TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)— Lieutenant Governor Suzanne Crouch and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) have decided on the participants of the My Community, My Vision Program (MCMV).
The MCMV program is used to connect high school students in Indiana to each other and the communities they live in. The students have been organized into 4 groups across the state with the Mishawaka Mayor Dave Wood Youth Advisory Council, Terre Haute Mayor’s Youth Council,
Union City Playground Paradise and Oldenburg Entrepreneurship Council.
“Maintaining strong and viable communities is important to the health of Indiana, and we need future leaders to begin thinking about their own visions for their cities and towns,” said Lt. Gov. Crouch, Indiana’s Secretary of Agriculture and Rural Development. “My Community, My Vision invites these future decision-makers to share their ideas and plans with local officials. By their involvement, student leaders will learn about the planning process and the collaborative efforts required to create and maintain vibrant communities.”
The four selected groups, along with their nonprofit or local government sponsor, will participate in a six-month program of in-person workshops and a self-guided curriculum to help them set up the planning and fundraising for a place-based community project throughout the Spring Semester. During this time they will develop a budget, fundraising goals, and a strategy to do so over a 30-45 day fundraising period. If students can successfully plan, and meet a fundraising goal of $5,000-$25,000 they will have their funds matched by a grant from the CreatINg Places program. This program will allow students the opportunity to learn placemaking, stakeholder engagement, community planning, and networking and leadership before their final in-person workshop where they will present their work.
“Placemaking is an important element of building stable communities where Hoosiers of all ages want to live, work, and play,” said Jacob Sipe, IHCDA’s executive director. “The My Community, My Vision program gives young people a chance to invest in their hometowns and make their voices heard. These students are the future of Indiana’s workforce, economy, and leadership and we can’t wait to see what ideas they bring to life through this program.”
