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Broward COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Final PACE-EH Update
August 2005
Submitted by: Albert P. Welch
Department: Environmental Health
Director: Howard Rosen
Entity: Broward County Health Department
During the months of April, May, and June, progress with PACE - EH and
the citizens of Collier City has been minimum at best. The reason
for this decline in the progress of PACE is due to the continuous
road construction on 27thAve. People are having a difficult time to
and from their homes, let alone, trying to attend a PACE - EH
meeting. Tensions are high in the community because most feel that
the construction should have been completed 7 months ago. However,
in the mist of it all, meetings took place, goals were accomplished,
and the PACE - EH process was followed. I will explain, in
chronological order, the events (meetings, time and places) that led
to some goals to be reached. Also, I will include some background to
the PACE processes develop by NACCHO.
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February 2nd 2005- with director Howard Rosen and
Commissioner Brummer present, 43 citizens (in attendance) of Collier
City voice their concerns about the community. Some of these
concerns included, no street lights in high crime areas, trash in
vacant lots, sidewalks need repairing, health education, etc.
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March 28th 2005 - PACE meeting with citizens of
Collier City to discuss recent construction in the area and how this
construction will benefit the community. Also, some residents
expressed their concerns of speeding on certain streets. During this
meeting the PACE - EH council was developing.
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April 5th 2005 - meeting with PACE council. Some
members felt that there was a need to educate the citizens of
Collier City on environmental health. Mr. Hunter and I developed an
idea to have a health fair and present this idea at the next
meeting.
Community concerns should not be approached with pre-determined value
judgments or assumptions based on existing data (which may be
incomplete or inaccurate). All community concerns are relevant and
taken into account. It may help to remember that acknowledging a
concern does not necessarily mean that the local public health
agency has responsibility for its solution
(1)
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April 27th 2005 - during PACE meeting realistic
goals were set for the community by the residents and how these
goals are going to be accomplished:
1) Speed Bumps installed on 9th and 13thStreet.
Resident, Mrs. Buhler, suggested that we advocate to commissioner
Brummer to have the city of Pompano to install the bumps along with
the construction in the area.
2) Bullet proof casings for the street lights. In addition, to the
speed bumps, this plan will also go through the council of Pompano
Beach.
3) Area sprayed for mosquitoes. This can be accomplished through
mosquito control of Broward County.
4) Trash pick - up in vacant lots. By contacting local entities and
various help groups to volunteer their time in accomplishing this
goal.
5) Educating the citizens of Collier City on environmental health
issues. At this time, Mr. Hunter and I presented the idea of having
a health fair to educate the residents.
During the PACE process, I discovered that there were groups in
Collier City trying to accomplish similar goals for the community;
however, there was no communication between these groups. I decided
if I can get some of these groups to communicate and work together,
not only may the goals of the community be achieved but the trust
between resident to resident can be strengthen. Hence, with this
idea in mind, Mr. Hunter and I went to the directors of each group
trying to develop a coalition that will benefit the community as a
whole. For the most part, we where successful in presenting our
ideas about PACE to certain groups who were working in the
community. The organizations that agreed to our proposal of uniting
are as follows:
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With the assistance of Rev. Thompson and Deacon Jones,
I was able to introduce/explain the PACE program to the members of
New Shiloh Baptist Church. During this meeting, we where able to get
8 members to volunteer to help with the cleaning of trash in vacant
lots.
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Met with the Alcorn Group of South Florida. The Alcorn
organization focus is registering citizens to vote and other
political agendas. The president of this organization is Sharon
Peterson. This group played a critical role in assisting PACE with
the campaigning of speed bumps.
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Youth Athletic League of Collier City Coach Anthony
& Coach Moss directs this organization of Collier City youths. They
provide activities, field trips, and summer programs for high - risk
youths. In addition to providing youths for trash pick- up in vacant
lots, Coach Anthony and Moss where advocates of the PACE process.
It is important to recognize that the success of the team will
depend, in large part, upon the engagement of members, and the
comfort of the individuals involved, and the relationships that are
develop among team members. Attention should be paid to creating an
environment that fosters trust, communication, and fun.
(2)
This quote epitomizes the groups and individuals who worked the PACE
process in Collier City. By having these groups work together along
with the citizens of Collier City, the communication at PACE
meetings became more environmental and socially productive. In turn
we where able to accomplish some of the goals that where set in the
month of April.
1. Speed bumps are being installed on 9th and
13thstreet. With the help of the Alcorn group we where able to
persuade Commissioner Brummer and the Pompano Beach Council to
install speed bumps on the most dangerous streets (in terms of
speeding) in Collier City.
2. Mosquito Control Mr. Hunter, a PACE member, noticed a influx of
mosquitoes in the area and contacted Joe Marhefka (via Howard Rosen)
of the Mosquito Control Department of Broward County. After
investigation, the area was sprayed for mosquitoes.
3. Trash Pick-Up This was a huge success! With the help of Coach
Anthony & Coach Moss Youth Athletic League and the members from New
Shiloh Baptist and Alcorn Group, the trash that has been
accumulating in vacant lots is being removed on a weekly basis.
4. Educating the citizens on Environmental and Social Health Issues
this goal will be reached on July 27th 2005 when the Broward
County Health Department and Holy Cross Hospital will host a Health
Fair at the Jim and Jan Library in Collier City. While looking for
participants for the health fair I was fortunate to meet Vanessa T.,
coordinator of events for Holy Cross Hospital. She advised me that
it would more beneficial to the community if we can combine our
departments and host one fair that will served the needs of everyone
involved. For instance, Holy cross will provide the Social Issues
of Health and we will provide the Environmental Issues of Health.
Holy Cross will provide immunizations for all the children in the
community along with providing cholesterol, blood pressure, and
diabetic screenings for adults. Albert Welch, Kendra Bergman, and
Marvin Berger, will conduct the Environmental health display. In
addition to the display, environmental health surveys will be
provided to the residents in effort to get a better understanding on
the community knowledge of environmental health. During the months
before the fair, members of the PACE group and I have been
advertising the fair through a variety of entities; schools,
churches, stores, local meetings, etc. by doing so; we are expecting
a tremendous showing of citizens to this event.
Out of the five goals that where set: Speed Bumps, Bullet Proof
Casings for the street lights, Trash in Vacant Lots, Area Sprayed
for Mosquitoes, and Educating the Citizens on Environmental Health,
3 of those goals have been accomplish and a 4th goal will be reached
on July 27th at the health fair.
On June 29th 2005, Marvin Berger was introduced to members of the PACE
group as the new liaison of PACE EH. He will assume responsibility
of community assessment of Collier City
In Closing:
The PACE EH assessment process provides a place to start in
development of a public health leadership role within the
environmental arena. The PACE EH process includes 13 tasks for
development, it is estimated that the first 6 tasks takes an average
of 18 24 months to complete. In terms of Collier City, tasks 1-6
where completed within reason considering the time restraints of the
program. We were also able to venture into some areas of tasks 9-12
(Create issue profiles, Rank Issues, Set Priorities, Develop a
Plan). Above all, I believe having the citizens of Collier City to
trust in a system that gives them empowerment was the biggest
benefit of PACE, especially in a community where the citizens are
resistant (due to being neglected) to any system placed by state or
local government.
Works Citied
(1) Protocol for Assessing
Community Excellence in Environmental Health; NACCHOs CEHA Program,
page 25, May 2000
(2) Protocol for Assessing
Community Excellence in Environmental Health; NACCHOs CEHA Program,
page 19, May 2000
July 2004
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