Connecticut Residents Urged to “Pick Up the Phone!” for Largest-Ever Town-Level Survey on Quality of Life and Recovery from COVID-19: Over 75 Leading Foundations, Hospitals, and Local Agencies Join DataHaven Initiative
Over 10,000 randomly-selected Connecticut residents will participate in the 2021 Community Wellbeing Survey’s live, in-depth interviews, the fifth such survey that DataHaven has fielded since 2012
How has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your health and financial well-being? Are the parks in your neighborhood in good condition? What has been your experience with telehealth appointments over the past year? What is your life like today and what do you think it will be like in five years?
Those are just a few of the topics included in interviews by friendly survey-takers helping DataHaven and dozens of leading community and charitable groups complete what is believed to be the largest neighborhood-level well-being survey in the United States. Since 2012, some 50,000 randomly-selected adults living in every ZIP code in Connecticut have volunteered their time to participate in the program’s live, in-depth interviews, including the over 10,000 interviews projected to take place by the end of 2021.
“Our experience is that people enjoy answering the questions in this survey,” says Mark Abraham, Executive Director of DataHaven, a 25-year-old non-profit organization that leads the collection and study of public data about Connecticut. “They are sharing their knowledge about how their families and communities have been faring during the past year, and about their own life experiences. These questions show that we care about how they feel, and create important indicators that will inform how Connecticut recovers from COVID-19.”
The 2021 DataHaven Community Wellbeing Survey will allow unprecedented tracking of statewide, regional, and local trends over the past year. After seeing the impact of the 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2020 results, over 75 of Connecticut’s leading hospitals, government agencies, and charitable organizations have decided, once again, to support the 2021 survey. Funders include community foundations, United Ways, healthcare providers, community-based non-profits, local health departments, and other agencies located in Hartford, New Haven, Bridgeport, Stamford, Waterbury, Norwalk, Danbury, Greenwich, Milford, Middletown, Windsor, New London, Torrington, Derby, Windham, and many other cities and towns (see below). To ensure that the topics in the survey reflect the interests of local communities, including those that arose during the pandemic, an Advisory Council of representatives from 300 organizations around the state helped guide this year’s survey design.
Residents throughout Connecticut are receiving phone calls from survey-takers at the Siena College Research Institute beginning this month. Calls continue this summer and fall.
“Make a difference: Pick up your cell phone, help your community learn more about your needs, and tell us what you want to see to promote greater happiness and well-being in your neighborhood,” says Abraham.
“UNITED BY DATA”: FUNDERS AND SUPPORTERS FOR THE 2021 COMMUNITY WELLBEING SURVEY
Unlike most statewide and national surveys, the DataHaven program brings together grassroots efforts across the state – effectively unifying dozens of existing regional surveys into a single, exceptionally high-quality program that covers the entire state. The mission of the initiative is to produce reliable neighborhood-level information on issues that are most meaningful to local residents, and to foster collaboration between the hundreds of organizations, institutions, businesses, and agencies that are working to build stronger communities. This nationally recognized program provides neighborhood- and regional-level information not available from any other source on community vitality, health, housing, family economic security, safety, and other topics.
“We believe the 2021 Community Wellbeing Survey, the most comprehensive local-level survey of its type in the United States, will continue to be of great value to neighborhoods and organizations striving to make our cities and towns even better places to live and work,” says Abraham.
Results from the survey will be published in a series of local and statewide reports throughout 2021 and 2022, helping to shed light on progress being made toward community priorities, including financial security for families, access to affordable health care, public health and safety, and opportunities for children to succeed, as well as on current challenges, such as the opioid epidemic, housing instability, and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Dozens of reports and studies have used data from the Community Wellbeing Survey, including many that are posted on the DataHaven website.
Partners providing the support required for the program are representative of each region:
- In Fairfield County and the Greater Danbury area, organizations including Fairfield County’s Community Foundation, the Health Improvement Alliance of Greater Bridgeport, Bridgeport Hospital, Saint Vincent’s Medical Center, Stamford Hospital, Greenwich Hospital, Danbury Hospital, Norwalk Hospital, Supportive Housing Works, United Way of Coastal Fairfield County, United Way of Western Connecticut, Norwalk Health Department, Stamford Health Department, and the Danbury Health Department are among the funders.
- In the Greater New Haven and Naugatuck Valley areas, funders include The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, Greater Waterbury Health Partnership, Connecticut Community Foundation, Valley Community Foundation, Yale New Haven Hospital, Griffin Hospital, Waterbury Hospital, Saint Mary’s Hospital, City of New Haven, United Way of Greater New Haven, United Way of Greater Waterbury, Milford Health Department, Community Alliance for Research and Engagement, NewAlliance Foundation, Naugatuck Valley Council of Governments, Yale School of Medicine, and others.
- In Greater Hartford and New Britain, the program has drawn support from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford Hospital, The Hospital of Central Connecticut, United Way of Central and Northeastern Connecticut, Johnson Memorial Medical Center, City of Hartford, Town of Windsor, Trinity College Center for Urban and Global Studies, Capitol Region Council of Governments, Eastern Connecticut Health Network, and others.
- Additionally, DataHaven will ensure that residents of Connecticut’s smaller cities and rural areas are included to the same degree as those living in its major metropolitan areas. Support comes from organizations including Connecticut Office of Rural Health, Connecticut Health Foundation, Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation, Windham Hospital, Backus Hospital, Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, MidState Medical Center, Sharon Hospital, Bristol Hospital, North Central District Health Department, Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, Middlesex Hospital, Eastern Highlands Health District, Planned Parenthood of Southern New England, Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling, Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services’ (DMHAS) Problem Gambling Services division, and Northeast District Department of Health.
ABOUT DATAHAVEN
DataHaven is a non-profit 501(c)3 organization with a 25-year history of public service to Connecticut. Since 1992, DataHaven has worked with area organizations and agencies to develop reports and tools that make information more useful to the community. DataHaven maintains extensive economic, social, and health data, including information collected through its Community Wellbeing Survey and other programs. DataHaven is a formal partner of the National Neighborhood Indicators Partnership, a collaborative national effort by the Urban Institute and approximately 40 local partners to further the development and use of neighborhood information systems in local policymaking and community building. For more information, visit www.ctdatahaven.org.
Contacts: Mark Abraham, info@ctdatahaven.org, 203.500.7059, www.ctdatahaven.org