Partner Project Overview
2
Rural Scorecard Project Overview The state of Maine is the most rural state in the nation with 61.3% of its residents residing in rural areas. The rural nature of Maine is best captured in what are known as the Rim Counties: Oxford, Franklin, Somerset, Piscataquis, Aroostook, and Washington. Coincidently, these are also the counties with which MRP and many other state level organizations have had the most difficulty with program delivery. The Rural Scorecard will allow us to pinpoint pockets of need in which to drive our energy and knowledge and that of our NGO and non-profit partners. Beginning October 2015, Maine Rural Partners (MRP) began to research and aggregate benchmarks on health, education, food, infrastructure, telecommunications, and prosperity for all rural communities in Maine. MRP looks to answer questions such as: is healthcare accessible and affordable to rural residents of Maine? Is food accessible and affordable? Is education accessible and affordable? Is the infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, electric, and telecommunications in good repair as to draw new businesses and residents to the area in addition to increasing current residential opportunity? Are telecommunications, including internet, accessible and affordable to all residents and business in rural Maine? Are rural Maine residents prosperous? Do our residents feel secure? Are they afforded the accessibility and affordability of the latter questions? Is there ample opportunity for employment or entrepreneurship that pays a living wage? Perhaps more importantly, if these services are not available, how can MRP locate where services are needed? Information will be collected from existing studies and data available through Federal, State and Local entities and partners. Our hope is to gain as much information as possible at the town level but realize that in the very rural areas, information may be only gleaned at the county level for some benchmarks. The Maine Rural Scorecard will then be presented online on a dynamic map which will link to the grades given on each of the six major [email protected] 165 Front Street · Farmington ME 04938 (207) 778-3885 www.MaineRural.org
-
Upload
robin-beck -
Category
Documents
-
view
53 -
download
1
Transcript of Partner Project Overview
Rural Scorecard Project OverviewThe state of Maine is the most rural state in the nation with 61.3% of
its residents residing in rural areas. The rural nature of Maine is best captured in what are known as the Rim Counties: Oxford, Franklin, Somerset, Piscataquis, Aroostook, and Washington. Coincidently, these are also the counties with which MRP and many other state level organizations have had the most difficulty with program delivery. The Rural Scorecard will allow us to pinpoint pockets of need in which to drive our energy and knowledge and that of our NGO and non-profit partners.
Beginning October 2015, Maine Rural Partners (MRP) began to research and aggregate benchmarks on health, education, food, infrastructure, telecommunications, and prosperity for all rural communities in Maine. MRP looks to answer questions such as: is healthcare accessible and affordable to rural residents of Maine? Is food accessible and affordable? Is education accessible and affordable? Is the infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, electric, and telecommunications in good repair as to draw new businesses and residents to the area in addition to increasing current residential opportunity? Are telecommunications, including internet, accessible and affordable to all residents and business in rural Maine? Are rural Maine residents prosperous? Do our residents feel secure? Are they afforded the accessibility and affordability of the latter questions? Is there ample opportunity for employment or entrepreneurship that pays a living wage? Perhaps more importantly, if these services are not available, how can MRP locate where services are needed?
Information will be collected from existing studies and data available through Federal, State and Local entities and partners. Our hope is to gain as much information as possible at the town level but realize that in the very rural areas, information may be only gleaned at the county level for some benchmarks. The Maine Rural Scorecard will then be presented online on a dynamic map which will link to the grades given on each of the six major categories. A citizen, official or partner agency will then be able to view the grades for each subcategory such as accessibility or affordability with links to the data that provided the information to create these benchmarks.
The second portion of our project will the dissemination of knowledge and leveraging of partner agencies through Rural Congresses. There will be one held each month beginning August 2016 in 10 regions throughout the state. Town, county and state officials along with citizens will join regional partners to discuss the benchmarks and potential projects. MRP will be on hand to guide the discussion and match the partner agencies to the towns or regions and will always be available for funding assistance and project support.
[email protected] 165 Front Street · Farmington ME 04938 (207) 778-3885www.MaineRural.org
The Rural Scorecard is currently in its design phase with a prototype for three towns based on food and health completed by early December 2015. At that point, a mock Congress will be held to gain feedback from towns and partners on the project to date. Completion of the Scorecard is set for August 1st, 2016.
Page 2 of 2
