A little background first, and then I'll get to my request:
 
I am in the Longwood Graduate Program at the University of Delaware.  It
is a two year program leading to a Master of Science Degree in Public
Horticulture Administration.  As part of the Program, we earn a
certificate in Museum Studies.  Longwood Gardens is "the premier display
garden on the East Coast," and they provide the funding for the Program.
As part of our studies (and a way to "pay back" Longwood) the ten
students in the program do a group project which will in some way benefit
Longwood Gardens.  The Project is worked on from July to September.
 
The Project the Fellows have decided on this year is to do a needs
assessment of the Latino community in the Kennett Square area (the town
in which Longwood is located), to determine what Longwood could be doing
to serve this community better.  Kennett Square has a large Latino
Community, however visitation by this community is nil.
 
We have brought together a task force to guide us in this endeavor.  It
includes members of the Longwood staff (one of whom is from the Kennett
Latino Community), a teacher from the community who also teaches EFL, and a
museum professional from the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
 
As part of the process, we were thinking about doing focus group
interviews with the people of the community to get their thoughts and
feelings, and to better help us understand how Longwood could better
serve them.
 
Now, for the request (Sorry it took so long to get to the point)...
We would like to visit and contact institutions who have conducted focus
groups interviews, or have done a needs assessment of a specific
community (cultural, disabled, elderly, etc.) so we can better understand
the process, and learn from your experience.  Ideally institutions we
would visit would be between New York and Washington D.C. for logistical
reasons, but I would like to hear from anyone with insight or experience.
 
Please reply directly so as not to clutter the list.  If people would
like, I could post a synopsis of the info I get.
 
Thanks for you time.
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Patrick S. Larkin               "If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier
Longwood Graduate Program        about cutting them down?  We might if they
University of Delaware           screamed all the time, for no good reason."
[log in to unmask]                     -Jack Handey