| Vol. 1 Issue 3 May 2000 | Brought to you by RAIN and USDA RUS |
for Communities funded by the RAIN/USDA Rural Community Network Project
Casmalia
Nipomo
Oceano
New Cuyama
Guadalupe
Oak View
Piru
Shandon
Santa Barbara
Ventura
Buellton
to secure new Community Center Here is an example of what the Rural Community Technology initiative sponsored by RAIN & the USDA can lead to. In Oak View we have begun work with the Civic Council, local community residents, and the Public Library to establish a Community Family Technology Center, to be located at the recently vacated Oak View elementary school at 555 Mahoney, in Oak View.  The fate of the old school site is to be decided by it's owners, the Ventura County Unified School District. Along with RAIN, the Ojai Valley Police Athletic League has also voiced interest in partnering to secure the site, and the Oak View Civic Council is holding regular meetings to explore how to make such a community center a sustainable reality. If you are an Oak View resident and have an interest in these efforts, contact Oak View's DLT representative - Jane Middleton at (805)649-4418. |
Internet Bus Route!  R AIN has received a $50,000 grant from Albertson's stores to expand the USDA RUS funded Community Wellness program. As part of the grant, the RAIN/USDA Internet Bus will be visiting the 24 Albertson's stores in Santa Barbara, Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties, serving as an Internet access point and information kiosk for RAIN's growing Community Wellness Project. Information about the Community Wellness Project will be distributed by Albertsons , at each store throughout the tri-county area, as part of a shared vision of community wellness and sustainability. This partnering of business and government will permit the new Internet Bus to reach a much wider part of the community - a demonstration of the benefits to the community when business and government partner up with a Community Agency like RAIN. Great things can happen! Look for the internet bus at your neighborhood Albertson's soon! As part of RAIN's ongoing efforts to use Public Internet Broadcasting as a community empowerment tool, internet video is working it's way into the DLT communities as a valuable education component. With video being gathered from DLT communities and education partners, RAIN's efforts at multi-agency data interpretation provide the public with a valuable educational resource that is usually unavailable.  Some of RAIN's recent broadcast events include a lecture on "Rewilding", by chair of the Wildlands Project, Dave Foreman, and the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuaries "Status of The Resources" Public Forum - both held at UC Santa Barbara. For more information about Public Internet Broadcasting or these recent broadcasts Click Here! |
 On May 10th, Guadalupe held it's first Technology Advisory Council meeting. Hosted in the Guadalupe City Center, representatives from all aspects of the Guadalupe community attended the meeting, where a general forum of Guadalupe's health, education and technology resources was conducted. Different aspects of the DLT project were introduced to the forming council, and many community issues and possibilities were discussed! For more information about this meeting Piru holds first Technology Advisory Council meeting  The first formative meeting of Piru's new Technology Advisory Council was held on April 26th at the Piru Library. Along with a discussion regarding further DLT outreach into the community, a forum about the health, education and technology needs of Piru, and how RAIN could assist in filling those needs best with it's DLT funds was also held. For more information about this meeting Regional Health GIS Project Begins! RAIN has just begun work on a regional health Geographic Information Systems map! Working with it's regional GIS consortium CIRGIS a tri-counties jurisdictions and chronic disease map is now in the works which will serve as a regional health management tool. When completed, this map will be a valuable and needed product to come out of the DLT Project, assisting health care providers in serving the needs of residents in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties. |