HAGERSTOWN — About 155 people turned out at The Maryland Theatre on Wednesday night to kick off an effort to come up with ways to improve the quality of life in Washington County.

People involved in the Strategic Community Impact Plan will look at statistics in a wide range of areas to determine what they believe the goals should be to improve the quality of life, project organizers said.

Statistics will be available to the group on areas like education, jobs and economic development, transportation, public safety, arts and culture, vulnerable people and homelessness, said Bradley N. Sell, executive director of the Community Foundation of Washington County Inc.

The Community Foundation of Washington County is teaming up with the United Way of Washington County on the project, Sell said.

Focus groups working on the project will develop strategies on how to meet goals and the cost to implement them, Sell said.

“It’s a huge undertaking,” Sell said.

People involved in the focus groups were asked to stand during the kickoff at The Maryland Theatre and a large portion of those in attendance stood.

Katherine A. Dunleavy, who was involved in a similar effort in Spartanburg, S.C., spoke to the crowd Wednesday.

Dunleavy, head of the United Way of the Piedmont in Spartanburg, said a strategic community impact plan was used in her community to tackle problems like a low graduation rate and high poverty and teenage pregnancy rates.

Dunleavy said she was inspired by the people working on the effort here because they seemed to get along with each other.

Dunleavy said she has talked about strategic community impact plans in other communities and the issue of working together seemed to be a concern among people in the communities.

“I feel the energy,” Dunleavy said from the stage of the theater.

The focus groups will recommend goals and an “impact council” will select from the goals to establish a published plan by September 2011, organizers said.

Source:Herald-Mail