PATHWAYS TO PROSPERITY

Pathway 1 - Inclusion
The first Pathway is inclusion.  By mobilizing all of the energy and ideas of our community, especially those of the people who have been left out in the past, we will build a Pathways Organization with the capacity to achieve our goals.  Though training and communication tools, we will sharpen our community organizing skills and use that new capacity in campaigns with direct benefits for the poor: by increasing use of Earned income and Childcare Tax Credits, and by expanding third party health care coverage for those who qualify.  We will reach out to include our youth by helping those more at risk to re-engage in our schools and our community, and by creating a Youth Council that give our your people the chance to design and carry out their own Pathways projects.

Strategy 1.1 BUILDS AN INCLUSIVE ORGANIZATION
The basic structure of the Pathways Organization will be designed to welcome the participation of all groups within our community.  Special efforts will be made to include those who are isolated and/or struggling with poverty within our Governing Board, our general membership, and our Action Teams.

Strategy 1.2 BUILD COMMUNITY ORGANIZING CAPACITY
The Pathways Organization will develop the capacity to carry out grassroots organizing campaigns to implement strategies contained in the Poverty Reduction Plan and to achieve goals that are important to our people.

Strategy 1.3 EXPAND ACCESS TO KEY ECONOMIC RESOURCES
The Pathways Organization will use its community organizing capacity to reach out to those in poverty to include them in programs that can provide resources to overcome poverty.

Strategy 1.4 REACH OUT TO YOUTH AT RISK
The Pathways Organization will make special efforts to reach out to young people who are at risk of dropping out of school, becoming involved in drug use or engaged in the criminal justice systems and we will include the ideas and energy of our youth in our poverty reduction strategies.

Strategy 2.1 REVITALIZE TRIBAL ENTERPRISES
The Pathways Organization will convene the leaders of your industrial and business communities to create action plans to improve the performance of our existing economic engines with the goal of creating more jobs and reducing poverty.

Strategy 2.2 EXPAND ACCESS TO CAPITAL
The Pathways Organization will act as a catalyst to expand access to capital and financial services for all Tribal members, and especially those who are struggling with poverty, to expand their opportunities to build assets.

Strategy 2.3 CREATE NEW ENTERPRISES
The Pathways Organization will identify the hidden assets of our members and reveal the factors that cause our dollars to leave the Reservation so quickly.  The Organization will use that Information to develop new enterprises to meet the needs of our people, and increase the power of our retail and service sectors as economic engines for prosperity.

Strategy 2.4 REVITALIZE DOWNTOWN BELCOURT AS AN IN CUBATOR OF OPPORTUNITY
The Pathways Organization will attempt to become the catalyst for transforming Belcourt in a thriving incubator for the creation of jobs and housing opportunities.  The first step will be to address the shortage of retail space and the lack of a town center, or main street by creating an incubator to house new businesses.

Strategy 2.5 EXPAND TOURISM
The Pathways Organization will work with the Tribe, our local hospitality industry and the surrounding communities to increase Cultural, Recreational, and Environmental Tourism on our Reservation and throughout the Turtle Mountain Region.

Pathway 3 - Infrastructure
The third Pathway is building our community infrastructure.  We will adopt a new Comprehensive Land Use Plan to guide development and protect our natural resources; create a “green housing” strategy to employ our people in meeting the critical need for housing; create a Tribal Utility to gain sovereignty over our energy resources; expand access to the Internet; improve way finding to enhance mail delivery and emergency services; and create a resource recovery system to conserve our natural resources and improve living conditions on Tribal lands. Strategy 3.1 CREATE A COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN
The Pathways Organization will organize our membership to support the adoption of a Comprehensive Land Use Plan to guide future development and protect the natural resources of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

Strategies 3.2 BUILD AFFORDABLE HOUSING
The Pathways Organization will work with the Tribal Housing Authority, the Renewal Community, the Enterprise Foundation, and other partners to expand the supply of decent and affordable housing for members of the Turtle Mountain Band by rehabilitating substandard housing, planning and developing new sustainable housing developments, and creating homeownership opportunities.

Strategy 3.3 CREATE A TRIBAL POWER UTILITY
The Pathways Organization will support the Tribal planning department’s initiative to create a Tribal power
utility to lower the costs of electric power and develop the Tribe’s wind, solar and geothermal energy
resources for the benefit of our people.

Strategy 3.4 IMPROVE BASIC PUBLIC SERVICES
The Action Team will work with the Tribe, Turtle Mountain Community College. the schools and the Youth Council to expand access to the Internet, improve emergency services and mail delivery, and provide resource recovery services in our community.