A planning consortium that consists of 19 Western North Dakota counties, the Three Affiliated Tribes and various other government and private organizations affected by oil development, has won a 2017 Bush Foundation prize for Community Innovation.
Vision West ND was set up to address the impacts oil development brought to that area. The consortium’s Deb Nelson said the issues ranged from transportation and housing – to day care.
"We helped communities network together to develop unusual models for child care facilities," Nelson said in an interview. "They were innovative things like cooperatives, non-profits, public-private parternships -- those kinds of things.
Nelson said there have been several very positive results.
Nelson said while housing remains a big issue, the focus is changing. And Nelson said Vision West continues to work with the North Dakota Housing Finance Agency to look at those needs.
"It went from, 'We didn't have enough housing' to 'We don't have housing for first-time homebuyers or senior citizens,'" Nelson said. "Now we're looking at rehabbing, helping to come up with ideas on how that might be done."
Nelson said the consortium is also working with 9 communities in western North Dakota on a pilot project called “Go Local ND.” She said that includes shopping locally, giving locally and things like that geared to their local communities.
"The whole purpose is to engage people in their own communities," Nelson said. "That makes those communities vital."
Vision West was awarded a $500,000 prize from the Bush Foundation for its efforts.
