Community Engagement
Randolph County
Caring Communities Partnership
Community Engagement Report
Achieving Core Results Together In Our Neighborhoods
February 2002
Partners in ACTION … From its beginnings the Partnership has had a rich history of collaboration and cooperation among agencies and individuals in Randolph County. The Local Resource/Advisory Team is 25 members strong with several agencies lending secretarial support and personnel to the partnership work. There are 5 neighborhood site councils, a YMCA task force, the Care and Share committee and volunteers, 6 countywide action teams and other small committees that are issue driven. Over 350 individuals representing businesses, civic organizations, churches, schools, social agencies, banks, youth, parents and other community members are participating in Partnership activities.
Teams in ACTION … Results Based Planning has led to the development of 6 countywide action teams to address the most pressing issues as identified by the local communities. Literacy, Youth Development, Child Safety, Faith in Action, Substance Abuse and a Funding team have been established. Agency representatives and community members work together on these teams to form a plan to meet the needs of children and families in Randolph County.
Success in ACTION …
The Magic City Express, a public transportation system for the city of Moberly started providing services in September of 2000. This dispatched, curb-to-curb, handicapped accessible service runs from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. To date: an average of 80 different individuals use the service each month, an average of 740 one-way rides are given each month, 43% of the rides are taking people back and forth to work and 30% of the rides are for medical purposes.
The Partnership facilitated a countywide taskforce to address the need identified by several communities in the county to start a youth center. After 6 months of facilitation, local community members developed the Randolph Area YMCA Taskforce, conducted a feasibility study and are currently in a YMCA Founder’s Campaign to raise the initial $250,000. Over 100 individuals are involved in the YMCA project.
The Partnership identified the need to reduce duplication of assistance given to families during the holidays. The Care and Share committee convened in August of 2001 and the first Holiday Care and Share was held in December of that year. Prior to the Care and Share approximately 125 families with 250 children received services at Christmas. In 2001, 225 families with 440 children were served and in 2002 330 families with 625 children were served. Each family received new toys, boxes of non-perishable food items, new and used coats, a $10 food certificate for area grocery stores, stocking stuffers, new books and used toys.
Faith in ACTION …
From its beginnings the Partnership identified the valuable resources available in local faith communities. A Robert Woods Johnson Foundation grant and a state grant have been obtained to engage churches in volunteer and mentoring activities.
Investment in ACTION …
In the past two years with $50,000 in Caring Communities flexible dollars, the Partnership leveraged nearly $850,000.
