heart of missouri united way community needs …...heart of missouri united way community needs...

Heart of Missouri united Way CoMMunity needs assessMent

June, 2011 • Mid-Missouri Social Needs Perception Research Report


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table of Contents:

Introduction............................................................................................................ 3

Analysis:.In-depth.Interviews.–.Community.Leaders......................................... 5

executive summary .................................................................................................. 5

top Line interview themes and results .................................................................... 7

Meeting Community service needs – strengths and satisfaction ............................. 9

Meeting Community service needs – Challenges and Weaknesses ......................... 11

Meeting Community service needs – opportunities ................................................. 15

the future of Meeting Community service need in Mid-Missouri ............................. 18

Analysis:.Quantitative.Phone.Survey.–.Mid-Missouri.Region............................ 20

executive summary .................................................................................................. 20

top Line survey results ........................................................................................... 22

Mid-Missouri’s Poverty awareness Level and identification of non-Profit and Charitable organizations .................................................................. 24

Mid-Missouri’s Perception of social need ................................................................. 29

the Perception of social need in Mid-Missouri over the next 10 – 20 years............ 33

Conclusion.............................................................................................................. 35

Appendix................................................................................................................. 36

Community needs assessment in-depth interview Guide – 2011

Community needs assessment interview transcripts – 2011

Community needs assessment survey script – 2011

Community needs assessment survey results – 2011


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introduction

the Heart of Missouri united Way engaged Pure, LLC, a Columbia-based marketing and communications firm, to design and execute a community needs assessment perception study in april, 2011. the primary goal of the research was to ascertain a confident assessment of what community leaders and the Mid-Missouri population perceive to be the region’s greatest social service needs. to achieve this goal, Pure designed a two-phase research study that included both qualitative and quantitative research methods. the community needs assessment perception study is part of a larger research and data collection effort undertaken by the Heart of Missouri united Way that serves as a prelude to launching the united Way’s new Community impact organizational model in Mid-Missouri.

the first phase of research included interviewing key community leaders, decisions makers and service providers from multiple professional disciplines in the Mid-Missouri area. the purpose of utilizing one-on-one interviews in the first phase of research was to identify gaps in services and other critical or emerging issues within Mid-Missouri’s social service community. rather than employ a focus group to gather these data, each subject in a one-on-one interview setting was be able to freely and anonymously communicate their thoughts about the community’s service needs.

the second phase of research included designing and executing a quantitative phone survey of 300 Mid-Missouri adults from the following geographic areas:

. Audrain.County. Boone.County.. Callaway.County.......

. Cole.County. Cooper.County.. Howard.County......

. Moniteau.County. Randolph.County

the survey included an oversample from the city of Columbia for a total of 100 respondents there. an analysis of the findings from phase one of the research informed the design of the quantitative phone survey.

By employing a two-phased research protocol, inclusive of gathering feedback from two distinct populations, Pure was able to fully understand the perception of social need in Mid-Missouri. the following report includes the findings and analysis of both phases of research described above. the results of this research will inform community decision makers of the perception of social need in Mid-Missouri.


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Pure’s research team included the individuals listed below. for any questions concerning the research and the following report, please contact.Michael.Urban at 573-445-0678.

. Michael.Urban Vice President of research

. Rachel.Hirshberg Lead strategist

. Kristen.Wilkerson strategist


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analysis: in-depth interviews – Community Leaders

Executive.Summary.Pure conducted 24 in-depth interviews with local community leaders for the Heart of Missouri united Way (united Way) during the week of april 4 – 8, 2011. the purpose of the interviews was to understand how community leaders perceive social need in Mid-Missouri, as well as to acquire feedback regarding the united Way’s transition to a new charitable service model called Community impact.

nineteen of the interviews were conducted at Pure’s offices in Columbia and were audio recorded and transcribed for analytical purposes. five interviews were conducted in separate office locations in Columbia and were not audio recorded or transcribed.

Methodologyin an effort to gauge the perceptions of a diverse set of community leaders, Pure collaborated with the united Way to select eligible interview respondents from the following disciplines:

. Public.Education

. City,.County,.and.State.Government

. Non-Profit.Organizations

. Private.Sector.Businesses

. Church.and.Faith.Communities

. Law.Enforcement

once the list of prospective interview respondents was designed, the united Way and Pure recruited interviewees through e-mail invitations and phone calls. the recruitment process spanned two weeks, and of 35 invitations sent, 24 interviews were confirmed for a 69 percent response rate.

Pure led the development of the in-depth interview guide used in each interview session. the guide was organized into four major themes. they are as follows:

1 ...Current.Perception.– Meeting service need – strengths and satisfaction.2 ...Current.Perception.– Meeting service need – Challenges and Weaknesses

.3 . Current.Perception – service need opportunities

.4 . Future.Perception.– service need Vision


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Accompanying.Documentsthe complete set of 19 interview transcripts, titled “Community needs assessment interview transcripts - 2011” is included as a separate document within the appendix of this report. the names and identities of the interview respondents have been omitted for confidentiality purposes. the exact in-depth interview question guide, titled “Community needs assessment in-depth interview Guide – 2011” used to field each interview is also included in the appendix.

for a deeper look into the interview results and an analysis of the qualitative data, please refer to pages 7 – 18.

the analysis of the in-depth interview results is divided into the following five sections:

i. top Line interview themes and results

ii. Meeting Community service needs strengths and satisfaction

iii. Meeting Community service needs Challenges and Weaknesses

iV. Meeting Community service needs opportunities

V. the future of Meeting Community service needs in Mid-Missouri


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i. top Line interview themes and results

• Many community leaders indicated that in an effort to alleviate poverty in Mid-Missouri non-profit and charitable organizations must focus on various facets of education. It was often said that although many non-profit and charitable organizations engage in meaningful and valuable work in the community, the services offered through such organizations tend to focus on alleviating the symptoms of poverty instead of its root cause(s). With that being the case, there is strong support for the United Way moving to the Community Impact model which is analyzed in greater detail later in the report.

it is perceived that by developing relationships and outreach efforts within the formal education system in Mid-Missouri, the opportunity to recognize and treat poverty dramatically increases. the respondents believe that by developing programs and services that identify and treat individuals living in poverty at an early stage, the cycle of generational poverty may be broken.

• When specifically discussing the United Way, respondents feel that the ideal role for the organization is to act as an “umbrella” fundraising and leadership organization to the region’s non-profit agencies. This does not deviate significantly from the current perception of the United Way’s role within the community.

the interview respondents were virtually unanimous in the belief that the united Way should not stray from their leadership role, and should remain directing the fulfillment of social services in the region. if an unfulfilled need is identified, the united Way’s role should be to coordinate and initiate the fulfillment of the need through a member organization. they should not fill this role themselves.


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the quotation below epitomizes the community leaders’ opinion about the united Way’s organizational role.

they serve as a funnel through which individual community members can donate to causes that are of concern to those individuals. i think the fact that the united Way has a great reputation in terms of conserving funds and utilizing funds wisely and being focused on outcomes – those things tend to keep our dollars local.

• It became clear during the interviews that Mid-Missouri community leaders are very engaged and aware of the social needs in the region. Interviewees feel that Columbia is a very service-oriented community. However, they believe there is room to grow the “social action” volunteer base in Mid-Missouri, and to increase social need awareness generally.

respondents feel that the united Way is strong in the areas of leadership, collaboration and fundraising. yet, one area for improvement noted by some respondents was the need to develop strategies that are aimed at projecting the united Way’s influence in the community. such efforts would potentially involve a greater number of Mid-Missourians in social service projects throughout the region. these tactics were referred to as “friend-raising” activities several times throughout the interviews.

• Respondents expressed their confidence in the current leadership of the United Way throughout the interviews. Across the board, respondents believe that the United Way is transparent, accountable, and trustworthy. We observed no hesitation from any respondents in their affirmation that the current United Way leadership is prepared to lead the organization through the transition to the Community Impact model.


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ii. Meeting Community service needs – strengths and satisfaction

it is clear from the interview findings that the region’s community leaders are very satisfied with the united Way’s current operations model. as a mechanism for raising and allocating funds to non-profit agencies, and creating awareness of social needs in the region, community leaders perceive that the united Way carries out its primary obligations quite well. this point cannot be stressed enough within the analysis. the comment below outlines one of the united Way’s greatest strengths, which was reiterated frequently throughout the interviews.

i think they [the united Way] provide a very efficient way of putting together community resources, and they take a huge burden off of those folks [member agencies] by putting together money and community resources for them.

furthermore, community leaders feel that the united Way should not deviate from its central role as a funder, leader and collaborator between non-profit organizations in Mid-Missouri. the recognition that the united Way is critical to supporting many of the region’s non-profit organizations is very apparent. the quotation below supports this sentiment and is representative of the feelings of the community leaders’ interview group.

My perception is that they [united Way] are certainly good at mobilizing a community to care about those who are disenfranchised. i know that, having worked in areas where they [service organizations] have gotten direct funding from the united Way, these organizations wouldn’t have existed had it not been for the benevolence of our community and this group [the united Way] sort of moving it through to those groups.


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another strength of the united Way described throughout the interviews was the manner in which the united Way allocates monies to its member agencies. respondents frequently detailed the accountability measures inherent in the agency funding allocation process. Many leaders thought that the mix of personalities on the agency funding allocation panels were appropriate and added value to the integrity of the funding process.

it is important to note that the interview sample included both current and former united Way board members, as well as agency directors who rely on the united Way for funding. However, taking these factors into account, most of the community leaders expressed their satisfaction with the current allocation process. the following comment reveals the feelings of many community leaders with regards to the current allocation process.

What we [the united Way] attempt to do is fund programs. Various agencies provide those programs. and i think the allocation process is really top-tier in terms of bringing community leaders, community volunteers together to look at the various agencies’ presentations and study those presentations, looking at equipping each panel with financial advisors to look at how their monies are spent and to look at the process. i guess in my mind, the piece that we’re not necessarily embracing i think is as a result of these dollars, how is this community, this family, these issues, how are these issues improved as a result.

the last phrase in the comment above, “…how are these issues improved as a result [of funding agencies]” indirectly references the purpose of the Community impact initiative. as described earlier, Community impact is a model by which the united Way allocates funds to agencies based on the agency’s ability to show measurable, data-driven results. this subject is explored in greater detail later in the analysis.


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iii. Meeting Community service needs – Challenges and Weaknesses

Social.Service.DuplicationWhen thinking of the united Way, perhaps the greatest perceived challenge to meeting the region’s social service needs is reducing service redundancy among the united Way’s member agencies. Community leaders are quick to acknowledge that there is overlap within the services offered by the region’s non-profit agencies. the perception is that some organizations should consider consolidation in order to preserve resources and to make a larger social impact, and the united Way should lead this effort.

the motives for eliminating any perceived service redundancies appear to come from a genuine perception that a conservation of resources, coupled with a narrow focus on specific social services, will yield a greater impact in the region. the following interview excerpts highlight this challenge in detail and provide further context of the issue.

there is [a duplication of services]. and again, it’s not because anybody’s trying to outdo each other, but because sometimes people get into their silos. and a lot of times people will actually do things just because there are resources in a certain area, not because it’s their fundamental mission. you always worry the tighter that the economy gets and the resources get, the more people will have mission.

i’m coming from the standpoint that when you have four different organizations working with [name of service omitted] and none of them can raise enough money to have a real marketing impact, a real investment impact, and everybody has their own administrative organizational overhead, rent, salaries, supplies, that the ability to come together and minimize the overhead and maximize the impact would be ideal.


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i think the next thing that united Way can do better than anyone else is try to combine efforts from different factions; city, school, church and general non-profits. everybody is trying to do the same thing for their community, but they’re not necessarily rowing in the same direction.

i think we have 200 organizations serving a population of 150,000. i just have to guess that there’s some replication and inefficiency in all of that. i don’t think the number of agencies is as critical as being able to target the needs and deliver those services.

the last quotation addresses a related topic to service duplication that we often heard of throughout the interviews. it is widely perceived that the Mid-Missouri region is currently served by too many non-profit and charitable organizations. nearly all respondents pointed out that the saturation level of organizations providing social services in the region is quite high. naturally, this belief supports the sentiment expressed above regarding the perceived service duplication in the region.


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Addressing.the.Underlying.Conditions.of.Poverty.through.Community.Impactas mentioned earlier, a widely held perception among community leaders is that the region’s non-profit and charitable organizations often focus on treating the symptoms of poverty instead of proactively combating the underlying causes of social ills. this sentiment should not be mistaken or taken out of context to mean that community leaders believe the area’s non-profit agencies are doing a poor job of helping needy Mid-Missourians. rather, the focus of the perception was squarely on the thought of how to best eliminate the underlying conditions of poverty in the region. the following example illustrates this point succinctly.

the food Bank does an incredibly good job doing what they do, and again, they’re one of a handful of the food banks in the country that provides food for free. the sad part about that is that as their demand continues to grow, and until we do something about this, their demand is going to grow and their appetite for funds will be endless. i admire the concept of doing something about trying to deal with the conditions that put the food Bank in business, but i wonder how you’re going to reallocate easily to do what we need to do.

this issue is part of a larger challenge that the united Way is preparing to embark upon in the coming months. a widely discussed topic in each interview was the perception of how community leaders felt regarding the united Way’s shift to what is called a Community impact model. Community impact is a model by which any social service organization in the united Way’s service area may apply for funding by showing data-driven, measurable results in the pursuit of alleviating the underlying causes of poverty in the region.

the interview results show that community leaders, without much hesitation, are excited about Community impact and how the united Way will continue to help those in need in the region through the new model. However, as with any new organizational process, some interview respondents expressed concern over exactly how the united Way will measure social action outcomes. the illustration from one respondent quoted above expresses this challenge.


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according to many interview respondents, a possible solution to the Community impact measurement challenge is to construct a process that accounts for both subjective and objective measures of poverty alleviation. an example of a subjective measure may include personal stories from citizens who have experienced a life-changing event through a non-profit or charitable organization. nonetheless, the interview findings reveal strong support for the Community impact concept, yet there remains an underlying concern regarding how the united Way will measure social service organizations moving forward.

the quotation below reinforces the concern over the Community impact measurement criteria.

i question whether it’s possible to have adequate and appropriate data for all of the situations. i think most decisions should be based on data that’s available, but not exclusively. everything can’t come down to strictly data. if all decisions could be made strictly on data, then we could get computers to make all the decisions for us, and there’s no human element involved. i think there needs to be some blend.

finally, in an effort to assuage any concerns community leaders have about Community impact, many interviewees expressed a desire to hear from the united Way and their expectations about how best to transition into the new model. the quotation below elaborates on this widely held opinion.

i understand the importance of the community impact. i’d like to have them [the united Way] really sit down and talk with our Boards, talk to the staff. Where do they see us going? not just taking that time with each agency to say, ‘okay, this is how we really think you can best do your job. and maybe you give this up or you do that.’ But maybe they can provide guidance to the Board and staff in the coming year before they change everything overall.


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iV. Meeting Community service needs – opportunities

Working.with.the.Region’s.Schools.and.Faith.Communitiesas previously mentioned, many community leaders perceive that a key to alleviating the underlying causes of poverty is to promote education initiatives in the form of life and jobs skills training, among others. We heard numerous stories in which outreach efforts targeted at teaching needy individuals a specific workforce skill (carpentry, for example) failed because the focus of such programs missed solving the real social need. in fact we were told the most pressing social needs of impoverished individuals in the region is not necessarily always learning a job skill, but rather learning skills such as the importance of arriving to a job on time, treating fellow employees and managers with respect and generally imparting the norms of our society onto individuals who have no touchstone to the accepted guidelines of many service professions.

a story below told to us in an interview illustrated the opportunity for social service organizations to focus on teaching life skills to those in need.

it all revolves around employment. it’s about having a job that i can feed my family and hopefully better myself and have – provide a bright future for my kids. so that’s part of the issue. about ten years ago, i was instrumental in forming a class to train welfare to work recipients, when that was first coming out, to becoming floor installers. Believe it or not, a good carpet installer can make $100,000 a year. in that class, i worked with a couple of federal programs that were here in the community and it was a significant eye-opening experience for me. it wasn’t that we need to teach people a particular skill, like how to become a carpenter or how to become a carpet layer or how to do whatever; it’s that we needed to teach people life skills. What i’ll tell you is a life skill is that, say i have a job, that means i have to be at work at 8:00 a.m. on Monday and then i have to come back on tuesday and i have to actually come back on Wednesday, and God knows, i better be there on friday and i can’t leave friday at 10:00 a.m. so, to be at work at 8:00 a.m., i have to be disciplined


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enough to get up at 6:30 or 7:00 a.m., or do whatever it takes to actually be at work on time. We need to truly to teach the life skills that are necessary to get that good job.

in order to focus on life skills initiatives described above, we were often told that the united Way and its member agencies should collaborate with region’s public schools (at every grade level) and faith communities, when applicable, to identify individuals in need. through these efforts, it is perceived that service organizations will be empowered to solve the genuine conditions of poverty as quickly and efficiently as possible.

the promise of collaborating with the region’s schools to solve social need, and the potential that lies therein, is described from a community leader below.

i think that the schools are the portal for the united Way and for the community to see into the lives of the families that need help and may not know or admit it.

Expanding.the.United.Way’s.Social.InfluenceCommunity leaders perceive there is an opportunity for the united Way to expand its social influence in an effort to engage more social activists in the region. it is clear that regional leaders hold the united Way in high regard and look to the organization to be the core ambassador of volunteer service in the area.

although it is not perceived that the united Way should become a volunteer-based organization, i.e. focused on recruiting volunteers to carry out social service activities, the community leadership does believe that the united Way brand, and influential board members, can be used to expand social service leadership in the area.


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i think that the united Way needs to expand that list [of core community leaders]. so they need to have [me] saying, ‘Let’s indentify five of your successors. Give me your five.’ so they can expand that leadership role, and that’s something that’s really missing from them.

Many of the activities referenced above were described to us a “friend-raising” efforts or initiatives designed to engage social leaders in the region. from the community leaders’ perspective, there appears to be an apparent opportunity to capitalize on the united Way’s influence beyond its traditional role as an organization that raises and distributes funds to non-profit agencies. an interview respondent summarized that sentiment below.

it’s important that you’re friend-raising as much as you’re fundraising, and if every time i show up people think i’m asking for money that’s not a good thing. so i think the more that the united Way can be present in situations where they’re not asking for money, so that the awareness continues to be there – knowing, sooner than later, you’re going to come back for it – i think that would be something good for them.


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V. the future of Meeting Community service need in Mid-Missouri

Projecting.the.Future.of.Social.Need.in.Mid-MissouriWhat does the future of social service need look like over the next 10 – 20 years in Mid-Missouri? that was a theme discussed in each community leader interview, and as one would expect, opinions varied on the subject. But respondents’ perceived that three issues in particular will form the core of social need in the coming decades. those issues are the growing needs of senior citizens, the need to train a skilled workforce, and the need to address poverty through education. the following interview quotation addresses the potential need to focus on senior services in the years ahead.

…with an aging demographic, we’re going to have a lot of senior issues. We still don’t have public transportation down the way it should be. i think things like transportation and aging in homes and that whole senior / geriatric group of needs is going to grow.

overall, aside from pointing out the need to focus on seniors, the social need landscape of the future, according to community leaders, looks very similar to the current social need environment in the region. some interview respondents remarked that social need today doesn’t look all that different than the social needs that were present in the region 10 – 20 years ago. With that knowledge, there was some cynicism apparent in some respondent’s projections that social need will be unchanged in the coming years.


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However, it is clear that community leaders are excited about the potential of Community impact and how it may significantly alter social need in the region in a very positive way. But the riddle of trying to pinpoint what social need might be in the future is one that is difficult to solve and opinions vary on the subject. such is the case represented in the interview excerpt shown below.

i wish i could say that all of our needs would be met [by then]. i think employment, affordable housing and education are all keys. i think that we have to keep funding agencies that provide food and essentials like that. until we solve the problem of education, affordable housing and adequate jobs, it’s just – we’re not going to get to the heart of the problem.


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analysis: Quantitative Phone survey Mid-Missouri region

Executive.SummaryPure conducted a quantitative phone survey of the Mid-Missouri region for the Heart of Missouri united Way on tuesday and Wednesday, May 10 and 11, 2011. the primary purpose of the survey was to acquire an understanding of Mid-Missourians’ perceptions of social need. this survey follows a qualitative research study in which Pure interviewed 24 Columbia area community leaders from the non-profit, business, education and faith sectors. similar to the phone survey, the purpose of the in-depth interviews was to understand the perceptions of social need in Mid-Missouri among leaders from a diverse set of professional disciplines.

Methodologyin conjunction with the Heart of Missouri united Way, Pure designed a phone survey to test the following primary variables:

•..To.ascertain.the.public’s.awareness.of.social.need.and.their.awareness.of.charitable.organizations.in.the.Mid-Missouri.area

. •..To.understand.the.perception.of.the.region’s.greatest.social.need(s)

. •..To.test.whether.or.not.the.general.public.believes.the.region’s.charitable.organizations.are.effective.or.ineffective.in.alleviating.poverty

. •..To.define.what.the.public.believes.will.be.the.region’s.greatest.social.need(s).over.the.next.10.–.20.years


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to meet the deliverables outlined above, Pure commissioned a regional phone survey using a random digit dial (rdd) methodology to 300 Mid-Missouri adults (those who are 18 years of age and older) in the following geographic areas:

. Audrain.County. Boone.County.. Callaway.County.......

. Cole.County. Cooper.County.. Howard.County......

. Moniteau.County. Randolph.County

this area represents the primary service footprint of the united Way. Given the eligible population area defined above, coupled with a total sample size of 300 survey respondents, the results that follow have a margin of error of +/-5.66 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval. in other words, for each survey result shown below, we can be 95 percent confident that the result does not deviate higher or lower (plus or minus) than 5.66 percentage points from the expressed result(s) below.

in addition to testing the regional population, we also included an oversample of Columbia residents within the survey. With a total Columbia sample size of 100, we may analyze the results within the Columbia sample only at a margin of error of +/- 9.8 percent at the 95 percent confidence interval. inclusive of the city of Columbia oversample, Pure interviewed a total of 312 Mid-Missouri adults for this study.


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top Line survey results

. .•..Mid-Missourians.believe.that.unemployment.and.access.to.jobs..is.the.greatest.social.issue.or.societal.problem.currently.facing..the.region.

.. .•..When.asked.to.define.select.issues*.that.may.or.may.not.cause.poverty.in.the.Mid-Missouri.region,.respondents.felt.that.the.“high.cost.of.medical.bills”.and.“a.shortage.of.jobs”.were.the.two.most.prevalent.issues.that.cause.poverty.in.the.region.

. .•..Similarly,.when.asked.to.define.select.issues*.that.may.or.may.not.cause.poverty.in.the.region,.respondents.felt.that.a.“lack.of.public.transportation.services”.and.“access.to.a.stable.food.source”.were.the.two.least.prevalent.issues.that.cause.poverty.in.the.region.

•..Generally.speaking,.Mid-Missourians.believe.that.non-profit.and.charitable.organizations.are.effective.in.alleviating.poverty.in.the.region,.while.opinion.is.divided.related.to.the.size.and.number.of.charitable.organizations.in.the.area.

. •..Respondents.believe.that.over.the.next.10.–.20.years,.the.greatest.social.issue,.or.societal.problem.facing.the.region.will.be.unemployment.and.access.to.jobs.in.Mid-Missouri.

*Please note that each respondent was read a list of 14 pre-defined issues that may or may not cause poverty in the region. those issues are as follows: 1. Lack of public transportation services; 2. the welfare system; 3. too many jobs being part time or low wage; 4. Poor quality of public schools; 5. access to stable food source; 6. Lack of shelter for the homeless; 7. unsafe neighborhoods; 8. High cost of medical bills; 9. too many single-parent families; 10. drug abuse; 11. a shortage of jobs; 12. seniors living on low wages; 13. the mismanagement of personal and family finances; and 14. Poor family role models


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Accompanying.Documentsthe full survey results file, titled “Community needs assessment survey results - 2011” is included as a separate document within the appendix of this report. the exact survey script used to field the phone survey, titled “Community needs assessment survey script – 2011” is also included in the appendix.

for a deeper look into the survey results and an analysis of the survey data, please refer pages 23 – 32

the analysis of the results is divided into the following three sections:

i. Mid-Missouri’s poverty awareness and identification of non-profit and charitable organizations

ii. Mid-Missouri’s perception of social need

iii. the perception of social need over the next 10 – 20 years in Mid-Missouri


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i. Mid-Missouri’s poverty awareness and identification of non-profit and charitable organizations

Poverty.Awarenessin an effort to determine the poverty awareness level of the Mid-Missouri region, we asked each survey respondent two specific questions. the first question asked each respondent to indicate whether or not they were aware of an individual and/or a group of individuals currently living in poverty in the area, whereas a second question asked each respondent to quantify the percentage of the Mid-Missouri population currently living in poverty.

the first graph shown below reveals that well over half (61 percent) of all respondents are aware of an individual and/or a group of individuals currently living in poverty, while just under 40 percent of the sample said they are unaware of impoverished people(s) in Mid-Missouri.

the poverty awareness level showed no significant deviation throughout the sample. Within the cities of Columbia and Jefferson City, as well as throughout every other region of the sample, roughly 60 percent of respondents said they are aware of an individual and/or a group of individuals living in poverty. the one exception to the rule in which a demographic group deviated from the overall result is found within respondents who are 65 years of age and older. among this age group, only 44 percent of all respondents are aware of people living in poverty in Mid-Missouri while 56 percent said they are not aware.

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Awareness.Level.of.People.Living.in.Poverty.in.Mid-Missouri

%.of.all.respondents

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39%61%

*Please note that the poverty level data was sourced from the u.s. Census Bureau and reflects an estimate from 2008 as detailed information from the most recent census data (2010) were not available.


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furthermore, when we asked respondents to define the percentage of people they believed were currently living in poverty in Mid-Missouri, exactly half of the sample (50 percent) believed that 20 percent or less of the population currently lives in poverty while 46 percent of all respondents think more than 20 percent of Mid-Missouri currently lives in poverty. (4 percent of the sample said they did not know.)

opinion is clearly divided within this question, and the results suggest that the general public is somewhat unclear as to how many people really live in poverty in Mid-Missouri. to determine an approximate percentage of people actually living in poverty in the region, Pure determined the percentage of people living below the poverty level* in each of the survey’s sampled counties (identified in the executive summary of this report). after acquiring these data, Pure then averaged the total percentage of people living below the poverty line in each county.

the graph below shows the comparison between Mid-Missouri’s perception of people living in poverty and the actual percentage of area residents living below the poverty line.

Comparison.of.Actual.Poverty.Level.to.the..Perception.of.People.Living.in.Poverty.in.Mid-Missouri

.Actual.Poverty.Level....... .Perception.

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Poverty.Over.40%

14.6%13%

37%

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14.6% 14.6% 14.6% 14.6%

%.o

f.al

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Identification.of.Non-Profit.and.Charitable.Organizations.in.Mid-MissouriMid-Missourians’ top of mind awareness of non-profit or charitable organizations in Mid-Missouri yields a positive result for the united Way. When asked to name non-profit or charitable organizations in the region, 22 percent of all respondents thought of the united Way which led all other organizations by eight percentage points. the american red Cross was the second most thought of non-profit or charitable organization in the region, and the remainder of the top five is shown in the graph below.

not surprisingly, within the Columbia oversample, the united Way outperformed its overall result as 28 percent of all Columbia residents thought of the united Way. the Central Missouri food Bank was just behind the united Way in Columbia as 21 percent of residents named that organization in the survey.

overall, nearly two-thirds of all respondents (65 percent) believe that non-profit and charitable organizations are effective in alleviating poverty in the region. this is a very strong result overall, but of the respondents who said non-profit and charitable organizations are effective in alleviating poverty,

Non-Profit.and.Charitable.Organization.Top.of.Mind.Awareness.in.Mid-Missouri

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United.Way American.Cancer.Society

Salvation.Army

Central.Missouri.Food.Bank

Red.Cross

22%

14%

12%11%

10%%.o

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only 18 percent thought such organization were “very” effective. in addition, over a quarter of all respondents (26 percent) said they believe that non-profits and charitable organizations are ineffective in alleviating poverty.

there are two demographic groups in particular that lag significantly from the overall result described above. as the graph details below, respondents who are 65 years of age and older, and those who make $40,000 or less a year in household income are less likely to think that non-profits and charitable organizations are effective in alleviating poverty in the region.

the result within the sub-sampled demographic groups noted above is quite significant. a third of all respondents within two of the region’s non-profit and charitable service target populations (senior citizens and those earning low wages) believe that such organizations are ineffective in alleviating poverty. one explanation of this result is that respondents within these subgroups may be currently living in poverty, and therefore, they naturally believe that non-profits and charitable organizations are simply ineffective in lifting them out of their current condition.

However, it is important to note that even within these sub-groups, a solid majority (54 percent) of respondents believe that non-profits and charitable organizations

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Total.Sample

Ages.65+

.Effective....... .Ineffective....... .No.Opinion

<.$40K.HHI

%.of.all.respondents

Effectiveness.Rating.for.Non-Profits.and.Charitable.Organizations.in.Mid-Missouri

65%

54%

32%

12%

9%

36%

54%

26%

8%


©Pure 2011 28

are effective in alleviating poverty in Mid-Missouri. nonetheless, the attitude of those who believe the opposite should be monitored going forward.

finally, unlike the results of the in-depth interviews with Mid-Missouri community leaders, only 13 percent of Mid-Missourians believe that there are “too many” non-profit or charitable organizations in the region. opinion is almost evenly split among those who think there are a sufficient number of organizations in the region (38 percent) and those who believe there are not enough (40 percent) non-profits or charitable organizations dedicated to addressing poverty in the region.


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ii. Mid-Missouri’s perception of social need

Mid-Missouri’s.greatest.perceived.social.needsnot surprisingly, economic and employment concerns top the list of social issues Mid-Missourians feel are the greatest societal problems facing the region in 2011. When we asked respondents to name the greatest social issue currently facing the region, 40 percent named economic concerns, while the second ranked issue, economic development, was cited by 13 percent of all respondents.

taken together, at 53 percent of all respondents, Mid-Missourians believe that some aspect of the economy (job creation and meeting the needs of the unemployed) represents the greatest social issue currently facing the region. the graph below shows the response breakdown of the top 5 social issues in Mid-Missouri according to all respondents.

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Jobs/Unemployment Economic.Development

Quality.Education Access.to..Health.Care

Drug.Abuse

Greatest.Social.Issues.or..Societal.Problems.Facing.Mid-Missouri

%.o

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40%

13%

7%6% 5%


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the focus on the economy and the margin by which Mid-Missourians feel economic issues outweigh other societal problems is consistent throughout the survey’s entire sample. the margin is especially pronounced among the region’s less educated (those who have earned a vocational or technical school degree or less) and ethnic minority groups. naturally, the results displayed above must account for the disposition of those who are less educated and within social groups that are currently dealing with economic distress. nonetheless, these groups epitomize the current state of need in the region, and social services must be responsive to meeting societal problems brought on by distressful economic conditions.

The.drivers.of.poverty.in.Mid-Missouriin an effort to understand the public’s perception of the root causes of poverty in the region, much of the survey focused on testing specific social issues apparent in Mid-Missouri. We asked each respondent to analyze 14 pre-determined social issues and determine if each issue is a major or minor cause of poverty in the region or not a cause of poverty at all.

unlike our in-depth interview sessions in which the region’s community leaders were able to offer a much more nuanced explanation of their feelings on the causes of poverty, the line of questioning described above was designed with the purpose of connecting with a random sample of Mid-Missourians and their views on poverty in particular.


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each of the 14 tested social issues are shown below along with their respective answer choices.

.......The.Perceived.Causes.of.Poverty.in.Mid-Missouri.

. . . . . %.of.all.respondents

Social Issue Major Cause Minor Cuse Not a Cause

High Cost of Medical Bills 70% 23% 5%

A Shortage of Jobs 70% 27% 3%

Too Many Single-Parent Families 65% 28% 4%

Drug Abuse 64% 29% 5%

Poor Family Role Models 63% 27% 4%

Mismanagement of Personal & Family Finances

60% 35% 1%

Too Many Jobs Being Part Time or Low Wage

53% 38% 7%

The Welfare System 49% 33% 11%

Seniors Living on Low Wages 46% 45% 4%

Unsafe Neighborhoods 29% 48% 19%

Lack of Shelter for the Homeless 27% 51% 19%

Poor Quality of Public Schools 21% 38% 33%

Access to a Stable Food Source 20% 53% 24%

Lack of Public Transportation Services

19% 54% 23%

once again, the sour state of the economy played a large role in formulating the sample’s response in analyzing the chief causes of poverty in the region. What is surprising is that respondents’ identified the high cost of medical bills is also a major cause of poverty in Mid-Missouri. the sample agreed that both issues, a shortage of jobs and the high cost of medical bills, are equally to blame as major causes of poverty.

yet as the results detail above, Mid-Missourians also perceive that too many single-parent families, drug abuse, poor family role models and the mismanagement of personal and family finances are all issues that contribute mightily to causing poverty in the region. each of those issues are at or higher than 60 percent of all respondents who believe the issues are a major cause of poverty.


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furthermore, there were very few respondents who claimed that the top issues are “not a cause” of poverty at all. this reinforces the intensity behind the sample’s response as 5 percent or less of all respondents thought the issues noted above do not cause poverty in any way. Moreover, although only 53 percent of all respondents said that the mismanagement of personal and family finances is a major cause of poverty, only 1 percent of the sample thought it was not a cause at all (35 percent said it was a minor cause). this is yet another issue in which the respondents’ are very clear in articulating their views on the issues that cause poverty in Mid-Missouri.

Within the Columbia oversample, the response pattern largely paralleled the survey’s overall results, although there was some deviation. in Columbia, where jobs are more plentiful than in the rural areas of the study, 61 percent of Columbia respondents said that a shortage of jobs was a major cause of poverty equaling a 9 percentage point dip from the survey’s overall results. furthermore, Columbia residents largely share the rest of the region’s concern over the high cost of medical bills (67 percent said it was a major cause), but they also feel strongly that poor family role models and too many single-parent families are major causes of poverty (66 percent and 65 percent said those issues were major causes respectively). outside of Columbia and Jefferson City, within the rural areas of the study, over three quarters of rural respondents said that a shortage of jobs is a major cause of poverty. the implications of a weakened economy are clearly felt in the rural enclaves of Mid-Missouri.

finally, as the chart above describes, Mid-Missourians perceive that the lack of public transportation services, access to a stable food source and poor quality of public schools are largely minor causes of poverty in the region. Certainly, many Mid-Missouri non-profit and charitable organizations seek to provide social services related to filling food and nutrition and public transportation needs, and the results of this survey should not be a litmus test on their effectiveness. rather, the results shown in the chart are a product of a strict focus on the causes of poverty in the region and not a focus on how organizations are helping overcome those causes in the community.


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iii. the perception of social need over the next 10 – 20 years in Mid-Missouri

although Mid-Missourians are slightly less concerned about jobs and unemployment over the next decade, the region still believes that economic concerns will constitute the greatest social issue, or societal problem, over the next 10 – 20 years. the survey question that asked respondents to think about what will represent the region’s greatest social issue in the future was structured similarly to the social issue question covered in section ii of this document.

the chart below shows the difference in perception from what the sample currently believes is the region’s greatest social issue and what respondent’s perceive will be the greatest issue in the coming decades.

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Jobs/Unemployment Economic..Development

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40%

13% 13%

32%

6%

11%

7% 7%

5%

7%

Comparison.of.the.Perception.of.the.Greatest.Current.and.Future.Social.Issues.Facing.Mid-Missouri


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as the graph shows, the most significant increase in the region’s perception of the greatest social issue facing Mid-Missouri occurred in the health care dataset. almost twice the number of respondents felt that issues dealing with health care, i.e. access to care and the cost of health insurance, are of greater importance to the region in the future than they are now. Based on this result, we may extrapolate that caring for the region’s senior citizens, and providing the senior population with quality health care, in part manufactured the increase shown above.

alternatively, Mid-Missourians perceive that social problems such as crime, drug abuse and the costs of basic needs such as food and shelter will not carry great significance in the coming decades. these results are likely skewed by the region’s current perception of the lackluster economy (and therefore the focus is on economic issues), but the results shown here reflect the reality that the social issues noted above are not necessarily endemic within many Mid-Missouri communities.


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Conclusionaccording to the Bureau of Labor statistics, in 2010 the volunteer rate in the united states was calculated at 26.3 percent. Just over a quarter of americans volunteered through or for an organization at least once between 2009 and september 2010. in the phone survey executed for the community needs assessment perception study, we asked a question about volunteerism in Mid-Missouri and calculated the region’s volunteer rate at 53 percent from May 2010 – May 2011.

the result is striking not only because Mid-Missouri’s volunteer rate is double that of the national average, but it indicates a community and a region that is engaged in volunteer service like few others across the country.

through interviewing community leaders who represent many different sectors of the regional economy, and surveying a large sample of Mid-Missourians, we were able to understand how the region perceives the social needs of the community and the organizational structure of the agencies that seek to alleviate poverty.

at its core, our findings indicate that the general public naturally views social need and services through a practical lens of issues that impact their daily lives, i.e. finding a job and dealing with the high costs of medical bills. Community leaders and decision makers, on the other hand, take a more nuanced view of social need in the region given their ability to be more reflective on such issues. this deviation is hardly surprising, yet it is a critically important part of understanding how social service agencies in Mid-Missouri can communicate and reach out to those in need throughout the region.

as the Heart of Missouri united Way transitions to the Community impact model in the coming months, it will be important to connect the reality of Mid-Missourians’ perception of social need with the region’s charitable leadership and social service focus. Led by the united Way, the research data leaves little doubt that the Mid-Missouri region has the capacity and spirit of volunteerism to alleviate poverty in very meaningful ways.