News
Member Spotlight: IRIS, Initiative for Rural Innovation & Stewardship – How to fall in love with a community
In a world that is steadily becoming more mobile, the communities of North Central Washington have discovered a great asset in how rooted their culture of community is. Many residents have a practice of cherishing their stories and passing down wisdom. These stories create a very connected community, despite people being spread out over an area that includes Okanogan, Douglas, Grant, and Chelan counties.
The Initiative for Rural Innovation & Stewardship (IRIS) is building on this strong sense of place by gathering and sharing stories that enhance a sense of belonging, inspire action, and build community. They intentionally gather stories that can help others be successful, regardless of how long they have lived there. And, through their format of sharing successes of the community, they promote the nonprofits and other organizations that support it.
From the beginning, they wanted to document what is working well. IRIS has collected over 600 stories, both written records and full interviews recordings. At IRIS’s annual Success Summit, community members assembled to celebrate achievements—a day dedicated to honoring forward-looking, positive endeavors. After experiencing devastating wildfires that severely impacted the area, the 2018 summit host town of Pateros showcased their resilience and hope, with over 150 community leaders coming together to share their stories. Featured topics ranged from wildfire awareness campaigns to the construction of a wildlife crossing under a busy highway to a YWCA facilitating conversations about racial injustice.
Nancy Warner, IRIS program coordinator, reflects on the energy produced from the summit, talking about the powerful buzz of positivity in the air. Attendees articulate their experience as “falling in love” with the community over the day. Before, if they passed through the area, they might have noticed the landscape and moved on. After hearing the stories from that community, they can see the region’s true beauty. This year IRIS is gearing up to replicate this model of connection across the region, creating a new series of mini-summits, made possible in partnership with the North Central Washington Regional Library system.
Check out these insights from IRIS’s celebration through stories:
- When you focus on what is good in the community, on the successes, you develop respect for that community and solidify a positive identity. This encourages constructive relationships and motivates leaders to find new solutions.
- Stories lead to success in many ways. Brooklyn Holton, board chair for IRIS, talks about how her experience of listening to stories supports her personal growth and exposes her to communities outside of the ones she lives and works in. In addition to those benefits, it also helps her professional growth and is a useful tool at her job.
- One of IRIS’s most useful aspects is their openness to change. They recognize that the Success Summit is different every year, because the the host community is new every year. They prioritize being receptive to the world and rolling with changes as they come.
- IRIS is actively incorporating the network leadership model in their services. After attending the 2018 Central Washington Conference for the Greater Good, they attended a follow up day-long deep dive in Yakima led by the conference key-note speakers. The goal being to strengthen the entire nonprofit community by facilitating leadership through collaboration. They are eager to attend the 2019 Central Washington Conference for the Greater Good, featuring a keynote about stories as a way to bring people together.
Calling all endeavors in North Central Washington: IRIS invites you to share your story. They are enthusiastic about promoting nonprofits and love to highlight the good work they are doing, along with personal and community stories. Read some of the stories from the 2018 Success Story Exchange and learn how to host your own mini-summit on their website.
IRIS Success Summit | Pateros event builds community around regional achievements
Read the Wenatchee Word Story
“If you think you can, you often do,” one participant at the NCW Community Success Summit held Nov. 15 in Pateros noted. While she was referring to ways in which young people can step into leadership roles, her words seemed equally relevant to the 130 people from across the region who gathered in the Pateros school gym to share successes and reaffirm the importance of community.
The Initiative for Rural Innovation & Stewardship (IRIS) believes that we can work together to build healthier communities through community engagement and storytelling; the experiences and lessons shared at the summit along with the connections and possibilities for collaboration that emerged, will help us do just that.
Pateros Mayor Carlene Anders accepts the IRIS Summit baton from Chelan Mayor Mike Cooney. The 2017 summit was held in Chelan. (Provided photo/Chris Majors)
If you missed the summit in Pateros, would like to build on conversations started there, or are inspired to continue highlighting community successes, IRIS invites you to host a mini-summit in your community. Just download the discussion guide, the 2019 Success Story Exchange form, and a digital copy of the 2018 supplement at irisncw.org. You can also pick up a printed copy of the supplement at any one of the North Central Regional Library branches.
“In a time when problems can feel so large, connecting with others who have already made things happen makes positive change seem very much within reach,” one summit participant pointed out.
Mayor Carlene Anders kicked off the 2018 day of storytelling reflecting on how the Pateros community continues to work together to recover from the 2014 Carlton Complex Fire — a disaster that destroyed 152 homes across the school district and tested many people’s resolve to stay.
“This gym was used to serve three meals a day for six weeks after the fire,” she told attendees; this situation brought the community together on a regular basis and helped identify community needs that could be matched with resources.
Doug Provo helps facilitate his table’s discussion during the Success Story Exchange. (Provided photo/IRIS)
The town’s motto and tagline for the summit, “Pateros Strong,” is an expression of the community’s resolve to recover.
“To be strong, you have to make choices,” Anders said explaining that most people did decide to stay — to dig in, make a difference, and work with their neighbors to help build a stronger, more resilient community.
Following a presentation about the history of Pateros by students from Joy McCulley’s Washington State History class, community members Mark Miller and Smoker Marchand teamed up to describe the creation of the Methow Monument, a prominent new exhibit on the Pateros waterfront.
Forged in metal by Marchand, a member of the Methow Tribe, this monument fills a long-standing need to provide historic and cultural information about the Methow Indians who lived in the area for up to 13,000 years prior to settlement. Marchand said his aunt summed up the significance of the monument when she told him, “You brought our people home.”
Success stories from the broader region were featured in another panel including Teresa Zepeda and Lizbeth Rivera from the Community for the Advancement of Family Education (CAFÉ), who shared their success in cultivating young leaders. Located in the Wenatchee Valley, CAFÉ regularly brings families together to share food, enjoy cultural activities, and to participate in youth leadership development.
The North Central Regional Library bookmobile was parked outside the school. Tours were offered at the conclusion of the summit. (Provided photo/IRIS)
Bringing people together around nature is something Julie Vanderwal with the Okanogan Highlands Alliance has done well. Now going into its ninth year, Vanderwal talked about how “Highland Wonders” celebrates the natural history of the lands and waters of this unique region all while strengthening relationships among the community along the way.
Luke Ellington with the North Central Regional Library talked about how they have expanded the bookmobile program that provides better access for residents across NCW with limited access to one of the 30 branch libraries. Ellington also offered tours of the bookmobile parked outside the school doors following the summit. The bookmobile will also have 2018 supplements available for the public.
All together, these and more than 50 other stories shared during small table discussions co-facilitated by Pateros students affirmed what a caring, learning and respectful community still exists here.
Summit participant Maggie Reilly said, “I wasn’t sure what to expect,” of her first summit, “but I found it to be both refreshing and inspiring.” Another attendee echoed her sentiments adding that “it certainly opened my heart and mind to the greater rural setting of the region, especially the host town of Pateros.”
IRIS gathers success stories that contribute to the kind of community we want to live in — one that maintains diverse, healthy ecosystems, fosters a high quality of life for all, and bridges cultural and political divides. Besides the summit, these stories are shared in a printed supplement, through local newspaper features, and via the Success Story Exchange on the IRIS website.
By 2020, IRIS plans to distill much of what they have learned to produce a web-based and print book, “Thinking Like a Community,” that will connect success stories like those from Pateros and the greater region to provide a springboard for action that can help the next generation thrive.
IRIS is proud to acknowledge our 2020 Legacy Partners including the Port of Douglas County, Community Choice, The Wenatchee World, and Wenatchee Valley College. Annual sponsors for this event include the City of Pateros, Pateros School District, Craft3, Molina Healthcare, Okanogan Conservation District, The Nature Conservancy, Coordinated Care, Washington Department of Agriculture, Washington Department of Ecology, Economic Alliance, North Central Regional Library, North Central Washington Economic Development District, and the Bridge Research and Innovation Center.
IRIS fosters sustainable rural communities in NCW by gathering and sharing success stories that enhance a sense of belonging, inspire action, and build community. We believe that thriving communities in a healthy environment create success. For more information, visit irisncw.org.
Nancy Warner is program coordinator for The Initiative for Rural Innovation & Stewardship in Wenatchee.
Art of Community | Rufus Woods: Success Summit will restore your faith in humanity
If the state of national politics has your dauber down and you could use some inspiration, make sure you sign up for the North Central Washington Success Summit in Pateros on Thursday, Nov. 15. The summit title is “Pateros Strong: Thinking Like a Community” and it is put on by a tiny nonprofit called the Initiative for Rural Innovation and Stewardship, or IRIS.
IRIS is one of our region’s most effective and constructive community-building organizations, thanks to the vision and dogged determination of its leader, Nancy Warner, and her outstanding board of directors.
The folks involved in IRIS see collaboration, cooperation and sharing success stories that can be replicated as essential for fostering successful communities and building social capital.
When I look at the body of work that IRIS has created — dozens of success stories, numerous oral histories from around the region and the six success summits thus far, to name a few — I am astounded. Our communities are better off because of this work. People are learning about what works and have opportunities to put those lessons to work in their communities.
I spoke with IRIS Executive Director Nancy Warner for my Art of Community NCW podcast recently. We spoke about her background in conservation, the origins of IRIS and about the upcoming North Central Washington Success Summit. If you want a clinic on how to strengthen the community from the ground up, she’s got a lot of wisdom to share. Check out the podcast on iTunes or at artofcommunityncw.com.
When you talk to Warner, what comes across is her unbridled passion and enthusiasm for encouraging community resilience and sustainability. In guiding this lightly funded and ambitious nonprofit, she has shown remarkable determination and grit. She and her board have found a way to be a community resource on a lean budget.
One of the fascinating projects produced by IRIS was a DVD history of small-town ski areas. What she and her fellow interviewers discovered was that these efforts succeeded because people came together, saw a shared vision, and a lot of people shared part of the work. That’s the spirit that built our communities.
Building community was something that Warner learned as a long-time employee of The Nature Conservancy. She and her husband Chuck moved to the valley to manage the local TNC operation and Nancy served as a program manager.
Working for TNC allowed her to network with people from all over the country and learn how they were working with landowners to solve their issues and help the environment at the same time.
Collaborative, community-focused organizations like IRIS, TNC, Chelan-Douglas Land Trust and others have contributed to a shift in the culture of the region. “I think I think that altogether our region is as is becoming more positive and proactive in a lot of ways than it might have been 20 years ago,” Warner observed.
The annual Success Summit has become a celebration of community success that has been held in various communities throughout the region, such as Waterville, Quincy and Chelan.
This year, the Success Summit will be held in Pateros and the first part of the program will focus on the unique resilience that this small community has demonstrated throughout its history when tragedy strikes. The latest example was the Carlton Complex wildfire of 2014, which devastated the town and the region. The tragedy brought communities together and recovery has been a collaborative effort that has been remarkably successful.
The second half of the Success Summit will highlight a sampler of success stories throughout the region. There are opportunities to share success stories and learn from others and then apply that knowledge to civic improvement efforts.
On Wednesday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m., there will be an opening reception at Pateros School that will feature a new documentary called “Twisp: The Power of Community” that celebrates that town’s resilience in the face of the same wildfire.
I’ve been to all but one of the Success Summits put on by IRIS and I can honestly say that the spirit of sharing, learning, celebrating and collaboration shines through. If you want to be inspired and encouraged about what is possible in your community, this is an event not to be missed.
Given the political climate nationally, it can be challenging feel positive about the future of our country. Those who attend the NCW Success Summit will find a hundred reasons to feel hope and confidence in the future. It will restore your faith in humanity and in your neighbors when you see how many people are striving to make a positive difference for their towns
To attend this amazing event, check out irisncw.org and click on the tab for the Success Summit.
The Art of Community Project is dedicated to fostering and celebrating creative community building in the region. See all of the stories and podcasts at artofcommunityncw.com.
For more info. on the Summit please click here