What Residents Say About Living in Martinsville-Henry County
- Why People Stay: At Festival Latino, residents shared that family, friends, and jobs are important reasons they call Martinsville-Henry County (MHC) home.
- What Could Be Better: Residents suggested helping more people, especially young people, discover the opportunities MHC already offers.
- Why People Return: Jobs, education, housing, and family needs can influence people’s decisions to leave MHC or return.
- Why It Matters: These conversations bring different perspectives to Our MHC Vision 2050, shaping a future where more people want to stay, return, and thrive.
- Share Your Perspective: Take the Our MHC community survey in English or Español by October 20.
What makes Martinsville-Henry County (MHC) a place people want to call home? Is it family, friendships, career opportunities, or something else entirely? And for those who leave, what would make them want to return?
As Our MHC Vision 2050 moves through its community engagement process, these questions are helping uncover what residents value about living in Martinsville-Henry County and what they hope to see in its future.
At the 7th Festival Latino of Southern Virginia at Patrick & Henry Community College, Our MHC Community Liaison Jordan Menefee asked residents those questions. One conversation with a local teacher offered a perspective she hadn’t expected.
Here Jordan shares what surprised her and why listening to different perspectives matters as MHC plans for its future.
Two Questions, Many Perspectives: What I Heard at Festival Latino
By Jordan Menefee, Community Liaison
Creating a meaningful community vision is more than simply identifying what a community needs. It requires listening carefully to the people who live, work, learn, and invest in the community every day.
During Phase 1 of the Our MHC community engagement process, we introduced the visioning process to the community and gathered residents’ initial ideas, hopes, and priorities for the next 25 years. Now, the second phase builds on that feedback, providing opportunities to take a deeper look at those ideas and better understand what they mean to different members of the community.
One of the most important goals of refining community engagement is ensuring representation. A strong community vision should not be created by a small group of people speaking on behalf of everyone else. It should be informed by a broad range of people that have been living here and want to see the community grow and evolve.
When people, organizations, businesses, and community leaders have meaningful opportunities to share their perspectives, the resulting vision can become more representative and more responsive to the people it is intended to serve.
Phase 2 is therefore not just another step in a planning process. It is an opportunity to listen more deeply, understand more fully, and build a stronger foundation for the community’s future.
The Our MHC Community Engagement Process
Phase 1: Level Setting
Introduce Our MHC to the community and ask residents what they love about MHC, what concerns them, and what they hope to see in the next 25 years.
Phase 2: Engagement
Build on those ideas through small group discussions and conversations with residents to better understand different needs, experiences, and priorities.
Phase 3: Adoption
Share the proposed vision and Harvest Foundation priorities with residents to make sure they reflect what the MHC community has shared.
What Residents Value About Living in Martinsville-Henry County
Recently I had the opportunity to attend the Latino Festival at Patrick & Henry Community College, and it provided a meaningful opportunity to connect with members of the Latino community and hear directly from people about their experiences in MHC.
Rather than simply asking people what they thought the community needed, we focused on questions that encouraged people to reflect on their personal connection to MHC. One question we asked was “What makes you stay in Martinsville-Henry County?”
A lot of the responses were about the same topics: family, jobs, and friends. But there were some people who gave more suggestions on what could be added to MHC to make people want to stay.
One of my favorite responses included a suggestion from a teacher that all seniors in high school should be required to take a mandatory trip around MHC. There are hundreds of seniors who have lived here all their lives but don’t even know all about what MHC has to offer. For example, she told me that she had a senior who didn’t even know where Patrick & Henry Community College was located.
I found her response to be very insightful, unique, and unexpected.
Community Liaison Jordan Menefee at Festival Latino.
What Would Bring People Back to Martinsville-Henry County?
Another question we asked was “If you left MHC, what would make you want to return?”
People leave communities for many different reasons. Sometimes it is for education or a job opportunity. Sometimes people move because they are looking for better housing, new experiences, or opportunities for their families. But leaving does not necessarily mean that a person has stopped caring about the place they once called home.
These two questions might sound simple, but I could tell people had to really think hard about their responses. Their answers gave me a lot to think about too.
I also wanted to mention how great the Latino Festival was! It was my first time attending, and I had a wonderful experience. From the food to the dancing and singing, I enjoyed every part.
Help Shape a Community People Want to Call Home
As Jordan heard at Latino Fest, family, friends, and jobs are important reasons people call MHC home. But residents also have ideas about how to make our community even better, including helping young people discover opportunities that already exist here.
What do you love about living in Martinsville-Henry County? What would make you want to stay or return? What would you like to see change?
The Our MHC community survey is your chance to share your thoughts and help shape our community’s future. It takes about 15 minutes, and everyone in your household can participate, regardless of age.