RFI Student Serviceship 2016 | Cozad, Neb.

Mackenzie & Brierly Kuhudzayi Author

12/05/2016 Added

53 Plays

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Camp Comeca-Cozad

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[00:00:00.505](upbeat music)
[00:00:09.095]My name's Mackenzie and this Brierly, my husband,
[00:00:11.257]and we were in the community of Cozad this summer.
[00:00:15.953]Our application from the city of Cozad
[00:00:17.965]was actually from the community and Camp Comeca, together,
[00:00:21.649]which is a Methodist Camp in the community.
[00:00:23.831]So, we were to focus specifically on this camp
[00:00:26.838]and the community together.
[00:00:30.780]The goal was to find ways for Camp Comeca to strengthen its
[00:00:34.616]relationship with Cozad, and gather ideas
[00:00:37.274]for year-round utilization of the camp.
[00:00:39.703]The camp used to have very strong connection
[00:00:42.652]and relationship with the community of Cozad.
[00:00:45.334]And over the years, it's kind of
[00:00:49.464]deteriorated a little bit.
[00:00:50.811]There's been a lot of changeover in management,
[00:00:53.396]there've been a few burnt bridges,
[00:00:54.695]and so our goal was to kind of provide that foundation
[00:00:58.807]so that they could rebuild that bridge.
[00:01:02.588]The majority of our time was spent
[00:01:04.905]presenting to community groups that they had listed out
[00:01:08.204]that they would like us to speak with,
[00:01:09.608]different stakeholders in the community
[00:01:11.024]as volunteer groups, people who use camp as customers.
[00:01:15.666]And then also, interviewing individuals,
[00:01:18.929]whether those were people that were
[00:01:21.013]members of the board of directors of the camp,
[00:01:23.367]or people who have been hurt by the camp,
[00:01:27.791]people who have loved the camp since they were a kid
[00:01:30.340]and they still volunteer there every year,
[00:01:32.566]just to get a really good picture of the feedback.
[00:01:36.663]We also spent a lot of time
[00:01:38.736]preparing for and holding town-hall style meetings.
[00:01:41.305]We did three full ones, and then one partial one
[00:01:44.771]that was a little bit abbreviated.
[00:01:47.047]And then we also compiled all of that feedback,
[00:01:50.387]every single response that was ever given
[00:01:53.306](Mackenzie and audience laughs)
[00:01:54.740]And provide that to
[00:01:58.299]the board of directors of the camp.
[00:02:00.092]So we just wanted to show them,
[00:02:01.931]things are being painted,
[00:02:03.322]there are handicapped accessible ramps being
[00:02:06.994]put into the cabins, which was something that was important,
[00:02:09.556]because they have the Muscular Dystrophy Association,
[00:02:13.074]has a huge camp that they put on every single year.
[00:02:15.805]So, to allow them to access more of the facilities,
[00:02:18.050]it was a good accomplishment.
[00:02:20.335]Then moving along to the Standardized questionnaire,
[00:02:23.701]I'll let you kind of skim over those.
[00:02:25.811]But this is one of the main supervisors that we worked with,
[00:02:29.941]was Jen Wilford, Jen McCune, she recently got married.
[00:02:33.354]She kind of suggested to us that we should
[00:02:37.545]individually interview people, just to feel out the climate,
[00:02:41.478]for what we would see in a town-hall meeting.
[00:02:45.606]We identified 14 different people,
[00:02:47.708]and we were able to interview all of them,
[00:02:49.813]except for one or two,
[00:02:52.310]just to really get candid answers back.
[00:02:59.009]Yeah, that prepared us well.
[00:03:01.220]Some of the Questionnaire Themes
[00:03:02.700]from the individual interviews,
[00:03:06.194]that the Camp Assets were
[00:03:07.029]that it had great facilities, land and location.
[00:03:09.727]What's underutilized? Everything.
[00:03:12.055](Mackenzie and audience laughs)
[00:03:13.626]And Ideas for Improvement,
[00:03:15.403]a more effective communication.
[00:03:16.592]And those were from the specific, individual ones.
[00:03:19.706]And then we got more themes from
[00:03:21.289]the town-hall style meetings.
[00:03:24.201]For the town-hall meetings, the six questions
[00:03:26.355]that we came up with were kind of based
[00:03:28.345]a little bit on a thought analysis,
[00:03:30.065]but also on appreciative inquiries.
[00:03:32.040]We wanted to start out with kind of
[00:03:33.871]a dreaming or a positive type question,
[00:03:36.446]so we had people share fond memories at Camp Comeca.
[00:03:39.453]Maybe that was their kid doing a post-prom there,
[00:03:42.674]maybe it was 4-H Camp,
[00:03:44.324]or sitting at a bonfire as a camp staff.
[00:03:50.774]We really felt that
[00:03:51.985]that really opened them up to be able to share
[00:03:54.950]the more heavy stuff that we would be discussing.
[00:03:57.729]Like in any of the kind of internship,
[00:04:02.046]there were a few pieces that were at odds,
[00:04:04.564]that Mackenzie and I kind of figure out.
[00:04:07.409]And I say that they were at odds,
[00:04:09.012]but I kind of take this in the positive light
[00:04:11.486]that it just gave us
[00:04:13.025]a lot of experience,
[00:04:14.889]for Mackenzie and I.
[00:04:15.898]We kind of enjoyed getting our hands dirty in this way.
[00:04:19.814]So, the camp has unique facilities, okay?
[00:04:22.162]Cozad has made a lot of donations,
[00:04:23.316]and booked a lot of things at the camp that are not
[00:04:25.911]at other Methodist camps, okay?
[00:04:28.573]But, they're beautiful, they're great,
[00:04:30.261]but they take a lot of money to maintain,
[00:04:32.983]which the average camp cannot do.
[00:04:39.425]And also, the funding that comes from
[00:04:40.904]the Methodist Church is only for Methodist Campers,
[00:04:43.746]so that kind of complicated things there.
[00:04:46.566]So, the camp was in the red in the summer,
[00:04:48.807]and is responsible for its own camp income
[00:04:52.123]the rest of the year.
[00:04:54.964]So, it needs increased Methodist conference involvement.
[00:05:00.961]No, it has increased Methodist involvement,
[00:05:03.425]after it had a Camp Director that was very successful
[00:05:06.977]a few years back.
[00:05:07.988]He kind of stepped down,
[00:05:09.281]and then around that same period of time,
[00:05:11.659]the Conference formed.
[00:05:14.219]And one of the things they decided
[00:05:15.625]when they formed was to increase their presence
[00:05:18.145]in their camps around Nebraska.
[00:05:23.858]Okay, press the button,
[00:05:25.375]one too many times.
[00:05:27.019]Okay, so they increased their involvement,
[00:05:29.875]but then they're kind of micro-managers.
[00:05:32.530]And they've taken a little bit of voice away from the camps,
[00:05:36.030]from the communities,
[00:05:36.919]which is huge for Camp Comeca,
[00:05:38.651]because Cozad hasn't had so much time and people
[00:05:42.534]and financial involvement in Camp Comeca.
[00:05:46.639]And so, the Conference Director kind of wants
[00:05:49.273]to save the camp from Cozad,
[00:05:50.891](Brierly and audience laughs)
[00:05:52.019]and the community kind of wants to
[00:05:53.948]save the camp from the Conference.
[00:05:55.657](audience laughter)
[00:05:58.469]Which is kind of fun.
[00:06:02.357]So we came up with Suggestions for Action
[00:06:04.012]for the camp, okay?
[00:06:06.078]The camp needed to advertise itself more.
[00:06:08.121]There's a Visit Nebraska Guide out there,
[00:06:10.679]and there's a Cozad one as well,
[00:06:12.692]and so we told them how they can get themselves into that.
[00:06:17.315]And people that are even coming into the state,
[00:06:20.155]going across the state, see it,
[00:06:21.944]see it as a place to even spend the night,
[00:06:24.729]see it as another option from your kind of
[00:06:26.486]little motels that are around Dawson County.
[00:06:31.255]One of the biggest issues is that Cozad would like
[00:06:34.188]their old Camp Director back,
[00:06:35.415]or they'd like someone like the old Camp Director.
[00:06:37.512]So they're almost not giving the new Director
[00:06:39.751]a chance to be themselves,
[00:06:41.102]a chance to embrace their, you know,
[00:06:42.306]have their own leadership style.
[00:06:44.721]Just to counteract that the church,
[00:06:46.991]the Welcome Committee,
[00:06:48.668]we suggested that they have a Welcome Committee
[00:06:51.205]that's from the community or from the Methodist Church,
[00:06:54.424]to welcome in the new Director,
[00:06:56.053]help them get acclimated, and help them get going,
[00:06:58.622]and just get a head start on building that relationship.
[00:07:02.900]The Site Council and the community members need to
[00:07:05.977]have an Appreciative Inquiry
[00:07:07.743]about the role of the Site Council,
[00:07:09.822]the role of the community,
[00:07:11.135]and the role of the Methodist Church, kind of going forward.
[00:07:14.852]We actually gave them the contact details
[00:07:16.916]for the Heartland Center for Leadership Development.
[00:07:20.590](Audience laughs)
[00:07:22.472]So, if you get a call. (Brierly laughs)
[00:07:27.465]More effective communication for volunteer opportunities.
[00:07:30.914]So for example, people in Cozad did not want
[00:07:34.086]to be asked for money any more.
[00:07:35.422]They wanted to be asked for projects.
[00:07:37.078]So if you need new drapes in the dorms,
[00:07:38.817]okay well, ask us for new drapes in the dorms.
[00:07:41.343]Who has got the material?
[00:07:42.830]Whose got the skills to build them,
[00:07:45.898]to sew them, to make them, to put them up?
[00:07:47.883]Instead of asking for however much money to
[00:07:50.020]have it done professionally or something like that.
[00:07:52.936]And then we went to a lot of business owners as well,
[00:07:56.356]just with their interviews,
[00:07:58.190]just asking questions, just listening.
[00:08:01.732]Volunteer Service. They had an open-house,
[00:08:03.859]they needed people to man stations,
[00:08:05.775]and tell people where to go.
[00:08:07.654]We volunteered at that.
[00:08:09.726]Cozad has a Bands, Brew and BBQ every summer.
[00:08:12.807]That's what's written up there is what it is,
[00:08:16.844]Bands playing, people drinking beer, having a BBQ.
[00:08:21.070]I mean, it doesn't get any more
[00:08:22.207]small town, rural than that, does it?
[00:08:26.492]So this is kind of the Final Numbers over how we did.
[00:08:30.581]Five media outlets, newspaper and radio,
[00:08:33.098]four presentations made,
[00:08:36.075]34 people participated and gave feedback,
[00:08:40.179]one report delivered to the Camp Comeca Site Council.
[00:08:42.685]Mackenzie and I came up with a document
[00:08:44.832]for them to go home and read,
[00:08:47.172]the suggestions we came up with,
[00:08:49.096]and we actually sent this to Kurt as well,
[00:08:51.498]just so he could keep track of what we were doing.
[00:08:54.731]And nine weeks of just amazing,
[00:08:57.470]just get your hands dirty, talk to people,
[00:09:00.328]figure it out, rural serviceship.
[00:09:05.413]Our thoughts. We really enjoyed it.
[00:09:08.937]Like I say, we got our hands dirty,
[00:09:10.372]barely enough time to do everything.
[00:09:12.804]You kind of just had to roll with the punches, get it done,
[00:09:15.148]we're doing this today, we're doing that tomorrow,
[00:09:17.072]we're seeing these people, just go, go, go.
[00:09:20.873]Ultimately, even though we kind of have got
[00:09:25.546]emotionally attached a little bit,
[00:09:27.134]we felt some of the passion,
[00:09:28.361]we felt some of the disappointment,
[00:09:30.185]we felt some of the excitement and the hope.
[00:09:32.746]But, at the end of it,
[00:09:33.892]something that Mckenzie and I really had to remember
[00:09:35.842]was that, it's up to them.
[00:09:37.707]You know, we gave them the document, we made a presentation,
[00:09:40.144]the Site Council is like,
[00:09:40.977]"Alright, the ball's in your court."
[00:09:43.611]So that was a bitter-sweet experience.

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RFI Student Serviceship 2016 | Cozad, Neb.

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