Muscatine Journal, IA
05-12-06
Community-based family program seeks funding
By Cynthia Beaudette of the Muscatine Journal
MUSCATINE, Iowa — Mary Wildermuth and Bob Owen aren’t financial
advisors.
But they have an investment plan they’d like to offer the community.
Wildermuth, director of special projects for the Muscatine Community School
District, and Owen, Iowa State University (ISU) Extension Education Director
for Muscatine and Cedar counties, are encouraging area residents to trade
their time, money and skills for a stronger community.
Since 2003, Wildermuth and Owen have assisted more than 100 area families in
completing the “Strengthening Families Program,” a course for families with
children who are entering sixth and seventh grades. The program is part of
Promoting School/Community Partnerships to Enhance Resilience (PROSPER),
a research project developed by the Iowa and Pennsylvania state universities.
The program’s purpose is to open the lines of communication among family
members as children enter adolescence and are exposed to increasing peer
pressure. The hope is that enhanced family support will decrease incidences of
substance abuse, teen pregnancy and legal issues in the teen population.
Muscatine is one of 28 test communities in Iowa and Pennsylvania that received
a grant to get the program off the ground.
The grant paid for trained facilitators who led the course in 2003 and 2004.
Grant money also provided curriculum and materials, and dinners for the families
who attended the evening course. Child care was paid for through ISU.
Area businesses donated gift certificates for gas and merchandise to reward the
families for their commitment to the program.
Wildermuth and Owen coordinate the program, which is administered through
the Muscatine Community School District and the Iowa State University
Extension office in Muscatine County.
The grant has run out, but coordinators are planning another course for next fall
for up to 50 families.
Wildermuth, Owen and others involved in PROSPER are seeking funding and
asking area churches, agencies and other organizations to consider providing
meeting sites, child care and meals for the program.
Owen said the school district is contributing about $15,000 in funds this year.
Ultimately, Owen said PROSPER staff would like to reach approximately 25
percent of all families in the Muscatine Community School District who have
children beginning middle school which equals about 100 families each year.
This would cost about $60,000 annually.
Paul Carroll, development consultant for the Community Foundation of Greater
Muscatine, said his organization is assisting the PROSPER partnership in
coordinating volunteers, seeking money and establishing an endowment fund.
Like Wildermuth and Owen, Carroll said his Foundation sees the project as an
investment in the future.
Muscatine resident Laurie Burk, a local arranger for PROSPER, said she and
one of her children completed the program two years ago and her family still
reaps the benefits.
“I think the best thing we learned was how to have successful family team
meetings,” said Burk, a mother of three children ages 13, 14 and 15. “We still
follow the formula, and it still works.”
Contact Cynthia Beaudette at
563-263-2331, ext. 323, or cynthia.beaudette@muscatinejournal.com