The Role Purdue Extension Plays in Strengthening Indiana’s Communities

Strengthening Indiana’s communities by helping folks in those communities do for themselves! That’s the overall goal of Purdue Extension and their Community Development team.

“Extension is unique in that you’re trying to work yourself out of a job, so I’ve been trying for the last 30-plus years to work myself out of a job,” says Dr. Michael Wilcox, Assistant Director and Program Leader for Community Development with Purdue Extension. He’s our first guest on the ‘Your Community’ Podcast—as Hoosier Ag Today Presents Your Purdue Extension!

“We work together collaboratively across the state through all of our 92 offices in each of the counties—as well as with the state specialists that are here at Purdue [in West Lafayette]—to try to help our communities in every way we can and in the ways that they’re needing the most help,” says Wilcox. “We help them identify challenges that they’re having, and then most importantly, we identify solutions and help walk them through planning processes so they can do for themselves.”

He says that Purdue Extension’s Community Development teams have several different specialty programs.

“We do everything from child care—we have a community child care team, we have a team that’s focused on facilitative leadership, we have a team that’s focused on nonprofit board management, and we have a team that’s focused on grant writing. We’re about being ‘on the ground’ working with people and guiding them and building capacity in those individuals so they can do for themselves,” says Wilcox.

CLICK HERE to learn more about Purdue Extension Community Development.

CLICK BELOW as Dr. Wilcox talks more about Purdue Extension’s Community Development on the ‘Your Community’ podcast—as Hoosier Ag Today Presents Your Purdue Extension!