
communities can learn with and from each other, explains Jim Beddow, executive
director of the Rural Learning Center.
The Center is developing curriculum that includes
housing needs, economic development strategies, supporting rural
entrepreneurship, leadership development, and working with schools,
counties, and communities.
“Many communities don’t know how to do a
collaborative approach,” Beddow explains. “Communities have to connect the dots
and link integrated resources.”
Three organizations have formed a partnership to
create the Rural Learning Center. These organizations include: Horizon Health
Care, Inc., which provides personalized, affordable, high quality primary
healthcare through a rural community-based network in the state; Miner County
Community Revitalization; a group committed to building a stable, cooperating
community that creates and sustains quality of life opportunities for those who
live or work in Miner County; and the Rural Learning Center, which serves as a
catalyst, resource, and guide for small communities across the state seeking to
create viable and vital futures.
Chief Executive Officer John Mengenhausen says
being a partner in the Rural Learning Center allows the Horizon Health Care
administrative department to move into the Center and free up space in the
Howard Clinic to add more services.
“This is an opportunity to bring ideas together and
a way for us to work with MCCR and the Rural Learning Center,” Mengenhausen
says.
Horizon Health Care, Inc. is an organization of
community health centers located in ten communities in eastern, central, and
southwestern South Dakota and is governed by a local board of directors who
represent the communities served. The communities include Howard, Lake Preston,
Bryant, De Smet, Woonsocket, Wessington Springs, Plankinton, White River,
Mission, and Martin.
Horizon Health Care is also part of the Dakota
Network, a group of healthcare facilities across the state. According to
Mengenhausen, moving into the Rural Learning Center will help other communities
in the healthcare network.
Parry believes the Center is important to not
only Miner County and the Horizon Health Care network, but also for many
communities throughout the Midwest. “It allows us to be able to share lessons
learned from creating sustainable and viable communities,” he explains. “It is
evident from working with the different communities throughout the Midwest, and
different areas of the United States, the need is there for communities to look
to their future strategically.”
Parry says this includes identifying and overcoming
barriers to be successful and also networking and collaborating with various
entities and communities to learn together.
“That is really what the Center is all about,”
Parry concludes.
