The City of Peoria has continually demonstrated itself as a forward-thinking, sustainability-minded city. With a booming economy and population growth, Peoria is presented with the opportunity to support its community as the recent COVID-19 pandemic makes its way throughout the state. With financial instability and health concerns, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated several existing challenges, calling upon municipal entities to inform and facilitate emergency services.
To encompass a breadth of COVID-related challenges, three different classes, from various backgrounds, set out to understand and evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on the City of Peoria and its residents. Each class evaluated a unique challenge and subsequently drafted diverse recommendations for the City of Peoria to consider. Each class worked directly with the City of Peoria, and research methods ranged from literature review to focus groups to provide the City with recommendations.
For the COVID needs assessment, students interviewed Peoria organizations and residents to identify gaps, needs, and availability of resources that affects the organizations’ ability to react to challenges such as COVID-19. For their final deliverable, students identified key recommendations for each of the 21 participating organizations.