Success StoryWhitley County Mennonite Community



Whitley County Mennonite Community

Author: Stacy White

Planning Unit: Whitley County CES

Major Program: Community Vitality and Leadership - ANR

Plan of Work: Unrelated to a specified County Plan of Work

Outcome: Intermediate Outcome

In the last 10 years there have been several Mennonite families move into Whitley County to establish a new community.  Families came from Glasgow, Kentucky, central Tennessee, and British Columbia, Canada.  Members of this new community began coming into the Whitley County Extension office for various programs and services.  The ANR agent assisted some of these clients and started working relationships with them.  Being new to the county, the Mennonite families' lifestyle and belief system created interest in the agents and staff at the extension office.  In an effort to help agents and staff understand and better serve this minority community, the ANR agent facilitated an educational meeting with the Mennonite community leaders.  Agents and staff were invited to the local Mennonite church building for a presentation of the belief system and lifestyle of this particular community.  After this the agents and staff were treated to a tour of some of the farms and businesses within the community, including a snack of fresh baked donuts, water, and coffee.  The operations visited included a vegetable farm, a tree nursery, a metal fabrication shop, and a secondary wood processing facility.  As a result of the time spent in this community the extension agents and staff are better able to understand and serve them.








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