📻 Project Optimist and KZYS get Press Forward MN funds for partnership
The collaboration between KZYS and Project Optimist will include community journalism training, co-reported stories, cross-publishing articles in English and Somali, and more.
Nora Hertel
59 posts
Community Voices ⎸ Project Optimist made leaps in 2024
A look at what we accomplished in 2024 and our goals for 2025.
Community Voices ⎸ Project Optimist receives $100K Press Forward grant
Project Optimist is one of 205 small, local news publications to receive grants from Press Forward, the nationwide movement to strengthen communities by reinvigorating local news.
Community Voices ⎸ Forest bathing in St. Cloud stirs up everyday magic of parks, people
"Go outside and be your own guide – walk, contemplate, or daydream on your own. And next time you get the chance to share that experience with other people, with space to open your mind and senses in new ways, take that opportunity," writes Nora Hertel.
Community Voices ⎸ Local journalism is hard work. Help us carry the load
"The foundations of media are shifting and so is the world: journalism must become more equitable, less sensationalized, more nuanced," writes Nora Hertel.
Not every plant takes root, but prairie interventions help with biodiversity
A St. Cloud church with a 15-acre prairie planted seedlings in 2022 that didn’t take off. Other plantings have worked. Here’s what we learned.
Bonus issue: Welcome new friends! Help us celebrate! And lessons from St. Cloud prairie restoration.
A St. Cloud church with a 15-acre prairie planted seedlings in 2022 that didn’t take off. Other plantings have worked. Here’s what we learned.
Community Voices ⎸ Bio·​phil·​ia: A new grant for our new program on nature, design, and connection to the living world
Thanks to a grant from Arts Midwest, Project Optimist will feature essays, visual art, and design about connecting with the natural world in 2024.
How do you get a rural doc? Launch a rural med school
The Medical College of Wisconsin launched a central Wisconsin campus 10 years ago. The effort offers lessons for University of Minnesota officials to consider as they prepare to open a new medical school campus in St. Cloud in 2025.