To help make spending decisions on local programs, Clark County Community Services will hold public forums to get more feedback on the results of its survey of needs for people with low incomes in the county.
The survey results will be revealed at open houses and forums held across the county in January.
Every three years, the county conducts a Community Needs Assessment, which is distributed through community partners, news releases and social media.
“If people want to have a say in how county funding is being spent, this is a really great opportunity to do that,” said Abby Molloy, the county’s community services program coordinator, said of the upcoming forums.
“This is an opportunity to hear directly from community members where they identify the biggest needs in the community, the biggest barriers to services so that we can more appropriately allocate funding for the next three years.”
That funding could go to a variety of programs such as eviction prevention, rapid and transitional housing, and federal anti-poverty programs, Molloy said.
The needs assessment comes after many pandemic-era protections, such as eviction moratoria and a boost in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, have ended.
Evictions, high rents and homelessness have been subjects of concern around the county. The Columbian reported in September that evictions doubled in Clark County the month a mediation program lost funding. In November, the city of Vancouver declared a civil emergency in regard to homelessness.
However, the county received a little more than half the responses to the survey that it did in 2020 — 893 compared with 1,655. The feedback forums give the county another opportunity to hear from the public about what is needed for people with low incomes in the community, Molloy said.
In 2020, the forums were virtual due to the pandemic. Molloy hopes in-person forums this year will draw more people.
“Based on feedback from the last few years, we’re trying to have the in-person forums spread out more throughout the county for the people who live further out to be able to attend,” she said.
Opportunities to attend
Those interested can attend “open house/data walks” and community forums:
- Noon to 5 p.m. Jan. 9, with the forum to follow at 5:30 p.m. Vancouver Community Library, Columbia Room 901 C St., Vancouver.
- 1 to 5 p.m. Jan. 17, with forum at 5:30 p.m. Ridgefield Community Library, Allene Wodaege Community Room, 210 N Main Ave, Ridgefield.
- 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 25, with forum at 3:30 p.m. Camas Public Library, dual meeting rooms A and B, 625 N.E. Fourth Ave., Camas.
- There is also a virtual forum from 10 a.m. to noon Jan. 23.
To register for any of the forums, go to Clark County Community Services’ website.
“This information that we receive at these forums will ultimately go into our final community needs assessment report, which does inform funding decisions countywide for the next three years,” Molloy said.
