Mission and History
Our Mission:
The mission of TriCounty Community Network is to build relationships among organizations, community members and businesses through advocacy, information sharing and education to improve health, social and environmental conditions within the TriCounty area.
Our History:
TCN was formed in December 2005 after the merger of two community collaborative organizations, the TriCounty Health Partnership (TCHP) and the Tri-County Interagency Consortium (TCIC). As TCIC was an incorporated non-profit, the TCHP merged with TCIC, accepting the articles of incorporation as appropriate for the new TCN. Bylaws revisions and an official name change filed with the state of Pennsylvania were completed to establish TCN. The purpose of the merge was to form one strong collaborative in this tri-county area, to address our mission of building relationships among organizations, community members and businesses through advocacy, information sharing and education to improve health, social and environmental conditions within the tri-county area. TCN provides a Fact Sheet which describes the TCN structure and activities. Click here for the TCN Fact Sheet.
TCN has a variety of committees that accomplish the collaboration, advocacy and information sharing work of our organization. Those committees include:
B.U.S.Y. (Building Up Strengths In Youth) Teens Committee engages and enables youth in the tri-county area to make healthy lifestyle choices by providing educational and leadership development opportunities through positive role models. This committee has been in existence for 10 years. It operated under the TriCounty Health Partnership and was built on the “40 Developmental Assets” framework developed by Search Institute. Participants on the committee include school personnel, law enforcement, the judicial court system, social service agencies, youth serving organizations, county departments, youth and community advocates. The committee has sponsored an annual Anti-Drug/Anti-Violence conference and is currently working to bring some of the information from the conference into the schools to reach more students. The website www.buildupyouth.org/ is a project of this committee.
Domestic Violence Committee raises awareness to prevent domestic violence in the tri-county area. The committee has been in existence since 1997, starting in the TriCounty Health Partnership after a community needs assessment rated domestic violence as a priority issue in the tri-county area. The committee has representation from Berks, Chester and Montgomery Counties, with participation from domestic violence agencies, social service agencies, public and private health organizations, police departments, district magistrate judges and private citizens. The committee has undertaken public awareness campaigns through the use of restrooms stickers, billboard, bus and movie advertisements, art contests for children, newspaper inserts and sponsored educational programs for teens, community members and professionals, including over 25 productions of Deana's Fund's The Yellow Dress. The website www.dvresources.org was developed and is maintained by this committee.
Education Committee works to educate both TCN members and the community. Monthly speakers are planned for each TCN general meeting on current trends and research addressing health and wellness, social and environmental issues. The programs are aimed at keeping our member agencies educated about community programs and local resources that could benefit their affiliates. In addition, the committee also plans at least one community event each year. These events generally focus around a topic of interest to either human services agencies or the community at large, helping to educate participants while also encouraging networking and collaboration. The Environmental Task Force is a sub-group of this committee dedicated to organizing educational opportunities that address current environmental concerns in the tricounty area.Home and Community Resources Committee is comprised of members who either work in or are concerned with issues relating to care for consumers and caregivers. Their focus is to improve the health and social conditions in the tri-county community by delivering quality care, services, education and support to clients and their caregivers. They have presented several Caregivers’ Seminars to community members over the past ten years, among other projects.
Marketing and Membership Committee oversees the development of the membership and assists in the overall marketing plan of TCN by identifying and encouraging potential new members of TCN as well as assisting in the retention of current members. The committee reviews all membership applications and presents recommendations to the board of directors and general membership for such applications. The committee is also responsible for the development and distribution of all TCN logo materials and for the maintenance of the TCN website and acts as a resource for other committees in marketing TCN programs or services and developing brochures, flyers, press releases and any other media production. The committee meets bimonthly.
The Legislative Committee oversees advocacy activities for policy reform in an effort to increase the impact of programs and direct services provided by TCN members. The committee is responsible for ensuring that advocacy activities are bipartisan, putting issues above party politics, cultivating relationships with local, state, national and federal legislatures. The Legislative Committee recently hosted a "Legislative Meet-N-Greet" attended by four local legislators from the tricounty area. The committee meets every month.
Western Region Collaborative: TCN serves as the lead agency for the "Western Region Collaborative," an initiative supported by Montgomery County Human Services. For nearly a decade there has been a growing recognition that there must be better organization, information sharing and financial and human resources garnered for better planning for more than 800 agencies that spend over a half billion dollars in human services in Montgomery County. Therefore, the intent of the collaborative is to minimize duplication of services, strengthen already established programs and services by sharing what is working well and partnering to develop even more effective services. The Western Region includes the communities of Collegeville, Limerick, Lower Pottsgrove, Pottstown, Royersford, Schwenksville, Skippack, Trappe, Upper Pottsgrove, Upper Providence, and West Pottsgrove. The regional leaders of all collaboratives in Montgomery County work together to address issues such as: homelessness, emergency preparedness, and reducing duplicity of services.
Because TCN maintains strict guidelines of excellence and transparency, you are welcome to view our Organizational Policies:
08-09 Annual ReportWhistleblower PolicyDocument Retention PolicyInternal Controls PolicySubmitting Proposals PolicyMembership PolicyMarketing Policy
