Tajha Chappellet-Lanier here, thinking about the quality of life in our communities and the people and decisions that impact it. I’m thinking about that partially because I spent this morning at a Big Sur Multi-Agency Advisory Council meeting, watching the slow, methodical and ultimately inspiring process that so many of my neighbors undertake to make Big Sur better (in whatever their vision for that might be).
I’m also thinking about it because of work that Impact Monterey County—a collaborative group of local nonprofits and public agencies—is currently undertaking. On July 15, Impact Monterey County launched its 2022 Community Aspirations Assessment, which aims to give Monterey County residents age 13 and older the opportunity to share their experiences and aspirations. The goal of the assessment, and Impact Monterey County more broadly, is to “identify the most effective ways to improve life in our county.”
There are two components to the ongoing assessment process. The first is an online survey that asks questions about health (What are the top three health problems in your community?), housing (What is your housing situation now, and what kind of housing would you like to live in?), education (Would you like to achieve a higher level of education?), and economic self-sufficiency. The survey should take most respondents about 10-15 minutes to complete, and there is a version for adults as well as youth. The second component is in-person community conversations—small group discussions that IMC hopes to host in diverse communities around the county.
It’s not the first time IMC has done an assessment like this. The group undertook a similar process in 2014 and again in 2019. But the pandemic hit just as the report from that 2019 assessment was released and, well, a lot has changed since then.
“We’re really looking for representative data,” says Kalyssa King, community impact director at United Way Monterey County—data that represents the county’s racial and ethnic diversity, as well as geographic diversity. The survey is anonymous, but it does ask for a zip code and some general demographic information.
Once collected, the data will be compiled into a report for use by IMC’s member groups—United Monterey County, Community Hospital, CHISPA, the Food Bank of Monterey County and many more. “This data is really helpful for thinking about how we plan programs and policies,” King says. The report will also be available to the general public.
It’s interesting information that Impact Monterey County is attempting to collect—much more qualitative than one might expect from a survey—focused on our feelings about the present and desires for the future. Ultimately, it’s these feelings and desires that can help us understand how life is going in Monterey County—and what changes could make it even better.
You can contribute to this understanding by filling out the survey; if you’d like to be part of a community conversation you can reach out to Kalyssa King at kalyssa.king@unitedwaymcc.org.
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