Columbia/Boone County Health Department asks for public input on how to spend federal money
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Aiming to get input from Boone County communities, the 2023 “Live Well Boone County” survey is open until April 21.
The 40-question survey from the Columbia/Boone County Public Health and Human Services is the first step in the timeline to decide what to focus funding on in the community. Information from the survey is used to create a general idea of the community’s stances on different topics. Questions cover subjects like nutrition, transportation, child care or other basic needs.
Results from the quiz have helped the county invest about $42 million in health and social service programs since 2018. Much of the money is generated through grants from federal programs like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Food and Drug Administration.
Using the findings, a “Community Health Improvement Plan” is created. Information from the quiz is split between four groups– mental health, medical and dental, safe and affordable housing and basic needs. Teams for each subject then draft plans to “improve the quality” of their given subject.
Some past projects include backing funds for free bus fares. Through support from the transportation subcommittee, bus riders in Columbia do not have to pay when riding Go COMO’s fixed routes or other para-transit services since March 2020. A separate subcommittee for food used funds from an FDA grant to fund an expansion of the Summer Lunch Programs. In 2021, growing the program from two sites to 18.
While a comprehensive Columbia/Boone County Community Health Improvement Plan for 2022 has yet to be released, the 2021 report included goals reaching over the next few years. The report cites hopes for, “achieving a functional zero level of unsheltered homeless by the winter of 2024-2025.”
The report refers to the possible building of a shelter proposed by Burrell Behavioral Health, but Columbia City Council approved the Voluntary Action Center's Opportunity Campus in early February.
“What are the greatest strengths of your community? Please select up to three areas,” one of the questions included in the quiz reads. “What would most improve the quality of life in your community? Please select up to three areas where your community should focus.”
The last of the questions cover demographics like age, gender, race or ethnicity of the person taking the quiz. Which city or town in Boone County the quiz taker lives in is also included. And if that area is Columbia, which ward they fall under too.
Boone County residents can fill out the survey here or can get hard copy surveys from different locations:
Public Health and Human Services, 1005 W. Worley St.
City Hall, 701 East Broadway
Daniel Boone Regional Library, 100 W. Broadway.
Boone County Government Center, 801 E. Walnut St.
Activity & Recreation Center (ARC), 1701 W. Ash St.
