A new resource packed with information about where to go and who to ask in Greene County about many different needs was rolled out last week. The Greene County Community Resource Directory 2014 is now available in hard copy at county libraries, the Greene County Extension office, and New Opportunities. It will soon be available for downloading at the Greene County Extension website, www.extension.iastate.edu/greene.
The directory was the work of a subcommittee formed as part of Extension’s Midlife and Beyond program two years ago. One of that project’s goals was to determine how to let people know that they can live in Greene County, regardless of their age, and have what they need.
The 32-page directory has agency names and contact information for providers of services organized behind a table of contents that lists children and family services; child daycare; churches; counseling and substance abuse; disabilities and mental health; education/schools; employment; emergency and crisis numbers; financial; food; county and city offices; housing and transportation; libraries; medical and health; park and recreation; senior services; utilities; veteran services and organizations; and toll free help lines.
Committee member Pam Olerich (pictured) called the directory “a dynamite resource.” “It’s not intended to be competition to a Yellow Pages directory, but it’s meant to be a companion, something to have at your fingertips,” she said.
Teresa Lansman of New Opportunities was a driving force on the project. Her job makes her a resource person frequently, and she offered input and detailed reviews of the work in progress to make it as usable as possible.
The directory is intended to be updated every two years. To that end, information that changes often, like church schedules, is not included. However, contact information for every church in the county is provided to make it easy to get something like a schedule. The online version has already been updated since the hard copies were printed.
The committee obtained a $500 grant from Community Partnership for Protecting Children to pay for printing of 1,250 copies. It will be provided to newcomers to the county and copies will be available for general use as needed. It is the committee’s hope that the hard copies will be a well-used resource for clergy, caregivers and service providers.
All information in the directory has also been provide to Iowa 2-1-1, a telephone database for health and human services information. Click here to visit the 2-1-1 website to learn more: Iowa 2-1-1
Committee members who compiled the Greene County Community Resource Directory are Olerich, Lansman, Judy Brinker, Ellie Menz, Mollie Scott, Sue Richardson and Michael Cooley.
