Who knows best what the dreams and aspirations of people in the county are but the people themselves? Who knows firsthand how those dreams are being realized or how they are being stifled? Who knows best what folks need in their everyday lives?

United Way is launching its Listening to Community VOICES project all across the county beginning in October and continuing through May 2009. The project will organize small group sessions in which United Way will listen to more than 700 Clallam County residents.

These "listening sessions" will focus on quality of life issues and will be facilitated by community volunteers who live and work in Clallam County. United Way wants to hear from people from all walks of life on issues that matter most to them. The conversations will come from these four core questions:

• What are your dreams, goals and hopes?

• What helped you the most to reach your dreams, goals and hopes?

• What has kept you from reaching your dreams, goals and hopes?

• What do you need now to reach your dreams, goals and hopes?

United Way is changing its focus to do more for our communities than raise funds for partner agencies. Local United Ways have become agents of change themselves and are tackling some of the long-standing problems that recur in our communities.

Many United Ways have adopted the theme of "Live United."

"'Live United' makes clear that all of us have a stake in each other's success and that all people, no matter their position or means, have a role to play in advancing the common good," said Brian A. Gallagher, United Way of America's president and chief executive, in his opening remarks to more than 2,000 United Way CEOs and volunteers from around the country this past summer.

United Way of Clallam County also believes that the citizens they serve should have a role in community planning for the future. The Listening to Community VOICES project hopes to engage people in identifying needs, developing initiatives and becoming agents for change. Concerned citizens have played a major role in similar projects across the country in prioritizing issues and shaping decisions for future action. They have come together to have a significant impact on their communities.

The VOICES listening sessions not only will provide United Way with valuable information, but they also will provide residents with a way to become invested in outcomes for a better quality of life and to feel empowered to make real changes that affect their daily lives.

Once United Way has gathered input around these questions, it will analyze the information to identify trends and issues in the county. The next phase will be to create initiatives and develop programs to respond to those needs.

United Way of Clallam County's VOICES project is modeled on ones used by other local United Ways. In each of those areas, prevalent themes emerged that then could be addressed by the agency.

United Way of York County, Maine, was the first to launch its Voices: A Community Dialogue Project in 1997. After that came a long-range community building plan, their blueprint for building a stronger, more caring York County. The project helped people in the county create a common vision based on three essential elements: nurturing children and youth, strengthening families and meeting emergency needs. They then created focus area teams to invest time, resources and energy on each of the issues. Each team developed objectives and strategies for action.

In Paducah, Ky., themes such as a community that young people want to return to, more coordination of services and a stronger economic base that would attract quality employees formed the foundation for their action plan.

We are excited to see what will emerge for Clallam County's action plan.

There are several ways you can become involved in the Listening to Community VOICES project. We need people to fill these roles:

• Listening session participants - meet with 10-12 people to discuss the above questions in a structured, facilitated group session for about two hours.

• Site organizers - locate and reserve a meeting place for 10-12 people, provide refreshments and manage the equipment needed (may also participate in the listening session).

• Participant recruiter - recruit 10-12 people from a cross-section of the county population to participate in a listening session (may also participate in the listening session). The project coordinator will guide the recruiter to ensure that the diversity of Clallam County is represented in the group sessions.

• Data transcribers - transcribe the information from the audio recordings of the listening sessions. Experience as a transcriber preferred.

To volunteer or to find out more information, call Lynn Pierle, Community VOICES project coordinator, at 457-3011.



Lynn Pierle is the Community VOICES project coordinator.