Greene County growing diversity with Multicultural Family Resource Center
JEFFERSON, Iowa – For the past decade, there's been an ongoing effort to bring more diversity to Greene County to fill jobs and grow the population in rural Iowa.
'Greene County has shrunk in population for 100 years, like most every rural county has,' Sid Jones, former president of the Greene County Development Corporation, said. 'Can we really reverse that? Can we do something different? And what initiative is that going to take? How much courage is that going to take? A lot.'
Greene County's population includes about 8,700 people. Jefferson, the county seat, makes up almost half of that. It's also home to a new center and advocate who's on a mission to grow the number with minorities.
Sara Huddleston is the director of the Multicultural Family Resource Center.
'I'm focused on bringing people in our community,' Huddleston said. 'And I see with that challenges, but I like challenges.'
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She's been in the role for one year and is in charge of welcoming people to work and live in Greene County. An effort that's been years in the making, according to Jones.
'Around 2015, as a development corporation, we realized we'd done a pretty good job with creating jobs, creating tax base and industry,' Jones reflected. 'What we found out was we had more jobs than we had people.'
Jones said GCDC put together a group called Vision 2020. People 40 years of age and younger participated.
'And they wanted a say. They wanted to decide what this community would look like,' Jones said. 'And what our question to them was, 'what's it going to take to have more of you here?''
Community members answered with five initiatives to focus on: schools, childcare, housing, recreation, and a high-end bar and restaurant.
In addition to working on those, leaders decided the solution to filling jobs and increasing population was to bring in more diversity.
'If they think back far enough, our ancestors came from all over the world to rural Iowa and to Greene County and we've done this before,' Jones said. 'We did it before. It's just a different culture. It's a different set of cultures. We're in a different world that moves so much faster, but at the same time, it took a lot of courage for those people to come here and to start a life and to have the opportunities and to grow their businesses and grow their farms and all the things that have happened. We're back in that same spot again. And we need people, and we need young families.'
It's why they created the Multicultural Family Resource Center, with the financial help from a USDA grant and local investors.
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'We were primarily at that point focusing really on that Latino culture, but we've since realized it's multicultural,' Jones said. 'It's not just the Latino culture. There's Asians, there's South Africans, there's a variety of people that want to live someplace different than where they live today and want a different opportunity in life.'
Huddleston came from the culturally rich community of Storm Lake and has experience in social services. She stays busy in her new role.
'I get calls from the police – Jefferson Police, from the sheriff. I go to the hospital for taking people to medical appointments, interpret,' Huddleston said. 'I still got to do a lot of outreach and connection with manufacturing. I have plans to outreach with Iowa Central Community College and the career academy we have in town. So yes, I don't sit down.'
Huddleston also works closely with the school system to help students adapt.
Recent numbers from the local Area Education Agency show that of the 1,240 enrolled students at Greene County Community School District, 177 of them are non-Caucasian, meaning 14 percent minority enrollment.
'The numbers tell you,' Jones said. 'And the greatest opportunity is to bring those populations here to try to fill this workforce, grow our population again, fill those schools with students. They need housing, they need a lot of things. But opportunity is challenging and it's growth.'
Growth in the student body reflects what's happening in Greene County. Progress that takes time.
'The one most important ingredient to be successful in our community is to build the trust,' Huddleston said. 'If you don't have the trust, nothing will move the needle but once you have the trust and the relationships and the network, everything can happen.'
Jones also adds in communication.
'I think Greene County has been unique in our ability to collaborate and bring our city and our county and our investors together. And that's hard work,' Jones said. 'But I think when you have that trust and you have communication and you have investment, collaboration is the result. And I think if you continue to do that there will be success. It will happen you just have to have patience and persistence, and those things come together.'
The Greene County Development Corporation is looking ahead to the future with new leadership. The executive committee voted unanimously to name Michelle Book as its interim director. Book stepped down as Food Bank of Iowa CEO at the end of 2024. She is a 1979 graduate of Jefferson High School, as well as this year's WHO 13 News Remarkable Woman winner.
If you'd like to learn more about the Multicultural Family Resource Center, click here.
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