08/20/2026
Four times a year, we are reminded just how powerful embracing the collective impact model can be for our community. Today, we held our third Task Force meeting of 2026 and truly felt what it means to come together and share resources.
Thank you to The Rural Outreach Center for hosting us and reinforcing the importance of ensuring resources are accessible to our rural communities. We also want to express our thanks to Executive Director Frank Cerny for the immense impact he has had throughout his career. Additionally, LWE partners had the opportunity to meet Lynda Battaglia, who will be stepping into ROC's new Executive Director role. Welcome Lynda, Live Well Erie looks forward to continuing this partnership and our work within rural communities!
As always, thank you to our Deputy County Executive Lisa Chimera, for welcoming us and reminding us why collective impact is so important.
Our meeting today had two very special presentations. To start us off, we had Therese Daly, President and CEO of the United Way of New York State, conducted an incredibly informative session about the ALICE population, or Asset Limited, Income Constrained Employed. This demographic are those who earn more than the federal poverty level, but still do not make enough to cover the cost of living. Based on their ALICE report, we learned that 27% of Erie County households fall into this category and struggle day-to-day to afford life. Thank you, Therese and the United Way, for educating us about ALICE and the circumstances that surround families our organizations serve. Thank you to Trina Burruss as well for the work our local United Way of Buffalo & Erie County does; the impact does not go unnoticed.
We also heard updates on Erie County's Community Health Assessment (CHA) and Community Health Improvement Plan (CHIP). Michael Wiese, from the Department of Health Equity (Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH)), gave a wonderful presentation reviewing the County's hospital improvement plans, next steps, and goals. If you are interested in learning more about this initiative, please feel free to review the full assessments on the Office of Health Equity's site linked here: https://www3.erie.gov/health/community-health-assessment-cha-community-health-improvement-plan-chip
Lastly, thank you to our work groups for sharing updates and to all of our partners for taking part in this initiative. There is so much more to look forward to in 2026, and we greatly appreciate your dedication to Live Well Erie's mission.
