What is the history of the Holmen Area Partnership for Youth (HAPY) becoming the Collaborative Community Center (CCC)?
Origin of HAPY: For the last seven years, Laurie Kessler has been the chairperson of the Holmen Area Partnership for Youth HAPY) whose mission has been to bring a full time youth center to the community of Holmen. She made the pitch to anyone who would listen, emphasizing her belief that the hurting and vulnerable kids deserve to have a safe and productive place to go during the after school and evening hours.
Operation of HAPY: In addition to Laurie, there has been a small, but dedicated group of people who have worked diligently to try to provide the programs that young people need to keep them productive and safe. Through the generosity of Holmen Lutheran Church and the Boys and Girls Club, HAPY was able to serve close to 100 young people two nights a week for almost four years. HAPY soon outgrew the space and was forced to close the doors and look elsewhere to find a way to serve these young people who have proven the case - this community needs somewhere for them to go.
Transitions: At the Holmen Foundation breakfast in April of 2012, Laurie acknowledged that HAPY was not finding the answers needed. Laurie made an impassioned plea for others to join HAPY in the hopes of creating a partnership that was desperately needed to move this cause forward. Dan McHugh, long time Holmen resident and supporter, volunteered to become involved. Dan brought another Holmen resident and supported on board in the person of Mary Lin Wershofen. For several months, Laurie, Dan and Mary Lin did the legwork to find a way to create a sustainable program for our teens. They conducted extensive research to seek ideas for programs and other creative ways communities have met these needs. Community conversations helped to create what will become a model for the Holmen community.
Development of Partnerships: The success of the Teen House operated by the YMCA in La Crosse led to conversations with the YMCA and to build a relationship with them that will continue to provide guidance and direction. The YMCA maintains that it is their relationship with Gundersen Lutheran’s behavioral health specialists that has allowed them to provide quality programs for all youth, but also target an often overlooked population – teens with mental health needs and who find it hard to fit in anywhere. Gundersen/Lutheran and the YMCA have indicated a strong interest in assisting with providing programming to serve the teens in the Holmen community as well.
Broadening of the Vision: Somewhere along the way, the initial idea to bring a teen center to town became something greater. It involved looking at the needs of not just the adolescent population but the needs of the entire community. It became a vision that perhaps might look like this:
Imagine a place that served the School District by day and our youth after school and in the evening. Now toss in some programming that combines the community needs with the needs of the teens. Next think about a place that invites intergenerational activities and services that will benefit the entire community. These visions are the springboard to think outside the box to find ways to get a variety of organizations working together to successfully meet those needs.
Community Involvement: Laurie, Dan, and Mary Lin set up several meetings with local agencies, (including each municipality and the School District) to explore interest in a project that involved shared vision, shared ownership and shared services. This concept was welcomed and supported by everyone.
Collaborative Community Center Creation: This positive energy was the foundation in the development of a new committee whose work would be to explore the possibility of a Collaborative Community Center being built on School property that would serve every citizen in our community. Representatives from each municipality and the School District were present and Viterbo professors, Rick Kyte and Tom Thibodeau, were brought in as facilitators. The Holmen Area Partnership for Youth (HAPY) evolved into the Collaborative Community Center (CCC) with a newly energized mission designed to promote hospitality, respect for all generations, and community pride through purposeful programming that enriches the lives of both young and old and everyone in between. A partnership such as this is unique and complicated but with every challenge came positive solutions that kept moving this cause forward. Keeping the focus on the greater good became imperative as we realized that none of us could take a project such as this on alone. The spirit of collaboration is alive and well.
Current Status: A recent article in the Courier Life spoke of an upcoming referendum question regarding the community center. This is just one action step that must be completed to bring this dream to fruition. Each municipality is working to find a way to support this project and a lease agreement with the school district is currently being developed. Each step brings us closer to our goal, but there is still much work to be done.
Our call to action has become, “Together, We Are Better!” and nothing could be more true!
Origin of HAPY: For the last seven years, Laurie Kessler has been the chairperson of the Holmen Area Partnership for Youth HAPY) whose mission has been to bring a full time youth center to the community of Holmen. She made the pitch to anyone who would listen, emphasizing her belief that the hurting and vulnerable kids deserve to have a safe and productive place to go during the after school and evening hours.
Operation of HAPY: In addition to Laurie, there has been a small, but dedicated group of people who have worked diligently to try to provide the programs that young people need to keep them productive and safe. Through the generosity of Holmen Lutheran Church and the Boys and Girls Club, HAPY was able to serve close to 100 young people two nights a week for almost four years. HAPY soon outgrew the space and was forced to close the doors and look elsewhere to find a way to serve these young people who have proven the case - this community needs somewhere for them to go.
Transitions: At the Holmen Foundation breakfast in April of 2012, Laurie acknowledged that HAPY was not finding the answers needed. Laurie made an impassioned plea for others to join HAPY in the hopes of creating a partnership that was desperately needed to move this cause forward. Dan McHugh, long time Holmen resident and supporter, volunteered to become involved. Dan brought another Holmen resident and supported on board in the person of Mary Lin Wershofen. For several months, Laurie, Dan and Mary Lin did the legwork to find a way to create a sustainable program for our teens. They conducted extensive research to seek ideas for programs and other creative ways communities have met these needs. Community conversations helped to create what will become a model for the Holmen community.
Development of Partnerships: The success of the Teen House operated by the YMCA in La Crosse led to conversations with the YMCA and to build a relationship with them that will continue to provide guidance and direction. The YMCA maintains that it is their relationship with Gundersen Lutheran’s behavioral health specialists that has allowed them to provide quality programs for all youth, but also target an often overlooked population – teens with mental health needs and who find it hard to fit in anywhere. Gundersen/Lutheran and the YMCA have indicated a strong interest in assisting with providing programming to serve the teens in the Holmen community as well.
Broadening of the Vision: Somewhere along the way, the initial idea to bring a teen center to town became something greater. It involved looking at the needs of not just the adolescent population but the needs of the entire community. It became a vision that perhaps might look like this:
Imagine a place that served the School District by day and our youth after school and in the evening. Now toss in some programming that combines the community needs with the needs of the teens. Next think about a place that invites intergenerational activities and services that will benefit the entire community. These visions are the springboard to think outside the box to find ways to get a variety of organizations working together to successfully meet those needs.
Community Involvement: Laurie, Dan, and Mary Lin set up several meetings with local agencies, (including each municipality and the School District) to explore interest in a project that involved shared vision, shared ownership and shared services. This concept was welcomed and supported by everyone.
Collaborative Community Center Creation: This positive energy was the foundation in the development of a new committee whose work would be to explore the possibility of a Collaborative Community Center being built on School property that would serve every citizen in our community. Representatives from each municipality and the School District were present and Viterbo professors, Rick Kyte and Tom Thibodeau, were brought in as facilitators. The Holmen Area Partnership for Youth (HAPY) evolved into the Collaborative Community Center (CCC) with a newly energized mission designed to promote hospitality, respect for all generations, and community pride through purposeful programming that enriches the lives of both young and old and everyone in between. A partnership such as this is unique and complicated but with every challenge came positive solutions that kept moving this cause forward. Keeping the focus on the greater good became imperative as we realized that none of us could take a project such as this on alone. The spirit of collaboration is alive and well.
Current Status: A recent article in the Courier Life spoke of an upcoming referendum question regarding the community center. This is just one action step that must be completed to bring this dream to fruition. Each municipality is working to find a way to support this project and a lease agreement with the school district is currently being developed. Each step brings us closer to our goal, but there is still much work to be done.
Our call to action has become, “Together, We Are Better!” and nothing could be more true!