Residents voice aspirations, concerns during community conversations
The Harwood Institute and the Greater Owensboro Leadership Institute began holding community conversations this week with the goal of bringing residents together to voice their concerns and goals for Owensboro-Daviess County.
Conversations continued Tuesday morning as 40 to 50 community members gathered at the H.L. Neblett Center for the discussion.
“When we started these sessions, we were hoping that at least 20 different people would show up to each meeting,” said Stacy Edds-Ellis, executive director of the Greater Owensboro Leadership Institute. “We have been pleasantly surprised that in most cases, we have seen double that.”
Many residents had similar concerns, including a rise in gun violence, drug abuse, inclusivity, a lack of industry and safety of youth.
But residents also expressed appreciation for many aspects of the community, such as raising a family, friendly residents, good school districts and a small-town culture.
“It’s been encouraging to see how many people are showing up because we’ve been able to have great conversations,” Edds-Ellis said. “The locations of the sessions have been in different parts of the county and different people have been showing up to talk.”
While meeting in different parts of the county has brought diversity to the discussion groups, the topics have remained consistent.
“There has been a common thread of aspirations and challenges,” Edds-Ellis said. “People are sharing about topics they thought might not have been discussed in a different session, but they’re all talking about the same things.”
Edds-Ellis said she and the Harwood Institute have the same goal.
“We want to facilitate these conversations about residents’ points of pride and concern,” she said. “We’ve talked about what leadership looks like and the aspirations they have for the community and where we want to be when we look back a decade from now.”
Many of the attendees have asked questions, which Edds-Ellis said is another exciting part about these sessions.
“They want to know how we can work together and move forward on some of these challenges we’re facing,” she said. “There have been a lot of comments on how they believe we need more community conversations on a more regular basis because it had been awhile since the community has talked to each other.”
Edds-Ellis said she is excited and hopeful about the continuation of these conversations.
“This is for the entire community,” she said. “We are open to hearing from everyone.”
Because the conversations only began this week, Edds-Ellis said the Harwood Institute has not been able to provide any feedback or insight yet.
“The Harwood Institute is processing the information they have heard this week while reviewing the data to find common themes,” she said. “They haven’t shared much yet because this ‘tour’ has mostly been for research, but we’re looking for that to evolve over time.”
The community conversations will resume in December, with dates and locations to be announced. To be notified when they begin, visit chamber.owensboro.com/greater-owensboro-leadership-institute/ and fill out the form at the bottom of the webpage.
By Karah Wilson Messenger-Inquirer