HRDC to hold community needs assessment meeting Monday

Monday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. District 4 Human Resources Development Council, which serves Hill, Liberty and Blaine counties, will be holding a community needs assessment meeting and they are inviting anyone from the public, whatever walk of life, to talk about what they think the community’s greatest needs are.

These meetings, held once every three years, guide the organization’s services, programs and work plan, HRDC Executive Director Carilla French said, as they continue to work with low-income individuals and families to achieve financial stability and collectively improve the area’s economy.

French said they want to hear from anyone interested in talking about the issue regardless of whether they are a client or not, and she hopes they will hear from a diverse group so they can make a well-rounded plan going into the coming years.

“The community members are our experts,” she said. “They have lived experience and they know what’s needed in the community and what’s missing.”

She said the meeting will provide dinner, and parents who need child care can count on HRDC’s Head Start staff to provide it during the meeting.

She said they will also have a drawing for 10 $25 Town Pump gas cards, as well as a $100 and a $50 gift card from the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce.

In past assessments, French said, the big issues they’ve seen come up consistently are a lack of affordable and quality safe housing, affordable child care and reliable public transit.

She said they also hear a lot about the lack of employment opportunities that provide both a living wage and proper benefits, although she thinks the area has seen some improvement on that front in the past few years.

She said HRDC met with their community partners a few weeks ago and they also talked about the lack of training opportunities that could lead to a more high-skilled local workforce, as well as ways to improve communication and coordination between the partners so they can tackle issues more cooperatively.

French said HRDC is excited to hold the event and she hopes to see as many people there as possible so they can really get a feel for what people think the community needs.