Orange County Health Department is working in the city of Apopka for the PACE EH project. Apopka, known as the 'Indoor Foliage Capitol of the World', is home to plant and tree nurseries which employ some of the residents. The city of Apopka has a population of about 31,000 people, with 45,000 in the greater Apopka area. The median age is the low 30's with a high population of African Americans in the greater Apopka area and about 10% Hispanic. To the south west of the city is Lake Apopka, the fourth largest lake in Florida and one of its most polluted. The long agricultural history and pesticide use in the area has left the community with environmental and health related issues. Both the University of Florida and the Farm Workers Association have sponsored studies which demonstrated environmental degradation and some of its effects. Also found in the area are landfills, Superfund sites, plastics manufacturers, medical waste incinerator and sewage treatment sites. Alligators have been studied in the area and found to have mutations believed to be linked to pollution from the pesticides. As the farming industry has diminished over the years, so have the employment opportunities for many of the traditional laborers that reside in the area. Low income housing has been reduced as well leaving some families with historical ties to the community with no choice but to leave the area. A part-time PACE EH coordinator was hired by OCHD, Geraldine Matthews, an Apopka resident, who began communicating with the people in the target area of Apopka. A community meeting was held the 22nd of January 2007 where 29 issues were identified as the top environmental health concerns of the community. Based on the 29 concerns a survey was developed to rate the level of each concern between 1 and 10. So far 67 surveys have been collected and tallied with a goal of counting at least 100 surveys for a fair representation of the peoples concerns. A Spanish language version of the survey was translated from the English. Upon seeing the first surveys returned it was determined that the top five or six concerns would become the focus of the PACE EH project and the geographic area of focus might need to be lowered to a specific neighborhood or area of the city as the greater Apopka area may be too large to develop realistic goals for this project. One of the 29 issues raised in the community meeting, involving a railroad track crossing, was already addressed by the local government.
The greater Apopka area is quite large with a population of 45,000 people. Given the disparity of income and education levels the PACE EH project focus area will probably have to be limited to particular neighborhoods or an area within Apopka to be more effective. Also translating an English language survey into Spanish that was understandable by the local Hispanic population proved to be more difficult than first imagined. Some of the Hispanic population is believed to be migrant workers that are transient and/or illegal and may not want to participate in community meetings or development projects.
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