Vision
Connecting and inspiring our community for action.

Mission
Informing, convening, engaging, acting and creating change.

An Idea Whose Time Has Come
Merced Ahead is a group of private citizens who have a keen interest in seeing Merced County prosper. The group was galvanized by a book the members read and began meeting in June 2009 to discuss the possibilities for our County.

Peter Block, author of Community: the Structure of Belonging, wrote “A community’s well-being simply had to do with the quality of the relationships, the cohesion that exists among its citizens…Social capital is about acting on and valuing our interdependence and sense of belonging. It is the extent to which we extend hospitality and affection to one another.” Community, page 5.

Merced Ahead exists to encourage and facilitate the building of social capital in our county. We hope that in the coming months and years we will see more and more collaboration and cooperation in making Merced County “the best place to live in California.”

Interested Merced County residents may become part of this initiative by visiting our weekly Merced Ahead meetings, joining our online conversations, or by becoming part of a group that is undertaking to complete projects of value to our County. Merced Ahead meets every Wednesday, 7:30 AM at the United Way, 1744 N. G Street, Merced. The online conversations take place at www.mercedahead.ning.com