Fremont Area Community Foundation Indicators Project

As interest in programmatic outcomes continues rising, community indicators have become a widely used tool to measure progress.  As part of a larger strategic planning initiative, the Fremont Area Community Foundation (FACF) entered into an agreement with the Graduate Student Consulting Center (GSCC) at Grand Valley State University for assisting these efforts.  The GSCC was charged with conducting an environmental assessment for providing stakeholders a deeper and more focused understanding of community needs so that the FACF can make appropriate investment decisions at the community level.

With the mission of improving the quality of life for people in Newaygo County, the focus of the project is developing and mapping a number of summary measures.  A team of six student consultants from the School of Public, Nonprofit, and Health Administration completed the project as part of the Masters of Public Administration and Masters of Health Administration programs.  In developing the summary measures, the student consultants had three objectives:

1. Identify key trends within Newaygo County over time for determining  the social and economic trajectory of communities throughout the county (either improving or worsening);
2. Compare Newaygo County to state and national benchmarks for determining its relative standing as compared to Michigan and the United States; and
3. Identify areas within the county using small geographies (census tracts) so that targeted interventions can be developed.

By using the information provided from this analysis the overall goal of the project was simple - to better inform both grantors and grantees.  In essence, better ideas result in   a wiser use of funds.  With this key tenet in mind, this work is envisioned as a tool for community advocates to visualize and develop appropriate interventions for creating healthy, inspired, and sustainable communities in Newaygo County.

This project was made possible by the generous support of the Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center at GVSU. For more information about the Pew Faculty Teaching and Learning Center at GVSU - Please Click Here.