Community-Wide Vision

Community-wide vision announced for Kennebec County
AUGUSTA—Impact2032, the community goal-setting initiative being led by United Way of Kennebec Valley (UWKV), has officially launched with more than 40 businesses, nonprofits and government agencies already endorsing the movement. The event attracted more than 100 people to Waterfront Park in Augusta on Thursday.
Impact2032 recognizes that Kennebec County is a great place to live, work and play but that not everyone is doing well. Too many people cannot afford basic needs, too many children are falling behind in school and too many community members are dying early from preventable causes. Impact2032 aims to unites all sectors of the economy to, over the next 10 years, create a healthier Kennebec County.
“The Impact2032 process started a year-and-a-half ago and has involved an incredible amount of time, energy and effort from leaders across the county,” said Katie Doherty, president and CEO of the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce and co-chair of the Impact2032 initiative. “As a result, three vision statements and headline measurements for health, education, and financial stability were developed. We identified county-wide statistics to measure progress toward these visions and created strategies for advancing the visions over the course of the next ten years.”
The vision for Health is that by 2032, children and adults in Kennebec County will have opportunities to engage in healthy behaviors and leverage prevention and wellness services—striving to decrease the years of potential life lost before age 75 from 7,300 to 6,900 per 100,000 people.
The vision for Education is that children and families in Kennebec County will have access to quality early learning experiences prior to kindergarten by 2032. The goal is to increase the percentage of third graders meeting expectation for reading from 82.6 percent to 87 percent.
The vision for Financial Stability is that adults and families in Kennebec County will have employment, income and resources to achieve financial stability. Currently, 27.5 percent of households in Kennebec County are paying more than 30 percent of their household income for housing.
“We are thrilled to announce these visions and goals for Kennebec County and encourage organizations and individuals alike to endorse the project,” said Chuck Hays, president and CEO of MaineGeneral Health and co-chair of the Impact2032 initiative.
The Impact2032 Report to the Community, published in October, identified the region’s strengths and most pressing needs in the areas of health, education and financial stability. More than 80 community leaders reviewed this information and feedback to craft the Impact2032 vision statements.
“No one was left out of this process,” said Courtney Yeager, executive director of UWKV. “We were very intentional about our community outreach to ensure everyone had a voice, regardless of race, ethnicity, age, gender identity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or socioeconomic status. This vision was created by the community, for the community, in order to improve the quality of life for everyone.”
Several community leaders spoke during the event about how they are implementing changes within their workplaces to align with these goals.
Norm Elvin of G&E Roofing provides low-cost lunches for employees who were skipping lunches, supporting Impact2032’s vision for health. Elvin also ensures that employees have access to ice water on hot days, which not only helps motivate workers but also supports retention.
Maeghan Maloney, district attorney of Kennebec and Somerset counties, has been working with the Augusta Recovery Reentry Center to create a program that will help get individuals struggling with substance use disorder into a safe environment that fosters recovery. And Jeff Johnson, executive director of the Children’s Center in Augusta, has referred to the Impact2032 goal framework and its vision for education in reference to the Center’s strategic plan.
Ultimately, Impact2032 aims to have hundreds of organizations and individuals endorse these strategies and actions in their own work to generate regional impact over the next 10 years. The entire Kennebec County community—including businesses, nonprofits, government agencies and individuals—are invited to sign a statement of endorsement to support the community’s vision and goals.
For more information or to get involved, visit impact2032.org.
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