Wibaux, MT

Written by Ginny Archdale
After the December 3 visioning meeting, the Horizons steering committee met to fill out a budget for the next phase of the Horizons program – community coaching. We are to receive $7000 to build capacity for community change.
We decided to use $1500 to develop a non-profit organization that has an Internal Revenue Service 501(c)3 designation. We hope that will help various organizations in Wibaux obtain more grant dollars. As far as we know, the only 501(c)3 organization in town is the nursing home foundation, whose purpose is very specific. Most private foundations and corporations with grant programs want to give to a 501(c)3 organization, so that their grants are tax deductible. Not having one has hampered some community groups in the past when they have applied for grants. The purpose of the new 501(c)3 organization in Wibaux would be general community betterment. The chamber of commerce will take the lead, but hopes to have other groups involved too, including Friends of the Library, the food bank, softball parents, etc. Part of the Horizons money will be spent to pay the IRS application fee for the 501(c)3 organization, and part will be used to pay someone locally to fill out the application.
We also budgeted $4000 to lay a foundation, if you will, for improving housing and reducing blight in Wibaux. We would like to offer these funds to local governments as match for a Community Development Block Grant program technical assistance grant to hire a housing expert to come to Wibaux and do a housing inventory and needs assessment. This is the first step in getting grant money to rehabilitate or tear down older buildings, or grant money to build new low-income or senior housing. Ekalaka hired a housing expert this way, then obtained a housing rehabilitation grant and tore down a number of old buildings. A couple of years ago, the town council talked to the same person who wrote Ekalaka’s grant, but because they would have needed to put up $10,000 without any guarantees, the town council backed off at that time. The Horizons money may provide incentive to look at that again.
We also budgeted $1500 from our community coaching funds for “capacity building”. We will send local people to conferences that will help them learn economic development strategies for our community
The community coaching phase of Horizons takes place over the next six months. At the end of that time, we should be eligible for another $8500 to be used for a specific project. We still have to decide what that project will be. We already received a $500 grant after the study circles, and a $1500 grant after completing the leadership training. The study circles grant is being used to purchase garbage cans for the downtown area. The leadership plenty grant has also been designated for community beautification, and we need to have a meeting with those who were interested to decide exactly how to go about that. We have talked about setting up a revolving loan fund for people wanting to paint or otherwise improve the exterior of their homes or businesses, or to offer it as outright grant funds based on an application process. We also have talked about buying paint and taking on one project as a group of volunteers.

From friendly people to good schools, good restaurants, and a safe, caring community, the people who participated in the Horizon’s survey had a lot of good things to say about this community.

After nearly a year of work with small groups, conducting a survey, and getting input from everyone from high school students to senior citizens, Wibaux’s community has worked to create a vision for the community. December 3, 2007, a community visioning meeting developed the following statement:

Wibaux is an attractive and inviting community that has diversified businesses based on hospitality, our rich history, natural resources and global marketing strategy. Our community offers an unsurpassed quality of life that boasts affordable housing for all while providing an environment where everyone can prosper and develop into healthy productive citizens.