Community Needs Assessment

An essential part of planning is looking at the current needs of our communities and the people that we serve. Local data was collected, analyzed and presented to our board. It’s available for you to view as well. Take a look into what’s going on in our communities and with people in poverty in southeast Iowa by reading the Community Action of Southeast Iowa Community Needs Assessment.

A few main highlights:

Top client needs:

  • Employment – Clients need employment. Clients need living wage employment.
  • Housing – Clients need safe and affordable housing.
  • Transportation – Clients need reliable, affordable and available transportation.
  • Food – Clients need food. Client need resources for obtaining affordable and healthy foods.
  • Budgeting – Clients need assistance managing their finances. Clients need to resolve debt.

Top community needs:

  • Public Safety – Our communities need to reduce non-violent crime.
  • Infrastructure – Our communities need to reduce the number of neglected houses and buildings.
  • Employment – Our communities need more living wage employment opportunities.
  • Health – Our communities need accessible and affordable behavior and mental health care resources and services for low-income people.
  • Housing – Our communities need more shelter beds for the homeless.

See our Community Assessment to learn some statistics relating to these needs and what we’re doing about needs in our communities.

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