History

It all started when…

In 1995, several Harrison County leaders worked with our neighbors to bring the Awareness Washington County program to Harrison County. In 1997, Leadership Harrison County became an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization driven by its volunteer board of directors and dedicated to developing servant leaders for tomorrow. Every fall since 1995, LHC has enrolled a class of adults who dedicate one day per month to delving into challenges and opportunities in Harrison County, and building their personal skills and networks to contribute to their community. The graduating class of 2004 created a version of the LHC program for youth; that program lasted for several years before going on hiatus. The adult class of 2018 revived and reinvented the program, working to get it fully adopted by the board as an integral part of LHC’s work.

Class Projects

Each Leadership class identifies a need in the community and creates a project to address that need. This is the history of class projects undertaken by each year's class:

1996     Indian Creek Trail Corridor *
1997     Community Unity *
1998     Repair Affair Harrison County *
1999     None
2000     Leadership Harrison County directory
2001     Black-tie fund raising event at Caesar’s for the YMCA
2002     Manage Friends of Youth soccer program & Habitat for Humanity Harrison Co.*
2003     Creation of Cock-A-Doodle Days Festival
2004     Creation of Youth Leadership Harrison County program
2005     Project Safe Place
2006     Creation of playground at the May & Joe Rhoads Memorial Pool
2007     Planting wildflowers at the I-64 interchange in Corydon
2008     Enhancement of playground installation at May & Joe Rhoads Memorial Pool
2009     Stretching station at YMCA trailhead of the Indian Creek Trail
2010     50 Trees of Indiana at South Harrison Park
2011     Fundraising for Harrison County Arts! 
2012     Restoration of Rice Island concession stand
2013     Work donation on grounds of the Samuel Carter House
2014     Fence at YMCA soccer fields
2015     Memorial Garden at Indian Creek and tech lab for Boys & Girls Club
2016     Gazebo at the Elizabeth Community Center
2017     Construction and raffle of tiny house; proceeds address homelessness
2018     Revival of Youth Leadership Harrison County program
2019     Harrison County Adventure Walk
2020 Harrison County Baby Box
2021 Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program at Harrison County Hospital
2022 Adopt-A-Grave Harrison County
2023 Little Free Pantries in six locations throughout the county
2024 Alumni Banquet to reunite 29 classes of servant leaders
* These projects were spearheaded by people who came out of the LHC classes (being discussed by the class & with participation by the class) but these organizations or groups were formed separate from LHC and involved other community members.

Servant Leader Award

Each year's class participants choose a member of the community to receive the Servant Leader Award, recognizing outstanding service to Harrison County. These are the recipients since the award's inception: