Every three years, the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County publishes and presents its Poverty Amidst Plenty Community Needs Assessment Report, a data-rich report intended to increase knowledge and awareness about persistent local trends and needs in Anne Arundel County. This report gives us and others the ability to really understand what is happening in every corner of our county. It is a tactical way of looking at our county’s strengths as well as the challenges and gaps in services that exist.

Why does the Community Foundation provide this report to the residents of Anne Arundel County? CFAAC uses the needs assessment to inform county residents, our donors, our partners and our county’s policymakers so that we can all come together to understand the needs of our community and decide how we can help address those needs to move our county forward. CFAAC relies on the report’s findings to not only make strategic decisions about our grant making but also to provide relevant and timely educational programs to the community. And equally important, our local nonprofits can use the data we provide to support their work as they apply for grants, strengthen their programs and inspire support from public and private funders.

CFAAC’s latest needs assessment, Poverty Amidst Plenty VII, will be available to the community on Oct. 1. It contains collective quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of local, state and national sources, focus groups, and more. The focus groups were comprised of diverse voices throughout the county including residents, advocates and health care personnel and providers, representing a total of 168 participants. Their thoughts and comments are threaded throughout the report. The data was reviewed until dominant themes emerged, which became the subtext of the report.

The author of the report, Pamela Brown, Ph.D., the executive director of the Anne Arundel County Partnership for Children, Youth and Families, has been conducting community needs assessments for more than 20 years. Starting in October, Dr. Brown will present the report’s findings to the community — all are free and open to the public.

Poverty Amidst Plenty VII should be looked at as not only a report, but a process — a process that can help the community identify and understand the challenges, inequity and disparity that exist in our county. Only then can we identify, understand and prioritize the needs, leading to actionable goals and meaningful, long-term change.

Summary of findings and next steps

Even though Anne Arundel County residents have much to be thankful for, such as enjoying a higher-than-average income in a county known for its natural beauty, the report findings underscore the health and economic disparities based on race and ethnicity in neighborhoods throughout the county. In each of those neighborhoods, the social determinants of health (the conditions in the places where people live, learn, work and play that affect a wide range of health and quality-of life-risks and outcomes) are rising with the numbers of residents whose incomes are below what is required for a healthy life.

A summary of the findings showed that the majority of participants were highly concerned about the current labor shortage across the county. The increase in mental health issues in all age groups, but particularly children and youth, was of equal concern, with a consensus that these issues were exacerbated by the pandemic. Other concerns highlighted were the lack of regular and accessible transportation, lack of affordable and accessible child care, and rising family homelessness related to the growing shortage of rental properties and the lack of affordable housing.

This is just a short summary of what the community will learn about in the report and at the public sessions. It is CFAAC’s hope that the report will be used by all to prioritize and develop strategies and implementation plans with measurable goals that benefit everyone in the county.

CFAAC invites all to attend one of the upcoming public needs assessment report presentations by Brown to be held at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts on Oct. 14, 9-11 a.m., the Chesapeake Arts Center on Oct. 24, 2-4 p.m. or Anne Arundel Community College on Nov. 14, 6-8 p.m. These sessions will give the community the ability to understand how we can join together to improve the lives of our neighbors. Visit cfaac.org to register for a session or to receive a copy of the report, available on Oct. 1.

Mary Spencer is the president and CEO at the Community Foundations of Anne Arundel County.

This story was originally printed in the September 12, 2022 edition of the CAPITAL GAZETTE.