ON receives grant for app

The Owen News recently received a $15,000 grant from AARP through their Community Challenge grant process to support a new project to provide much-needed information for Owen County.

OwenDIRECT Project

The project, called OwenDIRECT, which also received a $2,000 grant from the Duke Energy Foundation, will be a web and mobile accessible software application providing a resource directory, events calendar, commercial advertising and emergency notifications for the county.

This project is part of The Owen News' efforts to provide Owen County with needed local information resources in print and on the web.

OwenDIRECT will be an Owen County product through and through.

It was designed by Leslie Nieves, an Owen News volunteer, who will be the Project Manager, and will be developed by Ethan McNeil of Peace Builders, based in Freedom. Developing the digital application will involve collaboration with the Owen County Chamber of Commerce, the Owen County Community Foundation, the Owen County Public Library, and county emergency service units.

The goal is to make information about services, resources, businesses, events and actions needed for personal safety easily available to everyone living or working in Owen County.

Basic access to OwenDIRECT will be free of charge, with customized services offered at reasonable rates.

"Our mission is to strengthen our community through news and verified information, and this is just one additional way for us to lean into that mission and close information gaps within our community," Nicole DeCriscio, Executive Editor of The Owen News, said.

"When the project is complete, OwenDIRECT is expected to be a model that can be used in other rural counties and smaller cities.

"We have been incredibly fortunate to have the support of The Owen County Community Foundation, our advertisers, our donors, our volunteers, our board members and last but not least our readers to support and grow The Owen News," DeCriscio said. "In addition to serving our community, we see OwenDIRECT as a model for other news deserts — a first step communities can take to rebuild local news and close information gaps.

The goal is for this to be something local chambers or foundations could adopt and run themselves to close the gap when there isn't a news outlet or as a central place for information when there are multiple news outlets."

Fundraising to complete the project is ongoing, and The Owen News welcomes sponsorships or donations.