Central

Central Assembly of God Church is completing the Washington County Community Needs Assessment for one simple reason; that we may once again BE the church. It is our desire to transition into a body of believers who serve the people and organizations in the community by going to them, building relationships, learning the real needs and issues they are facing, and demonstrating the love and compassion that Jesus demonstrated. In order to make this transition, we will complete a process of interviews and surveys that will help us to focus felt need and community ministry, expand the number of new relationships in surrounding communities, and create a platform for launching sustainable, external ministry efforts.

About Houston, PA

The focus of our Community Needs Assessment includes the 61,000 people who live within a five mile radius of Houston, Pa. Within this target location are North Strabane and Cecil Township, two of the fastest growing townships in western PA. These townships include multiple housing developments as well as major shopping and business venues. In the midst of this new growth lie the traditional hometown lifestyle of both Canonsburg and Houston. The edge of our target radius includes a large area of rural land, as well as the urban setting of the city of Washington. This area includes people from all lifestyles, social classes and backgrounds.

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Contact Central:

Kurt Jenkins 724-746-4900

E-mail: central@centralconnect.org URL: www.centralconnect.org

Elements

Community Surveys
By talking directly to community members needs and priorities become apparent.

Key Informant Interviews
The insights gained through carefully conducted stakeholder and key informant interviews sharpens the focus.

Data Analysis
The combination of inquiry methods produces key data to inform and guide the needs assessment.

What is Needs Assessment?

Community Needs Assessment is a organized investigation into the needs and priorities of the community through a serious of interviews and surveys. The approach advocated by CCIR is a team based approach that combines the best of participatory and qualitative research leading to a planned action response.

“ The responsible first step for new community organizations is a well designed needs assessment that compliments and brings clearer focus to the existing needs survey data and secondary data already available in the community. ”