The Importance Of Open Dialogue In Communities

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – Open dialogue is important to the health of a community.

It gets everyone on the same page and addresses important issues.

That’s what the Lowndes Community Foundation is trying to do in their first community discussion tonight, March 5.

The goal of the public forum is to discuss challenges and issues in Columbus and Lowndes County and to work together to address them.

“What is the true need of this community? What do the people, who are in need, see as a means of survival? A means of livelihood? A means of just day-to-day living,” says Columbus resident, Brenda Wilson.

That’s what the Lowndes Community Foundation is working to find out in tonight’s meeting.

The foundation is a non-profit group that distributes grants to projects that are for the betterment of Columbus and Lowndes County.

They have given funds to the Field of Dreams and other organizations in the past.

“We’re the savings account for the community, where as an organization like United Way, is a checking account, right? It funds a lot of different organizations and how they operate. Our purpose as a community foundation is to really serve as a savings account, so that people can invest in the long-term future of Lowndes County,” says Lowndes Community Foundation co-Chairman, Matt Bogue

Bogue says he expects things like crime and public education to come up in the discussion.

Shannon Jones says she believes the community needs to invest in more opportunities.

“We should get more trade school centers, more job beneficial centers for more of our 18, 23, 24, 25 year olds to kind of clean up the streets and give people more chances,” says Jones.

The open dialogue will not only raise awareness about issues in the area, but also help steer the funds where they need to go.

Bogue says it’s been successful in other communities.

“The takeaway from that was as organizations left the forum, they said, hey you know what?” Bogue explained, “We can address that now, and so there was an unknown need that bubbled to the surface, and organizations were present, who had the capability to address it immediately.”