In July, Mid Central Community Action (MCCA) contracted me to produce the 2020 Community Assessment for Livingston County, Illinois.

As a community action agency, MCCA administers the Community Services Block Grant for Livingston and McLean Counties. All CSBG recipients are required to conduct community assessments in their service areas at least every three years.

In prior cycles, MCCA conducted a joint assessment for both counties in their services area. But, this year, they decided to focus on Livingston County, which is more rural and has unique characteristics. Their staff conducted the primary data collection, then handed the raw data off to me to clean and analyze. My process is described in more detail in the full report.

MCCA gave me the freedom to adapt and improve the report compared to prior years. I created visuals throughout and added more analysis and commentary. I also included some data specifically relevant to COVID-19, which has had an enormous impact on every community, including Livingston County.

Fortunately, MCCA liked these changes! The Board of Directors approved the final version in mid-September, 2020. As always, I am very grateful for the opportunity to do meaningful work, and always humbled when clients trust me to deliver on a tight deadline!

Thank you, MCCA – for this opportunity and more so, for all you do, year-round, every day, to improve the health and well-being of everyone in Central Illinois.