Neighborhood Resource to Trusted Community Partner
The Challenge
Neighborhood Strategies was deployed as a separate effort within Workforce Solutions of Tarrant County to meet people where they are at and align resources to those with the highest needs. ​Though launched to engage more directly with residents in both communities, participation at both worksites was lower than expected, and inconsistent. Engagement with Opportunity Youth, a sought after demographic, was low with job retention following similar trends.
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Our Response
COACT performed assessments of each facility, hosted discussions with staff, customers / clients, and residents in Northside and Eastside Fort Worth to identify insights. The work sites located at the Northside Community Center, Martin Luther King (MLK) Community Center. and YMCA McDonald served as the focus for this project.
The insights gained through our discussions aided in exploring ideas to help Workforce Solutions become a trusted partner in Northside and Eastside Fort Worth.
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Project Objectives
1) Build familiarity with the client user experience at Workforce Solutions.
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2) Identify barriers face by staff, leadership, customers, and the community.
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3) Identify daily practices for residents in Northside and Eastside Fort Worth.
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4) Identify a shared definition of trust.
5) Develop an engagement strategy based on insights collected.
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Our Partners
This project would not have been possible without support from the following partners and funders.
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Impact
In September 2025, we authored a toolkit to inspired by the insights gained, to aid Workforce Solutions of Tarrant County in aligning it's services to staff, customers, and community. This framework looks encourages a community centered approach and negotiating between the diverse stakeholders involved to build a unified consensus.
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