Know your neighbors, know your town, empower the community.

Experiencing Woodbridge Survey: Overview and Invitation to a Community Conversation

April 6, 2023
Time to read:
#
minutes
Experiencing Woodbridge Survey: Overview and Invitation to a Community Conversation

We invite you to join us in a community conversation about our Experiencing Woodbridge Survey findings on Wednesday, April 26 at 7:00 pm in the auditorium at the JCC, 360 Amity Road.  Everyone is welcome and encouraged to participate.

In Spring 2022, the Town of Woodbridge Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion conducted the “Experiencing Woodbridge Survey.”  This anonymous survey was designed to help the Committee identify opportunities to better engage and serve all residents of our increasingly diverse community.  All Woodbridge households received a mailed survey invitation, including a link to the online survey.

Findings from the survey offer a “temperature check” of how well we as a community are creating a welcoming environment and how our experiences may mirror or differ from those of our neighbors.  However, it is not a representative sample.  Findings should be interpreted as suggestive of Woodbridge community perspectives but not definitive.

Overall, 634 Woodbridge households (22% of our Town’s 2,935 households) provided responses.  Some characteristics of the responding households are listed below:

  • Close to one-third (32%) were home to at least one person of color: 28% of Woodbridge residents are people of color;
  • Close to one-quarter (23%) had at least one member who is an immigrant to the United States: 20% of Woodbridge community members are immigrants;
  • One-third (33%) had at least one member who is a person with disabilities.

Some broad takeaways from the survey include:

  • Woodbridge residents in general feel comfortable living here and engaging in most activities in the community;
  • Despite having a general sense of comfort in the community, nearly one out of six responding households (16%) reported having experienced some form of discrimination in Woodbridge.  This included discrimination based on ethnic or racial identity, socioeconomic status, religious affiliation, disability status, gender/gender identity and political affiliation;
  • Noteworthy was that more than two-thirds (69%) of responding households were interested in deepening connections in our increasingly diverse community.  A majority of respondents expressed support for participating in community events, such as the annual Woodbridge Like Me Day, and several endorsed a range of other ways Woodbridge can adapt to greater diversity.

The Town of Woodbridge Ad Hoc Committee on Diversity, Equity & Inclusion will be drawing upon learnings from the Experiencing Woodbridge Survey to identify and develop opportunities for greater community engagement across our many types of diversity.  In addition to joining us at our upcoming Community Conversation, if you have questions about the survey, ideas for activities to increase community engagement, and/or would like to become involved, please email the Committee at woodbridgeDEI@gmail.com.

This is an opinion not necessarily endorsed by the Woodbridge Town News.

Related articles