Central Missouri Community Action (CMCA) held the second in a series of workshops in Mexico designed to implement a plan to address the community’s health concerns and needs.

The meeting was held last month on July 25, at the Mexico Housing Authority’s community room with a much smaller attendance than the first meeting in June, although the group was competing with the Audrain County Youth Fair and other events around town. However, the group that was in attendance had a goal of identifying all of the key players who needed to be involved.

“Not one organization can change everything,” said Kelly Lucero, Show Me Strong Coordinator for CMCA, who was leading the meeting. “Who in this county would have anything to do with the health and safety of the people who live here? The goal is to invite anyone who has anything to do with it.”

In June the group came up with its goal statement which is, “Everyone in Audrain County is safe and healthy.” The group came up with the goal after a breakout session at the first meeting. The goal statement was based on a data walk that was conducted in May that tried to focus on what the community saw as the most pressing issue.

The project will continue with four more meetings that will wrap up next spring when the plan developed will be rolled out to the community. The next meeting will focus on who will be a part of the plan. Those in attendance talked about what their organization does and how it pertains to health and they were asked to come up with names of folks who should be at the next meeting.

“If we brought everybody who could influence change we would look at this room and know if this room can’t come up with a solution then there isn’t anybody else out there who will,” Lucero said. “That is the truth, it will be people coming together to solve this. This is a community plan where everybody plays a role.”

Lucero said the plan will have a two-prong approach which will include short-term things that can be addressed and long-term solutions. As the plan moves along it will be documented on a public website that will launch soon. Lucero called it “results-based accountability” and said the plan will be designed to be fluid as changes arise.

“You know what we always come back to? How’s it working?” Lucero said. “We won’t wait until the end of the grant cycle. We won’t wait until our core changes position. We’ll look back at the numbers.”

The group will measure how the plan is working through indicators that include: the percentage of people who are food insecure, the number of individuals receiving WIC and SNAP (food stamp) benefits, the percentage of people without health insurance, the percentage of youth who have attempted suicide, percentage of youth using alcohol and drugs and types of cause of death.

In a survey conducted by CMCA, 14 percent of people in Audrain County who responded said they were food insecure and almost 19 percent of respondents said they skipped meals or ate smaller meals. In 2020 of the 3,490 people who reported they were food insecure almost one-third were children. About 43 percent of respondents said they used a food bank or pantry.