Highlights

Contact: Mary Campbell

Regional quality of life data will be at your fingertips October 13!

Community Council invites the public to celebrate the launch of a new website, Walla Walla Regional Vital Signs, Tuesday, October 13. A brief program at 4:30 p.m. will be followed by a hands-on opportunity to try-out the site. After the event, the website may be accessed at www.walla2regvitalsigns.org.

Walla Walla Regional Vital Signs is the result of more than a year’s work by a committee of leaders from throughout the region.

The project began as part of Northwest Area Foundation’s Creating a Value-Added Community initiative to find ways to strengthen and improve the quality of life for everyone. The Foundation awarded Community Council a grant to undertake the project in this region. After an initial training by Karla Miller, NWAF Program Officer, Whitman professor Michelle Janning facilitated the discussions.

The project provided an excellent opportunity to bring together Washington and Oregon representatives from three county governments, three port districts, multiple municipalities, business owners, and other community leaders. The project was invaluable in promoting regional thinking and in encouraging a regional approach to securing the region’s economic future and reducing poverty.

The committee identified about 40 indicators that reflect trends in the overall health of our regional community. The group’s intention is to offer trend data about the whole region, wherever possible. Additionally, knowledgeable groups of community members took part in developing an evaluative component for each indicator to explain the importance of the trends and whether/why they are currently issues of concern.

Patrick Jones, Executive Director of Eastern Washington University’s Institute for Public Policy and Economic Analysis, and his team have been working with the group to develop the website. He will discuss the data sources and criteria for their use during the program.

Community Council is responsible for convening community members for an annual re-evaluation of and update of the data.

Community Council, a nonprofit organization focused on the region between Burbank and Dayton and from the Snake River to Milton-Freewater, brings citizens together for accurate research on topics of regional interest, for discussion and unbiased analysis of that information, to formulate consensus-based recommendations to benefit their community, and to take action on those recommendations.

For more information, contact Julie Reese, Executive Director, at 509-540-6720 or julie@wallawallavitalsigns.org