Ever wonder what your neighbors are most concerned about?
The results of a survey conducted last year were recently made available, identifying the needs of residents throughout Isabella County.
The Mt. Pleasant Area Community Foundation partnered with the Center for Applied Research and Rural Studies at Central Michigan University on the Isabella County Needs Assessment Survey, the results of which are available online.
In winter and spring of 2018, respondents answered the survey by phone or a mailed questionnaire. In total, 531 households throughout the county responded to the survey.
The survey asked residents about 16 different issues and whether they were a major, moderate, minor need, or not a need.
According to the survey, the top five major needs in Isabella County are affordable health care services, jobs that pay enough to live on, substance abuse assistance, reducing bullying of young people, and affordable housing.
Nearly 70 percent of respondents identified affordable health care services as a major need in Isabella County.
Respondents were also asked whether their households had experienced 11 issues over the course of the previous 12 months, and to identify each as a big or small issue, or not an issue.
Though "lack of jobs that pay enough to live on," "access to primary care providers," and "concerns about crime, violence, or bullying," top the list, more than 50 percent identified each as "not an issue" in their household.
View the report online for even more findings.
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