The Highland Apartments are creating holistic, healthy opportunities to support low income, elderly and disable residents. Cookbooks, painting classes and Let’s Go Fishing events have been done in the past. This past summer, the Vision 2040 grant will fund busing to the Minnesota Arboretum and tickets to the Stingers games.
PROJECT GOAL
In 2019, the Highland Apartments established an Engagement Project for their residents to unite as a community. They have done cooking classes together where they received some cookware to utilize the skills later. Recently, as part of their Vision 2040 funding, they were able to do additional events with their residents.
PROJECT CHALLENGES & SUCCESS
The funding was designated for a bus in the spring or early summer of 2020 to the Minnesota Arboretum and tickets to the Stingers games. However, with COVID-19, residents had to adjust their original plans. Their visit to the Minnesota Arboretum will be replanned to be something different in the summer of 2021 as Karen, Highland Apartments Housing Programs Specialist, maneuvers alternative plans through the pandemic.
On July 25, 2020 the residents of Highland Apartments got the opportunity to attend the Stingers game. This was a light as many residents had very limited interactions with ours during the pandemic.
PROJECT FUTURE
The original scope of this project was to have events in the spring and summer of 2020. However, in the wake of the pandemic, residents will get the opportunity to enjoy the other half of the Vision 2040 grant for a summer 2021 event. As restrictions continue to be lifted, Highland Apartments residents are looking forward to another event complete with busing and entertainment.
We at Vision 2040 want to pay a special thank you to Karen and those who assist her in planning these Resident Engagement events for the Highland Apartments community. As many of us that have lived in communal residences ourselves, we know personally how easily people can become lonely. These events organized to educate and entertain as a community aids in the Vision 2040 mission of making the Willmar Lakes Area a better place for all.
Vision 2040
Willmar Lakes Area Vision 2040 is a grassroots movement in Kandiyohi County to make our communities better than they were yesterday. Our mission is to support the dreamers and the doers in Kandiyohi County. We strive to create a better tomorrow through supporting projects that are community minded with special emphasis on the four focus areas; Health & Wellness, Communication, Inclusion and Engagement.
Vision 2040 is a collaborative, community-led and driven initiative composed of your neighbors, friends and coworkers.