The Tomahawks and Arrows Initiative plays on the imagery of Hillsboro’s mascot (the Indian) and seeks to connect and strengthen two distinct groups:

1. Tomahawks - those who live in Hillsboro and surrounding Highland County and want to make it a better place to live. These are people willing to collaborate with city government and other community organizations to produce a positive impact.

2. Arrows - those who grew up in Hillsboro, moved away and live somewhere else yet still visit and want to give back to the community that raised them.

The goal of the H&A Initiative is to strengthen Hillsboro's alumni network, connecting those who live in Hillsboro (Tomahawks) with those raised in Hillsboro (Arrows) to build and support projects that benefit the community and its goals. 

What does it look like?

Let's say a Tomahawk - someone who lives in Hillsboro - comes up with a great project that benefits the community.  Our job is to rally our network of Arrows to provide different levels of support (developmental, financial, creative etc.) to bring it from dream to reality. Instead of pushing change from the outside, we want to provide avenues for Arrows to support ideas that are coming from inside the community.

On the Arrow side, there are many people who want to come home and give back.  This could be supporting new restaurants/businesses or getting involved in local service projects. Our goal is for Tomahawks to identify a need and provide avenues for Arrows to address it, strengthening their connection to the community and closing the gap between the two groups.

In the future we hope to provide Tomahawk project grants to those with big ideas that benefit the community. Using the HHS VR Project, Star Cinemas Project, and Ever Forward Studio as models, we want to fund and support a variety of projects that move Hillsboro Forward, Ever Forward.

How do I get involved?

  1. Join our facilitated Tomahawks and Arrows Facebook group to get the latest on monthly meetings and future projects. Our Tomahawk and Arrow team leads work closely to foster community and bring projects to life.

  2. Sign up for our monthly newsletter for updates and events.