The West End Vision Project has gathered strong community feedback on the first draft of its values statements, and a revised version is now ready for review. More than 130 people rated and commented on the draft values, building on input from more than 500 residents who helped shape them last fall. Now, after carefully listening to the community, the values have been updated. So the organizers are asking once again, did they get it right?
"We are incredibly grateful to everyone who took the time to review the draft values and share their thoughts. The level of care and insight in the feedback was very helpful, and it’s clear how much people want to get this right for the future of the West End. Creating and refining these values is a long process, but people have really stuck with us as we get closer to a draft that truly reflects the West End as a community,” said Makayla Gordon, executive director of the West End Economic Development Corporation.
The values are the result of thorough community engagement, including four community workshops, more than a dozen pop-up events and values discussions at community events, three presentations to the West End Solutions Group, multiple meetings with town and county elected leaders, more than 10 small group community conversations, and four online polls and activities.
Since September, residents have shared what matters most about the West End, as well as their hopes and concerns for the future. The first draft of the values was developed after months of analyzing feedback. Since then, additional input from workshops, small group discussions and online surveys have helped refine them further. For those who reviewed the first draft of the values, they’ll see that many of the titles and phrases were updated, but the main idea behind each value has stayed largely the same.
The following were stated in the first round of listening: looking out for each other, a simpler way of life, living with the land, shaping our own story and strong roots for building opportunities.
The most recent, revised community values are as follows: small-town solidarity, rural by choice, living with the land, charting our own course and foundation for a prosperous future.
The community is invited and encouraged to weigh-in on the updated values and see all the ways they’ve changed to better reflect the community. There are several ways to provide feedback. People can review and fill out the feedback form online at bit.ly/WE-Values-Feedback, sign-up for a virtual Community Convo at bit.ly/WE-Convos, and attend the West End Solutions Group at Naturita Community Center on March 19 from 1 to 3 p.m.
“Let us know if you’d like to facilitate a values discussion at a board meeting, staff meeting or other local gathering,” said Mackinzi Taylor, of Community Builders, who can be reached at mackinzi@communitybuilders.org.
For more details on how to get involved in the West End Vision Project, the public may also contact Makayla Gordon at mgordon@choosewestend.org or 970-417-1976.and follow the Facebook page for updates: bit.ly/WestEndPlanFB.
