Mission | Current Activities | History | Contact | Links
Valley CARES Task Force
Mission & Goals
Valley CARES (Community Assessment Research & Education for Solutions) is a collaborative initiative of the Valley Council for Health & Human Services designed to track key indicators of community wellbeing in the lower Naugatuck Valley. Its goal is to provide an on-going system for assessing Valley strengths and needs and to foster community action for enhancing quality of life in the region.
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Current Activities
Planning Next Update to Valley CARES Quality of Life Assessment —The Taskforce is planning the next update of the Valley Quality of Life assessment, which will include a survey of community residents and the collection of data on community indicators of wellbeing.
Utilizing Valley CARES Data to Develop Plans for Improvement—Valley Council member agencies have been utilizing information from the 2010 report to do individual planning to improve programs and services. In addition, member agency representatives have participated in regional planning efforts, including working with the Naugatuck Valley Health District to develop a Naugatuck Valley Community Health Improvement Plan. You can read a copy of the plan and find out how to get involved in helping to achieve its objectives.
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History
In the mid-1990s, the Valley Council for Health & Human Services helped to facilitate the Healthy Valley initiative, a grassroots effort to assess and improve health and quality of life in the Valley region. This work included a comprehensive community assessment, which led to many vital community projects. In 2008, the Valley Council began to develop a system to track information about community conditions over time modeled on Healthy Valley and other community indicator projects nationwide. The first Valley CARES Quality of Life Report, released in 2010, provided information about eight quality of life areas. Data in the report came from secondary sources and a telephone survey of Valley residents.
An essential component of the Valley CARES vision is to disseminate report information to the Valley community so that it can be used to guide regional planning and action. The 2010 Report results were shared through community presentations, a traveling display, and the distribution of report summaries at community sites such as libraries and nonprofit agencies.
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Contact the Valley CARES Task Force
If you’d like to learn more about the Valley CARES Quality of Life Report, please contact:
Beth Comerford, Co-Chair
Email: beth.comerford@yalegriffinprc.org
Phone: 203-732-1265 x.224
Mary Nescott, Co-Chair
Email: mnescott@bhcare.org
Phone: 203-736-2601 x.390
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Links
Valley CARES Quality of Life Report, 2010 (summary version)
Valley CARES Quality of Life Report, 2010 (full version)