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For more information on this project, contact Selva Selvendran or Kai Jones, PACE-EH Coordinator,  at the Palm Beach County Health Department.

PALM BEACH COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
March 2006 PACE EH Report

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

From:         Selva Selvendran, PACE EH Coordinator

Subject:     March 2006 PACE EH Project Update

SUMMARY

PREPARATION:
-Watergate Estates did not have a formal HOA, necessitating the need to determine residents who would be willing to undertake a project to improve the community. Research showed that prior neighborhood associations had disbanded or were ineffective. Prior efforts to improve the community and promises made were left aside, leaving a feeling of distrust within the community itself. Without a designated group of residents meeting on a regular basis to discuss community issues, the task of creating a group of residents was foremost. There existed a small group of concerned residents, (Watergate Estates Community Assistance and Resource Effort) (WE CARE) who had actively been helping improve the community for two years through organizing and conducting neighborhood cleanups and residential repairs, providing Toys for Tots at Christmas, and maintaining a food bank. All have been certified for the Community Emergency Response Team and have been a valuable asset to the community.

-An initial neighborhood meeting was essential; a venue for such presented a challenge. The clubhouse of a long-disbanded HOA seemed to be the sole prospect, and it is now owned by Calvary Chapel of Fort Lauderdale. The building is located in a central area of the community, and would provide adequate space for community meetings.

-The PACE facilitator, Nancy Lashway, arranged a meeting with the pastor of the Calvary Chapel, discussed the PACE project and the need for a meeting place. The pastor who was relatively new to the community showed interest in engaging the community a well, and agreed to pursue obtaining permission from the parent organization in Fort Lauderdale to utilize the church building. On March 7, Calvary Chapel was able to open its doors to welcome the community for such a purpose.

-Refreshments were needed for the community meeting, and on January 9, 2006, Publix Supermarkets were contacted in order to determine their support. The correct procedure for requesting donations was secured, and on January 19, 2006, a letter was sent to community relations for support. Several phone calls followed to ascertain the status of the request, and by February 13, 2006, other businesses were contacted in person for their support. Several follow up phone calls to these businesses finally resulted in generosity from both Publix Supermarkets and BJS, who were publicly recognized at the formal neighborhood meeting on March 6, 2006.

-A meeting was arranged on January 26, 2006 with the County Commissioner of the West Boca Community. The PACE EH project was discussed. Efforts in the past to work with this community have not been very successful, but it is hoped that a unified effort on the part of residents of the community will be evidence of their desire to work with the County officials. It was concluded that if that unified effort is displayed on the part of the residents, the County Commissioner will be supportive of improvement efforts.

IMPRESSIONS:
-A major challenge has been in bringing together differing interests within the community. Community meetings and improved communication has resulted in some progress in this matter. It is hoped that with continued emphasis on a unified voice, improvements will continue.

-WE CARE has been invaluable to the PACE project in providing information, contacts, addresses for flyers and support. The project is seen as an extension of their good will.

-A joint effort to engage the community on the part of the Health Department and the Calvary Chapel resulted in the date of March 6, 2006 for a first community meeting.

-Much time and effort was spent securing donations for refreshments for the community meeting. The process was approached as a social marketing campaign, and it was discovered that in the evaluation that the costs outweighed the benefits, necessitating a tip in the balance. The “food reward” helped achieve this imbalance. Publix Supermarkets and BJs Wholesale Club were acknowledged for their generosity at the meeting.

-It was a major task to mail out over 800 flyers announcing the community meeting. Several were returned but the community itself has identified problems with mail and the post office.

INITIAL NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING:
On March 6, 2006, the first community meeting for the Palm Beach County PACE project was held at the Calvary Chapel. A sign up table was provided in the back of the church along with a suggestion box for those hesitant to verbalize their opinions. Residents were encouraged to sign in with names and addresses, in addition to indicating willingness to volunteer to help PACE efforts. There were 40 names on the sign-in sheet, however, some who neglected to sign in are known by the facilitator and mentioned that they are available for any help.

Nancy Lashway briefly introduced the PACE project with emphasis on the need for community engagement. Afterwards, the floor was opened up for discussion of issues. Those immediately expressed were:

-The need for a centralized place for community meetings and activities.

-The lack of activities for youth resulting in destructive behavior and drug activity.

-Vacant and overgrown properties seen as eyesores and bringing down the general image of the community.

-The rat population especially as seen in the dirty canals filled with overgrown plant material and trash.

-Stray animals/irresponsible pet owners.

-Past efforts and promises made to assist the community gone astray.

Volunteers were solicited from the audience who seemed the most vocal to serve on a team of core representatives from the community to meet in two weeks.

IMPRESSIONS:
-The attendance at the meeting far exceeded that of expected and it was deemed a large success. Although mostly composed of those contemplating change, the next meeting should be attended by those in precontemplation as well, eager to learn about the project.

-A presentation was made by the Calvary Chapel regarding their youth program, “Firewall”, but the audience seemed able to separate this from the PACE project. It was unfortunate that the power point presentation prepared to explain the PACE process did not function correctly with the electronic system at the Chapel, and the project had to be explained without that teaching tool. Although the community seemed to understand that PACE and the resources of the Health Department were there to assist in problem identification and solving, the other planned methodology for discussion was not clear.

-The presence of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office resulted in discussion about policing issues; the audience had to be frequently brought back to the task at large.

-The presence of community groups identifying their favored issues needed to be curtailed as it began to monopolize the discussion.

-Separate entities within the community are striving for recognition. They each can bring to the table valuable assets and resources, efforts to bring all together continue to work for positive effects.

CORE NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING:
The Watergate Estates PACE EH is making progress. On March 23, 2006, the first meeting of the core group of community residents, in agreement as to the name “Watergate Community Action Team”, met with members of the Palm Beach County Health Department, the Calvary Chapel and the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office. It was felt that residents did not grasp the process of PACE at the community meeting on the 6th of March, so following introductions, the process of PACE was reinforced. The residents also did not understand the benefit of a documented organized plan of action, this too was explained. The community is composed of three phases of mobile homes, and need for additional community representation, incorporating all areas of the community was stressed.

The presence of the Palm Beach County Sheriff and Code Enforcement prompted questions as to their functions and jurisdictions. Residents questioned them on a case-by-case basis, and need to develop a better understanding.

The community thus far had not been committed to the PACE project, and residents were questioned to this effect. They will support it, and additional volunteers are promised for adequate neighborhood representation. Residents suggested that they themselves administer the survey. A resident has volunteered to represent the community to lead the project; other community members will work to recruit additional volunteers in order to have adequate representation and to administer the survey.

Residents will present this at the next organized meeting along with their input on the draft of the survey provided for pretesting purposes.

IMPRESSIONS:
-The community continues to be concerned that PACE will abandon them. They were assured that the Palm Beach County Health Department is committed to see the project through. In order to sustain the project, it needs now to be owned by the community so that the Palm Beach County Health Department functions as a support mechanism. The commitment vocalized by core residents affirmed their involvement in the project. A leader within the community has now been identified.

- The design and implementation of the survey were uncertain due to the variability of anticipated issues identified and the geographics of the selected community. It was the community’s decision to administer the survey themselves, and it is hoped that the questions will adequately probe issues. Issues with short-term solutions as well as longer term problems are desired. It is hoped that some issues identified will involve solutions utilizing resources already available within the county.

-Pretesting of the survey with the core members of the community yielded some information; problems of overgrowth of properties, need for youth activities, and drug activity. Comments concerning health matters were only determined with probing; the survey needs to include a method of prompting these.

-Additional community members are needed to balance out the neighborhood geographically. The core members are female at present, although there were men expected in attendance. Recruitment of additional members is anticipated, but it is desirable to keep the total number of the core team under 15 for the purpose of simplicity and cooperation. Current members are those targeted as in the contemplation stage of change.

-Although they were called by phone of the meeting, the time of the meeting and the rainy weather on the 23rd may have been a factor, for those not in attendance.

-There is a small police substation on the property now used by the Palm Beach County Sheriff. It is hoped that when this is ready for use in the near future, community meetings can be held there as it presents a difficulty to depend solely on the utilization and availability of the Chapel. Ideally, a time and place can be scheduled on a regular basis for these meetings.

-The community at the next core meeting will come with suggestions for the survey so they might adopt it as their own. The plan of action can be discussed at this time and the second large community meeting can be scheduled at this time to introduce the survey to the community and discuss progress thus far.

-The presence and scope of Code Enforcement within the community continues to be misunderstood. Although called upon for issues at present, residents with older properties fear their responsibility for improvements made on the properties prior to their ownership. It is hoped that open communication will improve the function of Code Enforcement in Watergate Estates.

-Nancy Lashway continues to receive phone calls from concerned community members indicating that trust has been established within the community. Residents have indicated that others within the community are now interested in participating; the next community meeting where the survey will be discussed will be documentation of increased community engagement.

-Plans are to present the PACE project to West Boca Community Council (tentative date June 1, 2006) and the CCRT in the near future. The support of the OCR and the CCRT will help with identification of resources in finding solutions to priority issues in the community.

Past Palm Beach County Updates

December, 2005