This movement reflects the growing acknowledgment the long-term solutions to many of our country's most pressing problems must be and will be devised and implemented at the community level. Americans want to take back control of their lives but are frustrated by the lack of response from federal and state government. There is a new realization that results will only come by action at the local level. Communities throughout America are demonstrating that it is possible to shift from conflict and competitiveness to collaboration and cooperation when citizens find common values to guide community action. We must realize that no set of policies, no system of incentives and no amount of information can substitute for individual responsibility or counteract apathy.
Information can provide a basis for action.
Vision and ideas can influence perceptions and inspire change. New ways to make decisions can empower those who seek a role in shaping the future. The Community Action Network is not a Trinity Regional Hospital program, it is not the steering committee's project and it is not an endeavor that starts today and ends by the year 2000. The Community Action Network is an ongoing initiative of the Fort Dodge community that involves coming together to build a common vision, to take ownership in our problems, to identify long-term solutions and to take collaborative action to resolve our problems.