Dubois County is a rural community in southern Indiana with a population of 42,543. Several towns and cities comprise Dubois County, including Jasper, Huntingburg, Dubois, Ferdinand, Birdseye, Holland, Celestine, and Schnellville.
Residents and tourists alike enjoy the recreational and cultural resources of Dubois County, home to Patoka Lake, the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame, Jasper City Mill, Huntingburg League Stadium, the historic Astra Theatre, and year-round festivals and celebrations, such as the Latino Culture Fest.
IU staff and faculty are working with Dubois County leaders and residents on projects ranging from women's health to Latinx cultural representation.
Dubois County, Center for Rural Engagement partner on Sustaining Hoosier Communities projects
Indiana University and Dubois County are expanding their community development collaboration with the Center for Rural Engagement's Sustaining Hoosier Communities initiative.
Sustaining involves helping, but most importantly, recognizing the fundamental characteristics of our community and through them, building up a community that supports growth in an equitable manner.
Rossina Sandoval, Director of Community Engagement, Southwest Dubois School Corporation
Projects
O’Neill Online partnered with representatives of the Southwest Dubois County School Corporation, the Vincennes University Jasper campus, and the Association of Latin Americans of Southern Indiana (ALASI) to design a resource center model for the local Latinx community. The project investigated Latinx resource centers in similar communities, developed a business plan, fostered strategies for communication, and compiled resources to secure financial stability.
Community Partner Rossina Sandoval, Southwest Dubois School Corporation Christian Blome, Vincennes University, Jasper Campus Evelyn Rivas, ALASI
IU Instructor Trent Engbers, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course SPCN-V 551 SPEA Connect Week
The City of Huntingburg recently upgraded its web presence. The current website needs to be reviewed to determine what content is essential, how the website should be updated (and by whom). The website is intended to be a helpful and up-to-date resource for residents and visitors alike.
Community Partner Rachel Steckler, City of Huntingburg
IU Instructor Les Morris, The Media School
To develop a solid foundation for healthy economic growth in our region, the community must grow its talent and educate the population. Familiarizing new residents with services and local businesses is a key step to encourage a sense of community and participation from current and future residents. The welcome packet is in paper form, and it is bulky and costly to print and mail. The community would like to investigate online options for these essential pieces of information.
Community Partner Darla Blazey, City of Jasper
IU Instructor Les Morris, The Media School
Dubois County has an excellent 136-acre county park with both passive and physical activities for residents of all generations and abilities to enjoy. Amenities like this are essential to the county’s ability to retain and attract talent to the community and to ensure a thriving future. Dubois County Park Board approved a master plan in 2018, and undergraduate public affairs students will think creatively about the fundraising needed to implement parts of the plan.
Community Partner Christine Prior, Dubois County Park Board
IU Instructor Lori Garraghty, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Project Course SPEA-V 458 Fund Development for Nonprofit Organizations
Funds of Knowledge refers to the historically and culturally lived experiences essential for the individual’s functioning and well-being. Funds of Knowledge research was conducted, including community interviews and assessments. This work needs to be published in a way that helps school administrators and teachers to establish safe and effective learning environments that sustain and honor the multicultural makeup of the county where we live.
Community Partner Rossina Sandoval Monsivais and Melissa Boeglin, Southwest Dubois School Corporation
IU Instructor Les Morris, The Media School
League Stadium in Huntingburg was the backdrop of the movie League of Their Own. How can the town and the region capitalize on this remarkable asset and boost tourism and visitors? Media school students will research similar sites and create a comprehensive tourism plan to increase annual events and visitors.
Community Partner Steve Schwinghamer, Rachel Steckler, and Dale Payne, City of Huntingburg
IU Instructor Les Morris, The Media School
Undergraduate students will design a permaculture garden for the Dove Recovery House that supports food production and health and wellness activities to benefit residents, visitors, staff, and others. Dove Recovery House is opening a residential treatment facility for women in November 2022, the first of its kind in Dubois County.
Community Partner Megan Durlauf, Dove Recovery House; Chelsea Brewer, Purdue Extension
IU Instructor Rhonda Baird, O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs
Partnering with the Heart of Jasper, a team of graduate accounting students will evaluate Jasper’s retail market. The data from this study will help fill vacant buildings downtown and make use of available grants for building facades and incentives to encourage and entice new businesses.
Community Partner Kate Schwenk and Darla Blazey, Heart of Jasper
IU Instructor Chris Cook, Kelley School of Business
Project Course BUS-A 569 Field Consulting
It is the duty of the Dubois County Museum to document the stories of the entire community, but Hispanic heritage is not currently represented in the Dubois County Museum exhibits and programs. This has been identified as an area of need in the museum planning sessions. Outreach efforts to the Latinx community are ongoing and the museum has partnered with community groups to present Latinx programs. The museum has the opportunity to generate a permanent Latinx history exhibit to meet the goal of inclusion and promote cultural awareness in the community.
Community Partner Shirley Ray, Dubois County Museum Rossina Sandoval Monsivais, Southwest Dubois School Corporation
People in the community are not taking advantage of mammography services. How can we promote preventive screenings and incentivize local citizens to take advantage of these screenings? Media school students will explore ways to encourage more residents to participate in screenings.
Community Partner Deidra Church, Memorial Hospital Foundation
IU Instructor Les Morris, The Media School
Purdue Extension—Dubois County seeks to empower local youth to address health issues among their peers and in the broader community. Students studying youth development will design an infrastructure for a youth health coalition modeled off of the Greene County Youth Health Coalition, engage youth in the development and initiation of the coalition, and facilitate goal-setting by youth for the first year of activity.
Community Partner Chelsea Brewer, Purdue Extension
IU Instructor Deb Getz, School of Public Health
Project Courses SPH-F 150 Intro to Lifespan Development SPH-F 180 Introduction to Child and Youth Work
