Deschutes County Community Plan
View the 2001-2010 Community Plan
The Deschutes County Community Planning process is complete. For the first time in Deschutes County history, people have come together to develop a ten-year Community Plan. Twenty-three groups and more than 500 of our neighbors have poured over data, combined plans, set priorities and decided on measures of our community's health and livability. We hope this plan will help focus our collective efforts to see positive results as we work together toward a common goal: a healthy place to live, work, raise a family or retire.
The Plan looks ahead 10 years. Where were we just 10 years ago? Our County has welcomed 40,000 new residents. Good things are happening. Bright-eyed children who entered grade school in 1990 are preparing to graduate and perhaps go to college. We rank 7th of 36 Oregon counties in measures of child well being. Many of us experience high quality schools and excellent health care. The promise of higher education is in sight. We have family centers in our public schools, as well as nationally recognized community justice and family court projects. We've created the KIDS Center, Boys & Girls Clubs, and Habitat for Humanity-the list goes on and on. We are recognized for our ability to work together toward a common good.
But where do we go from here? Will Rogers once said "Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there." Growth has brought many challenges. Not all residents of our wonderful area share in its prosperity. Not everyone is willing or able to give back. Almost half of our kids do not enter school ready to learn. Close to one in four children do not graduate from high school. One in five children grow up in poverty. At least one child is abused in their home every day of the year. Only half of our residents volunteer. We can do better. The good news is that people realize that no single entity can do it alone. The Community Plan has come out of the realization that community members and organizations need to work together to create and utilize one strategic plan to address the social needs of our community. The Community Plan will foster better alignment of many independent plans that address specific topics to continue strengthening community priorities. The Plan is intended to be a dynamic document that will continue to reflect the community's changing strengths, needs and goals.
Take heart in our successes and be motivated by the challenges that lie ahead. Get help if you need it and help out where you can. After all, it is your community and its future is in your hands.
View the 2001-2010 Community Plan
