Help Feed Our Neighbors Here at Civic Capacity

Vol. III, No. 154 - Also Introducing our November Community Survey

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Help Feed Our Neighbors!

For those of you that may not know, I am the Executive Director of a very large non-profit here in Miami County. Every day we provide an array of human services to those that are less fortunate among us. We provide emergency financial assitance, furniture, medical equipment, clothing and most importantly food through two food pantries and a mobile delivery service for homebound individuals.

And food security is top of mind for many people around here. According to data collected by the Miami County Health Department in their last Community Health Assessment, roughly 1 in 8 adults in Miami Couty are dealing with food insecurity, meaning these individuals have no idea where or when their next meal will be. The number is even higher for children, where nearly 1 in 7 (14.5%) are experiencing food insecurity.

The Health District’s own survey data from their Community Status Assessment showed that nearly half of the respondents (42%) spent one day last month not eating a meal at all. Nearly 1 in 5 (17%) used a food pantry or a soup kitchen.

These numbers are just a back drop as our country is now entering an extended government shutdown where we have learned that SNAP (Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits provided to citizens are at risk of being paid this month. This dual service program has a long history of helping American farmers while fighting hunger in our country. In Miami County alone, the latest data shows that 8.7% percent of our neighbors (nearly 1 in 12 people) rely on SNAP benefits.

One of the greatest benefits of this newsletter, has been creating a community that has shown an amazing sense of generosity and compassion. Well, we are calling on that generosity and compassion to help our neighbors.

For quite a while, this publication has had a “Buy Me A Coffee” page, it’s an online tip jar where readers, like yourself, provide a few dollars that support this newsletter. Well, for the entire month of November, this “Buy Me A Coffee” page is going to be “Buy a Meal for a Friend” page. Every dollar that is raised through this page in November is going to New Path — serving both our food pantries here in Miami County.

Personally, I have set a goal of $750 dollars for the entire month. That is a modest goal of five $5 donations every day for this month. We will shout out donors here on this page and let people know how well our community is reaching for our goal!

You can make a donation here:

Introducing the November Community Survey!

Back when this project was kicked off over two years ago, this newsletter was imagined as a helpful tool to not only help have our residents understand their community, but also to receive feedback and get ideas on how residents perceived where our hometowns was headed.

In order to achieve that goal, the decision was made to release a small survey that would ask residents their thoughts and feelings every two months. Every month seemed excessive, yet, once a quarter didn’t seem quite frequent enough. The idea was to help create a picture of the sentiment in the community and measure that sentiment over time.

Last month, the response to this survey was simply amazing! In September, 167 responses were received from all over the county to this survey; 87 came from Troy and 55 came from Piqua. Let’s work together to get November’s response even higher!

To do that, I’m reaching out to you, our amazing and dependable readers, and asking you to take a mere three minutes to fill out this survey. Let us know what you think about the place you call home.

In a future edition of the Civic Capacity newsletter in December, this publication will take the time to provide thoughtful and careful analysis of the answers this publication received and, more importantly, review the trends that the data is showing.

These surveys are not just an opportunity for your thoughts and feelings to be heard—although it definitely is that. It’s also a chance to gain a better understanding of how your community is perceived by your friends and neighbors, and for you to have a say in that process.

Also, it doesn’t matter what your hometown is; we will take responses from all communities! However, we will only publish results if we have enough responses from a community to warrant publishing the results.

You can access the survey here:

Thanks for your time and your participation! It is greatly appreciated!

Endorsement Pieces Welcome!

Is there a candidate or issue you are excited to support this election season? Let us know! We would be happy to publish your supportive ideas for your candidate or tax issue on this November’s ballot!

Unlike traditional media sources, you aren’t limited to word counts, nor will your ideas be stuck behind a paywall. We believe in the free exchange of ideas and welcome your contributions. Send your ideas to: pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com.

A New Handbook to grow Civic Capacity!

Recently, we created a new digital handbook, “The Citizen’s Guide to Public Records”. This handbook is designed to help residents have a better understanding of public meetings and meeting records. It’s filled with templates, ideas and other information that will open a new world of public affairs.

Also, if you have ideas for future handbooks, please let us know at pinnaclestrategiesltd@gmail.com.

Want to Learn More About Troy’s Businesses?

Our publication has recently released our September 2025 Economic Abstract, the most comprehensive and up-to-date report on the businesses and industries in the City of Troy. For those that want to understand our community’s business and industries, this is a must-have report.

Thank you to our New Media Partners!

Recently, many of our stories has been showing up on the local news website, www.mymiamicounty.com. We are grateful for the good folks for sharing our work with their audience and we would encourage our readers to check them out at their website!

Our publication would also like to recognize the good work being done at www.piquanewsnow.com. Piqua News Now is a new web-based news and information site for the Miami County area, with a specific focus on Piqua!

In addition, the good folks at Piqua News Now have started a new, 24-hour streaming YouTube channel. This channel is awesome with continuous weather updates and more importanly, it provides a 24-hour audio feed from county wide dispatch. Check it out here!

Also, thanks for reading today’s Civic Capacity Newsletter! Please feel free to share this information with your friends and neighbors.

Also, please consider subscribing to our work. If you are a free subscriber, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. For less than $1 a week, you can get timely and conversational updates about the decisions that are impacting your hometown!