The history of how the action groups formed can be a little confusing, so the Herald has put together a series of articles focusing on the formation of each group, their goals, current projects and what will be discussed during the upcoming conference.
The beginning
 LaPan |
In that same year, a steering committee of representatives from the county, hospital, housing, schools and community was formed to guide the community building process. A process called Mobilizing for Action through Partnerships and Planning (MAPP) was adopted for Richland County residents to follow. It included step-by-step action such as conduct surveys, identifying issues and formulating goal. “It’s all about getting people together as a partnership and planning, so we have a comprehensive coordinated approach to the issue we face in the community in regards to the quality of life,” Judy LaPan, an organizer of the conference, said. In essence, the health department tried to mobilize action through partnership and planning. The first group of VISTAs, who arrived in 2006, guided the MAPP process.
LaPan said that, from the health department’s standpoint, quality of life goes “hand-in-hand” with economic development. “There’s data that people with higher incomes, higher education levels have better life, so if we’re trying to improve health status, one way of doing that is making sure people have the ability to make more money, have lifelong learning, have a higher level of education or, even more, a higher level of purpose,” she said.
From the MAPP process, eight assessments took place in 2007 to collect information on issues like public health, physical activity, environmental health and perspectives from young people regarding their communities. When the results were gathered, a planning committee (which prepared the growth policy) and the steering committee formed a Quality of Life Profile which would be used as the basis of the first county-wide conference in 2008. The conference’s purpose was to gather input from residents and organize the responses to the county issues. It was from the assessments that the six action groups were formed because they fit under certain categories (physical health, social health, environmental health and community well-being). “It’s about the community getting together, having some common goals amongst organizations and individuals, so it’s not taking any one...away,” LaPan said. “It’s combing forces and focusing on a few things that we can all focus and move it forward.”
During each conference, the strategic plan is updated and revised to fit the community’s goals. From there, each action group has sign-up sheets for the public and they move forward with their goals for the year and specified times established for meetings.
The action groups include the public safety action group, youth action groups (i.e. Partnership for Promise), physical activity action group, lifelong learning action group, housing action group and natural resources action group. Although the action groups may work on separate projects, they all have one agreed-upon issue they focus their “energy” toward – hence, the quality of life.
In addition to gathering public input into the action groups, the county-wide conference is also designed to keep people informed of what’s being done so as not to duplicate efforts. Furthermore, LaPan said she hopes to revise the original steering committee so representatives from each action group can meet with community leaders so everyone knows what exactly is going on.
Each action group is open to the public, and everyone is invited to attend. “It would be nice to engage more people,” LaPan said. “We really want more people involved. This is not an exclusive club. In fact, it’ll be much better if it’s not exclusive.”
To view the strategic plan and growth policy, visit www.richland.org.
reporter@sidneyherald.com
EDITOR’S COMMENT: In Wednesday’s issue, the Herald will be focusing on individual action groups’ goals, projects and upcoming topics at the 2010 county-wide conference.
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