Allerton, IA

Pam Vaughn has agreed to be one of the 9 board members of the initial Wayne County Housing Trust Fund.  There have been several residents of Allerton helping with the steps to organize this service for the community.  Approval by the Iowa Finance Authority will allow the group to apply for funding from the state of Iowa to address the housing needs of low-income residents of the county.  A housing assistance plan is under development and articles of incorportation and by-laws will be approved at the next meeting.

At the beginning of June, Friends of Allerton hosted a Family Fun  Day at our town’s community building.  Informational booths were set up for people to stop by and visit.  There was everything from finger-painting with edible paint to games for the little ones,  learning how to cast a fishing pole, bike safety, disaster planning, our 3 sub committees, healthy snacks, summer safety, blood pressure checks, planting vegetables, to other games for all ages.  For the first time of doing this, this was a HUGH success.   We had over 200 people attend.  A free meal was provided for the cost of filling out a survey.  From these surveys we got names of several people who would like to become more involved.  Music entertainment  was provided by our local singers.  An ice cream social was a hit, parents of the Allerton ball teams donated the ice cream.  Donations were collected from the town’s businesses and individuals to have prizes that were all centered around poverty issues , such as smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, summer safety kit, gardening kit, fishing poles, laundry kit, phone cards, and small prizes for little ones.  A local nurse practitioner practices bike safety, she donated many many bike helmets and demonstrated how to use one correctly. Over 30 helmets  were given out to different children!!!!

All in all, we couldn’t have asked for a better turn out.  Because this was such a great success, we were already given donations for next years Family Fun Day!!

Once we have established our 501c3, we plan on applying for grants to help better the community.

We have board members who work with low income families. This is a very big asset for us.  Also the Extension office is another big  resource that we continue using as a partner.  Local businesses, local organizations and volunteers in the Allerton community provide support for our projects.

The board of Friends of Allerton is currently completing an application process for community groups to use when they have identified projects that address poverty.  Applicants will have to apply for and visit with the Board about their projects to request funds.   They will be asked to report monthly or when their project is completed to show progress and document use of the funds.. 

Our goal is create a clearing house for resouces in the community.  Friends of Allerton will help others by providing informational resources, money, volunteers or encouraging partnerships .  We want to be here to help any way that we can.  I believe once Friends of Allerton gets off of the ground, we will see a big diffence in community envolvement

In order to expand leadership opportunities, Friends of Allerton will partner with organizations and businesses of the community.  This provides us with information to share with others;  but it also gives the organizations and businesses a way to help the community. 

Friends of Allerton operates as a diverse group.  We have a president, vp, secretary and treasurer- when something comes to the board, it is voted on- majority ruling-  this way everyone has their say on what should be done- no one single person will be incharge of the whole group - it will take team effort. 

Friends of Allerton are taking steps to partner with our towns’ booster club.  This is a community organization that sponsors AllertonWorld in the fall and a Community Theater production in the winter.  We feel both organizations can profit from developing some joint efforts to sponsor celebrations and other family events and will get more people involved. 

As a board, we have asked the sub committees to report every so often (every 3 months).  We asked this from each group because we want to see involvement from everyone at all times.  We do not want to see something started and not get finished.  We are working on a paper process for committees to fill out to monitor what money will be used for  what - they will also have to report in every so often on their progress.