In the Community
As part of F&M, the Center shares the college's mission to "deepen and enrich the College's ties to the City of Lancaster." Our research has helped many different groups work toward positive change and growth in areas such as community health, the arts, education, and local government. We have worked extensively with organizations in both the city and Central Pennslyvania, including Lancaster General Hospital, the School District of Lancaster, WITF, the Lancaster County Planning Commission, LancasterArts, and the Lancaster Family YMCA, to name a few. By partnering with these and other civic and nonprofit groups, we help them realize their goals for creating a vibrant, healthy, and safe community. Recent research includes:
- A comprehensive health needs assessment of Lancaster County for Lancaster General Hospital and Ephrata Community Hospital. We collected and analyzed data from multiple sources to identify health issues of consequence to the community. Read the results, which were presented at the May 2012 Lancaster Health Summit, sponsored by the Lancaster County Business Group on Health.
- An extensive, two-year study of the economic impact of the arts in Lancaster, which the Center conducted in collaboration with the Floyd Institute's Local Economy Center. Our report, available here, details the results. Significantly, we found that the arts in Lancaster account for 1,100 jobs, and that the impact of arts spending in the city is $72 million annually. Recently, Liz Todd Lambert, president and chief operating officer of LancasterArts, cited the study as an important catalyst for a merger between her organization and the Mayor's Office of Special Events. Read Lancaster Online's story about the merger here.
