Comprehensive Review and Analysis

On June 29, 2000 a group of 45 community volunteers participated in a comprehensive review of the six (6) Vanderburgh County subcommittee issue areas. The purpose of the review was to identify those issues that were prevalent in many if not most of the subcommittee reports.

All members of the Vanderburgh County subcommittees were invited to review the focus group summaries produced by each subcommittee, and to attend an all-morning meeting to discuss the analysis of the data and identify community goals or actions needed to address these over-arching issues.

The following is a summary description of the group discussion and consensus regarding the broad issues:

Strengthening the Community Umbrella

Community is a complex set of persons, organizations and institutions all working together, in theory, to provide the context for meeting personal and family needs and wants. Community is the place where jobs are provided, families nurture and care for their members, and people live healthy lives in the comfort of safe neighborhoods and supportive personal relationships.

The reality of community, however, finds many people without viable employment, devastated and isolated families, many who are not connected to community in any meaningful way, and some with little hope for a positive future.

The goal, established as a consensus community outcome, is to make the “umbrella of community” more inclusive and to bring into community those who feel outside the relationships, norms, values and support mechanisms of our local community. It involves strengthening the structure of our “community umbrella” and calls for improved mechanisms for providing services and supports.

This goal views many of our specific community problems as inter-related and best addressed through a comprehensive approach to human problems. It recognizes that individual problems are not isolated issues separate from the family environment, the neighborhood, the workplace, and the social relationships within which people form their values and establish acceptable norms of behavior.

The goal is to connect and re-connect people with each other and the larger community. It understands the importance of the natural, supportive relationships among people, and seeks ways to strengthen family, friends, neighbors and voluntary associations and, through these strengthened relationships, support the maintenance and development of healthy, productive values.

It also recognizes the importance of community-helping organizations. For some individuals and families, natural support systems are often weak or non-existent. These families will require the formalized support systems provided by our public and private helping agencies.

The committee envisioned additional roles for our community of agencies: 1) Increased collaboration among agencies to better serve the individual in their personal and community context; and 2) Increased emphasis on connecting people “at the margins” to the larger community.

Guiding Values

The Committee highlighted four (4) inter-related community values to guide the development of the “community umbrella” concept:

An emphasis on prevention and strengthening the social infrastructure needed for people to live healthy, productive lives without the need for service interventions;

The development of a sense of community and the need to connect people to each other;

Promotion and facilitation of agency and organizational collaboration;

People in need treated in a holistic manner, recognizing the inter-relatedness of family, neighborhoods, churches, schools, workplaces and the community.

Cross-Cutting Issues

(Identified Through Analysis of All Subcommittee Focus Groups)

Strengthening community values which lead to productive lifestyles;

Increasing feelings of self-worth and the belief in a positive future;

Appreciating the link between alcohol and drug abuse and many community problems;

Strengthening parenting skills;

Strengthening support systems for people (churches, schools, neighborhoods, extended families, agencies, public services);

Addressing the issue of child abuse (physical and sexual);

Providing for the basic needs of families (employment, housing, transportation, education);

Increasing involvement in community (community accept responsibility for its problems);

Addressing issues of mental health and depression;

Increasing awareness of community resources, and improving access to information;

Improving the life skills necessary to become successful;

These issues were considered to be the “spokes” of the community umbrella, many of which are addressed in the strategic plans developed by each subcommittee and contained in this document.

The Committee agreed that the next step in this process was to convene a community meeting to identify and develop the community outcome indicators to measure our success at reaching these broadly defined issues and goals, and those contained within the subcommittee strategic plans.

Small Group Identification of Cross-Cutting Issues:

Group #1:

Alcohol and drug abuse

Sexual abuse

Values or lack of values

Lack of solid relationships within family or community

Lack of transportation options

Lack of medical care and counseling services

Self-esteem issues

Poor coping skills for life’s problems

Lack of sensitivity on part of agency personnel

Clearing house of information about community resources

Educational deficiencies

Employment issues

Challenges of caregivers (children and elderly)

Poor parenting skills

A desire to be self-sufficient and not rely on agency supports

Desire for community involvement

The role of school and church (as supports)

Sexual issues – teen activity

Depression common in many groups

Affordable and accessible housing and other basic needs

Group #2:

Substance abuse among teen and parents

Lack of traditional family values

Poor parenting skills

Poor life skills (coping, marriage, social, decision-making)

Need for better support systems (family, neighborhood, community)

Community denial of problems and responsibility to address them

Need for 2-parent involvement in raising children

Basic need issues (transportation, food, shelter, health, finances, etc.)

Need for volunteerism

Need to address self-esteem issues

Abuse and neglect of children

Mental health issues

Law enforcement issues

Better preparation for life stages (all ages)

Group #3:

The absence of agreement on basic set of core values

People without the belief in a positive personal vision or goals for future

Lack of self esteem

Many who lack knowledge of where to access information about local resources

Lack of stimulating/purposeful activities

Lack of parenting skills

Need for more emphasis on prevention

Lack of adequate support systems for persons in need

Different and sometimes conflicting cultural norms and values

Pervasiveness of alcohol and drug problems

The Comprehensive Review Committee

Meeting Participants:

Tom Magan (Chairman), Kahn, Dees, Donovan & Kahn

Debbie O’Donnell (Facilitator), Ivy Tech

Ann Penfield (Facilitator), Consultant

Barb Miller, St. Mary’s Mulberry Center

Bill Tye, Cargill, Inc.

Buff Wallace Fallen, Villages

C. Keith Krietenstein, Social Security Administration

Carol Meese, St. Mary’s Medical Center

Catherine Hill, DMD

Courtney Julian, YWCA

David J. Westhuis, University of Southern Indiana

Deborah Horn, Red Cross of Southwestern Indiana

Deborah Wagner, Girl Scouts

Dr. William Wooten, Mulberry Center Addiction Services

Gary Heck, Vanderburgh County Step Ahead

Gary Lee, Mulberry Center

Jaclyn Kloehn, Family & Children’s Service

Jim Collins, Catholic Charities Bureau

Joan Scott, CAPE

Kelly Barnett, Evansville ARC

Linda Simmons, Life Choices Women’s Center

Lisa Nord, Catholic Charities Bureau

Lori Carroll Bryant, CAPE Learning Center

Luzada Hayes, ECHO

Marianne Peltier, Deaconess Family Practice

Martha Thomas, Vanderburgh County Public Health Dept.

Martha Halterman, Catholic Charities Bureau

Mary Pruitt, St. Mary’s Mobile Outreach

Mary Ruth Branstetter, Mulberry Center

Mojgan Bailey, Mulberry Center

Nancy Sieben, Deaconess Hospital Foundation

Pam Knight Majors, St. Mary’s Mulberry Center

Pat Colter, Community Volunteer

Paula Guzzo, Indiana Resource Center

Rick Castle, Permanent Bank

Ruth Elliott, Evansville ARC

Sister Joan Miller, St. Anthony’s Family Center

Sue Ann Hartig, Legal Aid Society

Terri Grannan, Girl Scouts

Tom Stein, Fifth/Third Bank

Dan Hayden, United Way of Southwestern Indiana

Carol Braden Clarke, United Way of Southwestern Indiana

Chase Smith, United Way of Southwestern Indiana

Shari Sherman, United Way of Southwestern Indiana

Terri Kendall, United Way of Southwestern Indiana