After completing the Commonwealth Map, I discovered many things about my community that I was unaware of beforehand. The 12 key assets of commonwealth are health, spirituality, leisure and recreation, wildlife and natural world, renewable energy, water cycle, soil and mineral cycle, foodshed, arts and culture, history, sense of place, and education. My family moved to Holyoke, Colorado, this year while I was away at college. At first, it was hard for me to adjust to a new house and a new community. After discovering some of these key assets, I felt much more at home in my new town.
The first asset of my new community that I felt contributed to the commonwealth of the area was spirituality. My family and I were accepted in our new parish and felt very comfortable. The first picture shows my church, Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church. It also seems to me that everyone in Holyoke belongs to a church, which shows how important spirituality is to the commonwealth of this community. Another asset that is very important to the community and to me is health. Holyoke Fitness Club, shown in the second picture, was another thing that made me feel right at home and find my sense of place here in Holyoke, which is another important asset of commonwealth. Many community members use the gym as well as the fitness facilities at the Melissa Memorial Hospital, where I am doing my internship. Health is held at a very high regard by the town. A third example of commonwealth in my community is leisure and recreation. Although Holyoke is a small town, there are numerous community events every week. This definitely surprised me the most as I was looking into these commonwealth assets. After completing the map, I have looked deeper into my community to see what is prioritized and what is lacking and discovered new things about my new home.
