Residents of Marshalltown and Marshall County have an opportunity to lend their insight and voice to a statewide Iowa Community Action Association (ICAA) survey.

Hosted by Mid-Iowa Community Action (MICA), the survey is gathering information on matters such as:

• Employment issues;

• Education;

• Affordable child care;

• Public transportation;

• Affordable infrastructure such as high-speed internet and recreational opportunities;

• Water affordability;

• Abandoned buildings;

• Sufficient housing;

• Whether or not evictions and foreclosures are an issue;

• Healthcare;

• Public safety and crime;

• Identifying two causes of economic hardships;

• Greatest challenges of low-income people in the community and;

• Marshalltown’s strengths in addressing needs of low-income families.

MICA Resource Development and Communications Coordinator Abra Dougherty said the survey is administered every two years and is separate from the Community Needs Assessment (CNA) survey, which is administered every three years. The results of the CNA can be found online at micaonline.org/about/reports/. She added the CNA survey should be ready in about a year.

The previous CNA survey indicated that food was the top need for families in Marshall County and the other four counties the agency covers.

“That had not been a top need for years, so it really helps us pivot to meet the actual needs,” Dougherty said. “Without this data from community partners and the public, we may not have known how many people were struggling with food insecurity.”

The ICAA survey will shine even more light on what is necessary and will help state officials and community action agencies (CAA) assess needs and create programs.

“These results can show us gaps or prominent issues we can work to address,” she said.

Getting real time information about community needs allows MICA to really focus on needs.

“While we have a lot of similarities, each CAA is different and even each county is different in the same agency,” she said. “These surveys and data analysis ensure we are meeting the actual needs of our communities.”

MICA may not be the only Marshall County nonprofit which could benefit from the ICAA results. Dougherty said they often reference survey data in community groups and presentations.

“We would love to share any data we have for anyone to use,” she said. “This has been used in creating community groups to fight food insecurity, church mission leaders to find a focus for their mission and student groups to create a project.”

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Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.