Dubois County, IU celebrate Sustaining Hoosier Communities success

Tuesday, September 03, 2024

JASPER, Ind. — A joyous celebration at The Parklands of Jasper on Wednesday, August 14, commemorated two years of partnership between Dubois County and the Indiana University Center for Rural Engagement's Sustaining Hoosier Communities initiative.

The event brought together nearly 50 Dubois County community members, organization leaders and IU faculty and staff.

The collaboration successfully launched 31 community projects and connected 580 IU students and 47 IU faculty and staff with organizations throughout Dubois County. Projects focused on areas including food resilience, health services access, arts and culture, business development, tourism, cybersecurity and Latinx cultural representation. The effort built upon quality of place collaborations between IU and Dubois County dating back to 2018.

Colleen Rose, director of student engagement for the IU Center for Rural Engagement, expressed gratitude to the community partners of Dubois County for their warm and collaborative spirit throughout the partnership.

"To say it clearly, this community has had an impact on IU," Rose said in her remarks. "Your willingness to give students an opportunity to try out what it looks like to utilize their talents towards the greater good has an impact long after this partnership. IU students will and do remember their experiences working on projects with real people that impact real communities."

The ALASI Resource Center in Huntingburg is one of many initiatives brought to life through the collaboration. Through Sustaining Hoosier Communities, O'Neill Online partnered with Southwest Dubois County School Corporation representatives, the Vincennes University Jasper campus, and ALASI to design a resource center model for the Dubois County Latinx community.

Thanks to their combined efforts, the ALASI Resource Center opened its doors in September 2023.

"With the support and interaction of their staff, faculty and students, they reimagined our assets and presented an idea for our vision," said Rossina Sandoval, ALASI board member.

Other community-identified visions that became a reality include the Jasper Piano and Astra Alley murals the downtown Holland Mural, the redesigned Dubois County CARES website, and Voces Vivas, a media project that pays tribute to the Hispanic families of Dubois County through a compilation of narrative interviews.

The partnership also spurred student-led health and education needs assessments, business development plans and analyses, infrastructure designs, focus groups, creative proposals, and grant-writing efforts throughout Dubois County.

I am proud of Dubois County and proud of Indiana University for demonstrating what is possible when Hoosiers work together to create their shared future.
Denny Spinner, Center for Rural Engagement executive director and former Mayor of Huntingburg, Indiana.

"I am proud of Dubois County and proud of Indiana University for demonstrating what is possible when Hoosiers work together to create their shared future," said Denny Spinner, interim executive director for the IU Center for Rural Engagement.

Since 2017, Sustaining Hoosier Communities has partnered local communities with Indiana University faculty, students and staff to improve and enrich Hoosier health, prosperity and vitality. Lawrence, Orange, Greene and Washington counties have partnered with IU through this community-engaged teaching initiative, and Daviess County is launching its partnering projects this fall.

Dubois County, IU celebrate Sustaining Hoosier Communities success

Center for Rural Engagement resources and social media channels