Something extraordinary has been taking shape in Thayer County. Local values and roots run deep within this interconnected landscape of vibrant small towns, rich farmland, and awesome people. As do an appreciation for history and an excitement about what’s over the horizon. It’s a firm foundation for innovation.
My first trip to Thayer County was in early 2020. Something was changing. The COVID-19 pandemic was beginning to affect how we thought about and interacted with the world. In some places, entire communities pushed pause on their futures, waiting to see what happened next.
But that’s not what happened in Thayer County.
In the spring of 2020, Thayer County issued a powerful invitation to its youth through a collaboration with Nebraska Community Foundation (NCF) called The Dream Switch.
The story of a young Nebraskan set to music, The Dream Switch set the table for people of all ages to share the experience of a live musical event followed by a locally led conversation, all centered around the importance of inviting young Nebraskans to return to their hometowns. Rooted in principles of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD), The Dream Switch helped empower communities to recognize and leverage their abundant local assets and to invite young Nebraskans back home as partners in co-creating communities of choice.
Assets and strengths, not needs and deficiencies
Asset-Based Community Development is an approach to community development that focuses on identifying and leveraging the strengths and assets within a community rather than emphasizing its deficits or needs. This approach was first introduced by John L. McKnight and John P. Kretzmann in the 1990s. ABCD is rooted in the belief that communities have their own inherent strengths that, when recognized and mobilized, can be powerful drivers of positive change.
By starting with a focus on assets and strengths, rather than needs and deficiencies, ABCD aims to create a more sustainable and resilient foundation for community development. ABCD focuses on:
- Abundance, not scarcity; Assets, not needs
- Opportunities, not deficiencies
- Invite people into the conversation and co-create
- Incremental progress creates change that sticks
- Community-led and community-owned
- Build relationships before you need them
- People belong through having their gifts and talents received and appreciated
- Volunteer associations (i.e. community-based affiliated funds) are very powerful and are essential to build community
When members of a community begin to understand how much they have they begin to understand how much they can do.
In The Dream Switch, a young Nebraskan believes the future she wants exists somewhere else. It’s only once she receives a powerful invitation home that she decides to return and contribute to her hometown.
Thayer County turns up its Dream Switch
When it was finally safe to gather again after the pandemic, Thayer County came together to create something extraordinary through The Dream Switch. It wasn’t just a performance. It was a collaborative, county-wide experience powered by local talent, vision, and heart. NCF Hometown Interns Dakota Cherney and Paige Hansen played vital roles in helping bring the event to life. Elementary students imagined and built cardboard villages reflecting the future they hope to create in Thayer County. In Deshler, art teacher and FAC member Kristi Zucker guided her students in creating a stunning mural, while in Hebron, then-principal and FAC member Kurk Weidel facilitated a rich community youth-focused conversation following the performance. This is only a small representation of the incredibly talented volunteers who made The Dream Switch possible in Thayer County.
People of all ages across the county stepped forward to share their gifts and just as importantly, those gifts were seen, received, and appreciated. It was a powerful reflection of what becomes possible when a community chooses to build the future together.
Thayer County’s investment in The Dream Switch and other youth initiatives is paying off. Between being intentional about invitation, supporting the dreams and ideas of local young community members, and regularly hosting Hometown Interns, youth are finding a deeper sense of belonging and choosing to return home for good.
This summer, Byron, Deshler, and Hebron are welcoming back five NCF Hometown Interns, young adults who’ve spent a year or more away from home and are now returning with fresh eyes, renewed energy, and a desire to give back to the places that shaped them.
These three communities have also embraced the power of building their unrestricted endowments. These endowments are community savings accounts fueled by generosity, vision, and a strong belief in the future of Thayer County.
What makes these unrestricted dollars so powerful is their flexibility and alignment with the values of ABCD. Because the dollars aren’t tied to any one project, each community-led affiliated fund in Thayer County can invest in whatever local strengths, ideas, or opportunities emerge now and for generations to come.
Every gift to the endowment builds on what the community already has: generous people, bold ideas, and a commitment to creating vibrant hometowns of choice. And because the principal remains untouched, the fund and its annual payout continue to grow, creating a sustainable source of support for community-driven dreams.
Take Byron, a village of just 83 people. Through strong local leadership and a shared vision for the future, the Byron Community Foundation Fund has raised nearly $1.5 million for its unrestricted endowment. Today, that fund produces more than $66,000 annually, all of which is locally controlled and invested in the community’s priorities.
Since affiliating with NCF in 2001, the Hebron Community Foundation Fund has grown its unrestricted endowment to over $1.6 million, with a 2024 payout of more than $76,000. And the Deshler Community Fund has built an unrestricted endowment of more than $500,000, generating an annual payout of over $22,579 to support the community’s evolving dreams and priorities.
These funds aren’t just financial tools. They’re expressions of belief in the power of people and place, helping communities shape their own future from the inside out.
Shaping that future requires the input, gifts, and talents of the next generation. And while we may not know all the ways the payout of local unrestricted endowments may be invested back into our communities, we do know that we will need people living in those communities to help them thrive well into the future. Who better than our own?
A snapshot of abundance
Fast forward to 2025.
I’m looking at a photo from a recent Hometown Interns Peer Learning Session, a two-day ABCD immersive experience held in Norfolk, where hometown interns and their champions came together to explore the power of discovering local assets.
There’s a reason I keep coming back to this photo. At first glance, it’s just two rows of familiar smiling faces, but look closer, and you’ll see a snapshot of something truly extraordinary.
In the front row are this summer’s Hometown Interns: Caitlyn Mitchell from Hebron; Tierra Schardt from Deshler; Natalie Tietjen and Avery Eitzmann from Byron; and Hannah Miller and Mariah Sliva from neighboring Shickley, a community of just 309 residents that has raised an astounding $2.5 million for its unrestricted endowment. That local generosity now fuels an annual payout of $110,000, giving Shickley the ability to invest in whatever matters most to the community.
Standing beside Mariah is her champion and Shickley Community Foundation Fund Chair Joe Kamler, who was one of the first community leaders to say, “Why not invest in two Hometown Interns instead of one?”
In the back row, there’s Takaylynn Hergott, once a Hometown Intern herself and now serving on the Fund Advisory Committee (FAC) in Hebron. Right beside her is Paige Hansen, who helped bring The Dream Switch to life during her own internship and now plays a key role in shaping Deshler’s future as a FAC member.
Also pictured are Kristi Zucker from Deshler and Alan Wenske and Jaye Moeller from Byron, a community new to the Hometown Intern experience but proudly hosting two interns of their own.
Transformation occurs when people trust each other enough to combine their collective abundance to create positive change that may not otherwise occur.
What might happen if the friends and neighbors in this snapshot started dreaming about what they could do together with their combined collective abundance?
How might it turn up their dream switch today?
Together, we can dream even bigger dreams.
Together, anything is possible.
Together, a Greater Nebraska.
Becky Boesen is the Director of Asset-Based Community Development (ABCD) for Nebraska Community Foundation. She helps develop, support, and strengthen initiatives that uncover and unleash abundance across the NCF network.
Read more from Thayer County here.
