Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
18 <br /> 1 BACKGROUND: <br /> 2 In 2020, the County and its municipal partners allocated a total of$175,000 in CARES Act <br /> 3 funding to retain a consultant to support long term recovery planning and to draft a final report <br /> 4 with detailed recommendations, implementation approaches, and performance indicators. The <br /> 5 planning effort involved several community organizations and representatives (Attachment 2) to <br /> 6 quantify and characterize the impact of the pandemic in their respective focus areas, generate <br /> 7 ideas and recommendations, establish recovery priorities using a social justice and racial equity <br /> 8 perspective, and review of the final draft documents. <br /> 9 <br /> 10 Public engagement efforts during the planning process sought to engage all community <br /> 11 members and included deliberate measures to improve representation from communities of <br /> 12 color. The County convened focus groups and translated engagement materials into four <br /> 13 languages to increase representation from communities most severely impacted by the <br /> 14 pandemic. Feedback from these groups was shared with local governments, elevated, and <br /> 15 referenced throughout the planning process to help shape the strategies and initiatives in the <br /> 16 plan. <br /> 17 <br /> 18 The guiding vision of the Plan is to leverage recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic to <br /> 19 strengthen and transform Orange County by improving economic sustainability, providing <br /> 20 resources, and achieving social and racial equity. The recommendations in the Plan are <br /> 21 organized into seven Recovery Support Functions focused on the local economy, the health <br /> 22 system, human services, housing, natural and cultural resources, community planning, and <br /> 23 public information. The majority of the Plan provides detailed recommendations in each of those <br /> 24 Recovery Support functions in terms of what needs to take place, who should be involved, when <br /> 25 these activities would need to occur, and how progress will be measured. <br /> 26 <br /> 27 The plan appendices provide additional information to help enact the plan or explain its <br /> 28 development and include: a summary of input from key stakeholders throughout the planning <br /> 29 process; a map of how community input was integrated in the plan; and information about <br /> 30 funding sources available to help implement the plan. <br /> 31 <br /> 32 Staff on the project management team are presenting the same information to Chapel Hill, <br /> 33 Carrboro, and Hillsborough. Feedback from each of the elected bodies will be coordinated and <br /> 34 synthesized as the stakeholders enter the implementation phase of the project. A copy of <br /> 35 supplemental questions submitted by the Chapel Hill Town Council is attached for additional <br /> 36 information and context. <br /> 37 <br /> 38 <br />