About

Our Mission: The member communities of Warren County Hometown Pride bring volunteers together to build a sense of community, create and improve public amenities, and celebrate what makes our towns great.

Warren County Hometown Pride is made up of 7 local committees in 7 participating towns across the County: Carlisle, Cumming, Hartford, Indianola, Milo, New Virginia, and Norwalk. Each committee operates independently, but they also work together to share ideas and resources, support each other, and implement regional projects.

We are part of the state-wide Hometown Pride program, which is active in 67 towns across 10 counties. The program, overseen and supported by the non-profit Keep Iowa Beautiful, provides each County with a professional “Community Coach” who works with local leaders to build a sustainable, high-impact program. The coach works to ensure that volunteers have the resources, knowledge and support they need to accomplish their goals.

FAQ

How and when did Warren County get involved?

Representatives of several communities in Warren County came together to apply for and fund the Warren County Hometown Pride program in 2017. The program officially started in October 2017, with the hiring of Warren County’s Community Coach, Lorin Ditzler.

Which communities in Warren County are participating?

Carlisle, Cumming, Indianola, Milo, New Virginia, Norwalk and Hartford. The first 6 all operate under the Hometown Pride name (“Carlisle Hometown Pride” etc.), while Hartford operates as the Hartford Betterment Committee.

Who is in charge of the Warren County Hometown Pride program?

In each participating community, a volunteer committee of residents directs all Hometown Pride activities. Each committee has a chair and a City representative, and many committees have a Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer.

Warren County Hometown Pride as a whole has a volunteer Chair (2019 Chair is Deanna Schulz of Norwalk) and a professional “community coach,” Lorin Ditzler, who works with all the committees. Representatives from all the committees meet quarterly to share ideas and information.

What has Warren County Hometown Pride accomplished so far?

Read our latest annual report here: 2018 Annual Report WCHP

You can follow the progress of our Hometown Pride teams here on our website, by singing up for our e-mail list, or following one of our many facebook pages:

• Warren County HP: https://www.facebook.com/warrencountyhometown/
• Norwalk HP: https://www.facebook.com/NorwalkHometownPride/
• Carlisle HP: https://www.facebook.com/carlislehometownpride/
• Indianola HP: https://www.facebook.com/indianolahometownpride/
• Milo HP: https://www.facebook.com/MiloHometownPride/
• New Virginia HP: https://www.facebook.com/NVHometownPride/
• Norwalk Music Fest (event by Norwalk HP): https://www.facebook.com/NorwalkMusicFest/
• Front Porch Norwalk (event by Norwalk HP): https://www.facebook.com/frontporchnorwalk/

Can I volunteer for Warren County Hometown Pride?

Yes, you can! Interested individuals are invited to join the Hometown Pride volunteer team in their community (see list of participating communities above).  Volunteer roles include serving as a committee member, participating in “work days” or helping at events, fundraising, grant-writing, event planning, publicity, youth outreach and more. Contact the Warren County Community Coach, Lorin Ditzler, if you are interested in volunteering and she will put you in touch with your local chairperson.

How is this funded?

Each committee seeks out their own funding to run their projects, through fundraising, grants, sponsorships and other means. Over the first 18 months, the Hometown Pride committees of Warren County collectively raised more than $125,000, and leveraged hundreds of hours of volunteer time, valued at approximately $75,000.

Overhead costs for the county-wide program (primarily the “coach” position) are covered by Keep Iowa Beautiful, Warren County Economic Development Commission, and annual contributions from the City government of each participating community.

Where can I learn more?

To learn more about the Warren County Hometown Pride program, and how you can get involved, click here to contact our Community Coach, Lorin Ditzler.

To learn more about the Hometown Pride program across Iowa, including which other counties are participating, click here to visit the Keep Iowa Beautiful web page.