United Way Employs GIS to Improve the Quality of Life

With the idea in mind that GIS could help the less fortunate, Southern California's Orange County United Way (OCUW) commissioned GIS specialists Prof. Dan Walsh of Saddleback College and Dr. John Carroll from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), to create a program that would, according to Walsh, "identify the needs and available resources for social services in the County of Orange." With the help of Esri software and technology, the Health and Human Services Resource and Needs Mapping System was born.

In the past, the Orange County United Way relied on anecdotal and tabular information regarding the needs of the community, unable to attain hard evidence about where the greatest need existed. To optimize their efforts, OCUW wanted to create this program to track the allocation of funds in their area and serve as a source for spatial data to support funding from the government, organizations, Businesses, and individuals. The project soon evolved into a much larger system that could be used by other groups and charities affiliated with the United Way. This new system allows them to make informed decisions about where they should focus their funding and program development. Since its introduction in January 1999, more than 400 users have accessed the user-friendly program and the Orange County United Way has already begun using it in their fund allocation for this year.

To create this type of program, many different steps had to be taken to identify how the system would be used, what types of questions would be asked of it, and who would be using it. Before any code could be written, five different committees were formed to guide the project, which included discussions of uses and users as well as collecting, filtering, and interpreting the data retrieved from the County of Orange, the Census Bureau, and the Center for Demographic Research, also located at CSUF. Once it was time to write the program, Carroll and Walsh knew it was important that the system be as simple as possible since most of the potential users in the County would have limited computer experience and even less in the field of GIS. At the same time, it should be able to perform higher-end analysis for local colleges and universities experienced in GIS.

The program was created in ArcView GIS with Avenue, the ArcView GIS programming language, and the ArcView Dialog Designer extension. Approximately 60 scripts were created for 14 major functions that included the ability to choose service provider types and a place on the map, retrieve specific information on individual providers, obtain additional geographical data, and print a map of the region shown on the screen with a relevant legend. For ease of use, the interface was custom designed to have only six major function buttons: Variable, Area, Provider, Print, Reset, and Exit.

The integration of the data with the mapping begins by taking 46 social variables, such as average household income, number of children, ethnicity, and level of education, and then maps them by census track. Five hundred social service providers who assist the area are also mapped. The information gathered clearly shows which areas are being provided for, if these are the areas most in need of assistance and, if not, what alterations are necessary to ensure that funds are being properly distributed to the appropriate areas. The program allows these reports and maps to be printed and individually titled so they can be used as presentation material for fund-raising. The system provides a scientific approach to distribution and can show a high demand for services in certain areas and, therefore, the need for funds. These reports supply data that can't be argued with.

As of now, the program is located at four different sites: the Orange County United Way offices, the Orange County Health Care Agency, CSUF, and the University of California, Irvine. The feedback has been very positive especially in regard to the ease in navigating the program using the six designated buttons.

One of the problems with developing such a program in previous years was the threat of operating such a complex application, as well as the high costs of creating it. Walsh and Carroll's format has allowed for this indispensable tool to be utilized by any computer novice. (Though, for simplicity, customization of the interface or scripts is not available to typical users, experienced GIS users can reach the full ArcView GIS interface for more advanced needs.)

For more information, contact John Carroll, professor of geography, California State University, Fullerton (e-mail: jcarroll@fullerton.edu), or Dan Walsh, associate professor of geography/GIS, Saddleback College (e-mail: dwalsh@saddleback.cc.ca.us).

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