Officials with Greenville County, Greenville Health System (GHS), Furman University, United Way of Greenville County and 2-1-1 unveiled a community information map today called imap that provides users an interactive look at essential services available throughout Greenville County.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal with imap is to increase community members\u2019 awareness of and convenience of access to essential life services such as food, housing, health care, and even recreational opportunities in Greenville County,\u201d said Shannon Herman, assistant county administrator of strategic advancement for Greenville County.<\/p>\n
Officials said imap can also be used by decision-makers, such as health and public safety officials and county planners, or by private businesses and residents to analyze the spatial distribution of community assets and service areas to identify where services need to be added or enhanced.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing able to identify where there is little or no access to healthcare services, for example, enables us to make better, more informed decisions about where and how we allocate our resources,\u201d said Jennifer Snow, director of accountable communities at GHS. \u201cThe insight gleaned from this map is invaluable as we work together with our partners to meet the healthcare needs of the greater Greenville community.\u201d<\/p>\n
The map was developed by Greenville County with help from students and professors at Furman University. Together, the team spent months meeting with local organizations to identify essential services across Greenville County and then used geocoding \u2013 an automated process that compares a list of addresses against a database to calculate coordinates \u2013 to plot more than 1,000 individual services on the map.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe community information map exemplifies Furman\u2019s philosophy of integrating hands-on, high-impact collaborative experiences as part of our students\u2019 education,\u201d said Dr. Charles Davis, first gentleman at Furman and a member of the United Way Board of Trustees. \u201cThroughout this process, our students have been able to learn from and collaborate with community leaders, while also helping to develop an innovative tool that will benefit the health and well-being of the greater Greenville community. This is The Furman Advantage, the engaged learning experience we promise our students.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before going live today, imap underwent testing. During the testing phase, the partners saw some positive results. For example, an agency that helps the homeless was able to inform a young mother about childcare options close to her home and a library staff member was able to connect a homebound resident to a local food pantry. Additionally, local realtors have used the map to show buyers services near properties of interest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people feel empowered to seek out and obtain the services they need to succeed, good things happen,\u201d said Richard LaPratt, executive vice president of contact center services for 2-1-1. \u201cWe see numerous stories of success every year through 2-1-1, and we believe the same results are possible with imap.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all want Greenville County to be a thriving community where everyone can have a safe, stable and successful life,\u201d added United Way Board Chair Michael Cinquemani. \u201cThe community information map is yet another valuable tool in our quest to make Greenville County a place where everyone has the opportunities and resources to reach their full potential.\u201d<\/p>\n
To access imap, visit the United Way of Greenville County\u2019s website or go directly to greenvilleimap.com<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n About Furman University<\/strong><\/p>\n Furman is a private, undergraduate liberal arts and sciences university of 2,800 students in Greenville, S.C. The university is noted for its rigorous academic program and strong faculty, and its 750-acre campus is widely recognized as one of the most beautiful in the nation. The university recently unveiled The Furman Advantage, a strategic plan that combines learning with immersive experiences outside the classroom, creating a personalized pathway that prepares students for lives of purpose, successful careers and community benefit.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>About Greenville Health System<\/strong><\/p>\n Greenville Health System (GHS) \u2014 an academic health system that is the largest not-for-profit healthcare delivery system in South Carolina \u2014 is committed to medical excellence through research, patient care and education. GHS offers patients an innovative network of clinical integration, expertise and technologies through its eight medical campuses, tertiary medical center, research and education facilities, community hospitals, physician practices and numerous specialty services throughout the Upstate. The 1,358-bed system is home to 15 medical residency and fellowship programs. GHS is also home to the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville, a joint effort of USC and GHS. Visit\u00a0ghs.org<\/a>\u00a0for more information.<\/p>\n About United Way of Greenville County<\/strong><\/p>\n United Way of Greenville County works with the entire community to build resources, focus investments, and foster partnerships that create lasting solutions to big community problems. United way brings people and resources together to help individuals and families build a Cycle of Success, where children start school prepared to learn and go on to graduate, well-educated graduates find good jobs and create stable homes, and children from stable homes continue the cycle by starting school on track and prepared for success. Visit unitedwaygc.org<\/a> to learn more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Officials with Greenville County, Greenville Health System (GHS), Furman University, United Way of Greenville County and 2-1-1 unveiled a community information map today called imap that provides users an interactive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":6734,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,3,33,37,35,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academic-department-page","category-alumni","category-computer-science","category-earth-environmental-and-sustainability-sciences","category-parent-news","category-top-stories"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}