A new alliance will host 15 community engagement forums across the county during the next month to identify and address critical issues in order to make positive changes in the community.

The Pitt County Impact Alliance, an open partnership convened by the United Way of Pitt County, will kick off the “Conversation on Community” forum series at 10 a.m. on March 27 in Bethel.

The hour-long interactive community forums will provide opportunities for residents across Pitt County to share their concerns about the needs and problems in their areas.

“This is truly a collaborative effort,” said James Wagner, director of public relations and community development for the United Way of Pitt County. “This will unite individuals, organizations, governments, businesses, schools and more across the county. It’s time to work together. Our goal is to enact substantial, targeted, measurable change.”

Forums will take place across the county on weekday evenings and Saturday mornings in Greenville, Winterville, Ayden, Farmville, Fountain, Grifton, Grimesland, Chicod and Belvoir.

The forums also will serve as an opportunity for more individuals and entities to join the alliance, which includes Pitt County Memorial Hospital, the Greenville-Pitt County Chamber of Commerce, East Carolina University Colleges of Business and Human Ecology, Pitt Community College, Pitt County Schools, Pitt County Government, The Daily Reflector, Pitt Resource Connection, Greenville-Pitt Public Access Television and the United Way of Pitt County.

“The alliance will be the group doing all the work; United Way is just the facilitator,” Wagner said. “This is a countywide coalition that can address problems and help us focus on issues in the community.”

The forums will help guide the United Way’s focus on issues in the community as the organization switches to a community impact model.

“United Way of Pitt County has been active for 52 years, and for about 50 of those years, we had a traditional funding model where we raised money and allocated it to member agencies,” Wagner said.

The agencies did good work, Wagner said, but soon United Way began seeing that root problems remained.

“Separate organizations can help many individuals, but they cannot solve community-wide problems,” Wagner said. “In switching to a community impact model, we will form partnerships and pool resources. We’re now working more like a grant model where we fund programs, not agencies.

“The agency work was excellent, but we need to bring everyone together to get at the root of the problems,” Wagner said. “For example, we could fund beds at a homeless shelter, which we will continue to do, but we will focus on why people are homeless and how we can keep them from becoming that way.”

The forums will help identify such source issues in the community.

After compiling resident feedback from the forums, the alliance will convene April 29 to identify the most pressing needs and choose which ones to focus on.

All forums are open to the county residents:

March 27 at 10 a.m., Bethel Senior Center, 7406 Main St., Bethel.

March 29 at 7 p.m., Eppes Recreation Center, 400 Nash St.

March 30 at 7 p.m., Jaycee Park Auditorium, 2000 Cedar Lane.

March 30 at 7 p.m., Belvoir Fire Department, 4189 N.C. 33 West, Belvoir

April 6 at 7 p.m., Ayden Community Center, 4354 Lee St., Ayden

April 8 at 7 p.m., Grifton Town Hall, 528 Queen St., Grifton

April 12 at 7 p.m., Fountain Community Building, 3865 W. Wilson St.

April 13 at 6:30 p.m., Chicod School, 7557 N.C. 43 South.

April 15 at 7 p.m. at Boys & Girls Club Minges Unit, 621 W. Fire Tower Road.

April 17 at 10 a.m., Farmville Community Center, 3886 S. Main St.

April 20 at 7 p.m., Sadie Saulter Elementary, 1019 Fleming St.

April 22 at 7 p.m., Pitt County Community Schools & Recreation Building, 4561 County Home Road.

April 24 at 6 p.m., Winterville Police/Fire Building, 259 N. Railroad St.

April 26 at 7 p.m., Grimesland Fire Department, 4663 First St.

April 27 at 7 p.m., River Park North Science Center, 1000 Mumford Road.

At the conclusion of the forums, the Impact Alliance will meet from 8 a.m. to noon on April 29 at the East Carolina Heart Institute Conference Room A at 526 Moye Blvd.

Contact Jackie Drake at jdrake@reflector.com or (252) 329-9567.