FINAL EDIT

"I wish they had more of those grants to be able to help another community do [the] same thing…"

      — Kathy Borgman, Executive Director, Friends of Arrow Rock

Despite the intense nature of the two projects, neither institution hesitated to assert that it would recommend that another institution in similar circumstances take on a project of this kind. Because their approaches diverged so greatly, the two institutions' staff's comments and final pieces of advice were also quite distinct from one another. However, like the approaches to and the final outcomes of the projects, both kinds of advice are equally valuable and equally reflect the mission of the institution from which they originated.

 

FROM THE BLACK WORLD HISTORY MUSEUM:
Executive Director Lois D. Conley:
When asked what advice she would have for a comparable institution considering a project of this nature, Executive Director Conley replied, "Pursue it, with or without funding." However, she asserted that the project, and specifically the intern project, should be a part of the institution's educational or community outreach mission. If the project weren't part of the mission, Ms. Conley explained, the amount of time and effort might outweigh the institution's commitment to making the project work. And so, provided that the organization is willing to commit its time and resources to a successful outcome, Ms. Conley advises the institution to "try it out, even with two students [if need be], and work out the kinks along the way."

FROM THE FRIENDS OF ARROW ROCK STAFF:
Executive Director Kathy Borgman:
When asked if they would recommend a project of this kind, or a replication of their work, to institutions in similar circumstances, members of the Friends staff answered with a resounding yes-but only as a model. As Ms. Borgman explained, each institution must handle its own needs as it is appropriate for that particular place. Once an organization has a good handle on the task at hand, it needs to, as Kathy Borgman of the Friends of Arrow Rock suggests: 1.) narrow the task down to a workable, focused project; 2.) tailor that project to available resources; 3.) have realistic ideas about what current staff is able to do; and 4.) target outside groups (volunteers or interns) according to the population type with which its staff works best.

The "next step" after assessing its needs would be deciding "how [it would] fund [the project]," because an institution "could [only] do so much" without the funding to implement its ideas. For example, an institution "couldn't do the publicity we could do, [or] bring in someone who generated a lot of interest." As the grant was fundamental in securing advertising, promotions, publicity, and speakers for the Friends events, so adequate funding was fundamental in the advice and recommendations that Friends staff.

Education Director Pam Parsons:
The grant "opened my mind to new things."

President Sue Stubbs:
"It was very worth doing."

As a final note on the outcome of the project, the Friends of Arrow Rock and the Black World History Museum, despite their different approaches to the model project, have since teamed up for a follow-up grant. Currently, they are working together to carry out the grant, which relates both to African-American history and the village of Arrow Rock. Members and volunteers of both institutions have visited each other's sites and work in partnership with each other, even across all the divides which made their model projects equally successful, but drastically dissimilar.