Your opinion can make a difference in how local nonprofits, public services allocate resources

Stock image, St. George News

WASHINGTON COUNTY —  Are you a resident of Washington County who cares about the public resources available in the community and want to take an active role in making decisions about them?

Stock image, St. George News

If so, then United Way Dixie and many other local organizations are asking your help taking approximately 10 minutes and responding to the 2018 Washington County Community Needs Assessment Survey today.

Community involvement is key to making decisions that are important to all of us, and each of the respondents of the 42-question survey will be entered into a drawing for a gift card and be able to sign-up to receive more information about resources available to individuals and families in our area.

In the first series of questions on the survey, available here, respondents are asked about their income, personal finances and individual tax information, followed up by a few questions on education and housing or living situations.

Once you get past that, the survey gets into the bigger issues. Many of the questions relate to items that would increase the quality of life for the community, such as options related to family health including health insurance, access to healthcare, healthy living, neighborhood safety, transportation and its limitations and resources for personal needs like suicide prevention.

Jodi West, Southern Utah’s community liaison for United Way Utah, said the direct feedback from individuals that live in the community is more helpful because they are the ones who best understand where the greatest needs are.

The future of child development is a particular focus, with several questions regarding the health and mental well-being of our kids, including questions such as “What do you find the hardest part of raising young children in our community?” The survey finishes with some general demographic questions to ensure respondent diversity.

West said the survey is just one piece of completing a full community assessment, and data collected will be used by community leaders to learn about issues that Washington County is currently facing and be used to evaluate existing and future projects from nonprofit and public agencies.

Previous year’s results have indicated that many people believe additional resources can improve the quality of life for all members of the community, and this information can let agencies know where to best focus their attention.

Nonprofit organizations will take the final results and be able to adjust where money is spent, which is why public input is vitally important.

“We truly want to know what people think. It’s not very often nonprofits ask how they should spend their money,” West said, adding this is the perfect time for the public to have a voice. She said they hope anyone over the age of 12 will consider taking 10 minutes out of a day to share their thoughts.

“At United Way, we hope to take the results and help the community the way the community wants help,” West said.

More information about the United Way Dixie can be found at their website.

Take the survey here.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @STGnews | @andrewjpinckney

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2018, all rights reserved.

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