Survey finds county priorities include art, health, youth

Foundation gets input about where to help community

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008

‘‘We anticipate this study to be used by policy makers, funders, government entities, educational institutions, health care organizations and more,” said Gretchen Heinze Hardman, executive director of the foundation.

The assessment, which was conducted by Columbia-based Health Management Consultants Inc., was sent to area groups with experts in the six sections of the assessment — arts and culture, education and scholarship, environment, general community improvement, health and wellness, and youth initiatives.

The consultants gathered strategic plans and assessments that had already been completed by organizations to cull information.

‘‘We started with existing work, we didn’t want to recreate the wheel,” said Mary Grant, chairwoman of the community needs assessment committee and a member of the county’s department of planning and growth management. ‘‘These are the priority needs. This is the beginning of the process; it’s not a static document by any means. It is a very, very valuable document.”

In addition to working from existing documents, public forums were held first with representatives of nonprofits then open to the public to discuss the changes needed in the county.

Supported by the community foundation, the United Way of Charles County and the Charles County government, the assessment provides the priority needs in each area but also points out opportunities to implement the needs.

There were no real surprises brought to light in the needs assessment, said Dorothy Harper, president and CEO of the local United Way. The same issues the United Way has always addressed — such as affordable housing and quality medical care for the poor continue to top the list.

Other priorities, for example in the environment section call for a need to establish campaigns to clean waterways. Supporting current campaigns and introducing ways residents could aid in the cleanup of the area’s rivers and streams was also a suggestion.

In the health and wellness section, the assessment pointed to a need to address the rising concerns regarding children’s health. An opportunity to begin to remedy the issue would be promoting fitness, wellness and prevention activities.

Hardman said she was a bit surprised, especially considering recent reports of the county’s high prostate cancer rate, that those polled for the assessment did not seem concerned about cancer.

But then, given the Community Foundation’s mission, Hardman said she understood the reasoning.

‘‘Cancer wasn’t really even a topic under health and wellness,” she said. ‘‘I think a reason it is not even brought up is if it is something a check from someone is not going to cure.”

The community foundation, founded in 2006, is a nonprofit group created by and for the people of the county. It works to improve the quality of life for area residents by coupling philanthropic interests with community needs. By working with families, individuals, businesses, estate and financial planners and others, the foundation can ensure donors receive the most benefit from their charitable donations and gifts are used to the fullest potential.

Giving to the foundation can come in a variety of ways — cash, stocks, real estate. And if donors don’t exactly know where they want their money to go, the foundation can assist in finding the perfect match.

The foundation will take care of the ‘‘dirty work” or the ‘‘legwork,” she said.

Essentially, it links donors with local needs.

One of the best things that came from the needs assessment was the collaboration between the three organizations — the foundation, local government and the area’s United Way, Hardman said.

‘‘The greatest thing was the collaboration of the three organizations,” Hardman said. ‘‘From now on if we figure out how to work together to divide and conquer it’ll be great.” Eventually, added Hardman, the foundation, along with the other two entities, would like to be a part of a funders roundtable.