POLK COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
August PACE-EH Update

Date:     September 20, 2006

To:         Daniel Parker, MSP
                Assistant 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

Project Summary
The Combee Area Revitalization Effort (C.A.R.E.) of North Combee, Lakeland, was one of the NACCHO demonstration sites. As part of the evaluation process, we attend monthly meetings when available and are assisting with an upcoming Adopt-A-Road project.

Work plan and Process Update

PACE-EH Tasks	Action	Outcome	Target Date
Task 13: Evaluate Progress and Plan for the Future	Attended their meeting on September 7^th.	Monitoring	Ongoing
	Planning to assist with Adopt-A-Road Project to be held on Saturday, Sept. 23^rd	Scheduled	Sept. 23, 2006
	The group has indicated a desire for DOH assistance with follow-up with regard to their street lighting project along Combee Road. We are waiting for specific instructions

Outstanding Issues/Concerns
NA the group has a solid base of volunteers and is very active in its community. I see our role to be a technical advisor and community liaison when needed.

Miscellaneous

Skyview Project

Project Summary
Our office participated in Skyview's community-wide Health Fair held on Saturday, September 9th. There was extremely low turnout and although several people visited the Blood Mobile and Health Bus located outside, they were not informed of the inside vendors. Publicity was scarce and the coordinator was skeptical of the newspaper printing anything. Our office assisted with a news release on behalf of the group since they did not have the resources, and it was published the day of the event.

In an effort to promote both the Health Fair and the community meeting scheduled for September 11th (they were 2 days apart), I visited residents and businesses within the community to encourage them to post flyers in their neighborhoods/parks and assessed the capacity for business support. Every business was supportive and assisted to the maximum that their corporate policies allowed. I spent the morning after the initial meeting by visiting the larger companies that posted flyersc and thanked them for their support as I removed any remaining flyers.

On September 11th (the community's regularly scheduled meeting time), Tim Mayer and I presented the PACE EH overview to the 20 folks in attendance. Regrettably, this appeared to be a bad night due to remembrance programs for Sept. 11th. Both the community president and I had confirmations from a much larger number of individuals who indicated their desire to attend.

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, and Parks & Recreation Divisions	Ongoing
	? Partnership with Keep Polk County Beautiful	Ongoing
	? Partnership with Polk County Sheriff's Office	Ongoing
	? Partnership with other Polk County Health Department divisions	Ongoing
	? Potential strengths and weaknesses of community outlined	In Progress	Oct. 4, 2006
	? First community meeting conducted	Completed	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. There is a higher than average (for Polk County) population of seniors aged 55 and older. More research needs to be conducted and resources need to be determined to more accurately define the makeup of the community. I will work with county and university economic development staff to better assess this area. In addition, crime statistics will help with our assessment. approximate numbers as of 8/15/06	*In Progress

Outstanding Issues/Concerns
The Skyview Community Association (SCA) was very attentive during the initial PACE EH workshop. There were a few questions and the group appears anxious to get the process underway, however, it is unclear if they really understand how much work is involved. SCA decided to hold its regularly scheduled meeting next month (Oct. 2) and will devote every other monthly meeting to PACE EH. During this next month, I will continue to do research as to the capacity of the community to undertake this project and work on ways to communicate the expectations more clearly.
Challenges: I still have concerns that the group does not have the infrastructure to perform the tasks of this project. The community president challenged those present at the September meeting to step up to be involved. By the October meeting, we will have a better idea if this group wants to go through the PACE EH process or just have us visit and be active as technical advisors with their environmental issues.

Additional challenges are yet to be identified.

Miscellaneous

Wahneta Project

Project Summary
The Wahneta area of Polk County went through an accelerated PACE EH process in 2004. As part of the evaluation process, I attended last month's monthly meeting. The group has asked for technical assistance with a Parks and Recreation grant to upgrade their baseball facility, which has been overlooked by county Parks and Recreation personnel for over a decade.

Work plan and Process Update

PACE-EH Tasks	Action	Outcome	Target Date
Task 13: Evaluate Progress and Plan for the Future	? Attended their meeting on September 5th	Ongoing	Ongoing
	? Assisting with research for their Parks and Recreation park improvement grant which is due on Sept. 30	Ongoing	Sept. 30, 2006
	? Planning to attend future meetings to establish a helpful presence	Ongoing

Outstanding Issues/Concerns
The group held officer elections in August and is heavily involved in a Parks and Recreation grant application. There were no minorities present at the September meeting (this community is 50/50 divided White and Hispanic).

As Task 13 progresses, I see our role increasing with regard to facilitating grant applications to bring their water system up to code.