To: Daniel Parker, MSP From: Julianne Price, Environmental Specialist Through: Cheryl L. Dunn, RS, Environmental Manager Subject: October 2006 Wabasso PACE EH Grant Update
?When you reach for the stars, you may not quite get them, but you won?t come up with a handful of mud either.? ?Leo Burnett For the past three years we have been reaching for the stars in terms of giving all we have as an agency to implement the PACE EH process in the community of Wabasso. Our efforts have been more successful that we could have ever imagined and the truth of the matter is that we have helped this indigent community drastically improve their quality of life. Our project will come to an end in December 2006. We have carried out all the action plans developed by the steering committee. With this satisfaction, the results of this project are that all the issues identified by the community have been ?solved.? The month of October was spent making sure the momentum of the final stages of the action plans was maintained. The water lines for the water project in Wabasso are nearly complete and the plumber is making contact with residents to make the meter/ house connection. A widowed, elderly lady had a problem with her well going dry and it was coincidentally during the same time as the contractor for the water project was installing a fire hydrant in front of her home. Although it?s not likely that it was the fault of the contractor, Indian River County Utilities and I worked out a solution to tap into a main line which was 390 feet away from her home. Once authorized, the county worked completed the task in less than two hours! This is a testament to the network of team players involved in the PACE EH process. We had a strong relationship in place between agencies, so that all I had to do was to make them aware of the situation and they were very glad to make a premature water connection so that this elderly lady could have water. This leads me to also make the point that PACE EH is not only a tool to improve the community, but can also greatly improve agency partnerships and relations. In our case, the strengthened network has resulted in a benefit to respond to community problems with ease.
On October 2nd, I attended the West Wabasso Civic Progressive League meeting. Agenda topics included an update on the water project, discussion on the impending doom of proposed developments encroaching on the community, and the new walking trail and exercise group called ?PACE Setters.? After the discussion on proposed developments, it was requested that we revisit meeting once a month to conduct a visioning process so that the community can develop a plan for the future. We set a date of October 16th and invited staff from the Indian River County Planning Division to attend to educate us on current projects. I was disappointed that only two community members attended the visioning meeting. Three county staff attended who actually outnumbered the community members. No further date was set to continue the visioning meetings and in a discussion with the Civic League president, it was requested that they ?drive? the process if they so desired to continue it. The Wabasso PACE Setters is a newly formed group that has organized to meet every Tuesday and Thursday in the evening to exercise. The following infrastructure improvements have been made since the implementation of PACE: exercise equipment in Wabasso Park, a sidewalk installed perpendicular to the Wabasso Park, streetlights, demolition of ?crack? houses and unsafe structures, and construction of a walking trail in Wabasso Park. Because of these improvements, residents now feel safe and are utilizing the infrastructure improvements to improve their health. Personally, I feel like I can encourage residents to exercise now because the have the means to do so now; in fact, in an effort to promote linking health to built environment my family walks twice of week with the PACE setters. On October 21st, we officially dedicated the new walking trail and were graced with the presence of the Indian River County Chairman of the County Commission and also the president of the local NAACP, along with many community members who walked the length of the trail.
There were no applicable outstanding issues and concerns other than specified in the above paragraphs.
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 2, 2006 - Can West Wabasso's Pipes Take the Pressure? November 24, 2006 - West Wabasso may get county water in time for Christmas August 27, 2006 - Volunteers build home in a day for Wabasso's 'Big Mama' May 6, 2006 - County: West Wabasso Will Say Goodbye to 'Brown Water' April 13, 2006 - West Wabasso's long road to county water about to end February 18, 2006 - West Wabasso finds success in long quest for county water January 23, 2006 - Gospel Fest to raise money for hurricane repairs in Wabasso December, 2005 - In My Opinion: West Wabasso Assessment Project Update October 10, 2005 - West Wabasso residents rejoice over water project October 7, 2005 - West Wabasso to get county water September 20, 2005 - Indian River County replaces septic tanks for 10 families in west Wabasso July 8, 2005 - Indian River health officials receive national award June, 2005 - Spring 2005 PACE Progress Report for the Wabasso Environmental Assessment (380 kb) June 17, 2005 - World Changers group fixes homes in West Wabasso June 15, 2005 - Impoverished area to get waterlines June 12, 2005 - World Changers redo Wabasso May 1, 2005 - Water System on its way to Wabasso December 25, 2004 - Woman's work aids west Wabasso residents October 18, 2004 - Storms stall Wabasso help September, 2004 - PACE Progress Report for the Wabasso Environmental Assessment (620 kb) September 28, 2004 - Storms run Wabasso family out of own, borrowed homes August 28, 2004 - Families get new homes August 11, 2004 - Draft Brochure, Bringing Basic Needs to a Forgotten Community (1.4 meg file) July 30, 2004 - Kindness rules in Wabasso (109 kb) July 28, 2004 - Teens team up to build man's house June 2, 2004 - Indian River seeks aid for water May 26, 2004 - Groups enlist residents to help revive Wabasso May 11, 2004 - Wabasso may have to wait a year for street lights to come on May 9, 2004 - Town hall meeting to address Wabasso's needs
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
