La Crosse Links Fosters Connections
January 15, 2025
| By La Crosse Community Foundation |
La Crosse Links welcomes and connects newcomers
Moving to a new community can be daunting. It can feel like starting over when you don’t have a network of friends, know which accountant to hire, or where best to get your children involved in after-school activities. But a new program in the La Crosse area is changing that, aiming to make a move to the area feel more like stepping into an exciting network of connections waiting to be discovered.
Created by Hannah Amann of Hey There Hannah, LLC, and supported and funded by the La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce, La Crosse Links is a free, five-session program designed to immerse newcomers in the history, culture, and opportunities that define the region. By fostering a sense of belonging and building social capital, La Crosse Links works to turn new residents into neighbors and open doors to lasting relationships in the community.
How does La Crosse Links engage newcomers in the local community while promoting a broader sense of global awareness?
During the planning of this program, we knew our focus was community. Over 50 organizations were brainstormed for who we wanted to be involved. In our first session, we shared a slide in our presentation mapping out where people moved from who have applied for the program. Over 35 places were located on the map from each coast, to India and beyond.
The goal of the La Crosse Links program is focused on participants and community partners. Participants have an opportunity to meet other individuals new to the area, gain connections with a variety of resources, explore local businesses and organizations, and learn ways to engage in the community. Community partners can highlight how they positively impact the community and get newcomers to engage with their organization in the future. While this is, first and foremost, a human being initiative, we also know this is both a workforce solution and economic development initiative as we connect participants deeper into the community.
How do you foster inclusivity and cultural understanding through the sessions you offer?
The amount of intentionality put into this program on the backend was purposeful. We found it critical to break down as many barriers as possible for people to participate. This included making sure venues were accessible, allergens were considered by caterers, and a link to the bus route was provided, just to name a few. As we look forward, we know there are other barriers that we are looking into, such as childcare, to help alleviate any hurdles that participants might need to navigate.
We were also deliberate in our selections for our Resource Fair Open House and speaker selections. We had thoughtful discussions on who would be able to help us further the theme of the evening and the core of the overall program. For example, in our “Inclusivity” session, we invited Amanda Florence Garcia Goodenough from Goodenough Consulting to discuss what it means to be in community and how to be a good neighbor. We leaned on people doing the work in our area and gave our cohort members a rich experience.
With this being said, we are also aware that we cannot include everyone we would like to in each series. With planning future sessions, we are looking into how to incorporate as many organizations/businesses as we can and continue the wide-range diversification of connections. We are also asking for feedback from our participants to help inform these decisions.
How does La Crosse Links move us closer to being a community where everyone feels welcome and a sense of belonging?
Creating a welcoming community and sense of belonging is the core of our La Crosse Links program. This was demonstrated from the beginning as the La Crosse Area Chamber of Commerce decided to invest in funding the first three cohorts making it free to participants. We want cohort members to find their fit here in our community. Through our Resource Fair Open House with over 20 nonprofit organizations, they were able to interact and find ways to get involved.
Another specific way we wanted the voices of newcomers to be heard was through our focus group in our “Hidden Gems” session. The deliberate questions allow us to learn from our participants and give their feedback to the city/county. Some of our questions included “What surprised you when you moved to greater La Crosse?” and “What do you miss about where you moved from?” Meeting other newcomers to the area who are going through a similar transition period has bridged gaps needed for the deeper sense of connection we all long for.