Community POWER Networks Project

About the Program

Category: County Resiliency (Best in Category)

Year: 2009

Hennepin County’s Community POWER networks project builds on the experience of the Solid Waste Management Coordinating Board's successful Community POWER grants program. Community POWER partners with community groups such as neighborhood organizations, schools, churches, senior citizen groups, youth organizations, and civic groups to reach individuals who are not currently aware of waste reduction practices. The organizations receive training on waste issues, free written materials and funding for a project that they design. Hennepin County saw an opportunity to expand the reach of the program by focusing on specific networks. They are currently working with two networks, congregations, and Early Childhood Family Education programs. They partnered with previous grantee organizations that had developed successful and replicable projects to create high-quality materials, such as toolkits of curriculum or packaged lesson plans customized for the network that others can easily use. They then promote the toolkits throughout the network. They provide the necessary technical training to implement the toolkits and in some cases provide minimal funding for supplies and field trips. By using this approach, they have been able to reach more people at a reduced cost. In 2008, the county worked with 15 congregations and six Early Childhood Family Education programs.