Dearest Valley Residents:
Over the past year, the Healthy Valley Foundation board has been taking a deep and hard look into what more we can do to help our region. We’ve been working with consultants and recently hiring an interim Executive Director to help us evaluate not only the challenges facing our communities, but the assets and opportunities we have in our reach to do big things. And we are currently in a search for a new permanent executive director to move those things forward.
Here are a few items we’ve discovered, other than the fact that there is a lot of work to be done:
- We know that there are resources available at the local, regional, State, and even National levels that can assist in our efforts, but we can do a better job at getting those resources here.
- We know that we have a beautiful story to tell about our region, but too often it’s only the worst news that gets retold.
- We know that there are fantastic things happening both in the Valley and throughout the rest of the County, but that they are often disconnected from one another. Often, our organizations don’t know about the opportunities available to connect with others for partnership throughout the county, and leaders from other parts of the county don’t know about what’s being done here.
- And we know that despite the tremendous work that’s been done throughout the years, the needs around us seem to be growing rather than shrinking.
We have every intention of addressing these things!
We want to ensure that the great work that is being done in our community has the support and resources it needs and that our region as a whole is receiving the support and positive attention that we deserve.
We want to find ways for our region’s residents, organizations, and institutions to get more done working together through intentional collaboration than we can working alone.
We want to work with others throughout the Valley and the County - both in support of them and in partnership with them - to not only do good things, but to create positive long-term change for the well-being of our community.
This will all take focused and strategic effort, and we know it’s not a light task, but it needs to be done and we are up for the challenge!
~ Dr. Christi Barrett
