CommUNITY partnership meeting sees continued involvement

The Webster County CommUNITY Partnership met Thursday, May 11 at the Marshfield Senior Center. The partnership first formed 10 years ago, initially registered as a Drug Prevention Coalition by the state of Missouri. Many attendees of the meeting represent organizations that provide behavioral health or social services in Webster County.

The latest meeting saw discussion on grant writing tactics for nonprofit organizations that provide behavioral and social services to their communities, featuring guest speaker Sarah Moody. 

“With Sarah being a Marshfield native, she's very willing to help out. So if there's a nonprofit in Webster County just looking for help that was at the meeting, they got her contact information and could reach out and get in touch with her,” Scott Allen said.

Moody discussed the importance of grantsmanship and how it can mean the difference for a nonprofit being able to provide a service or not. Grants are vital to the way nonprofits are able to function as they do not make money off their clients. Without a grant they are likely to have to shut down and not be able to provide their services anymore. 

“She was able to bring resources and hope to the organization by sharing ways that a small nonprofit can reach out and find grants, how to make those grant proposals successful, and places to look. It's really nice to have those kinds of connections when you're looking for something,” Allen added.

After Moody finished discussing how the organizations that attended could find grants and get help in writing them to have a better opportunity obtaining them, Allen opened the floor to other community organizations that attended to speak. 

“We had the opportunity to talk about drug prevention, the sheriff's department starting their youth program, the impact that we're having on getting kids who are in need of behavioral health counseling to services. So there's just so much more that goes on, that comes from us being able to work together to make those things happen,” he said.

Webster County Community Partnership meets on the second Tuesday every month at noon with a different guest speaker at each meeting. Anyone is allowed to sit in on the meetings and see these organizations working together to help create a better community.

“I think that the community and the public see us kind of siloed in our offices. So I think it's important for the public to know that all of us come together at least once a month, to really pool our collective resources to do the best that we can to provide services for Webster County,” Allen said. “I think it really shows.”