What is it?

Take a look at our Power Point Presentation!

The Blair County Needs Assessment is a collaborative effort between the Blair County Human Services Office and the United Way of Blair County using the Compass II model. Compass II is a community development tool that builds on the strengths of local individuals, associations, and organizations to promote broad participation in the continuous improvement of community life. Because it uses an asset-based approach to community building, the product of this process will be more than simply a list of community “needs.” The ultimate goal is to form plans to combine our assets with our needs, making Blair County a stronger community.

Where are we in the process?

So far we have formed a community partnership involving representatives from a variety of local agencies and collected surveys from households, businesses, service providers, associations, faith based organizations, and key informants (key community leaders). We had focus groups with youth, older adults, persons with disabilities, and people who have insight regarding family violence. We have also held 7 community meetings (one in each of the school districts), in order to present the findings and gain valuable feedback. You can click here to download the Microsoft power point presentation that we used during those community meetings. Currently we are developing a final report on the process and the results which we intend to publish in print and on the web. We plan to develop workgroups to take a look at how we can partner together to solve some of the key issues that have been identified in our research.

Can you get involved?

Absolutely! Please contact us at 814-693-3112 or by email at swithrow@blairco.info for more information.