INDIAN RIVER COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
November, 2004 PACE-EH Report

Date:                   November 30, 2004

To:                      Daniel Parker, MSP, GAL
                            Assistant Division Director, Division of Environmental Health

From:                 Julianne Renk, Environmental Specialist

Through:            Cheryl L. Dunn, RS, Environmental Manager

Subject:             November Wabasso PACE Grant Update

On November 1st, I hosted a community meeting at St. Matthews Church in West Wabasso at which approximately 35 people attended. The Indian River County Administrator and a County Commissioner were present, along with the Director of Public Works, and fielded many questions about FEMA obstacles. FEMA representatives were also at the meeting and aided in giving information and guidance for assistance. Another highlight of the meeting was a discussion about two park pavilions that are slated for construction soon. Residents contended that they needed seating in one of the pavilions and after a consensus from the crowd, the Commissioner, Administrator, and the Director of Public Works granted them this modification. Although it may seem like a minute detail, it was important to the community and the fact that the officials addressed it and granted it was extremely beneficial. It is this type of interaction that has occurred consistently at community meetings which serves an important function of strengthening the trust and communication between West Wabasso and Government officials.

Throughout the month of November, the issue of lack of housing was focused upon, largely due to the fact that resources seemed to be presented to myself and the community and of course, were taken advantage of immediately. Lack of housing was one of the top three issues identified by the survey, which was distributed throughout West Wabasso. The steering committee developed an action plan to address the issue, which primarily consists of a combination of code enforcement citations for abandoned homes, and demolishing, and rebuilding homes that were occupied. This month the first house was demolished. The County waived landfill costs for three houses, a developer donated $6,660 to pay the labor and equipment costs, fill dirt was donated, and all three residents were able to acquire FEMA trailers so that they could reside in the same vicinity as their previous home. A coalition has formed to build homes for these residents and this endeavor has been coined, Project Hope.

Perhaps the most difficult hurdle I have encountered lately is turning the reins back over to the community leaders. When I first entered the community they had a loose grip on the reins, although they had many complaints about the lack of resources available to their community. I believe the steering committee has control of where they want to guide the community, and have adequately addressed all the issues, yet no one has stepped forward to arduously pursue and make sure the plans will be followed through as I have for the past eleven months. December and January will be crucial months to determine whether the community will continue to be empowered to not be complacent and to uphold the progress thus far made to improve their quality of life in West Wabasso.

Past Indian River County Updates

October, 2004

September, 2004

August and July, 2004

June, 2004

May, 2004

Media Coverage

The following files are provided in the Adobe Acrobat pdf format. Files over 100 kb in size that may take longer to download and view, have their file size listed.

December 25, 2004 - Woman's work aids west Wabasso residents