Regional COVID-19 Resilience Poll Reveals Local Community Stresses, Responses
July 15, 2020 – Valley Vision has published the COVID-19 Resilience Poll this week in partnership with Capital Public Radio. This polling report is focused on understanding experiences, impacts, and attitudes about COVID-19 from residents in our region. The COVID-19 Resilience Poll is a demographically representative survey of the eight-county region (Sacramento, Yolo, El Dorado, Placer, Yuba,Sutter, Solano, and San Joaquin) and reported a margin of error of +/-3%. You can find the full COVID-19 Resilience Poll here.
“This survey, and the two more to come in this series, will help us understand and navigate the challenges ahead as we aim to not just recover from the setbacks of COVID-19, but also reimagine a more equitable, sustainable, and just future,” noted Evan Schmidt, CEO of Valley Vision. “Having an in-depth understanding of how the coronavirus impacts the people and communities we serve is vitally important to our public service mission,” said Jun Reina, newly appointed executive vice president and general manager of CapRadio, of the partnership with Valley Vision.
The poll results identify the severe impacts on people in our communities – including their mental, physical, and emotional health; their daily life and routines; and their economic security. For example, nearly half of respondents said they had lost income because of fallout from the virus, which since March has shuttered many businesses and forced most people to stay at home.
Further, different communities are experiencing markedly different realities, with deep disparities in the intensity of concern and impact across different racial and ethnic lines. “We’re all in this together but we are experiencing it differently,” said Shannon Williams, director of the Institute for Social Research, pointing out that many “essential” and front-line workers are people of color and workers with lower incomes who cannot perform their jobs virtually and have higher risks of virus exposure. “Often in this country, people of color don’t have the same opportunities and resources as others,” Williams continued. “This data shows how that is playing out with regard to the pandemic.”
There is also a significant element of political polarization within the region, with many respondents critical of leadership at various levels – whether it is because they think that leadership has failed to deliver an effective response or because they think the response is over blown and creating more harm.
The detailed poll results are accessible in several ways:
- As of today, the complete poll report can be downloaded from Valley Vision’s website: https://www.valleyvision.org/resources/the-covid-19-resilience-poll/
- Ongoing coverage from CapRadio can be found at https://www.capradio.org/resilience
- On Thursday, CapRadio will host a virtual event focused on the impact of COVID-19 on communities of color: https://www.capradio.org/articles/2020/07/13/live-conversation-covid-19-communities-of-color
- On July 31, Valley Vision will host a webinar providing an overview of the findings: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Qlsn5_lKSy-b8LGt1GbgCw
Additionally, Valley Vision’s polling partners have each issued their own press releases.
- CapRadio’s is available on their website: https://www.capradio.org/about/press/2020/capradio-and-valley-vision-partner-to-launch-covid-19-resilience-poll/
- The Institute for Social Research’s is available on the Sacramento State website: https://www.csus.edu/news/articles/2020/7/15/Pandemic-has-disrupted-life-in-the-region,-survey-finds-.shtml
About Valley Vision: For 25 years Valley Vision has helped governments, businesses, foundations and community groups better understand our region and its people through high quality research. By uncovering common ground facts using scientific opinion polls, focus groups, community needs assessments, best practice reports and other research tools, Valley Vision is a trusted interpreter, commentator, forecaster and work partner for community inspired solutions.
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