Horizon Community Councils

Horizon Foundation President & CEO Rich Krieg (center) is surrounded by members of the four Horizon Councils who held their 2009 All-Council Annual Luncheon in The Rouse Company Foundation Student Services Hall at Howard Community College.  The Horizon Councils in Elkridge, Ellicott City, Southeast and Western Howard County are advisory groups that help the Horizon Foundation identify geographic-based issues in their respective communities.

Inherent in The Horizon Foundation's approach is a belief that problems, solutions and assets differ from community to community. To accommodate this diversity, the Foundation has developed a vibrant advisory structure.

There are now four Horizon Community Councils. Two Councils were formed during 2000, in Elkridge and Savage/North Laurel. New councils were developed in 2001: The Western Howard County Horizon Community Council and the Ellicott City Council.

Each Council has undergone a process of data analysis, other fact finding, strategy development and priority selection using a community assets planning model. In addition, the Councils routinely interface with other community organizations operating in their locales.

In their entirety, the Councils play increasingly important roles in Horizon Foundation project development and grantmaking. Councils advise The Horizon Foundation about local needs, help in outreach to local communities, and collaborate to achieve change. The Horizon Council in Elkridge is currently working with the Foundation on an Aging in Place project that includes case management, advocacy and transportation components.

Made up of people who live or work in their communities, the Councils advise the Foundation about issues that are important in their communities, recommend ways to address those issues and, with the Foundation's support, implement their own projects. "Horizon does things quite differently from other foundations," says Fran Donaldson, who is the principal of Deep Run Elementary School and serves on the Elkridge Horizon Council. "They give people in the community a chance to speak out. They might give us suggestions, but we make the decisions about what we're going to do." Council projects vary from area to area and are predicated on need.