Posted on June 23, 2020 by Heather Adams

Weekly Program to Focus on CARES Act Community Needs Assessment

From County of Berks / COVID-19 Leadership Team

Weekly Program to Focus on CARES Act Community Needs Assessment

Reading, PA — The Berks County Board of Commissioners are set to launch an online Community Needs Assessment to assist with the distribution of $38 million in CARES Act funding to Berks County. A presentation will be held Wednesday, June 24, 2020 at 3:30PM during the Commissioner’s weekly media event. The presentation will be conducted by: Commissioner Kevin Barnhardt, County CAO Ronald Seaman, County CIO Justin Loose and representatives of Witt O’Brien’s of Washington D.C. This event will be telecast live by BCTV
and through Microsoft Teams Live Event. This Press Event will also be streamed Live to the Berks County Facebook and YouTube pages.

The following areas will be addressed during the program.
• Review CARES Act allocation to Berks County.
• Why a community needs assessment?
• How it is the money to be distributed?
• Other CARES Act funding sources and non-CARES Act grants.
• High level overview of community needs assessment which will include a
tutorial, and 2-week window to complete the assessment.
• Make the case for additional community financial support to both the federal
and state governments.

With $38 million of CARES Act funding allocated to Berks County, the Board of Commissioners is launching an online community needs assessment to gather specific information to assist in the determination of how the CARES Act monies should be allocated to community providers to capture the highest and best application of the funds. The county hired Witt O’Brien’s to assist in sourcing grant monies and aid our community partners to access additional CARES ACT funding sources.

The allocation of $38 million is due to the county on or before July 15th. The board understands the allocation is woefully inadequate and dramatically less per capita than what was received in direct CARES Act funding by the seven larger Pennsylvania counties. Berks received about half of what was anticipated based on what the larger counties received. The results of the Berks County Community Needs Assessment will give the Board of Commissioners the justification to advocate for additional funds for our community partners to both federal
and state leaders.

You Might Also Like

Community Testimonials

Wish my town had a channel like this, very cool idea to bring the community together and give people a platform.

James

I wanted to thank you again for the opportunity you have created for our kids.  This experience is more than the TV show.  Eight students who probably never would have talked to each other were excited to execute a plan. Know that you make a difference.

Kristi

Thanks for your commitment to communication far and wide, for your technical support, and tireless efforts to bring fresh programs to BCTV. Bravo!

Liz

Thank you for always being receptive to my ideas. All of your efforts help me to help others and that is a blessing to me.

Adrean

Fantastic work and thanks so much for the quick turnaround!  Always a pleasure to work with you and the rest of the BCTV team!

Jim

Thank you and your staff for all you do to accommodate so many different shows, personalities, etc.!  Can’t be easy, but we really do appreciate it.

Martha

I am happy and proud to be a part of such a dedicated assembly of talent and purpose. Thank you for being a part of my efforts to promote theater and the arts in this region.

David