1999 Annual Report Executive Summary*
La Jicarita Enterprise Community
Common to most initiatives implemented by La Jicarita Enterprise Community for the year 1999 are weighted with an understanding that communities change slowly, that change is not always in a single direction, and that short-term projects for the most part begin to lay the groundwork for the processes of change. Most initiatives in progress or newly created and implemented projects this year, place an emphasis on building a collaborative, working process for revitalization; empowering local participants to take leadership roles in the community; improving upon local systems for assessing and utilizing community resources; and promoting a comprehensive view of the social, structural, and economic aspects of Community revitalization.
La Jicarita Enterprise Community has taken the opportunity and time to learn from the growing array of initiatives being implemented in and around the Enterprise Community. We have positioned the organization into a position of collaboration and working partnerships with several other agencies, organizations, and service providers. Many projects are in their second and third year of implementation while others are in the first year of funding and others in the progress of being implemented as of this report. Utilizing the community in all aspects of assessment and evaluation has allowed for discussion of the theories and assumptions underlying these projects. We have structured and designed these initiatives to substantially influence as many levels of community, as possible. We have also embraced a theory of change that sees individual achievement as a key to community revitalization. Likewise, we believe that communities change according to the strengths and weaknesses of local institutions; therefore Title XX funding resources have been invested into supporting program, individual capacity, leadership building and other community based and economic services.
Through working jointly on common issues, the residents of the EC have begun to address the problems and opportunities that impact them. Throughout this year LJEC has been building social capital within communities, by developing friendships and mutual trust, sharing and strengthening common values, learning how to work with neighboring communities and other agencies to accomplish common goals.
La Jicarita Enterprise Community this year has been able to implement major key components of their strategic plan that has brought direct services and opportunities to the residents of the EC. The importance of developing networks and solid partnerships have enabled the organization to unfold many of the benchmark initiatives identified in our plan. The aforementioned projects, although they have been in the planning and implementation stages for some time have only been brought to fruition this year. These are but a few of the many projects, programs and initiatives we are directly involved with. Nineteen ninety-nine served as a major stepping-stone into the New Millennium for La Jicarita and the entire north-central region of New Mexico. We continue to represent our communities in the most delicate balanced and respectful manner possible.