Needs Assessment

Report to the Community:
2004 River Region Needs Assessment
The Community Council, the social planning division of United Way, has been conducting regular needs assessments of social problems in our area since 1987.

In 2003, the council embarked on one of the most comprehensive needs assessments in the histor of the River Region, including Lowndes and Macon counties.

More than 80,000 surveys were printed and distributed in August as part of a tabloid.  Most were distributed through the Montgomery Advertiser, the Montgomery Independent, Prattville Progress, the Lowdnes Sentinel and the Wetumpka Herald.  Other surveys were distributed to service providers, service recipients, businesses, civic clubs, education institutions and neighborhood associations in the five county River Region.

A total of 861 survey responses were returned, providing United Way volunteers with a valid "snapshot" of the resident's concerns about social problems.  The surveys were tabulated and analyzed with the assistance of Dr. Don Bogie adn Mr. Nick Jones of the Center for Demographics at Auburn University Montgomery.