Winner of the
2005 Ocala/Marion County Chamber of Commerce
Walter Driggers Environmentalist of the Year Award

MARION COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
June, 2007 PACE-EH Progress Report

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Date: June 23, 2007

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

From: Herman Hale, RN
PACE-EH Coordinator

Subject: West Ocala Neighborhood PACE EH Project

1. Project Summary

Give a brief description of your project especially if the project is a new. If this is not your first report or a continuing project, elaborate on your progress continuing from where you left off in your last submission. Scheduled events/meetings and their purpose should be included in this portion of the report.

2. Work Plan and Process Update

Clearly specify the PACE EH Task you have worked on, are currently working on including future plans to complete Tasks. How close are you to achieving your outlined goal for the assessment? The example below is a format you are encouraged to use.

The Marion County Health Department’s PACE-EH project continues its work in the communities of West Ocala and Poinciana Heights.

The PACE-EH coordinator, Herman Hale, RN, and Ann Deranzio from fiscal, have been assisting the Neighborhood Citizens of NorthWest Ocala (NCNWO) with a proposal to amend their original Community Environmental Health Advisory Board (CEHAB) grant/contract. This amendment is necessary for two reasons, first, the contract needed to be extended, which will insure the group has ample time to spend their grant and second, after working in their community, they wanted to recognize the volunteers that have stepped up to support their efforts. As part of the original PACE project, NCNWO remains active in their community and the PACE-EH team continues its role, in an administrative capacity and as an active community partner.

On Friday June 15^th, the PACE-EH team held its first CEHA meeting in the neighborhood of Poinciana Heights. While the initial turnout was limited to three people, the meeting was significant in that a specific strategy was developed, which will encourage more community participation. The PACE-EH Project will be added to the agenda of the Poinciana Heights Homeowners Taskforce. This will allow for a more efficient use of the participants time, while building a solid foundation for the project. These monthly meetings are well attended and will act as a springboard for future efforts.

The Poinciana Heights CEHA meeting was also significant for another reason. As with most PACE-EH coordinators, it would be very easy to be discouraged by such a small turnout; but, any such feeling was replaced with a sense of awe, by one special citizen. This lady has consistently participated in establishing a CEHA team. After hearing about PACE-EH at the initial Taskforce meeting, she was the first to place her name on the list of team members and has kept in contact with the PACE-EH coordinator during the planning phase of this project. She has been an activist in her community for decades and at 95 years old, shows no signs of slowing down. Her enthusiasm for life and her community is contagious and will contribute greatly to the success of PACE-EH in Poinciana Heights (as well as put things in their proper perspective for a sometimes impatient PACE coordinator).

The Marion County Health Department’s PACE coordinator also had the opportunity to attend the 10^th annual EPA Conference in Jacksonville. This week long conference offered a variety of educational opportunities, as well as a chance to network. The diverse topics of discussion and the ability to meet and talk to other PACE coordinators (as well as EPA staff) have provided some new ideas and possible directions for maintaining and growing our project in Marion County. Let the journey continue!