2010 needs survery summary

SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN C MMUNITY ACTION AGENCY Arthur C. Fenrick, Executive Director

185 E Main Street, Suite 200Benton Harbor, MI 49022

Richard Accoe, ChairMike Franks, Vice Chair

Willie Mitchell, TreasurerMarletta Seats, Secretary

Phone: (800) 334-7670Fax: (269) 925-9271E-mail: [email protected] site: www.smcaa.com

Helping People. Changing Lives .

2010

Community Needs Assessment

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Southwest Michigan Community Action Agency (SMCAA) has been providing services to low-

income families in Southwest Michigan for over 30 years. The current portfolio of services

includes Emergency Assistance (including shelter), individual and asset development,

weatherization and housing development.

Emergency Assistance for low-income families and individuals includes: emergency and

commodity food, utility, rent/mortgage, and other miscellaneous assistance, and emergency

shelter in Van Buren and Cass Counties. Through Community Development programs,

SMCAA helps individuals and families find and secure housing using a variety of tools

including: serving as lead agency for housing and homeless services in Cass, and Van Buren

Counties; Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative (MPRI) housing coordinator provides LINKS to

Homeownership counseling; and administering the Individual Development Account and

Family Self-Sufficiency programs. The Weatherization and Housing Development program

provides Weatherization, Energy Education, Home-owner and Rental Rehabilitation, and

emergency repairs for homes of low-income residents. This is done as the third-party

administrator for the City of Niles, and Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren Counties MSHDA

Housing Resource Fund Grants.

Attachment 1 is the fiscal year 2010 service overview for SMCAA. It details the numbers

served and also provides client demographic information.

SMCAA serves Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren Counties through the aforementioned

programs. According to the most current census data (the 2000 Census) the population of

our service area was 285,591. The population is made up of 158,224 or 55% from Berrien

County, 51,104 or 18% from Cass County, and 76,263 or 27% from Van Buren County.

Attachments 2 – 4 provide more detailed demographic information.

SURVEY

Instrument

The Community Needs Assessment was conducted from January to July 2010. The paper

survey instrument ( Attachment 5) was distributed to clients of all SMCAA programs

throughout our service area. Respondents were instructed to complete and return the form

to be entered into a drawing for a chance to receive a gift card. Drawings were held to

select one gift card recipient from each County in our service area. A total of 432 surveys

were collected: 213, or 49% from Berrien County; 66, or 15%, from Cass County: 153 or

35% from Van Buren County.

SMCAA 2010 Needs AssessmentPage | 2

Limitations

As with any survey, study or assessment, there are limitations that must be identified and

considered. The SMCAA Community Needs Survey limitations include “no answer”, no

Spanish version, the surveys were only distributed at SMCAA offices, and limited assistance

with completing the survey.

First, there was a high percentage--(in some cases almost 30%), of respondents that

answered only the demographic questions. Therefore, for the purposes of this report

percentages were calculated using the number that responded to the question not the total

number of surveys collected.

Also, our service area includes a concentration of Spanish speaking residents. The

Southwest Michigan First website, www.southwestmichiganfirst.com, estimates there are

approximately 38,000 individuals of Hispanic origin in the Kalamazoo region. The

Kalamazoo region includes Allegan, Barry, Branch, Calhoun, Cass, Kalamazoo, St. Joseph,

and Van Buren Counties. Berrien is not included. This estimate represents approximately

5% of the population identified in the 2000 Census. While this doesn’t seem very high, the

estimate doesn’t account for the non-resident aliens and seasonal workers that live and

work in Southwest Michigan. Although there is a strong Spanish presence, a Spanish

version of survey isn’t yet available.

Another limitation is surveys were distributed only at SMCAA offices. Therefore, survey

respondents were limited to those who received referrals or services onsite.

Finally, although clients were offered assistance in completing the survey few requested

help.

Use

The survey report is shared with SMCAA’s Board of Directors, staff, the Bureau of Community

Action and Economic Opportunity (BCAEO), funders and community partners.

SMCAA uses the data to identify areas of opportunity.

http://www.southwestmichiganfirst.com/







ANALYSIS

Question 1 asked respondents to identify all of the needs they were experiencing. The

following chart illustrates the responses.

Chart 1

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Vision Healthcare

Job Transportation

Employment

Dental Healthcare

Counseling

Housing Repairs

Food

Medical Healthcare

Utilities

Hospice

Prescriptions

Clothing

Disability Assistance

Housing

No Answer

Housing Loans

Elder Care

Education

Legal Services

Senior Services

Mental Healthcare

Income Tax Preparation

Childcare

Medical Transportation

Domestic Violence Services

Needs

Van Buren

Cass

Berrien


As the preceding graph shows, the needs identified most frequently by respondents include

utilities, medical healthcare, food, housing repairs, dental healthcare, vision healthcare and

prescriptions. In Berrien County, the most frequently identified needs were housing repairs

and food. Utilities and healthcare (medical, dental and vision) were chosen with almost the

same frequency.

In Cass County, dental and vision healthcare were the needs most frequently identified by

respondents. Medical healthcare and food were identified with the second highest

frequency, while home repairs, prescriptions and utilities were third highest.

In Van Buren County, dental healthcare was first with vision and medical healthcare second.

Food, utilities and housing repairs were third.

Barriers to Services

Respondents were also asked to identify any barriers their family had experienced when

seeking assistance for their basic needs (Attachment 2, question 3). Of the barriers listed

(can’t afford fees; don’t qualify; no transportation; don’t know where to go; pride; service not

available; no childcare; prior bad experience; service hours; and health concern) there were

several surprises during our analysis.

First, our service area is primarily rural and transportation is frequently cited by service

providers as a significant barrier. Surprisingly, 44% or 189 reported no problem accessing

services because of transportation. Although 31% or 85 reported transportation being

“somewhat of a problem” (19%) or “a significant problem” (12%), that number was lower

than expected.

Another surprise was 47% or 205 reported having to “Work During Service Hours” was “not

a problem”. Only 12% or 52 reported it as either a “big” problem or “somewhat” of a

problem. SMCAA staff and colleagues regularly explore the benefit of offering extended

service hours to accommodate clients who work.

Chart 2

0 50 100 150

Berrien

Cass

Van Buren

Work Conflict with Service Hours

A Big Problem

Somewhat Of A

Problem

Not A Problem


0

20

40

60

80

Berrien Cass Van Buren

Not Eligible for Services

Not A Problem

Somewhat Of A

Problem

A Big Problem

It isn’t a surprise that not everyone

needing assistance qualifies. In

Berrien County 20% or 27 reported it

to be a “big problem” while in Cass

16% or 7 and Van Buren 24% or 22

reported the same. In all three

counties 35% or 152 reported it as

either a “big” problem or “somewhat”

of a problem.

Chart 3

Another concern regularly discussed is

whether people in need know where to

go for assistance. 37% or 106 of

respondents reported that not knowing

where to go for assistance was

“somewhat of a problem” while 13% or

38 reported it was a “big” problem.

This

Chart 4

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Berrien Cass Van Buren

Don't Know Where to Go?

Not A Problem

Somewhat Of A

Problem

A Big Problem


Health Care

A follow-up question asked respondents to identify any barriers they had experienced related

to accessing health care. Surprisingly, 36% or 144 of respondents reported no barriers.

However, cost (28%) and no insurance (28%) when taken together were identified by 226 or

56% as the biggest barriers to health care. Chart 5 reflects the responses broken down by

county.

Chart 5

In addition to identifying barriers to healthcare, respondents were asked if they had received

dental care in the last 12 months. 55% or 208 reported they had not received dental care

and Chart 6 graphically shows that a lack of insurance and costs were the most significant

reasons in all three counties.

Chart 6

Barriers to Employment & Transportation

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

No Barriers Cost No Insurance No

Transportation

No Doctor in

My Area

No Childcare No Answer

Barriers to Health Care

Berrien

Cass

Van Buren

0

20

40

60

80

100

No Insurance Cost My Choice Fear No

Transportation

No Childcare No Answer

No Dental Care Reason

Berrien

Cass

Van Buren


In question 11, respondents were asked to identify their employment status. Of the 432

respondents, 38% or 140 reported being employed either full or part-time (20% full-time

18% part-time). 68 or 18% reported being retired and another 131 or 35% reported being

unemployed and searching. Only 9% of respondents reported “being unemployed” and “not

searching”.

Question 12 asked respondents to identify any barriers to employment. Physical disability

(21%), pay to low to support (13%), and no jobs in the field (13%) were the cited as barriers

to employment. However, 32% or 138 reported no barriers to employment. Chart 7 shows

the breakdown by county.

Chart 7

The majority of respondents, 79% reported having reliable transportation. Of the 21%

reporting not having reliable transportation, a greater percentage of respondents were from

Cass and Van Buren Counties. In Cass County, 26% or 14 of the 54 respondents from

reported not having reliable transportation, whereas 24% or 31 or the 127 respondents in

Van Buren County reported the same. These numbers are higher than the 18% of Berrien

County respondents reporting not having access to reliable transportation.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Employment Barriers

Berrien

Cass

Van Buren


Chart 8 shows the price of gas was identified as a significant barrier.

Chart 8

Housing

Question 17 asked respondents to identify the type of housing they were living in and the

responses are outlined in Chart 9. An important point may not be immediately apparent in

the chart. Family and Friends was listed by only 6% of respondents. However, 65% or 15 of

the 23 respondents reporting this were from Van Buren County.

Chart 9

Respondents were asked to identify the major housing concerns from the list provided in

question 18. The concerns identified most frequently were high utilities and houses in need

of major repair.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

No Barriers No Car/Can' t

Afford Car

No Public

Transportation

Price of Gas No Private

Transportation

No Routes Near

Home

No Routes Near

Work

No Answer

Reliable Transportation Barriers

Berrien

Cass

Van Buren

0

20

40

60

80

100

Rental Unit Home You Own Home With

Mortgage

With Family/Friends Shelter Homeless No Answer

Residence Type

Berrien

Cass

Van Buren


Housing quality was explored in question 19 where respondents were asked to rate the

condition of homes in their community using a Leikert scale where 1 is the worst and 10 is

the best. The results show that 41% rated their housing quality at a 4 – 5. 18% rated the

housing quality poorly at 3 or below while 41% rated housing quality as acceptable to

excellent (from 6 to 10).

Banked vs. Unbanked

Respondents were asked if they had a bank account or not. Chart 10 illustrates that in

Berrien County almost 3 times as many clients have a bank account, while in Cass it is 2

times. In Van Buren County the number that have a bank account are only slightly more

than those who don’t.

Chart 10

When responding to the question, only a small percentage (8%) acknowledged using a check

cashing service. The numbers are broken out by county in Chart 11.

Chart 11

0 50 100 150 200

Berrien

Cass

Van Buren

Have Bank Account

No

Yes

0 50 100 150 200

Berrien

Cass

Van Buren

Use Check Cashing Service

No

Yes


Demographic Data

Race

Berrien Cass

Van

Buren TOTAL

Black/African American 89 11 24 124

White/Caucasian 96 44 91 231

Asian 0 0 0 0

Bi-Racial/Multi-Racial 1 2 1 4

American Indian 1 0 2 3

Alaska Native/Pacific Islander 0 0 0 0

No Answer 26 9 36 71

Marital Status

Berrien Cass

Van

Buren TOTAL

Single 76 16 48 140

Married 51 17 36 104

Divorced 38 20 25 83

Widowed 20 3 7 30

Separated 13 4 15 32


Age

Berrien Cass

Van

Buren TOTAL

Under 20 1 1 1 3

20-24 4 2 9 15

25-39 63 14 61 138

40-59 70 32 39 141

60-64 16 3 8 27

65-79 27 8 10 45

Over 80 9 1 2 12


Gender

Berrien Cass

Van

Buren TOTAL

Male 45 15 24 84

Female 148 45 103 296



Household Income

Berrien Cass

Van

Buren TOTAL

No income 4 2 7 13

Less than 10,000 65 17 49 131

10,001 – 20,000 62 27 36 125

20,001 – 30,000 32 4 16 52

30,001 - 40,000 6 2 5 13

40,001 - 50,000 7 2 5 14

50,001 - 60,000 5 1 0 6

60,001 - 70,000 1 0 0 1

Above 70,000 2 0 0 2

No Answer 29 11 35 75

Number in Household

Berrien Cass

Van

Buren TOTAL

1 57 13 23 93

2 46 15 29 90

3 37 6 34 77

4 28 12 25 65

5 10 8 10 28

6 8 3 7 18

7 4 1 0 5

8 or more 0 2 1 3


Education Level (Of those 25 and over)

Berrien Cass

Van

Buren TOTAL

Some Grade School 4 1 5 10

Completed Grade School 7 0 4 11

Some High School 24 6 25 55

Completed High School 58 18 50 126

Some Technical School 7 3 12 22

Completed Tech School 8 1 4 13

Some College 62 26 25 113

Associate Degree 14 4 6 24

Bachelor Degree 13 1 4 18

Master’s Degree 1 0 0 1

Doctorate Degree 0 0 0 0


2010 needs survery summary

Documents