The magic number this year turned out to be 41. That’s the number of children able to attend the Chisholm Summer Rec Program with the funding from the Chisholm Horizon Scholarship Project. That’s nearly a 33% increase over last years scholarship numbers. Chisholm Horizons also made a donation to ensure the children using the Summer Rec would have nourishment available during this 6 week program. Thanks to all who made this possible.
Summer Rec Discounts for Kids on “Free and Reduced Lunch”
Chisholm Horizons Chisholm Horizons is a local citizen group formed through Minnesota Horizons with the startup funded by the Northwest Area Foundation. Horizons promotes community leadership for poverty reduction. Two of Chisholm Horizons aims are to help overcome financial barriers and to promote youth activities. Chisholm Horizons has a scholarship program for qualified kids to join in the Chisholm Summer Recreation Program.
Chisholm Summer Rec Program
Chisholm Summer Rec Program runs this year in Chisholm for 6 weeks in June and July. It is available to Chisholm and Balkan youth in the K-6th grades. The Early Registration fee this year is $40.00 per child. After June 7 the fee is $50.00.
Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program
The Free and Reduced Lunch Program is a Federal Program for families who meet certain Poverty Income Guidelines.
Chisholm Summer Rec Fee “Horizons Discount”
Those Chisholm and Balkan children who have qualified for the “Free and Reduced Lunch Program” at their schools also qualify for a “Horizons Discount” deducted from the regular Summer Rec fee.
Please call 254-2960 to apply for discount or for further information. Openings for Discount are limited.
This Horizons Project is partially funded by donations from The Field of Screams and the Margaret Polenik Memorial.
MS Society Fundraising Event
Chisholm
May 2, 2010
Jim’s Sports Club Bar & Grill
108 Lake St., Chishom, MN
Registration time
11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Route information
Walkers can begin walking at 11 a.m., after they have checked in.
Walk options
Walkers can choose a 1 or 5 mile route.
Getting to Jim’s Sports Club & Grill
From US-169 S.
Take the US-169 S. ramp to Hibbing. Turn left at US-169 S. Turn right at Longyear Lake Blvd/US-169. Turn left at E. Lake St./US-169. Jim’s Sports Club Bar & Grill will be on your right.
From US-169 N.
Take MN 73 N/US-169 N. exit toward Chisholm. Continue on Lake St. W./US-169. Jim’s Sports Club Bar & Grill will be on your left.
More information at : www.walkmsmn.org
The Chisholm Youth Center is hosting the annual Community Spring Litter pick-up on May 1, 2010 in conjunction with “Helping Hands Day”. They are looking for groups or individuals to volunteer to pick litter throughout our community and parks. You may pick up bags, gloves and vests at the Chisholm Senior Center starting at 8:00 am on May 1st. The litter pick-up will be from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. The KSKJ is providing a lunch at the Senior Center for the volunteers from 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm.
To sign up or if you have any questions, please contact the Parks and Recreation office at 254-7909.
The Chisholm Youth Center and Chisholm Horizons are teaming up to collect supplies for the Hibbing Homeless Shelter and Bill’s House in Virginia.
They will accept donations until June 5th at the Chisholm Youth Center , 315 W Lake St. They are open for donations on Wed, Thurs, Fri from 4-8 pm.
Items being accepted include Household Items - new/slightly used pots, pans, dishes, sheets, pillowcases, towels, dishcloths as well as Hygiene Items - shampoo, conditioner, paper towels, toilet paper, laundry detergent, bodywash and cleaning supplies.
For more information, please contact Gus at (218)254-2960.
In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act and, in essence, declared a “war on poverty.” Community officials, service providers, schools, and neighbors came together to plan and implement programs and services to help low-income people and called it “Community Action.”
The Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency (AEOA) was incorporated in April, 1965, as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and established as a Community Action Program (CAP) for the northeast Minnesota counties of St. Louis, Lake, and Cook. Service delivery for some programs has extended to the four neighboring counties of Aitkin, Carlton, Itasca, and Koochiching.
Currently, AEOA employs more than 350 full- and part-time staff and utilizes more than a thousand volunteers divided among five major departments: Arrowhead Transit, Head Start, Housing, Employment and Training, and Senior Services.
If You need help with weatherization, energy assistance, refinance counseling or homeless services , please visit www.aeoa.org. They have many more programs available for those in Northeast Minnesota.
On November 5 & 6, 2009, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits/Minnesota Council on Foundations (MCN/MCF) had their joint annual conference at the RiverCentre in St. Paul. The University of Minnesota Extensions/Horizons Program was generous enough to invite past and present Horizons communities to attend the conference. Marketa Anderson, Gus Cronberg and I decided to make the trip to see what it was all about. The conference was very interesting and exciting! (Three people from a small town on the Iron Range in the “Big City” - WhooHoo! Look out St. Paul!) Thursday morning, all the Horizons communities that attended met at the RiverCentre at 8:30gam for a Continental breakfast. We spent the rest of the morning with the Horizon communities and a 4 member “funder panel” sharing each community’s successes and/or successes in progress. It was very interesting to hear everyone’s stories and project in which they were working on. The “funder panel” was made up of national, state and regional representatives who offered tips for accessing resources and answered any questions we may have had. After wrapping up with Q&A’s, we broke for lunch.
At 1pm, the first conference sessions began. Many different “break-out sessions” were available to us; too many for the three of us to attend them all. We each selected a session to go to, broke up and went in different directions. Some of the “break-out sessions” were helpful and some were not. They were all very interesting to attend. At 4:30, once all the “break-out sessions” were complete, an opening conference reception was held with hors d’oeuvres and drinks being served. Once we left, we were on our own in the “Big City”!
Friday, there were “break-out sessions” all day. Again, we chose to attend different sessions of interest through out the day. At noon, there was a networking lunch and presentation of the 2009 Nonprofit Mission and Excellance Awards in the Grand Ballroom. The food was excellent and the recognition ceremony was very interesting. It was interesting to hear how these nonprofit organizations are helping others.
At 3:30pm, the conference was officially over. They had a closing reception where again they served hors d’oeuvres and drink. There was a debriefing of the Horizons communities and we were on our way back to our respected communities.
It was a great experience and we would like to thank Monica, Cindy, Jessica, and Bjorn for all their help and guidance both before and during the conference and for giving us the opportunity to attend the conference. Thank you all so much!
Karen Amistadi
It’s nearing Fall in Northern Minnesota and once again time to get ready for the Halloween Extravaganza of 2009. Most of you that live in the Northland know that I’m talking about The Chisholm Field of Screams. They have a change of venue this year. They are moving to the Minnesota Discovery Center formerly known as Ironworld on Hwy 169 in Chisholm. This year’s ghoulish performances will be on the evenings of Oct 22-25 and Oct 29-31. Plans and changes are still in progress, so keep up to date by visiting us often at www.fieldofscreams.info/index.html.
Last year 17 grants, totaling $12,000, were made possible from the proceeds. Some of these were the Chisholm Youth Center, Chisholm Little League, Chisholm Horizons, and SWOP, a group that teaches life skills to area youth.
Any questions about volunteering can be answered at
The Chisholm Area Chamber of Commerce
223 West Lake Street, Chisholm, Minnesota 55719
(218) 254-7930 | info@chisholmchamber.com
Visit us at http://chisholmchamber.com/
Chisholm Horizons /Summer Rec Project
The Chishom and Balkan Summer Recreation Program runs in June and July each year for children age 6 and above. Chisholm Community Education provides a school bus for transportation to the Balkan Community Center for a 9-1 session where the kids can work on craft projects and other indoor and outdoor activities. Money cards can be purchased for sandwiches, pizza, snacks or crafts.
Kids are then transported to the Chisholm Curling Club, open from 12:30 to 5, for recreational activities including swimming trips to area beaches,attending the Library Reading Program, and other arts, crafts and educational programming.
Chisholm Horizons created scholarships to help defray the $35 Early Bird Fee ($45 after June 8)for those children in lower income families. We set a goal to help 36 children this year and are presently at 33. Those same children are receiving money card vouchers for the food available from the Balkan Rec. Dept.
The Chisholm and Balkan Rec Depts. are each receiving $900 from Chisholm Horizons in support of these kids who otherwise might not have this opportunity.
Chisholm Horizons thank Director Tammy Nevalainen of the Chisholm Rec and Gail Radotich of the Balkan Rec for their help in creating a very successful project. Many thanks go out also to Chisholm Horizon members Karen, Marketa, Brenda, Renee, Lynn, and Gus for the preparation, planning and implementation of this worthwhile project.
The Women of Steel Local 9349 and Chisholm Horizons are asking for your help in supporting the Home of Hope, an emergency homeless shelter in Chisholm. Donations may include lightly used or new household items such as pots, pans, dishes, paper plates, sheets, pillowcases, towels, wash/dish rags, dish soap, laundry soaps, shampoos, conditioners, etc. The Salvation Army will monitor the supplies and deliver to the Home as needed by the family or persons using the temporary housing.
Contact Marketa Anderson (218) 254-7628 or Karen Amistadi at (218) 969-1310 for more information or drop off items at the Range Center 1001 8th Ave. NW in Chisholm.
from the Hibbing Daily Tribune Online:
Duo donates ‘Home of Hope’
Serving as emergency homeless shelter
by Jeff Warner
Staff Writer
Published: Sunday, March 8, 2009 6:08 AM CDT
CHISHOLM — Two area residents are donating a single-family property as a first step toward what they envision as a “Homes of Hope” movement that could curtail the area’s rising homeless rate.
John Egloff and Erik Sundquist are currently offering the home — located at 412 S. Central Ave. in Chisholm — as a seven-day emergency homeless shelter. Those using the shelter will be able to access social service organizations that might help them find a more stable mode of living.
Egloff and Sundquist are working with agencies such as The Salvation Army, Range Transitional Housing and Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency, to deter mine the home’s most effective use.
“Our ultimate goal is to make a difference in the homeless rate around here,” said Egloff, who moved here from Colorado on a business venture. “We just want to help people and see where it goes.”
Sundquist said after they met last year, they decided to make a joint effort toward providing people with affordable housing by donating the Chisholm property.
“What’s nice about a s maller community like this is a couple of people can get together and actually make a difference, see a difference and feel a difference,” he said.
Sundquist, who owns a housing rental business, learned that space constraints at an area homeless shelter last year caused 186 people to be turned away. This, he said, led him to realize that one of his rental units could potentially erase this statistic.
“Here, I have 40 apartment units I own,” he said. “How can I sleep at night knowing that I have an empty unit and someone is sleeping on the street?”
Sundquist has previously provided temporary housing to people in need, and rents units to Range Transitional Housing’s clientele. However, “Homes of Hope” is something new, and he hopes the effort will grow.
Initial discussions with an area social service organization revealed a lot of “red tape” regarding the logistics of setting up a homeless shelter, he said. Therefore, he and Egloff independently organized and financed the project. Although costs for providing the shelter are mounting, it’s “a drop in the bucket” compared to the potential good the effort will bring, said Sundquist.
He and Egloff say they’re using their spiritual gifts and resources to make a difference, and they urge others to step forward.
“I just think if people were to step up to the plate within their realm of being able to give, it could really make a difference,” said Sundquist. “If more business people, especially leaders of our community, came together with (unified) missions and causes, we’d be living in a different world.
“It’s not just about making money, it’s about making a difference,” he added. “Success is measured by what you can give back.”
Egloff is grateful to be involved with this process, and also hopes the effort will blossom. He said taking care of people is a community effort, and local organizations are already joining together.
The Hibbing Salvation Army is initially stocking the Home of Hope’s shelves with food and household items. And Range Transitional Housing is providing furniture. However, everything from citizens’ time to material resources is still needed to make this effort a sustained reality, he said.
“We all get blessed by helping others too,” said Egloff. “We’re not looking for the blessings. We just know this is what comes from it.”
If aware of someone in need of help, or to donate to “Homes of Hope,” call The Salvation Army at 263-5096 or Erik at Iron Range Rentals, 750-7949.