Denton’s Collective Impact Initiatives
The Denton City Council and Denton ISD School Board met today in a joint meeting – something that happens quarterly in our city. This fact alone is something that makes most communities marvel. The collaborative spirit is alive and well in the city of Denton. We met today to hear an update from the President and CEO of United Way of Denton County, Gary Henderson, to the 2011 Community Needs Assessment. It was at such a joint meeting back in 2011 when a similar presentation sparked an enormous amount of collective impact initiatives aimed at tackling many of these issues.
Here’s an illustration to show the many community players that have come together to solve some of these issues:
In the last three years, the Denton community has come together in the following ways to begin the process of solving our communities most pressing problems:
PRE-K COALITION - increases kindergarten readiness and promotes lifelong learning and success to individuals in poverty.
MENTOR DENTON - matches adults with at-risk/economically disadvantaged students one hour per week to increase the probability of high school graduation and preparation for college or career.
SCHOOL-BASED COMMUNITY CENTERS - leverages the neighborhood school to eliminate barriers to community resources and help.
DENTON COUNTY WORKS - is a private/public partnership that provides training for students that will immediately enter the work force after graduation with job search, interview preparation and interviewing skills to increase their access to a living wage job.
BANK ON DENTON COUNTY COALITION - increases financial capabilities for individuals in poverty through education and access to mainstream financial services at over 20 area institutions.
VOLUNTEER INCOME TAX ASSISTANCE (VITA) - provides free tax preparation services to low income (below $50,000 in total household income) to maximize tax refund dollars returning to Denton County.
DENTON COUNTY CITIZENS’ COUNCIL ON MENTAL HEALTH – with goals to increase mental health access, services, and cohesive and complete treatments in Denton County.
Click here to see the slides for today’s meeting. A special thanks goes out to United Way of Denton County for serving as the hub of all of these collaborative projects.