South Carolina Grantmakers Network members Central Carolina Community Foundation and Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina partner with others to conduct a community assessment of health and human service needs in Lexington and Richland counties.

Analysis of responses from residents and community leaders identified four central issues, which are detailed in Facing Facts 2009: poverty and the struggle to meet basic needs, access to affordable health care, education that provides workforce skills and transportation. 

“Part of the Community Foundation’s mission is to provide a clear understanding of community needs to our donors and board members in order to promote and facilitate philanthropy.  In addition to our strategic planning process last fall, the Facing Facts Community Assessment has helped us identify these needs so that we can focus our efforts to make a sustainable impact on our community,” said Central Carolina Community Foundation President and CEO JoAnn Turnquist.

Community members and leaders defined issues, problems and need for services through interviews, discussion groups and surveys in the summer and fall 2008. This survey continues the work of defining and prioritizing areas for attention begun with the first Facing Facts survey in 2004. Supported by this analysis, the community and its leaders, funders and service providers can work together to implement strategies that create real, ongoing and lasting change. Facing Facts 2009 offers a vision for a common agenda and collaborative efforts to help the neediest residents while creating a better community as a whole.

“The work of Facing Facts and this partnership is important,” said Tom Keith, president for Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina. “It allows the community to understand issues and needs, prioritize those issues and needs and develop effective strategies to improve life for portions of our underserved population.”

Facing Facts 2009 is a collaborative effort between United Way of the Midlands, Central Carolina Community Foundation, Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce, Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina, the Central Midlands Council of Governments and Richland and Lexington counties.

To view and download the full Facing Facts 2009 report, click here.

Pictured: Survey partners participate in a panel discussion at a breakfast sponsored by the United Way of the Midlands on June 30. (Joann Turnquist, president and chief executive officer for Central Carolina Community Foundation; Norman Whitaker, executive director for Central Midlands Council on Governments; Ike McLeese, president and chief executive officer for The Greater Columbia Chamber of Commerce; Tom Keith, president for Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina; and Mac Bennett, president and chief executive officer for United Way of the Midlands)