ThriveABI
The Community Foundation of Abilene is the home of ThriveABI, an initiative to drive and measure progress towards a community vision for a thriving Abilene.
BACKGROUND
ThriveABI began as a grassroots effort to identify key issues in our community and collaborate to make improvements in each of those areas.
Before the initiative had a name, it had a steering committee of volunteer citizens from various backgrounds.
This committee chose to have the Community Foundation lead the launch of ThriveABI, modeled after a similar program in San Antonio called SA2020.
In 2019
Hundreds of Abilenians participated in casting a community vision for what they want the future of Abilene to look like.
More than 2,000 people either took a survey and/or took part in open forums to talk about goals for specific areas of interest, such as essential resources for people in need, workforce, arts and culture and more.
“Part of our mission is to provide philanthropic leadership to enhance Abilene’s future. Even before the opportunity to take on ThriveABI, our team set a goal to serve as a convener and data collector to make an even more strategic impact on our community. This initiative beautifully aligns with that purpose,” said Katie Alford, President/CEO of the Community Foundation of Abilene.
ONGOING
Crescendo, a consulting group specializing in community needs assessments, is the initiative's research partner. The Crescendo team actively works with the Foundation to identify and evaluate data.
ESTD 2019
Community Vision Statement
Abilene is a dynamic, compassionate and welcoming community centered on helping one another. We have access to options for quality education, affordable health and child care, efficient transportation and resources to meet essential needs. We offer seamless pathways for educational and professional growth, entrepreneurship and careers that provide competitive wages. We cherish our rich history, strong spiritual foundation and cultural landscape. We celebrate our nationally-recognized arts, flourishing downtown and innovative approaches to enhance our quality of life. As a community, we hold ourselves accountable to work together to ensure that Abilene is a place where everyone has the opportunity to thrive.
DEFINING CAUSE AREAS
Among the activities was crafting vision statements for “cause areas." Thanks to participants’ input, we have identified a range of cause areas that matter to our community.
1. Education
2. Essential Needs
3. Health and Wellness
4. Workforce and Economic Development
5. Family Well-being and Neighborhoods
6. Arts and Culture
A committee, or cause area working group ("CAWG"), meets several times throughout the year to discuss matters in their cause area. To review survey results from participants, including regional data, see the full Community Visioning Report below.
Next Steps
Connect with ThriveABI
Our next steps involve collecting data to find out how Abilene is performing within each of those cause areas. Once we have this baseline data, we can set goals for improvement in those areas and begin collaborating and identifying ways to drive progress towards the goals.
Michelle Parrish
Grants Director
mparrish@cfabilene.org
