The instruction are to pick three strength and three risks that this community f
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The instruction are to pick three strength and three risks that this community faces. The reading is below the instructions from the profesor. Thank you!
Instruction: Students should then create a one page summary that identifies and discusses 3 neighborhood strengths and 3 neighborhood risks.
The student should use the information gathered during his/her tour of downtown Promise Heights and include, for each strength and risk, rationale that integrates leading content for this assignment.
Reading at Promise Heights:
Everyone is welcome at Promise Heights Community Church. It was built 100 years ago, and is in need of some repairs. It has a very dedicated and lively congregation who make sure there is a sense of community. There are many outreach activities, and parishioners serve meals to the homeless on Monday nights. This is the only place of worship in Promise Heights. The membership consists of more elderly persons than young, but the chapel is known in the community as a place that offers refuge from the daily struggles of life. The minister coordinates with congregations from surrounding areas to serve the people of Promise Heights. Every Saturday at noon, bag lunches are handed out to community members who are in need–and over 125 people are served regularly through this ministry. On Mondays, an after-school club that includes religious teachings is regularly attended by about 25 children in Kindergarten through 4th grade. Each summer, a church from a neighboring community hosts a huge carnival on the church grounds for the children of Promise Heights. Pastor Miles Jackson, a 50-year-old African American man, has been pastor of the Promise Heights Community Church for the past year. His previous church was in an affluent neighborhood about 100 miles away. He feels like he has been called to work with the families in Promise Heights, and realizes that these families do not have as many financial resources as in his previous parish. He feels like he has been placed at Promise Heights Community Church to help the parishioners reach their full potential.
“Hello! Welcome to The Pawn Shop! How can I help you? “Oh–you aren’t sure what services I provide? Well let me give a rundown of what my shop does. I’m not a bank, but I work with people who need money. Everything’s about the money! I do the quick pay-day loans–you know for people who are getting paid next Friday but that’s still a week away and they need money now. So I charge them a fee to loan them money against their next paycheck. And then they pay me back when their next paycheck comes. “I also have bail bond services–that’s a really steady part of my business. So anyone who is booked into the Promise Heights jail and wants to be released until their court date, typically has to post bond. Family members or friends are usually the ones that pay the bond. How it works is that you or a family member or friend will need to pay me a fee and provide collateral for the entire amount of the bond (collateral would be something like a home or property of value like a car or gold jewelry that could cover the full bond if you don’t show up at your court date). As long as you show up at your court date, you only owe me the original fee. Works pretty slick! Lots of people around here seem to need my bail bond services for things like DUIs or drugs. “The other part of my business is a pawnshop. My customers will bring in things of value that they own and then I loan them money in exchange for the item. I will hold the item for a while until the customer pays me back, and then they will get the item back. Sometimes I just purchase items from my customers so they can get some cash, and then I sell the item to someone else. It can be a really sweet deal for me if I can get the customer to agree to a low value! Then I can sell the item to someone else and make a good profit!”
There are 24 units in the Promise Heights apartment building. Twelve units are designated as Section 8 housing. Section 8 provides federal housing assistance through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Low income people get help paying their rent through the Section 8 program. Interested tenants can find out how to apply for Section 8 housing at the Promise Heights Human Services Center. A monthly bus pass costs $72. There is an average of one personally owned vehicle per 12 people in Promise Heights. Many people who have jobs commute by bus to nearby communities as there is limited employment in Promise Heights. Sometimes the buses are late, which causes the citizens to be late for their jobs. It is difficult for single parents to get home in time to get their children off the bus.
Cook’s Restaurant & Bar has been closed down twice in the past 2 years for health code violations. This restaurant includes a bar, which is crowded from 10:00 a.m. to closing. There is an average of 8 police calls per month to Cook’s Restaurant & Bar.
There’s also a city park. We really like to come here during the day with friends and grandkids. There’s a nice playground for the kids and the benches and picnic tables aren’t too bad. We always bring plastic bags with us to pick up garbage just to kinda do our part. But you know, most of us don’t feel very safe around here at night–over there in that corner we find cigarette butts, snuff boxes, and beer bottles every morning. We really think there are drug deals going down here at night. Since Promise Heights is a small community, the Forest Garage is also the main gas station in the area. A long time establishment, the Forest Garage is known for its affordable and reputable auto mechanic and auto body services. The Forest Garage earned the Promise Heights “Business of the Year” award for their ongoing service to the community.
Several community gatherings and events such as “homework help” after school, ECFE (Early Childhood Family Education) and community education classes on topics such as parenting or managing a bank account, AA meetings, and neighborhood council meetings are held in the Stegman Community Center. Recently, a retired member of the community, who loves music, started a guitar lesson night at the center with some donated guitars. So far 3 teens have joined him weekly to learn to play guitar. In addition, the Medical Reserve Corp for Promise Heights County meets here monthly. A food shelf and two Head Start preschool classrooms are also found in the Stegman Community Center. Of the 500 children aged 6 to 18 in Promise Heights, about 425 attend the K-12 public school system. Most of those who do not attend have dropped out of high school. A limited number of children attend school elsewhere. Here at Lupash Elementary, over 90% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunches.
“Welcome to Greg’s Corner Store! Lots of people from the neighborhood shop here–they like to get bread and milk from me. Most people are buying things like soda, candy, donuts, frozen pizza, beer, and cigarettes though. I try to keep fruit like apples and bananas around–and maybe some yogurt and string cheese–but they often spoil before they are purchased so I can’t keep much in stock. I sure wish my customers would choose healthy stuff a little more often. “Hey–guess what? I’m also the Mayor of Promise Heights. I’ve lived here my whole life and I know most everyone by name–and where they live and who they are related to. “We have a few problems in our community like poverty, drugs, and not enough good paying jobs, so if kids do finish high school and start college, they often do not come back. I really wish we could do better by them. “I do try to keep an eye out for troubled folks. I have a little space in my storeroom where I’ve let people cool down for a bit and try to figure out their next steps when they don’t feel safe or are in trouble. I’m not really sure how people find out about it, because I don’t talk about it much–but word gets around that my store is safe.” The corner store is a typical convenience store. Although it offers a few fresh fruits, vegetables, and dairy products for purchase, the biggest sales are candy, soda, pizza, beer, and tobacco. The closest full service grocery store is a few miles down the road from Promise Heights, so people need to either drive or take the bus to purchase groceries. The corner store is owned by the current mayor who is very involved in the community. In the back room of the store is a table and chairs that are used sometimes by people from Promise Heights who just need to get away. It’s like a little protected safe space right in the middle of Promise Heights.
FASTBurger is open 24 hours. Most people in the neighborhood eat here 3 to 4 times per week. The most popular items are $1 cheeseburgers, chicken nuggets, fries, and shakes. The restrooms are always dirty and rarely have paper towels or toilet paper. As you explore Promise Heights, look for places where people can buy food.
The hospital is an urban tertiary hospital. Patients come from the neighboring communities and are diverse in age and ethnic background. The hospital has a foundation board that provides a limited amount of charity care for those who cannot afford health insurance, or have unusually large medical bills. The hospital psychiatric unit is usually full. Even though the emergency room is not meant to be used as a primary care center, there are several families from the Promise Heights community who use the hospital frequently for minor medical issues such as sore throats or headaches. Also there is the neighborhood clinic where most of the residents receive primary care. The first floor of South Street Clinic is the primary care clinic and the second floor is the public health clinic. The primary care clinic sees patients with insurance and also has a sliding fee scale for those with lower incomes, no insurance, or high deductibles. Within the public health clinic, there is a WIC clinic and conference room. The public health clinic holds pre-school screening several times a year, and also has a monthly immunization clinic.
Hal’s Smoke Shop is a seller of tobacco, cigars, e-cigarettes, and hookah supplies. Hal has a hookah bar in his shop where people can use the popular hookah water pipes. Hal insists that his hookah pipes only use sweetened or flavored tobacco—but many in the community aren’t so sure that Hal only provides legal substances. But even if Hal is following the law, smoking water pipes is thought to be more toxic than smoking cigarettes. Police calls to Hal’s are common.
