Section 1: The Short Report

I. Acknowledgement

Introduction

Many people contributed their time and effort to this project. Thanks especially to the directors of all the agencies who responded to our requests and to the community leaders who served as key informants. Both groups responded to the United Way surveys and other requests for information that so richly inform this study.

The Community Assessment Team (CAT) conceived the idea of a common set of goals and objectives that cuts across all service systems and allows individuals and organizations with diverse missions to come together to improve the conditions for the citizens of Cortland County. Without vision and guidance from the CAT, this report would not have been possible.

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Community Assessment Team (CAT)

• Jackie Carlton -- Seven Valleys Health Coalition, Inc. (SVHC)
• Tom Carman -- Cortland Memorial Hospital
• Cindy Eberhart -- United Way for Cortland County, Inc
• Jackie Gailor -- Cortland County Health Department
• Calvin Barrett, Richard Kendrick, Craig Little, and John Suarez -- COPC, the Community Outreach Partnership Center, US Department of Housing and Urban Development grant to SUNY Cortland

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Staff

• Andrea Rankin, Consultant
• Casey Greeno, Chief Research Assistant, SUNY Cortland Student
• Ruth Grunberg, Graphics and Typography
• Ted Quillen, Research Assistant, SUNY Cortland Student
• Caroline Sarner, Research Assistant, SUNY Cortland Student
• Jason Contento, Webmaster, SUNY Cortland Student
• Jennifer Hovanec, Research Assistant, SUNY Cortland Student
• Cheryl Kilinski, Research Assistant, SUNY Cortland Student
• Greg Campo, Research Assistant, SUNY Cortland Student
• Cliff Niver, Research Assistant, SUNY Cortland Student
• Laura Loveless, Research Assistant, SUNY Cortland Student
• The GIS Mapping students and Professor David Miller of the SUNY Geography Dept
• The SUNY students in Methods of Social Research II and
• Dr. Richard Kendrick of the SUNY, Cortland Sociology Department. This project would not have been possible without the able assistance of these students and their professor.

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Funding

Major funding from the Seven Valleys Health Coalition (SVHC) has seen this project through to its successful completion. The SVHC is one of 32 rural health networks funded through the New York State Department of Health Rural Health Network Development Grant. Other funding and resources were provided by the other organizations that comprise the Community Assessment Team (CAT).

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Focus Groups

• Head Start staff
• Teens at the Youth Center
• Teens at Cincinnatus High School
• Women survivors of domestic violence
• 2 college student groups
• 2 groups of Cortland residents with disabilities
• 2 groups of clients at Loaves and Fishes
• 2 Senior Citizen groups

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Community Visioning Groups

• ZONTA
• League of Women Voters
• The Cortland Breakfast Rotary Club
• The Cortland Noon Rotary Club
• Cortland-Chenango Rural Services Board of Directors
• Women at the Lenten Lunch at Scott Methodist Church
• American Association of University Women (AAUW)

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The Community

• Dan Dineen and Tricia Saulnier of the Cortland County Planning Dept.
• Linda Dickerson Hartsock and the Business Development Corporation
• Chris Ogden, BOCES Adult Education Dept.
• Sue Griffin of the Cortland Area Child Care Council
• Linda Medeiros, Cortland County Mental Health
• Chief James Nichols, Cortland City Police Dept.
• Jane Rogers, Cortland County Dept. Social Services/ Resource Allocation Committee
• Sharon Stevens, Cortland Area Agency on Aging

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Outside Readers

• Holly Greer, Retired Executive Director of the YWCA
• Manny Lann, Cortland County Youth Bureau
• Karen Mastronardi, Prevention Services for Youth
• Dan Dinneen, Cortland County Planning Department
• Kathleen Taverone, Cortland City School District
• Jeannette Dippo, Cortland City School District
• Linda Medeiros, Cortland County Mental Health
• Linda Dickerson Hartsock, Business Development Corporation
• Amy Henderson Harr, SUNY Sponsored Programs
• Janet Steck, Cultural Council of Cortland County
• Jay Sedlack, Cornell Cooperative Extension

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