POLK COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
July PACE-EH Update

Date:     August 15, 2006

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

From:     Jill Weinischke
                Community Assistance Specialist

Subject: North Combee and Skyview Community-PACE-EH Updates
                Polk County Health Department, Environmental Health Division

North Combee

Project Summary
August 3rd ? attended monthly meeting and introduced myself to the community.
August 10th ? attended President?s Alliance meeting through Polk Neighborhood Partnership Office

Work plan and Process Update

PACE-EH Tasks

Action

Outcome

Target Date

Task 13: Evaluate Progress and Plan for the Future

On August 3, 2006, Tim Mayer and I visited the North Combee ? Combee Area Revitalization Effort (CARE) meeting. The group?s president is a great supporter of PACE EH and is currently the President of the Polk County President?s Alliance which represents 65 communities in the county. He is our ?biggest fan? and praises us at every opportunity. We will continue to monitor their progress particularly as it pertains to the street lights project scheduled for 2007 for the west side of Combee Road.

Polk County Environmental Health, through our FEHA group, plan to assist CARE by providing manpower for an Adopt-a-Road clean-up scheduled for September 23rd.

Monitoring

Scheduled

Ongoing

Sept. 23, 2006

Outstanding Issues/Concerns
Unidentified

Miscellaneous
NA

Skyview

Project Summary
Being new to this position (just one month), I have been working to re-establish contact with the organization?s leaders. On Monday, August 7, 2006, I attended their monthly meeting. On August 14th the organization?s president asked me to present PACE EH as their monthly interest topic for the September meeting. Tim Mayer and I have discussed this and will accept this opportunity to make the initial PACE EH presentation.

We also plan to be part of their community-wide Health Fair scheduled for Saturday, September 9th. For the next 3 weeks I will focus on preparing for this initial meeting.

Work plan and Process Update

PACE-EH Tasks	Action	Outcome	Target Date
Task 1: Determine Community Capacity	Partnership with the county government including support from Board of County Commissioners, Office of Neighborhood Partnership, Code Enforcement, Natural Resources, Solid Waste, Utilities, Parks and Recreation Divisions	In Progress	Aug. 22, 2006
	Partnership with the Skyview community group	Completed
	Partnership with Keep Polk County Beautiful	In Progress	Aug. 18, 2006
	Partnership with Polk County Sheriff?s Office	In Progress	Aug. 25, 2006
	Partnership with other Polk County Health Department divisions	Completed
	Potential strengths and weaknesses of community outlined.	In Progress	Sept. 9, 2006
	First community meeting conducted.	Scheduled	Sept. 11, 2006
Task 2: Define and Characterize the Community	The area for this project is known as the Skyview Community. The area is in an unincorporated part of the county directly adjacent to the City of Lakeland. With an area of approximately five square miles, it has a population of around 5,000. The population is estimated to be 72% white, 8% black, and 20% Hispanic/Mexican. The percentage of citizens over 55 years of age is 40% which is very high. Residents primarily live in mobile homes although there are small percentage of older block homes including duplexes and other rental properties. There is a high concentration of vacant properties and homes for sale which has led to hazardous and nuisance conditions. There are extreme problems with the sewer system as it been in receivership through the county and finally turned over to the city of Lakeland (which provides the drinking water) which has plans to assess the homeowners to hook up to their system. Many homeowners cannot afford this assessment. This area has a high concentration of septic systems. Many of the roads are private, unpaved and in disrepair. Lighting and sidewalks are an issue. There are some pockets of crime ? mostly drug related. Crime statistics forthcoming from the Polk County Sheriff?s Office. Roaming animals are a nuisance. The Polk County Code Enforcement division is undergoing a county-wide makeover which will hopefully help this and other communities address nuisance properties in their area in a more expeditious manner. approximate numbers as of 8/15/06	*In Progress

Outstanding Issues/Concerns
Outline some of the challenges you face in implementing PACE EH in your selected community. Express any difficulties, challenges or opportunities you may have encountered with other Government Agencies, business entities and/or Community organizations, during this reporting period. Elaborate on how you plan to address these emerging issues.

The community group is very excited about PACE EH and ready for the process to begin. During the lapse of time due to the position vacancy, the community may have become discouraged; however, the individuals present at the August meeting did not indicate any frustrations to me?they were just happy I was there.

Challenges: I have observed during my conversations both in person and on the phone with the community president, that she appears to do all the work herself or with the help of a very small group (2-3 others and her vice president is in a wheelchair). Together they have gone door to door. She needs to delegate and involve a much larger group for this to be successful. I will work with her to develop some delegation skills and perhaps provide board training.

In addition, my notes indicate that in the 3 years that this community has been informally monitored, attendance at meetings has gone from about 60 people to 20. Much work is to be done to attract new members. The upcoming Health Fair will be a prime opportunity for this.
It is still early in the process to identify other challenges.

Miscellaneous
Below please find pictures indicative of the Skyview community in its current state. Next month I will provide pictures from the Health Fair (September 9) and the PACE EH presentation (September 11).