Raleigh, North Carolina — On April 12th, mano-Y-ola, LLC, formerly known as Nolo Consulting, LLC, celebrated the completion of its 100th Community Assessment since the company’s conception ten years ago. As team members regard this achievement, the company’s Co-President, Maya McElrath, emphasized the honor they feel in the opportunity to create so many dynamic documents which have the power, when wielded well by civic leaders, to positively enact change in communities across the United States.
The Program Director of El Grito Early Learning, Misty Pugmire, a reoccurring client and the recipient of the 100th Community Assessment, noted her appreciation of the impact these documents have had in shaping the trajectory of her community. Ms. Pugmire’s response upon receiving her Community Assessment was, “All the data we need is in one place! It is so nice… I can now go to one document to pull the data that I need across the board. It has been a great asset to our program… To be able to go into a brand-new five-year grant with a strategic plan and a brand-new community assessment with current data is just extremely exciting for me.”
Ms. Pugmire also shared that their previous Community Assessment, completed by mano-Y-ola in 2018, is used actively with community partners and local government officials, including their Representative, former Senator, and state Lieutenant Governor, who have requested copies of the Community Assessment and referenced its data, demonstrating the widespread effect this work can have at all levels of government when utilized effectively. She stated, “I had people waiting for the Community Assessment to come out this time. I was getting phone calls asking, ‘Do you have it yet?’ We utilize the last one all the time, and we could not wait for the new one to come out with new data.”
mano-Y-ola has completed Community Assessments for 277 counties across 21 states, primarily across the South and Southeast, comprising 15 percent of the counties in those states. Of the 57 programs served, about half are reoccurring clients, returning to work with mano-Y-ola for their care, character, communication, and product excellence. mano-Y-ola is proud of its role in bringing this primary and secondary data to Head Start decision-makers and, thereby, affecting the lives of countless children and families.
