In the annual process of raising and distributing funds, United Way of Central Virginia is faced with difficult decisions. Among the most difficult are which agencies and programs to find and how much to allocate to each. There is always much greater needs and more requests for funding than there is money to allocate. The annual funds allocation decision-making process is always accompanied by questions as to what criteria to use. Should past allocations guide current allocations? Are there serious community needs not being addresses? Have any programs outlived the needs for which they were created to address? Are some needs better addresses with support from sources other than United Way? How do we know what the needs are in the community? How do we rank order these needs into priorities?
It is difficult to arrive at answers to these and other questions, and many factors must be and are taken into account when seeking these answers. The following report, "An Assessment of Regional Well Being," focuses on those questions concerning the nature and extent of Central Virginia needs. The goal of this report is to assist UWCV in meeting this annual challenge.
The attached Needs Assessment is for 2006. The Needs Assessment for 2007 will include information collected during the 2006 Community Meetings as well as additional data. The 2007 report will be available in July 2007 at which time we will again hold community meetings to discuss the data and other resource information pertaining to Central Virginia. Please email or call Joan Phelps at 455-6906 if you have questions and/or input
An Assessment of Regional Well Being:
First Edition