What are the needs of my community?

Ever since we were asked to think about an inquiry project, I immediately began to wonder about starting an after-school program. Realizing that this was probably too big a question ( though it is something I've wanted to explore for years) I narrowed my focus to think about what things I could do to improve my community-the Queens neighborhood in which I live and work. From this narrowing focus, I came up with, I think, a more manageable inquiry question-what needs and services are not being met in my community?

The first reading I did  for this inquiry was to walk around and explore the neighborhood to see what programs and services were there. My exploration showed me that  there wasn't much outside of  private homes, stores, parks and the Long Island Railroad Maintenance Faciltity. I decided to do a broader search than my feet would allow and found that my walking exploration was pretty accurate.  According to this new search, http://www.queensbp.org/content_web/cultural_affairs/cultural_resources.shtml, there were libraries and daycare centers but not much in the way of art or music aside from one African Poetry Theater. There are programs for Autistic children and disabled kids, http://www.ny-companies.com/business-in-queens/community-services-companies/ but no enrichment programs.

The next phase of my inquiry will attempt to determine not only if other programs/services are needed and wanted, but what exactly these programs are. I plan to conduct another survey which will be broader and allow for more extensive responses. I will give the survey to students and adults in my community, and I will conduct inteviews to see if people want more services like art, sports or technology or if there are things I haven't even considered. 

I know that I won't be able to answer all of the queestions that I have, but hopefully this will be just the begining of a more substantial life pursuit.