by Sandy Anderson

Mower Refreshed coordinator

Each year a space in Mower County is filled with innovative thinkers who fuel the efforts and movement of Mower Refreshed.  This year was a pivotal year:  more communities in Mower County and beyond represented wider range of ages (15 years and older) and an increase in ethnicity groups, all ready to engage in tackling challenges the teams (Healthier Choices, Mental Fitness, Workforce Wellness) requested input on.

The participants collectively discussed the challenges and desired outcomes from each team. The goal was to discover if the presented challenge truly is the challenge we should be addressing or if there are “root” challenges we are overlooking.  This citizen-centered process is setting the stage for the teams to develop solutions that address the root challenge and partner with organizations that are already implementing successful solutions.  If you’d like to see what the challenges are, you can visit www.MowerRefresehd.org.

Mower Refreshed leadership understands that band aids won’t resolve the deeper wounds. By receiving direct insight from summit participants, we are gaining wisdom in how to develop efforts and who best to support in addressing the deeper “wound.”

Nancy Riestenberg with the Minnesota Department of Education spoke to those attending on developing resilient (able to cope effectively with difficulties/bounce back) communities stating  that Mower Refreshed is now considered a significant partner to the state’s efforts in learning how communities might educate and respond to create resilient schools, worksites, families and communities overall.

Next steps:  Mower Refreshed teams and interested volunteers will further process the work done at the Wellness Summits in October at a team retreat Dec. 2 facilitated by Dave Newell, an area consultant.  This will be the work that surfaces solutions, likely some common solutions that the teams can take action with in 2014.

Participants at the summits this year described the gatherings as purposeful, powerful, game changing, thought provoking, challenging, engaging and an opportunity to have impact. Those attending experienced what a resilient approach to difficulties can look and feel like.

 Interested in being a part of the next step? Contact us at connect@MowerRefreshed.org for more information on the Dec. 2 Team Retreat.