Survey refines data for community needs

A year ago, the Area Wide United Way set out on a fresh effort to determine what the area's biggest needs are.

The group's leadership sent out surveys to businesses, service providers and labor unions.

With that tool and others, the group determined that Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City should focus on transportation, affordable housing, substance-abuse prevention and assistance for low-income families. They followed through in using the information. The amount of money they raised went up about 15 percent from the prior year. United Way took 10 percent of that and funneled it into one-time grants aimed at addressing those four items.

That way, none of the other 33 agencies currently funded was affected by those grants, but some important needs were addressed.

So the fact that the United Way is sending out another survey could give one pause, because it hasn't been a long time since the prior effort.

Executive director Nancy Jernigan explains the reasoning clearly:

The first one was done on a small scale for the Area Wide United Way to help determine resource allocation.

The latest survey, called COMPASS II, was developed by the United Way of America and is much broader. Jernigan said the results are going to be relevant for every group in the area established to help people.

As it stands, she said, there is a remarkable lack of data to back up grant applications. When local grant writers apply for money, the not-for-profit and government agencies with money to give want to see a true need. COMPASS II, Jernigan said, is going to back up arguments with clear facts and figures.

Surveys are being sent home with schoolchildren and to key community leaders. Once they are returned, the results will be tabulated and reported to the Cape Area Community Assessment Partnership, a group of school, hospital, university and community leaders from the three cities mentioned previously.

In fact, some of these groups believed in the process so strongly, they donated a total of $8,000 for it to be done.

"This will help us fine tune where the specific issues are," Jernigan said. "A community plan will come out of this identifying who can do what to make a difference in which area. Those groups will be tracked, action plans will be developed and data will be tracked year to year to see if a real difference is being made. It's all about measuring results."

Perhaps the best part is that, instead of spending $8,000 for the effort, the United Way has contracted the grant-funded Community Caring Council staff to do it for $400, leaving more money for helping people directly.

The way the community can help this be a success is by completing and returning the surveys in a timely fashion.