Current Efforts
In March 2020, the City of Slayton provided funding for Operation Prairie Venture to work with Southwest Regional Development Commission (SRDC) on strategic planning efforts. Operation Prairie Venture continues to work with SRDC on strategic planning, with a mission to “build innovative services and spaces for older adults that enable all generations to live and thrive in a vibrant community” and a vision that their “care and living solutions serve as the model for rural America.”
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In June 2020, Operation Prairie Venture received a project grant to work with University of Minnesota Regional Sustainable Development Partnership. This grant will support a 13-week architecture and design internship for the development of a model intergenerational neighborhood that provides housing options for older adults and childcare for young children.
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Operation Prairie Venture has begun the community input phase of its planning work. In July 2020, a survey on Intergenerational Housing and Services was made available to the community. The results of this survey will inform the design of Operation Prairie Venture.
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To fulfill Operation Prairie Venture’s mission, feedback, leadership, and energy from a wide range of people in Slayton and beyond will be needed. With this support, Operation Prairie Venture will continue its initiative to address housing and service needs in the region.
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Community Input Sessions
Session 1: July 23, 2020
Session 2: August 13, 2020
Intergenerational Village
Slayton, Minnesota | Envisioning Design Prototypes for Senior Living
Intergenerational Village was published in November, 2020, by Virajita Singh and Rajeev Atha of the University of Minnesota's Center for Sustainable Building Research in partnership with Operation Prairie Venture, The University of Minnesota Extension Southwest and Regional Sustainable Development Partnership, and The Center for Urban and Regional Affairs.
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The report includes context on the Intergenerational Village project within the history of Murray County and the City of Slayton; additional research and precedents that informed the project's development and design; input from the community engagement activities and survey results conducted by the Southwest Regional Development Commission; and an analysis of the City of Slayton on a macro scale to investigate the city’s possible assets and networks.
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