Community Development & Outreach

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Cooperative Extension staff develops needs-based programming and delivers technical assistance to limited-resource clientele and public and private entities, inclusive of local governments and non-profit organizations. Our staff investigates and creates viable options for building and sustaining economically vibrant communities and neighborhoods in rural Georgia.

The programs, and the professionals who administer them, respond proactively by collaborating with local, regional, state and federal-level public and private partners, including FVSU county-based staff. Through collaborations, specialized training opportunities are designed, and implemented, to address community needs with the goal of creating confident, engaged and public-service oriented citizens. Our existing knowledge-base and resources allow us to respond quickly to local needs, drawing upon university expertise to provide information, strategies and relevant education to help people take control of their futures.

The Community Development and Outreach Program seeks to have measurable impacts on improving communities’ overall capacities. It focuses on decreasing poverty and unemployment rates by providing workforce education. In addition, it improves job creation and retention opportunities through entrepreneurship; thereby increasing civic engagement opportunities, along with strengthening communities’ commercial cores through downtown development.

Our educational programming is derived from three programmatic thrusts:

1. building economically viable communities
2. renewing civic engagement and
3. enhancing community decision-making and governance.