Jacksonville Community Council, Inc.

JCCI Staff -- Front Row: Mickee Brown, Chandra Mitchell, Anne-Marie Logrippo, Tess Mork, Laura Lane, Earlene Hostutler and Jennifer Parsons.  Back Row: JCCI Executive Director Skip Cramer, Michelle Simkulet, Lashun Stephens, Ben Warner and Cheryl Murphy.

About JCCI... 
Like every city, Jacksonville has its challenges and determining how to face those challenges is the role of JCCI. Every day, JCCI brings people together to learn about pressing issues in our community and to find solutions. All with the goal of making Jacksonville a great place to live. JCCI...citizens building a better community. Learn more about JCCI: fact sheet; website 

JCCI Studies:  Each year, citizen volunteers and JCCI committees identify problems facing our city. With their input, issues are selected to become the subject of in-depth study. Committees, made up of ordinary citizens, meet weekly for six months to unravel the causes of a problem and make recommendations to resolve it. When the study is published, a JCCI volunteer task force presents it to the community at large, to government, to business and others - advocating for the changes the study suggests. Since, 1975, decision-makers have given these studies the consideration and the action they deserve. And they have worked to make our area a better place for all residents. Our new study: River Dance: Putting River in River City.

Recent studies:
2004 -- Public Education Reform: Eliminating the Achievement Gap (Phase Two); Town & Gown: Building Successful Community-University Collaborations
2003 -- Public Education Reform: Assessing Progress (Phase One); Neighborhoods at the Tipping Point
2002 -- Beyond the Talk: Improving Race Relations; Making Jacksonville a Clean City
2001 -- Services for Ex-Offenders

JCCI Quality of Life Progress Report:  Since 1985, JCCI has tracked indicators of the quality of life in Jacksonville and surrounding communities. Tracking both positive and negative trends, this “community report card” provides and ongoing analysis of the state of our region. It also helps monitor the effectiveness of solutions proposed by JCCI studies and other initiatives.

JCCI Forward:  JCCI Forward, an initiative of JCCI, brings people ages 25-45 together to interact with city leaders, to experience leadership development and to build a network of friends and associates who share the common goal of improving our community.

Five O’Clock Forums:  Five O’Clock Forums welcome citizens from all walks of life to speak out on topics that affect our community. These exciting, spirited discussions cover a wide range of topics, uncovering problems and revealing possible courses of action.

Human Services Council (HSC):  Born of a JCCI study recommendation in 1981, the HSC is made up of the major funders of human services in Northeast Florida that contract more than $150 million. The HSC offers workshops for front-line staff, evaluates school programs and promotes quality human service initiatives. The council is housed at JCCI.

About the importance of our work...

"In December 1974 the Jacksonville Community Council was formed to provide abroad cross-section of citizens an impartial forum to dialogue on matters of public interest and reach consensus on community solutions. Today, almost thirty years later, our success is measured not only in terms of consensus-building and public awareness but also in the tangible, positive changes we have fostered in our community's quality of life. We remain relevant and vital by being bold and balanced in our approach."

            - Skip Cramer, JCCI Executive Director

About NAPC...

"Membership in NAPC connects us to the larger community of organizations working with us, for community betterment. At JCCI, we value continual learning, and feel our community is best served as we incorporate the triumphs and best practices from communities across the nation to improve the quality of life of citizens here at home."

    - Ben Warner, JCCI Associate Director; Board Member, NAPC

 

Norfolk, Virginia

Planning, Developing and Managing Human Services Since 1941
 

The Planning Council conducted a staff training in March of this year to engage our staff in the definition of our Council and the work we do.  As the featured "Member of the Month," we are happy to present the results of that exercise.  It tells our very important story in the words of the staff, without whom we would have no story to tell.  Read more!
 

About the importance of planning councils…

Mary Louis Campbell, President of The Planning Council, and NAPC Board member, writes:

"Since the early 1940's, planning councils have provided the means to identify community opportunities for improvement in quality of life.  Our Planning Council serves as an impartial structure to convene participants for unencumbered community conversation and solution-oriented purposes.  Over the years, we have broadened our services, expanding from the convener role to one of contractor providing technical assistance and full product development, analysis and demonstration."


About NAPC…

"Our membership in NAPC has broadened our exposure to national trends and innovation.  Regular meetings with other Planning Councils energize and encourage us to work harder and smarter to achieve the desired outcomes of critical social planning.  Citing membership in the NAPC on all our printed material adds credence to our position in the local market and underscores the importance of Planning Council activities."
 

 

Community Services
Planning Council (CSPC)

Sacramento, California
 

The Community Services Planning Council (CSPC) is a catalyst for community change, providing health and human services information for the public, engaging people in collaborative planning, conducting policy analysis on health and social issues, developing innovative programs, building coalitions to effectively respond to emerging community needs, and offering training and technical assistance in community planning, mobilizing and program development so people can improve their communities.

Serving the Sacramento (CA) area since 1939, CSPC operates programs and provides services for seven counties surrounding California’s capital city. The mission of the Planning Council is to help people turn ideas into community action through information, planning, program innovation, volunteerism and advocacy for human needs.

About CSPC's current work ...

Information Services, Research and Planning
Planning and research services, including GIS mapping, that is practical and community-based and serves the research and community development needs of public and private sector organizations. A regional database of health, social, and economic indicators is available for the public. Katrina Middleton, Vice President for Information Services, Research and Planning has served as the Indicators Project Coordinator for NAPC for the past two years.

InfoLine Sacramento
A multi-lingual telephone information and referral service helping over 38,000 callers each year find the services they need. InfoLine also operates a satellite office at the Sacramento County Family Court Self Help Center and provides community information in nine Neighborhood Information Centers.

BeehiveSacramento.org
CSPC’s newest program, Beehive Sacramento.org, is the region’s home page for information on useful resources for family, work, school and play. It also offers area residents free email, local job listings, news and much more. Information is available in English, Spanish and Russian. CSPC’s comprehensive Community Services Directory, published since 1941, is now on-line on The Beehive. The searchable database contains information on over 2,000 programs and services in the region.

Hands On Sacramento (HOS)
HOS works in partnership with a variety of community-based organizations to match busy individuals, groups, families, and businesses that want to get involved in their communities with high-impact, short-term volunteer projects in the greater Sacramento area. HOS volunteers receive a monthly newsletter or access the HOS web site calendar to find out about and sign up for volunteer projects. HOS projects occur in the evenings or on the weekend and do not require a long-term commitment. HOS will soon become Volunteer Sacramento and will serve as the central resource for all volunteer opportunities in the Sacramento area.

Hunger Commission
The goal of the Hunger Commission is to eliminate hunger and food insecurity by assuring that all people are able to provide themselves adequate food for an active and healthy life. The Commission addresses root causes of hunger and food insecurity and creatively pursues positive improvements by advocating for people who are hungry or at risk of hunger, serving as the community’s primary information source about hunger and community food security, and coordinating community resources to increase opportunities and education for people to become self-sufficient.

Shots for Tots Regional Coalition
This broad-based coalition of public and private healthcare providers, community organizations, and concerned individuals, from seven counties surrounding California’s capital city, promotes immunizations to protect the health of all infants and toddlers. The Coalition’s goal is to achieve a 90 percent immunization rate for toddlers in the Sacramento region by the year 2010. In addition to establishment of the Shots for Tots KIDS (Kids Immunization Data System) immunization registry, the Coalition promotes immunizations as a basic component of healthcare for children, works to remove barriers to immunization service delivery, provides public health education to families and caregivers, and coordinates public and private efforts in our region with state and national immunization efforts.

Policy and Advocacy Division
Programs providing an independent, objective, non-partisan forum to discuss and address community issues and make public policy recommendations. The division staffs various public advisory groups dealing with children and youth, senior, HIV and public health issues. The division also publishes issue papers and is currently helping prepare a Human Services Element for Sacramento County’s General (Land Use) Plan.


About NAPC ...

"NAPC is a wonderful resource for all of us at CSPC. We learn so much from our colleagues around the country, and we appreciate the opportunity to dialogue with other experts in the field about common issues and programs. The NAPC website keep us in touch with innovative programs in other Planning Councils, and gives us an edge on tracking the cutting edge trends in the field. I especially appreciate the fact that NAPC provides an effective voice on the national stage for those of us engaged in health and social planning and development at the community level."

Nancy Findeisen, President and CEO
Community Services Planning Council

President, National Association of Planning Councils

 

 

Community Action Network (CAN)

Austin, Texas

The Community Action Network (CAN) is a public/private partnership of 14 major community organizations that address social services in Austin/Travis County.  Partners include the major organizations representing local government, business, faith, education, public safety, health, workforce and education communities.  The mission of CAN is to “achieve sustainable social health, educational and economic outcomes through engaging the community in a planning and implementation process that coordinates and optimizes public, private and individual actions and resources.”  CAN works with community leaders, administrators, planners, and non-profits to provide community forums for creative and collaborative problem solving, inclusive community participation and community consensus building.  (CAN structure, 2004.  CAN background, functions, and issue areas.)  CAN also provides tools (assessment reports, data updates, urgent issues, bi-monthly community overview) that are used to leverage resources and meet evolving community challenges.  (All the CAN documents can be found at www.caction.org.)

About CAN's Current Work ...

CAN works through the staffs of the CAN Partners and the Planning Bodies that have been created in specific issues to provide accurate and timely information through a community based process and encourage implementation of agreed upon strategies.  Recent and current accomplishments include:

-  CAN Homeless Task Force created a 10 year plan to end chronic homelessness; the plan will result in the opening of a new resource center for the homeless with additional space for emergency shelter this spring.
-  CAN Basic Needs Services Council created a pilot program that will change the way in which clients access basic needs services and allow for “one-stop” services.  Providers also agreed to a common database system.
-  Travis County After-school Network surveyed and identified gaps in out of school programming that resulted in additional funding for a pilot program.
-  Following the CAN Public Safety Assessment, a Youth and Family Assessment Center was established and provides wrap-around services for youth.
-  CAN Victims Services Task Force completed an assessment in 2003 and are working to implement recommendations.
-  Aging Services Council, formed in 2003, is working on increasing awareness and funding, and building a more connected elderly services system.
-  Since October 2003, CAN has increased community awareness by producing a TV show each month (airing multiple times) based on one of the issue areas; the CAN monthly Resource Council and Community Council meetings are also shown on the City cable channel.
-  In 2004, CAN will expand its legislative sub-committee to become a public policy committee that will address a wide range of public policy issues.


About Planning Councils ...

According to Fred Butler, the Community Action Network’s Executive Director:

"While CAN does not look like many of the traditional planning councils, we function in a very similar manner.  The opportunity for communities to have a centralized and neutral location for data and collaborative community problem solving is critical as new challenges arise and financial resources diminish.  Planning Councils play a key role in highlighting issues, leveraging resources and bringing people together."

About NAPC ...

“Participating in the National Association of Planning Councils and attending the annual conference has allowed us a platform to share our successes and an opportunity to ask questions and learn from others who have faced similar challenges.  Each year we leave the NAPC conference inspired by the dedication of the other members and determined to implement some of the strategies they have shared to benefit our community.”

(Pictured -- on the left, Sam Woollard, CAN Associate Director; on the right, Executive Director Fred Butler)

Fred Butler is a member of the NAPC Board of Directors.  He has coordinated NAPC's participation as a co-sponsor of a major international conference on community indicators (March 2004) and has organized a series of conference sessions featuring NAPC members and other experts on social indicators.

United Community Services of Johnson County (UCS)

- Lenexa, Kansas -

The mission of United Community Services of Johnson County (UCS) is to identify human service needs and marshal public and private resources to address those needs. Founded in 1967, UCS serves as a catalyst, bringing people together to respond to unmet needs and improving the way services are delivered. This results in better outcomes for children and families.

UCS Staff:  Jennifer Nichols, Information Manager; Megan Toal, Director for Community Initiatives; Marya Schott, Director for Community Initiatives; Karen Wulfkuhle, Executive Director; Carol Smith, Associate Director

About our current work ...

Through ongoing research and planning, UCS identifies the critical human needs that most impact the community and uses those findings to inform decision-makers, guide resource allocation and advance community action.

UCS’s key programs and initiatives include:

• Navigating the Future, a community action plan for improving the Johnson County response to this community's most significant human service needs over the next three to five years.

• Partnership with United Way of Johnson County, to provide research, planning and allocation support to enhance United Way’s work in Johnson County.

• The Johnson County Children’s Coordinating Council (CCC), a service network that addresses cross-system issues to better serve Johnson County’s most vulnerable children and their families.

• The Drug and Alcoholism Council of Johnson County (DAC), which advises local government on the allocation of funds generated by the Alcohol Tax Fund.

• Johnson County Continuum of Care on Homeless is a community collaboration that seeks to improve the community’s response to homelessness.

• Human Service Fund. As the fund’s manager, UCS allocates money provided by local governments to fund area programs that help children and their families.

• Public Policy. UCS develops a public policy platform to advance effective human service policy.
   

About planning councils ...

Karen Wulfkuhle, UCS Executive Director and NAPC Board member, writes,

“As a planning council, UCS is in a unique position to pull together key players from both the public and private sectors, facilitate fact-based decision-making and nurture change within the community. We strive to plan and promote the orderly development of an effective, well-balanced human service system. Equally important are our efforts to build a constituency that will support and advocate for human services.”


About the National Association of Planning Councils (NAPC) ...

“I attended my first NAPC conference the year I became executive director of UCS. It was an excellent way to orient myself to the roles, challenges and opportunities of community planning. Membership in NAPC is a way to continually learn from colleagues for the benefit of my local council.”

 

The mission of the Human Services Council (HSC) is to promote the well-being of its communities through human services coordination, community planning, program sponsorship, information and education.

HSC will celebrate its sixtieth anniversary next year. 

Primary HSC programs include Child Care Council of Mid-Fairfield, Children's Connection of Fairfield County, Inc., Education and Training, Evaluation Services, Housing Initiatives, Mid-Fairfield Substance Abuse Coalition, Needs Assessment, Not For Profit Partnership Council, School Based Health Centers, The Advocates Group, The Community Prevention Task Force, and Voluntary Action Center of Mid-Fairfield. Other key initiatives developed by the Council have included Meals on Wheels, Domestic Violence Crisis Center, Norwalk Emergency Shelter, Infoline, On the Mend, and 40 South Main Street Efficiency Apartments. 

The Council recently purchased a historic building opposite the town green and opened a Community Services Center, jointly housing several non-profit agencies.

HSC is a founding member of the National Association of Planning Councils. HSC Executive Director Elaine Andersen is a past NAPC President and current board member.
 

About planning councils ...

 

Elaine Andersen, Executive Director of the Council, writes,

"Planning councils are dynamic, flexible organizations providing a wide spectrum of services to establish, direct and sustain programs which benefit the community as a whole. The councils provide a forum for coordination of community needs and the delivery of more effective service planning."

 

About the National Association of Planning Councils (NAPC) ...

"The NAPC brings together members from all areas of our country to share ideas, knowledge, inspiration and experience. NAPC supports its members as they provide leadership in their communities. Our collaborative efforts and strategic alliances assist us in our work and promote healthy communities. Working together everyone achieves more."

- Elaine Andersen, HSC Executive Director

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In 1960 the Council of Community Services, based in Roanoke, Virginia, was formed by community volunteers to ensure for the efficient and effective provision of human services in the Roanoke Valley.  The mission of the Council is to provide all people access to human service information, and use its resources to assist organizations and decision makers in planning for and meeting the emerging human needs to improve the quality of life in the community.  The Council is committed to leadership that broadens social access to essential services for organizations and individuals in ways that are nonjudgmental, neutral, diverse and inclusive.
 

About the Council’s current work …  While the Council maintains several community coalitions such as the Family Violence Coordinating Council, the Roanoke Regional Housing Network and the Roanoke Valley Alliance for Children, the board of directors and staff are currently focused on several projects and program expansions, such as:

• Updating the Communitywide Needs Assessment

• Publishing the first annual Community Needs File

• Expanding the Information & Referral (I&R) Services program to become a 2-1-1 call center

• Merging the local crisis line into the I&R program creating the Roanoke Listen Line

• Hosting the 2003 Legislative Candidates Forum on Human Service Issues

• Establishing a nonprofit resource center to connect local nonprofits with training opportunities, technical assistance and other resources
   

About planning councils … 

Pam Kestner-Chappelear, Executive Director of the Council, writes,

"Planning councils approach community problem solving in various ways across the country.  But a common theme running through planning councils is that they are community driven.  As neutral facilitators, planning councils play a significant role in bringing groups together to address a common need or issue.  To that end, our planning council ‘envisions a community in which organizations work collaboratively to increase social assets, expand access to resources, reduce redundancy and focus on human potential as the keys to economic development and individual well being.’"
 

About the National Association of Planning Councils (NAPC) … 

"As a planning council, we bring people together in our community to network and to learn from one another. NAPC plays that same role but on a national scale.  Members from all different parts of the country learn from one another, support one another and challenge one another.  Returning from the annual national conference I always find myself reinvigorated and eager to put into practice the new knowledge I gained from the workshops and networking experiences."

Pam Kestner-Chappelear, Executive Director, Council of Community Services;
Secretary, National Association of Planning Councils

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Northern California Council
for the Community
- San Francisco, California -
 

Pictured outside the Council's office in downtown San Francisco are staff members Reggie Valmores, Jeanine Cutino, Erin Terhorst, Ed Schoenberger, Larry Best, Stevi Oliphant, Wolf Schweiger, Carl Garrett, Maritza Villagomez, Nancy Kimura, Michael Yuen, Angel Ramos, Betty Creary.  (Not pictured: Laura Escobar, Alice Kim and Jose Santamaria.)

The mission of the Northern California Council for the Community (NCCC) is to help build healthy, safe and self-sufficient communities in the Bay Area by improving the public's return on its investment in children, families and neighborhoods.  Founded in 1993, NCCC is the only organization in the region that focuses on What Works! through its program of benchmarking best practices, conducting learning experiences, developing implementation tools and demonstrating successful approaches.

What do we mean by What Works! ?

Focusing on the outcomes desired by a community as the starting point for making decisions.
Following a set of principles that are the best guidelines for achieving those outcomes.
Provide integrated and comprehensive community services.
Forge collaborative relations.
Focus on prevention.
Advocate for a more effective service system.
Build on strengths of individuals and communities.
Support families in all their forms.
Promote cultural responsiveness.
Involve individuals, groups, organizations and institutions in the community-building process.
Develop full and in-depth knowledge of the community.

About the Council's current work . . .  NCCC is particularly proud of its work:

• Identifying and describing the Bay Area’s most impoverished neighborhoods and supporting a model for establishing resident led leadership development dedicated to getting better results for those who reside in them.

• Supporting a Bay Area wide initiative – Bay Area Works – for strengthening the connection between the region’s employer and economic development leadership and the network of employment and training, education and support service institutions to improve – even in this economic climate – the opportunities of the poor to move toward self-sufficiency.

• Establishing a "data central" designed to collect, analyze and make available online the data that measures Bay Area progress in becoming sustainable, self-sufficient, healthy and safe. In partnership with the organization of major Bay Area employers and the Bay Area Alliance for Sustainable Communities, NCCC has published (hard copy and online) The State of the Bay Area: Pathways to Results – a baseline report on the following outcomes (1) children succeeding in school, (2) families achieving self-sufficiency, (3) adults and children having access to health care, and (4) the safety of community residents.

• Operating the Immigrant Assistance Line – a multi-lingual phone service through our Information and Referral program – designed to help immigrants access vital legal and eligibility information.
   

About planning councils . . .  Ed Schoenberger, President of the Council and Board Member of the National Association of Planning Councils, writes:

"Planning councils have a unique opportunity to provide a place of thought, consideration and fact based analysis that is often not possible in many other institutional settings in which political, service delivery and other pressures prevail. At the same time, Councils maintain a long tradition of commitment to those least able to speak for themselves and to those whose needs are not being met.

We at NCCC have always benefited from the fact that Councils in other states and communities have been addressing similar challenges in similar ways."
 

About the National Association of Planning Councils (NAPC) . . . 

"I am particularly appreciative of those who founded the national association.  Leaders in their own communities, they had a vision of planning councils’ contribution to the nation as a whole.  When I first became the director of the planning council in the Bay Area it was the folks at National Association of Planning Councils that showed me the ropes, shared their experiences, flooded me with materials and made me feel part of the team and the movement.  The meetings, conferences and contacts with these colleagues have always been moments of learning, encouragement and improved perspective."

Ed Schoenberger, President, Northern California Council for the Community; Board Member, National Association of Planning Councils (NAPC)

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For over sixty years the Community Council of Greater Dallas has provided the right place, the safe place where interested citizens, organizations, agencies, and departments of government can work together effectively to determine community service needs in the Greater Dallas area, and to aid in bringing about an orderly development of services and adequate programs to meet such needs.

The Community Council is about SOLUTIONS … where issues can be researched, planned, coordinated and implemented.  The Council is a vital link in connecting people to the health and human services they need.  Collaborations and Coalitions are more than buzz words.  They have been the operational guideposts for over 60 years at the Community Council of Greater Dallas.

About the Council's current work . . .  Currently, the efforts of the Council are concentrated in the following areas:

• Operating 2-1-1 as cutting edge Information and referral Service, and a part of Homeland Security

• Improving infant and adult immunization rates through outreach and education

• Coordinating outreach to enroll uninsured children in CHIP (Children’s health Insurance Program) and children’s Medicaid

• Preventing at-risk youth from entering the juvenile justice system

• Administering a Homeless Management Information System for the community

• Planning services and advocacy on behalf of seniors

• Maintaining a system of support for family caregivers

• Conducting and publishing research on current issues affecting children and youth

• Maintaining an extensive database of resource information for our eight county region

• Improving access to and assistance with long term care services

About planning councils . . .  "The entire landscape of the social service sector has been impacted by the work of the Community Council of Greater Dallas over its history.  As a result of its research, task forces, and collaborative work, the Council started many of the agencies we take for granted today.  These agencies include the Dallas Urban League, Children’s Medical Center, the Dallas Concilio of Hispanic Organizations, Callier Hearing and Speech Center, Access Center for the Elderly, and the Dallas County Department of Mental Health/Mental Retardation.  When our community has been faced with a difficult issue, such as the emergence of HIV/AIDS, the Council has provided a safe place to deal with widely diverse opinions. As a neutral convener, the Council helped the community finds ways to address the needs of people with HIV/AIDS, and established AIDS Arms as a direct service provider.

"Currently, the Council is providing leadership in the use of technology to create efficiencies and economies of scale among social service providers.  Multiple confidential applications of one central client tracking system allows many agencies to utilize high tech systems they could not afford or maintain by themselves.  The aggregated shared information from these systems provides a basis for future growth and direction of services."
 

About the National Association of Planning Councils . . .  "We are proud that our council’s previous Executive Director, Mr. Russ Delatour, was a part of the group that founded NAPC.  There is no doubt that our council and community have benefited from being a part of NAPC by sharing information, new ideas, and working collaboratively on issues of importance to many councils across the country and internationally.  By working together, we all grow in knowledge, strength and influence."

-  Martha T. Blaine
   Executive Director, Community Council of Greater Dallas
   Immediate Past President, National Association of Planning Councils

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Established in 1913, the Federation for Community Planning is a nonprofit organization that serves as a critical link between health and social issues and their potential solutions. Not a direct service provider, the Federation works behind the scenes, engaging in applied research, policy analysis, planning and program development, community education, and human services advocacy.

The current Targeted Issues are: Best practices in Community and Public Health, a Youth Development Initiative, and improved Behavioral Health in Cuyahoga County. The Federation also focuses on its core competencies of Applied Research and Advocacy and Public Policy, and administers a federal grant for Greater Cleveland's Family Planning resources, the Metropolitan Cleveland Family Planning Program. In each of these areas, the Federation works with a number of community partners to improve collaboration and coordination among public and private human service programs.

The Federation's work is guided by a 24-member Board of Directors which actively participates in the planning, implementation, and review of program activities. Committees of the Board of Trustees oversee the work of staff teams and volunteer committees, each working on a "Targeted Issue" or "Core Competency." That work is carried out by the Federation's staff.

The Federation hosted The 61st Annual Human Services Institute on March 21, 2003. Download the Brochure! (The 2000 NAPC National Conference took place in conjunction with the Institute and was hosted by the Federation.)
 

About the Federation's current work ... "Today, we are concentrating on critical issues: developing partnerships among urban schools and social service providers to better serve children and families; collaborating with public/private health and mental health systems and providers; and strengthening the long-term care system for the aged and disabled. We are collecting, analyzing, and disseminating demographic data and trends, in cooperation with United Way. We are analyzing proposed governmental policies and advocating on behalf of the most vulnerable in our community – and helping others to do the same. We have begun looking beyond rigid geographic or political bounds to explore the regional aspect of many health and social issues that face Greater Clevelanders. Our applied research, public policy, and advocacy activities, in conjunction with our educational materials, are helping the people who help people in Northeast Ohio. We look forward to an exciting future, and invite partnerships and collaborations in looking at critical issues that affect health and social conditions of people in our community."

About planning councils ... "The specific roles of planning councils have and will continue to evolve, but I think their central function as an intermediary between the public and private sectors will endure. Our research on the conditions of society, and analyses of the impact and possibilities of public policy, are critical to leaders in both worlds. And our ability to coalesce in common cause diverse, often conflicting interests in our communities, will continue to be in significant demand. If we are not around to fulfill these roles, other organizations will be formed to fill the void."

About NAPC ... "NAPC is our link to colleagues around the country. It provides an opportunity to get fresh ideas and information on common problems. As technology makes the world smaller, it is increasingly important to understand how local issues vary and converge in different communities, and how others are addressing those issues. NAPC is a quiet, cost-effective medium that makes this possible."

-  John A. Begala
   Executive Director, Federation for Community Planning - Cleveland, Ohio
   Board Member, National Association of Planning Councils

 

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National Association of Planning Councils
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