Breathing life back into Village of Walthill to defeat stereotypes
WALTHILL -- The most impoverished county in Nebraska, Thurston County, is seeing some major changes in an effort to flip that epithet around.
"Our youth today are not seeing a decline of the community, but a revitalization," said Michael Grant, Walthilll Village Board Chair and Omaha Tribe planner as he stood outside of one of their new businesses.
Grant grew up in a different Walthill than it is today. He said his fond memories of playing in the park and connecting with a loving community inspire him to bring that back.
"I was born in the '70s, a kid in the 80s, and a teen in the 90s. Back then, we had three restaurants, a laundromat, and three grocery stores. That's the goal," he said.
In 2016, Grant and the village board established four objectives: renewable energy, job creation, housing, and community facilities
"I think we've made some progress with every one of those," developer Kevin Connot said.
The town started to put up solar panels in 2018. Grant said the board has a dream to fill the field those panels are on with as much to power the whole town.
"We want every home to be solar-powered," Grant said.
It will take some time, he said, but it will be worth it.
The village is also now seeing job creation through a business incubator that recently opened.
"The incubator concept is that rent is cost-effective and it's for startup businesses, with the idea that once they grow and mature they can move out and grow," Connot said.
Three of the four spaces are occupied: two women's clothing stores, one coffee shop, and a laundromat that's yet to open. Grant is also looking for someone to design the outside of the building to attract people driving through the town.
Moreover, the village saw Morningstar Counseling open recently, and the Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte Center, which NCN covered here.
As for housing, developer Connot and the Sherwood Foundation plan to refurbish three houses starting this year.
Even before that, in 2017, Walthill offered a grant for owner-occupied rehab from federal money. Plus, Walthill and Tribe of Omaha are now land-swapping.
"The Omaha Tribe bought the local grocery store from HoChunk, Inc. There's a lot of small changes that are helping out the community," Grant said.
Two weeks ago, the potential skate park secured $250,000 in funding. Then last week, the village board approved a motion to start putting out bids for it.
The community center will be the next ball to start rolling.
"We start with a low budget so we have to look for outside sources to invest," Connot said. He believes their low budget is because banks continue to devalue the property. Still, he's confident that's changing.
Connot revitalized his own hometown, Spencer. He said it took ten years and a lot of motivation to renovate their lake. "The other leaders on [Walthill's] town board are young, not afraid to take risks, they're not afraid to roll their sleeves up [...] so there's going to be a renewed emphasis on, hey, we can do this -- and they've seen some success."
But, there still lies the same challenges that shook Walthill three decades ago, as Grant sees when the board discusses building a new school.
"A lot of the farmers don't want to see happen and I'll say, I've heard some of the ignorance [...] [Some] have a lot of negative thoughts of our children that go to school here," Grant said. "Like this new gym here, that you're wasting money on these kids."
Grant said pessimistic stereotypes like that dissuade investors.
"People who just come in and see and know this village is on a reservation, they'll say, man, these natives are dirty; not knowing that almost all these properties are owned by non-Native individuals and companies," he said. "Those bumps are always gonna be there we should have to get stronger and keep moving forward," Grant said.
"Keep showing up and thinking of new things and eventually it pulls together," Connot said.