Connect in Elkhart County is a plan grown from Vibrant Communities, a collaboration between the Community Foundation and Elkhart County Convention & Visitors Bureau to identify specific projects that would enhance local quality of life. “You can’t successfully argue quality of life doesn’t affect your community,” said former Goshen Mayor Jeremy Stutsman.
Within the county, visionaries saw the possibilities of the old Pumpkinvine railroad easement and a rutted path along a canal in Goshen, to create some of the first and best paths in Indiana. New trails have emerged over the years, but we believe that the Recreational Vehicle capital of the world should also be a leader in connecting people and communities, with the great outdoors.
The Community Foundation’s Placemaking Committee is one of three groups of volunteers who award Community Investment Grants to make our community stronger. The Placemaking Committee’s goal is to improve the quality of place in Elkhart County by working with community partners to invest in our backyards. Several years ago, each granting committee narrowed its focus down to two significant priorities to concentrate efforts on making a more considerable impact in Elkhart County. The Placemaking Committee chose vibrant downtowns and parks and trails as priority areas.
The committee members quickly realized how much we have to learn about trails when we started gathering the various transportation and park plans. There have been 20 of them involving 19 organizations since 2010. Hundreds of people in our community have been engaged in those conversations and efforts. The Community Foundation is working to bring those groups together.
We believe that together, we can build a 130-mile network connecting many of the county’s communities with trails and low-stress, walkable and bikeable streets. This network will provide safe and low-cost transportation alternatives for residents and make our places more accessible, and enjoyable for all. The Community Foundation hopes to leverage several million dollars of grants with other government and private sources to build the network.
