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United Way releases needs assessment Garofolo, Chris . The Brattleboro Reformer ; Brattleboro, Vt. [Brattleboro, Vt]17 July 2009.

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ABSTRACT According to United Way Executive Director Carmen Derby, the needs assessment looks at what issues residents

are facing in the county and ways to continue improving on the identified strengths and weaknesses. FULL TEXT BRATTLEBORO -- The United Way of Windham County publicly released its Community Needs Assessment

executive summary Tuesday morning.

The second needs assessment completed by the organization since 2001, the summary provides United Way

leaders an opportunity to "take the pulse of the community" and gauge the foremost issues of Windham County

residents.

According to United Way Executive Director Carmen Derby, the needs assessment looks at what issues residents

are facing in the county and ways to continue improving on the identified strengths and weaknesses.

"We will now be taking a look at the priorities as they are listed," she said.

In alphabetical order, they are -- affordable housing, child care, education, elder services, health care access, jobs

(and employment) and transportation.

The data reports in detail about the positives and negatives in each particular category and potential ideas to

improve services. The complete list is available at the United Way Web site, www.unitedwaywindham.org.

As a result of the pros and cons of the assessment, the participants recommended United Way serve as a catalyst

for planning and action in the region and take a more direct lead as the "tugboat of the human services ship."

In addition, United Way received advice on engaging the community to implement the assessment by building

awareness of the data, advocating for towns and other nonprofit to act and to potentially establish a quarterly

progress report.

Nearly 70 people attended the presentation at the Brattleboro Retreat on Tuesday morning.

After analyzing the data, United Way officials conducted a random telephone survey of 305 households,

interviewed leaders from a variety of Windham County sectors and held eight focus groups in three different

towns.

"The strengths, weaknesses and improvements were all determined by the interviews done with the focus groups,

consumer surveys and key leaders," said Derby.

The benefit of completing a new needs assessment is it provides a data sheet for tracking the figures within the

county, creating a valuable resource for organizations looking for information regarding any of the high priority

issues.

Compared to the initial assessment completed in 2002, Derby said this current one is done in a different format

and is much more user-friendly. Not only is it easier to read, but the entirety of the needs assessment is at the

organization's Web site.

"This is one place where all this information has been pulled together," she said.

John Swartz, field director with the Vermont Agency of Human Services, said the community needs assessment is

beneficial at the state level because it helps the agency make the case their are unmet needs in the region.

"It's very useful for nonprofits when they apply for grants," he said. "They are able to cite documentation of various

needs within the county."

In the future, Derby hopes other community-based organizations will continue to focus on the issues put forth in

this assessment, leading to an increase in collaboration work between the county's nonprofits.

"Hopefully this will open up discussions on all that," she said.

Chris Garofolo can be reached at cgarofolo@reformer.com or 802-254-2311, ext. 275.

Credit: By CHRIS GAROFOLO DETAILS

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Subject: Needs analysis; Polls &surveys; Focus groups

Company / organization: Name: United Way; NAICS: 813219

Publication title: The Brattleboro Reformer; Brattleboro, Vt.

Publication year: 2009

Publication date: Jul 17, 2009

Section: News

Publisher: New England Newspapers, Inc.

Place of publication: Brattleboro, Vt.

Country of publication: United States, Brattleboro, Vt.

Publication subject: General Interest Periodicals--United States

Source type: Newspapers

Language of publication: English

Document type: News

ProQuest document ID: 380036142

Document URL: https://search.proquest.com/docview/380036142?accountid=40836

Copyright: Copyright (c) 2009 New England Newspapers. All Rights Reserved.

Last updated: 2010-06-24

Database: U.S. Northeast Newsstream

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