2022 Rural Fellows—Wakefield

Devi Dwarabandam, Jacob Zitek Author

08/08/2022 Added

7 Plays

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Student and Community Fellows talk about the community development projects they worked on in Wakefield, Nebraska during Summer 2022.

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[00:00:17.520]Welcome to Wakefield.
[00:00:18.990]My name is Megan Weaver
[00:00:20.160]and I'm the Economic Development Director
[00:00:22.110]with Wakefield Progressive.
[00:00:24.330]This year we had the opportunity
[00:00:26.820]to host two rural fellow students
[00:00:29.910]and it has been quite the experience for our community.
[00:00:34.230]We have seen changes in all levels
[00:00:38.370]from a personal level to a organizational level
[00:00:42.390]and to a community level.
[00:00:44.130]Past few months flew by.
[00:00:46.050]I had great opportunities to work with community leaders,
[00:00:48.780]business owners, and local government.
[00:00:52.800]One of the biggest projects that I've come up with
[00:00:54.840]for this summer was designing and conducting
[00:00:57.510]a community assessment for the city of Wakefield.
[00:01:00.690]I've got a great deal of support, in terms of resources,
[00:01:03.420]Northeast Nebraska Health Department.
[00:01:06.240]This was a perfect opportunity for me
[00:01:08.610]to apply my public health skills.
[00:01:11.040]I've had to work double time for meet the deadlines
[00:01:13.842]of other activities, and I've had to collect a lot of data
[00:01:16.770]on demographic health failures, a lot of qualitative
[00:01:19.740]and quantitative data related to city functions, opinions
[00:01:23.250]which are all together could help establish the priorities
[00:01:26.700]for the city future improvement planning.
[00:01:29.580]An event that I put on was, here in Wakefield was at 5K.
[00:01:32.730]I decided that, I just figured that'd be a good way
[00:01:34.560]for people to, kind of, explore the community
[00:01:36.840]and get to know more about Wakefield.
[00:01:38.550]It also would be a good way for people
[00:01:40.170]to just kind of get out in the town
[00:01:42.870]and it's fun for all ages.
[00:01:46.950]On a personal level, The Royal Fellows Program
[00:01:49.230]has helped me become a better leader.
[00:01:52.050]Before Devi, Dr. Devi and Jacob joined our team,
[00:01:56.400]I had been a one-man band
[00:01:59.040]in having, having these two gentlemen really helped me
[00:02:02.040]develop those skills that are gonna make me
[00:02:04.350]a better leader in our community.
[00:02:06.900]After learning a lot about the Wakefield's culture.
[00:02:09.240]I've noticed a lot of disparities
[00:02:10.590]in terms of promotional activities.
[00:02:12.690]So I went ahead and created brand new trailers
[00:02:16.464]and walkthroughs and teasers for the historic places
[00:02:20.460]and community interactive tours
[00:02:22.890]highlighting the diverse populations of the Wakefield
[00:02:25.530]which could prove to be beneficial in the long run
[00:02:28.320]for attracting the tourism
[00:02:31.170]using the city website and social media marketing.
[00:02:34.980]Another project that I worked on when I was here,
[00:02:36.510]in Wakefield, was updating
[00:02:37.680]each business's Google information.
[00:02:39.450]Many didn't have any information on Google at all.
[00:02:41.970]They had the wrong hours,
[00:02:43.170]or I didn't have links to their website.
[00:02:44.490]So I wanted to go through and make sure that got updated
[00:02:46.470]for each business in town.
[00:02:48.450]I also used that information to apply
[00:02:50.310]and put on city website, the new city website.
[00:02:52.721]And so, I went through and took the information
[00:02:55.110]I collected from all the Google's surveys
[00:02:58.110]that I handed out out
[00:02:59.370]and then put that on to the city website
[00:03:01.230]so they can use it to build a new website.
[00:03:03.690]As a public health professional,
[00:03:04.980]another project that I had to deal with
[00:03:06.810]was to take care of the growing epidemic of obesity
[00:03:11.100]which currently stands at 35% for 100K,
[00:03:14.760]in discerning counties of Wakefield.
[00:03:16.950]My tiny contribution was creating
[00:03:18.960]some educational materials,
[00:03:20.520]promotion and preventive strategies,
[00:03:22.650]targeting kids and seniors
[00:03:24.900]through a universal intervention strategy
[00:03:27.300]for promoting healthy lifestyle.
[00:03:29.790]In addition to putting together a 5K
[00:03:32.037]and updating business information,
[00:03:34.020]I also worked in research and grants.
[00:03:35.700]These grants were pertaining to community improvement
[00:03:38.337]in the downtown area.
[00:03:40.063]I met with community leaders and business owners
[00:03:42.900]to better identify what needs they would need
[00:03:45.150]for grant money and what specifically they wanted
[00:03:49.050]done in the community.
[00:03:51.678]A few of my other minor projects involved
[00:03:53.880]conducting the literature review
[00:03:55.410]on the feasibility of grocery store
[00:03:57.600]and assessing the need
[00:03:58.950]for a snap nutritional assistance program
[00:04:01.410]for low income families
[00:04:03.210]and directing a strategic plan for organizing
[00:04:06.270]a social brand
[00:04:07.110]called International Food Buzzer for the Future.
[00:04:10.110]From the organizational standpoint,
[00:04:13.350]they have been able to provide a little structure
[00:04:16.980]to our organization and breathe new life into what we do.
[00:04:23.190]My most rewarding activity was assisting in the planning
[00:04:27.259]and organizing an event called Wakefield Street Market,
[00:04:30.122]which turned out to be a pretty big hit
[00:04:32.487]for getting the people together
[00:04:34.350]and boosting the local economy
[00:04:36.090]for the business partners and also the community.
[00:04:39.690]One of the other activities Dr. Devi and Jacob
[00:04:42.570]had worked on, was the Wakefield Market.
[00:04:45.840]I have a assisted in a collaboration merger
[00:04:48.900]with a local in-town, live entertainment theater,
[00:04:51.450]called Little Red Hen Theatre,
[00:04:53.070]and it proved to be very helpful
[00:04:54.690]in attracting new people out there
[00:04:56.790]and just making this a brand,
[00:04:58.869]a very successful one than ever before.
[00:05:01.320]Wakefield is a truly amazing community
[00:05:02.970]filled with new ideas, hardworking people,
[00:05:04.920]and a bright future
[00:05:05.790]that we both hope to come back and visit.
[00:05:07.890]We are so grateful for the opportunity
[00:05:09.420]we were given to work in Wakefield this summer
[00:05:11.160]and experience beautiful Graves Park,
[00:05:13.080]meet with people and hear their stories
[00:05:14.490]and develop as inclusive leaders.
[00:05:15.966]Thank you so much Wakefield and Wakefield Progressive,
[00:05:18.144]for hosting us this summer,
[00:05:18.977]and for letting us learn from you.
[00:05:20.640]It was an honor to serve you. Thank you so much.

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2022 Rural Fellows—Wakefield

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