By Rebecca Rice
Spring 2018
In an effort to understand the health and human services needs in our communities, the Cities of Issaquah and Sammamish have each conducted Community Needs Assessments (CNA). These assessments paint a picture of life for the people who live in Issaquah and Sammamish – what’s great about living here, and what can be challenging about living here.
In many ways, these cities are excellent places to live – the average median income is high, the population is well educated, people usually feel safe and, of course, there are beautiful outdoor spaces to enjoy. However, there are parts of the population that aren’t enjoying the full benefits of Issaquah and Sammamish. For example, in Issaquah more than half the residents have a Bachelor’s degree or higher, but only 1 in 8, or 12.5% of Black residents do. High school graduation rates among Black and Latino students are 10-15% lower than their peers. These statistics are often a quantifiable demonstration of Adverse Childhood Experiences, or ACES. ACES can include having an incarcerated parent, being homeless, poverty, living with substance abuse, domestic violence or a depressed caregiver, among others.
Information from an Issaquah CNA focus group showed that people in poverty expressed feeling disconnected from the rest of the community: “This is a community of very wealthy people – being low income in a very wealthy community is hard.” Community connections are often the very thing that helps to insulate people from crises of any kind, so people in poverty are living close to the edge both financially and socially in many cases.
Aside from providing actual food and clothing, a lot of what our staff and volunteers do is try to create that sense of community for our clients. In the absence of a safety net in their own lives, we try to catch people before they fall through the cracks and help them regain stability through providing tangible items as well as a support system. Both CNAs focused extensively on youth and the difference race and poverty can make in their current and future successes. Our programs focused on youth, such as Lunch for the Break and Issaquah Power Packs, are growing quickly, as is their importance in helping bridge the gap between wealth and poverty in our community.
We are using this data to continue to analyze the human service gaps in our community. While we gather more information we plan to enhance our relationships with our key stakeholders and create and develop programs that further meet the needs of our community members. The IFCB envisions wrap around services that take a holistic approach to helping one family at time get all of their needs met.
Do you want to read the Community Needs Assessments for yourself? Follow these links.
Issaquah: http://www.ci.issaquah.wa.us/index.aspx?NID=2828
Sammamish: https://www.sammamish.us/community-involvement/health-human-services/needs-assessment-project/