CONNECT ULYSSES:

A COMMUNITY ORGANIZING EFFORT

ULYSSES, KANSASBy

Charlotte Peterson

CONNECT ULYSSES:

A COMMUNITY ORGANIZING EFFORT

INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

On a clear, non-windy night in February 2017, a couple was out for an evening walk, as

they did every night, down Patterson Road in Ulysses, Kansas. As they walked, they discussed

the need for walking trails and loops to connect one part of town with the other part of town.

They discussed nature trails, biking trails, and walking trails which would give more diversity to

the town. They realized the problem is that the community lacked an avenue for adults and

children to safely walk to different locations in town, rather than driving to the park to walk for a

while, then drive home. This couple just happened to be members of the local Rotary Club.

The Rotary Club is an organization of business managers. The origin of Rotary is to

promote local businesses. Business owners would meet at their premise weekly, rotating to a

different business each week – hence “Rotary.” The couple, as Rotarians, presented the idea to

the club as a new project that would be a longstanding benefit to the community. The Rotary

forefathers believe in supporting businesses that met specific ethics and were local. As Rotary

grew, the club members came to understand the benefit in investing in communities – the more

community members there are, the more people supporting the community financially. Rotary is

an economic development organization that encourages philanthropy. The initial driving goal

was to improve upon and install new nature trails. The Ulysses Rotary Club felt the trail project

should be implemented by a coalition of community members. The Rotary Club authorized their

member to reach out to all local businesses and determine the support for the idea.

The Rotarians began efforts by sending letters to all large and community active

employers to seek support and membership. Initial members included the electric cooperative,

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the hospital and the school district. Some attendance to the meetings decreased significantly, but

the CEO of the electric cooperative still supported efforts and informed the group to let them

know when they needed resources. New members joined, including members of the staff of the

local newspaper, Ulysses News. Several Rotarians are still members and support the efforts.

This is how Connect Ulysses was formed. Our group today consists of active adults looking to

better our community by dedicating time and energy to the cause.

Once Connect Ulysses was formed, it began having regular meetings, every Thursday at

noon at Pioneer Communications, and it developed a plan or strategy to stabilize its existence.

We have the people gathered, and at this meeting, the group discussed potential problems and

what the solutions should be. The group identified the problem as a lack of adult recreation in

Ulysses, Kansas. This meant there were not enough safe places to walk or ride bikes, other than

Frazier Park, and that could only happen during the daylight hours because of the lack of lighting

at the Park. People would have to drive to the park, walk, then drive home. Connect Ulysses

wanted a more comprehensive plan and means to provide the community with safe walking

trails, be it nature, bike or walking routes. You could walk in some neighborhoods on sidewalks,

but others there were only streets for walking.

Once the members agreed that there was a need for safe walking trails, they identified

other issues with building and maintaining sidewalks. Other issues include funding, materials,

permission from landowners, and labor to install and maintain the sidewalks. More meetings

took place, issues were discussed, and the members of the group committed to organizing an

effort to create trails from one corner of Ulysses to the other end of town. They developed a

project plan, strategies for implementing said plan, and an agreement within the group to go for

it. They knew the road ahead would be a tough road, but it was one that has a long-range plan

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and a huge benefit to the community, promoting the health and wellness of the citizens of

Ulysses, Kansas.

One issue the members found is that people wanted the trails, but “Not In My Back

Yard” (NIMBY). Citizens did not want the liability of building and maintaining something on

their property that may cause someone to get hurt, making them liable for the injury. We

understand their concern, and it is our job to show them that the need outweighs the likelihood

for an accident or injury on their respective properties. This would be no easy feat, and we will

do our best though. Our plan is to continue on our path to do what is right by the citizens of

Ulysses.

The purpose of Connect Ulysses is to connect, through a series of urban and rural trails,

the far northwest corner of Ulysses to the far southeast corner at Frazier Park. While creating this

connection of trails, off-shoot trails will be identified, repaired and/or built for certain quadrant

neighborhoods allowing for those citizens to enjoy well marked, measured and safe walking

loops. The members of the group developed a 5 to 10-year plan to complete the entire project by

breaking it down into sections that were more manageable and easier to gain the small victories.

Members conducted research on building and maintaining sidewalks, permissions or permits

needed, contracts with landowners, construction companies, etc., if necessary, and prioritizing

which section would be done first, second, and so on.

During the information gathering time, surveys were done by the Economic Development

Foundation, the Annual School Nurse Report, and the Grant County Health Needs Assessment.

Having members of the newspaper staff on our team was quite beneficial because the

information was reported in the paper and subsequently, we were able to use it to learn the needs

of the community and what they wanted to see happen. The citizens of Ulysses responded to the

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surveys by stating they would like to see some beautification efforts take place, better places to

walk and push strollers that were not in the street, and they wanted to see routes created between

the middle school, the high school, and the elementary schools. Currently, there are not trails

connecting the schools.

COALITION MEMBERS

The Rotary Club began efforts by sending letters looking for support and determining

whether or not the cause was worthwhile. Support came in the form of membership by

representatives from the community active businesses that were contacted. The initial

membership came in the form of representatives from the electric cooperative, the hospital, and

the school district. Meetings were held, and discussions took place, but attendance dropped off

with the school district representatives not attending at all. The CEO of Pioneer Communications

was already represented through the Rotarian Chair of our organization (Erica Ogelvie) and she,

Catherine Moyer, has given full support where able to the coalition including providing a

website and web designer at no cost to the group.  The CEO of Pioneer Electric, having little

time for discussion meetings, provided clear guidance – when we have a project ready, make

sure he knows we are ready and he, Steve Epperson, will be behind the project 100%.  Not

speaking financially, but in some ways financially and in other ways with public support.  We

gained new members by way of staff from the local newspaper and other businesses in Ulysses,

along with other members of The Rotary Club.

Erica Ogelvie, our champion and leader of the group, is the force behind our community

organizing effort. Erica is the main representative from the Rotary Club, as well as the Pioneer

Communications representative in the coalition. Cindy Howard-Reeves, representative of the

hospital and long-time resident of Ulysses, provides history and boots on the ground. Bene

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Garcia, representative of Ulysses News (local newspaper), provides enthusiasm and information

for the project. Bene recently left for Thailand to pursue a dream of his – to teach in a foreign

country. Lana Long-Anderson, Rotarian and former City Council member, provides insight on

regulations and possible obstacles the effort might encounter. Kristi Anderson, who is the

director of Grant County Recreation Center, joined the team and shares her knowledge about

trails and fitness. Caleb Woods, representative of First National Bank and Rotarian, helps with

ideas for completion of the project, and offers insight from his experiences in Garden City,

Kansas, during trail implementation work there. Lara Tusten, also from the newspaper, took

over Bene’s position when he left for Thailand. I joined the team at the beginning of this year

but followed the efforts through weekly reports from Erica. I also work at the hospital, and I was

tasked with leading efforts to give back to the community. We began our “give back” campaign

by raising awareness and funds to promote health and wellness in our community. The citizens

want a better place to be active, so the hospital joined forces with Connect Ulysses. This team,

this coalition is a group of individuals and/or organizations with a common interest who agree to

work together toward a common goal – sidewalks.

Our desired operating goal is to create, build and maintain sidewalks for the citizens of

Ulysses. As we work to achieve our goal, we have incorporated the needs of the citizens,

mapped out where people walk, and devised a plan to build sidewalks in those areas. The

original plan was to utilize the sidewalks already in place from one side of town to the other. We

found city is lacking in sidewalks on the undeveloped land that will take people to the park

where trails are already in place. We have hosted meetings with the citizens to raise awareness

and gain support for our project. We have provided education to the community and its leaders,

now all we need is the funding to make it happen.

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In addition, our goal happened in phases. In February of 2017 it was about health and

wellness.  But, to pitch it to Rotary we made it about economic development – afraid that the

health and wellness aspect had run its course in this community. We may have been wrong

about this, but there were big things happening with the hospital, and we decided to approach it a

different way. In April 2017, we pitched it as an economic development plan. By the fall of

2017, our plan evolved into the following objectives: (1) Economic Development; (2) Health and

Wellness; (3) Walkability – a new trend regarding the ability of citizens to walk to their services

locations (hospitals, grocery stores, utilities); and (4) Community Aesthetics.

The coalition has tremendous assets and few liabilities. The team has an eagerness to

achieve its goal, the energy to work towards the goal, and is empowered to make it happen. The

liabilities of the coalition are a lack of funding, grants, and the willingness of wealthy

contributors to donate to our project. I know this sounds like I am being funny, but I am not.

Lack of funds is our biggest weakness. Also, our liabilities also include social isolation – it’s the

community’s response to the coalition members. They will either be on board, ambivalent, or

they will be against it. And, those that are against it may go against individual members

personally or professionally. 

Our power sources are numerous. Bob Wilson Memorial Hospital, and the teams within

who support Connect Ulysses and what it is trying to accomplish, is a source. Pioneer

Communications is another, and it is one of the leading employers of Ulysses, Kansas, and

always does so much for the community. Pioneer Electric Cooperative is another and is a

leading employer and a leading contributor to the community. City of Ulysses is another source

of power for Connect Ulysses because they provide manpower, land, and support to our cause.

Tarbet Concrete donates time, materials, and energy to the cause and so does WT Contractors.

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Without these sources, the parts of the project that have been completed, would still be in the

planning stages. Each source contributes much needed time and resources to such a worthy

cause.

TARGETS

The coalition and efforts have been in place for over a year now, and what started as a

recreational movement for nature trails has transitioned into an appreciation for a more urban

response that required someone to meet the needs of the community. The drivers of these efforts

are economic development and wellness. The citizens have spoken in their survey responses that

they want a better place, a more beautiful place to be active. We need the support of the

following targets to achieve the goal of Connect Ulysses.

Our primary targets are local government officials, City Council and the County

Commissioners, home/landowners, and land developers. Potential employee candidates for local

businesses along with the existing employees that local businesses want to retain in our

community are also primary targets. Society wants places to be safe, active, and healthy. If we

create and maintain a better place for citizens to be active, we need to have an attractive town

where people can get out and do things like take a bike ride with the family or go for a walk.

These primary targets are the ones that utilize the walking trails for health and wellness, for

recreation, and for access to services like utilities and groceries.

Our secondary targets are our children, for safety purposes, walking to and from school

or practice, or from the park. Mothers walking with their children, pushing strollers and getting

toddlers out and about are additional targets. Part of our plan is for 5’ sidewalks which will help

when mothers and/or fathers are pushing strollers. It will also be more aesthetically pleasing for

community members and people visiting. We believe that once we have the full support and

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cooperation from the community, the City Council will see the need in the community and

provide the necessary resources and manpower to help us achieve our goal.

Our targets are generally very supportive of our cause which is a tremendous strength for

us. However, some of the landowners are on the fence or heard something negative about

Connect Ulysses, so they are not in favor of sidewalks being placed in their “backyard” so to

speak. This would be a weakness for us. I would like to say that Ulysses is an active town, and

people want to be outside doing something, anything, especially when the weather is nice.

People want to move, and with Connect Ulysses placing sidewalks, this gives a perfect

opportunity for the citizens to utilize the walking trails to be that active person they strive to be.

Ultimately, it is the homeowner or landowner, in some cases it is the City who owns the

property, who holds the power as to whether or not sidewalks can be placed on a property. There

are city regulations that state that when land is developed, sidewalks are to be installed. For

some reason, the City does not enforce this ordinance, and we can only speculate as to why, but

it will not get us closer to our goal. Some of the issue is that people have or want a 3’ sidewalk

when the neighbor has a 5’ sidewalk. The community needs consistency with the sidewalks.

The homeowners wield the power. We are in the process of getting waivers signed releasing the

City of Ulysses and Connect Ulysses from liability if something happens to the sidewalks. Most

of the landowners are in support of our project; however, there are a few who are being

cantankerous and are refusing to sign the release. One even said to us, “If you put a sidewalk on

my property, it will invite people to walk on it.” That is the whole point of our effort. He is also

concerned with people littering in his yard, and someone getting hurt, which are valid points, but

walkers or runners by nature, are pretty non-threatening. We will continue on with our quest.

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The landowners live in the areas where we wish to place sidewalks and trails. Most of

them want sidewalks, and for whatever reason, were not put in when the land was developed. If

the landowner is not on board with our efforts, our connection route will not connect. Some of

the landowners and the City Council are our major opponents to our movement because without

them, we cannot move forward. If we had all the money to complete the project but the

landowners say “No,” we cannot put the sidewalks on their property. We can hope that they

envision what we are trying to create and support us in our cause. There is the possibility of the

homeowners, who do not want sidewalks, protesting to the City Council about sidewalks being

placed in their neighborhood wreaking some kind of havoc, but it is unlikely. The City has

contributed manpower to install some of the sidewalks already in part of our project, and so we

know that they support us. The biggest issue we have with the City is that we will continue to

ask for help, but the City will be reluctant to provide the help because they have other projects

taking place.

STRATEGIES & TACTICS

Our strategies and tactics that we are using and plan to continue to use are non-violent.

Like everything that we have learned about non-violence, it seems the most reasonable and

diplomatic way to handle our effort. Plus, when was the last time you heard of people getting

violent because they did not want a sidewalk placed in their neighborhood? It is very unlikely

that this would happen. Having said that, we plan to use all the resources we have available to us

such as social media, local newspapers, radio, and any other type of advertising we can use to

spread the word about our cause. We will provide and will continue to provide education to the

community and its leaders about the benefits of having safe walking trails in our community as

well as the beautification it will add. We will recruit more members to help spread the word

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about our cause. People who believe in what we are doing and why we are doing it will get

behind us and strengthen our resolve. Our strategy will be to get the community behind our

effort which will support more outdoor activities.

Our short-term process goal will be to install sidewalks for the smaller sections of the

project to show the community that we are serious. We call these “filler” projects. Imagine a

block where almost the entire block on one side of the street has a sidewalk. The one property

that does not have sidewalk would become our “filler” project. We would get permission,

contract the work, and build the sidewalk. Whereas, our long-term goal will be to install walking

trails to connect the northwest corner of Ulysses to the southeast corner of Ulysses. We believe

that if show the community that we do what we say we will do and create the safe walking trails

for the community, they will continue to support us in our efforts to create the bigger parts of the

project. We want our children to be able to walk to school without worrying about them walking

in the street and possibly being hit by cars.

Our tactic is to play on the emotions of the mothers and fathers who allow their children

to walk to school in the street creating unsafe means for them. We plan to use this tactic to get

people to understand how dangerous it is for children and adults to walk in the street. We also

plan to go door-to-door and get permission from the landowner to install the sidewalks. We plan

to educate the community by hosting town hall meetings and having public demonstrations

showing and raising awareness for the need for sidewalks and walking trails in our community.

We have supplied maps and information about our project to the community at the local health

fair, fundraisers, and any time there is an event where health and wellness are key.

Thus far, the community has responded favorably, for the most part, to our efforts. We

have not had any group threaten us or outwardly condemn any of the work that we have done. If

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anything, they give us advice as to how we should proceed or which part of the project we

should work on next. The community of Ulysses, Kansas, is like none I have ever seen or lived

in during my life. When they believe in something or believe something will be for the greater

good, they get behind it wholeheartedly. I have worked in this community for ten (10) years, and

I am still amazed.

PROGRESS REPORT

We have one part of the project completed to date. Barb Dye Park has newly installed

sidewalks thanks to Bene Garcia and team for having the foresight to start there. It showed the

community we are serious about our goal and our plan to achieve it. We are working on the

second part of the project now, which is the Joyce Street Project, with fundraising efforts to end

in August of this year. We hope to the have the sidewalks installed by the end of this year on

Joyce Street. We estimate the cost to complete Joyce Street with sidewalks on the parcels of land

where the owners have agreed to let us at approximately $18,500. Fundraising efforts thus far

have us a little closer to the entire goal, but there is still a lot of work to do. To date, in our

efforts, we have not seen a lot of failure unless you count the amount of money, or lack thereof,

we raised so far. We consider the funds raised as a small victory. We are also working on

obtaining signatures from homeowners releasing the City of Ulysses as well as Connect Ulysses

from liability in case something happens to the sidewalks. We believe in our hearts that our

efforts will continue to raise the money needed to install the sidewalks.

We have enlisted the help and assistance from the City Engineer and members of KDOT

to help us with the bigger parts of the project. We are in the planning phases of the next parts of

the project. We are always looking at the big picture. Our focus, once Joyce Street is complete,

is to connect the schools with sidewalks. There is a grant from Safe Routes to Schools that we

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will be applying for to help us get the money and resources needed to connect the schools. We

have the support of the Grant County Community Foundation to help us in our grant writing

efforts along with some of our fundraising events. The only obstacle that we see is now raising or

obtaining funds to complete our project. If we get a Federal Grant, the City will have to match

the funds awarded, and we are not sure how the City will handle it, but we will not know unless

we ask. They already have the knowledge that we are applying for the grants.

VICTORY

I am attaching, as “Exhibit A,” a Concept Map. This is a map of the City of Ulysses.

The green areas are where sidewalks are already located. The red on the map is where we want

sidewalks to be installed and maintained. The blue on the map is how we plan to “connect”

Ulysses from one corner to the other. One of our victories which may seem small to others, but

it is big to us, is the completion of Barb Dye Park. I am also attaching a picture of the sign we

put up after the completion of Barb Dye Park. It is on the south side of the map (where the green

is). The ultimate goal is to have that map completely green. That is what victory looks like to

us. Simple, straight-forward goals of installing sidewalks to create safe walking trails and loops

throughout Ulysses, Kansas, to promote the health and wellness of its citizens. This would

eliminate our problem of unsafe walking paths and routes in Ulysses.

REFLECTION

I believe this movement will be successful. I know that the it will take many years to

reach our goal, but we knew that it would not happen overnight. After all, the problem was not

created in one day. Some of our short-term goals have been accomplished, like the completion

of Barb Dye Park. Fundraising efforts have not yielded as much as we had hoped, but it is a

start. Long-term results will be the completion of the entire project. Receiving the grants,

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having the City match our funds – these are long-term goals. We must keep our goal of project

completion and safe walking trails in sight while we continue to work to complete each step in

the process, like getting signatures on releases. The small stuff adds up to the big stuff.

Our efforts thus far have been successful. The tactics and strategies we are currently

employing are non-violent, like Gandhi, Alice Paul, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the rest of the

Civil Rights Movement. We have no need to picket, strike, or portray any form of civil

disobedience. Our rights are not being violated, we only want to create safer places for people to

be active in a small town in Kansas. We do plan to use Moral Suasion which is using guilt to get

what we want. The Civil Rights Movement used Moral Suasion as a tactic, and it worked well.

We plan to play on the emotions of parents who do not want their children walking to school in

the middle of the street.

We also plan to use the media to the best of our ability. We have reporters on our team,

they are part of the coalition. We will be able to spread the word and educate the community

about the need for safer walking trails in our community. We can promote our town hall

meetings when it is time to discuss connecting the schools and how it will affect the parents and

children, not to mention the school. We will actively recruit members of the school district to

rejoin our group to give us insight into any plan the school may have with what we are trying to

do. We also plan to lobby the City to match the funds we are requesting in our Federal Grant.

We also plan to negotiate with contractors about materials and prices for said materials.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Although I think things are going smoothly with our community organizing effort, they

could go better by recruiting more team members to spread the work of grant writing. It would

be nice if the new team members have a skill in grant writing or gathering the information for the

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grant writers. I think our group should consult other foundations who write grants regularly and

find out the ins and outs of grant writing, possibly recruit one or two of those people to be a part

of our coalition. I believe that another way to better serve our purpose would be to recruit some

of the City Council members, Commissioners, board members of other local businesses, and

other members of the Chamber of Commerce to become involved in our cause. Recruiting the

right people will help us achieve our goal, and it will help to empower the citizens of Ulysses to

have that safer place to be active. I know this is easier said than done. Recruiting the necessary

people to ensure applications are completed correctly, and all the information gathered is true

and accurate is a step in the right direction. I know this is not anything I have not said

throughout the paper, but it would work.

Our situation is different than some of the things we learned in this class. We are a

peaceful assembly trying to create a better, more beautiful place to be active. Our rights are not

being violated, so the need for some of the tactics used in the Civil Rights Movement, the

Women’s Suffrage Movement, Gandhi’s independence movement, and Rosa Parks’ Bus

Boycott, are not necessary in our effort.

CONCLUSION

I have learned a lot in this class and will continue to employ some of the tactics I have

learned as I continue to assist Connect Ulysses in its endeavors. I will be able to provide insight

and as to what will work and what may not work. Thank you for this assignment because if I did

not have to write this paper, I would not have learned as much as I did about this effort. I will

work at giving more of myself to this cause because it is worthwhile. It also says a lot about this

community in that our biggest issue is not crime, but a lack of sidewalks.

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“EXHIBIT A”

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Connect Ulysses Concept Map

When looking at the map from this view, the left side where the arrow is, that is Joyce Street – the part of the project that we are working on now.

Signage for Barb Dye Park