Allerton, IA

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!!

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. 

We have asked help from Welcome, We Help, inc.,  Corydon Horizon’s- for establishing our 501C3.  they have been a great help to us and because of that we are getting closer to establishing our non-profit status. 

We have asked the City Council to be our “bank” for the advancement of the $1500 from our $10,000 that will becoming from Horizons.  They also partnered with us to by allowing us to use town buildings to hold meetings and events.   We have also partnered with many other organizations and businesses throughout this whole process:

Wayne County Public Health, Allerton Ball Association, Allerton Fire Department, Allerton First Responders, Home Health, DHS, Hospice, Scicap, Ottumwa transit, Welcome, We Help; Local businesses, family planning and more. 

A group of local citizens have come together to purchase the old drug store in Allerton.  Ideas are to create a place to hold meetings and for young children and families to hang out.  The building still has the original soda fountain, stools and counter.  Efforts are under way to develop a group of volunteers to operate the facility.  Part of the store could be used for display of resource materials. 

On our board of Friends of Allerton, we have some members that would qualify as low income.  In our meetings everyone is treated the same- no fingers are pointed- and all suggestions are respectfully considered for discussion and adoption.   Representatives of the ministry, family workers, general laborers, retired individuals, office assistants, and council members are members.

A couple of partnerships that will help us and already have begun helping us take a step towards reducing poverty are our local businesses (donations for Family Fun Day and Communication Board);  head start;  Strong Families coordinator (information and contacts for Resource Day); Allerton city council (building use); churches; fire department and EMS (location for clothing pantry and partners for emergency shelter); and the Allerton Library(resource center). 

Three members of the Allerton Horizons community attended a regional workshop held in Chariton on Saturday, January 12, 2008.  The participants took part in a community decision-making simulation developed by David Beurle, applied their best assets to needs in their community, received information about resources to use in their work to reduce poverty, and had an opportunity to share with other Horizons communities.

Members of the Horizons project and City Council members attended an information meeting with other Wayne County residents on October 25, 2007 to learn about Housing Trust Funds.  The trust fund would generate dollars to address the problems associated with an aging housing inventory in the county.  Success of the project will require a joint effort.  A second meeting is planned for January 31, 2008 to determine the next steps.

This winter a family of 4 woke up early in the morning to the smell of smoke in the house. They were forced to leave their home and go out into the cold because their house had caught on fire. After watching their home be destoryed by the fire and water from the fire department, 2 members of the Horizon group who are part of the Allerton First Responders and 1 pantry committee member-who came out into the cold at 3:00 in the morning took the parents to the pantry “closet” and provided them with clothing for the 2 of them and for the children also. This family was very thankful for the community donating these items for hard times like his. Within the next month the family returned to the pantry member and returned the clothing that they had borrowed and also donated more clothing items that were given to them by other community members.