Community Report
Pettis County
Caring Communities Partnership
February 15, 2002
Pettis County Community Partnership was established in 1995 as a 501(c)3 non-profit agency and is a strong community collaborative of over 500 private businesses, educators, private, and public agencies, and caring individuals. Through true partnership efforts, PCCP strives to improve the quality of life for all residents, to eliminate gaps and duplications in service, mobilize resources and combine dollars to better help families, align agencies, and forge alliances so that all work better together.
Pettis County, located in Central Missouri, has a population of 39,403, with approximately 20,000 in Sedalia, the county seat. From 1990 to 2000 the Hispanic population has increased 469.8%; and we know that many Hispanics were missed in the 2000 Census count. The Hispanic population in the county now outnumbers the African American population, which has only seen a 3% increase during the same period. Our county also welcomes the arrival of new residents from Russia and the Ukraine, an estimate of that population number is 600.
Apart from Sedalia, which has a population of 20,339, there are five smaller communities within Pettis County. Each of these communities was included in our planning process by representation on our task forces. These communities are Green Ridge, population 445; Houstonia, population 275; Hughesville, population 174; LaMonte, population 1064; and Smithton, population 510, and the unincorporated village of Dresden.
OUR VISION
The Pettis County Community Partnership seeks to provide a safe and caring community which blends and integrates its resources in developing opportunities for children and families to assist them in reaching their highest potential in the pursuit of happy, healthy, and productive lives. The Pettis County Community Partnership shall serve Pettis County, Missouri.
OUR MISSION
The Pettis County Community Partnership has a mission centering on improving the quality of life for the citizens of Pettis County. The goals include matching community assets with community needs, acting as catalyst for community action, and being a clearing house for information availability and exchange.
PCCP has come a long way from three people sitting together around a table to discuss the possibility of forming a community collaborative in 1995...conducting a needs assessment survey in the spring of 1996...hiring the first full time employee in October of 1996...beginning the program Faith In Action in 1997...and hiring two Caring Communities site coordinators in 1998 to having twelve staff and numerous outreach endeavors by 2002.
Each year the Chamber of Commerce presents their Community Progress Award to an entity that has made a significant contribution to community betterment. Pettis County Community Partnership was honored to be the recipient of the Community Progress Award presented in March of 2001. Our staff members work tirelessly throughout the year to facilitate collaboration and mobilize community members into action which addresses community issues and concerns...but it would not be possible without so many committed people willing to give generously of themselves. Our staff along with 853 volunteers gave over 81,000 hours of service and impacted thousands of lives in one year alone. Now, multiply that as the years go on…
Outreach efforts through PCCP include Caring Communities, Educare, Faith in Action, Family Literacy Center, Global Village, La Hora Hispana, Latinos Unidos, Multicultural Services, Putting Families First, RSVP—Retired and Senior Volunteer Program, West Central MO Multicultural Forum, Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition, Community Connection, Make A Difference Day, Martin Luther King Day, securing the volunteer staffing of the Community Free Clinic and publishing of a bilingual (Spanish/English) community resource directory.
Additionally, PCCP brought together the group that focuses on public transportation and is now known as the Community Transportation Partnership, Inc, which initiated a taxi service (now privately owned) and currently oversees operation of “The Bus”. Currently four staff members are actively involved in collaboration efforts to establish a transitional housing unit in Pettis County. This group known as PROP (Putting Roofs Over People) recently approached PCCP about becoming part of the Partnership. The new group “ABC” (Activity Builders for Children) a collaborative group established to fund extra curricular activities for foster children has also asked to be part of PCCP. We are recognized in the community as an “incubation” facility for grassroots collaborations that want to focus on making life better for people.
PCCP has established a wonderful relationship with Central Missouri State University and the University of Missouri Columbia campus. On more than one occasion we have been approached about allowing students to do internships or “observation hours” with us. Last summer CMSU, through their extended campus program, held the first course of its kind at PCCP on Hispanic Cultural Understanding & Elementary Spanish. The course focused on connecting language with the daily lives of Latinos in this area.
We are proud of all that we have accomplished in such a short period of time and we would like to show-off our Partnership office to you sometime when you are in our area.
Cordially,
Cheri Heeren Executive Director
