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Actions Initiated at the HOPE Convention - October 29, 2007
At HOPE's recent Convention, two issues were selected from four for research prior to the spring 2008 Nehemiah Action.
Selected
Actions 2008: |
Over the past several months, research teams have investigated and determined what actions are feasible and useful for the spring 2008 Nehemiah Action. Actions were voted upon and approved by 368 HOPE members at the 2008 Rally (March 10, 2008 at the New Greater Friendship Missionary Baptist Church.
Homelessness
Homelessness is an increasing problem throughout the nation as housing costs have increased to the point where the Housing Wage in Hillsborough County for a two bedroom aparment today has risen to an annual income of $31,000 from $23,000 in 2000 ($31,000 = $15.50/hr, $23,000=$11.50/hr).
Specific Actions - What We Seek to Get Officials to Agree To:
Because it is vital for the homeless to have the following two items in order to obtain jobs, housing, make doctors appointments, connect with family, and get needed services, we seek:
1) get Hillsborough
County to allocate funding for persons to acquire Birth Certificates and
IDs, and
2) have access to an effective
Voice Mail system.
Homelessness Committee Report and Recommendations:
Homeless & Affordable
Housing Committee and/or Research Meetings during the past 3 months were
attended by the following members: Rev. Tom Atchison, Cliff Ncuffer, Arlene
Aranha, Lee Hoffrnan, Carol Partington, Jean Claude
Guerrier, Elvia Ortiz, Melanie Wemer, Mike Bokesch, Fawzi Elmohd, Rev. Warren
Clark, Rev. Albert Wells, Minister
Sylvain, Carol Maultsby, Karen Gawronski, Khadijah Rivera, Michael
Waldron, Jacob Dacker, Jonathan Garrett, Edwin
Ramirez, Mary Fletcher, Ricardo Vargas, Michelle Barron, Hayden Sutherland,
Ted Micceri, Jerry Hinnant, Lois Price,-
Earline Byrd, Sr. Dorothy Dwyer.
11 Research Meetings were held with the following experts to better understand the problems and potential local solutions related to homelessness and affordable housing: Pat Frank, Clerk of the Circuit Court; Howie Carroll, County Affordable Housing Officer, Thomas Scott, Tampa City Council; Warren Weathers, Deputy Chief Property Appraisers Office; Rayme Nuckles, Hillsborough County Homeless Coalition CEO; Cindy Miller, Tampa Growth Management & Development Ser-vices; Sharon West, Tampa Housing; Mark Sharpe, Hillsborough County Commissioner; Jan MacLeod, Criminal Justice Liaison; Ed Perry, Resource Manager 2-1-1 Tampa Bay; Robert Blount, Abe Brown Ministries.
The Problem In Hillsborough County: Many of our groups have members who are currently homeless, have been homeless, or are on the edge of possibly becoming homeless. Although individual and congregational ministries reach out to the homeless to give food, clothing, financial assistance, shelter or a place to sleep on our doorsteps, as well as other assistance, we are unable to offer any lasting solution. A-nd, the current lack of affordable housing leaves the efforts of many groups with little impact. The services and housing available don't begin to meet the needs of the thousands of homeless men, women and children in the county. According to the 2007 Hillsborough County Homeless Coalition Homeless Census, 9,532 are homeless in Hillsborough County, with 91% becoming homeless in Florida. 43% are experiencing homelessness for the first time. 16% are children. 37% are female, and 63% are male. At least 1,500 children attending Hillsborough County Public Schools are homeless. There is no "one" type of homeless person, for homelessness is crosses all racial, religious, class, ethnic, sexual, and cultural lines in Hillsborough County. 56% of the homeless have some kind of income, with 37% of those being employed. 47% were Caucasian, 32% were African-American, 12% were of Hispanic descent, and 18% are veterans. Just as the general population, homeless also suffer from various health issues.About 23% have drug and alcohol addictions, 18% suffer from mental illness, 28% have a physical disability, and 1% have the HIV/AIDS virus. Many people are stuck on ' the streets since they do not have a way to communicate with those who might provide housing, employment, medical attention or necessary ser-vices. Also, many on the streets do not have sufficient identification needed to get employment, housing, or services. This makes being on the street a dead end, surviving on the sporadic kindness of others, with no way of obtaining self-sufficiency or moving out of homelessness.
Causes Of Homelessness: Homelessness is defined as being "without a home". The biggest contributing factor to homelessness is the shortage of affordable housing for people with limited incomes and poverty. Other challenges threatening the self-sufficiency of people are low-paying jobs, unemployment, financial crisis, catastrophic illness, lack of needed ser-vices, physical and mental illness, drug and alcohol addiction, domestic violence, insufficient education, family breakup, natural disasters, divorce, and/or death of a relative."
Issue Development: HOPE is looking for systemic ways to decrease the number of people who are homeless. Housing and efficient services are critical. Last year HOPE was able to get the county to expedite rent assistance checks so landlords can receive checks within 11 days, including the offering of direct deposit for landlords. Our current areas of focus include getting Hillsborough County to allocate funding for persons to acquire Birth Certificates and IDs, and have access to a Voice Mail system, in order to obtain jobs, housing, make doctors appointments, connect with family, and get needed services.
Power Persons Who Can Do It: It will take proactive steps by County and City governments to seriously address the problem of homelessness in Hillsborough County. Hillsborough County Commissioners, the City of Tampa, the Homeless Coalition, and County Affordable Housing Department have the power to address homelessness and affordable housing in Hillsborough County. We need them to gain the political will to do so. HOPE is inviting to the Action the County Commissioners and others we met with in our research meetings.
Healthcare
As healthcare costs have rise at multiple times the rate of inflation over the past 25 years, while over 40 million Americans lack health insurance, increasingly strident calls for improved healthcare have been rising. Hillsborough County's Indigent Health Care Program has served as a national model in the past, but this is one area with numerous possible actions could occura at the Nehemiah assembly in the spring of 2008.
Specific Actions - What We Seek to Get Officials to Agree to at the Nehemiah Action Assembly:
1) identifying strategies that will 'increase access
to dental and oral health services in Hillsborough County by reducing the barriers
identified and
2) that the county
improves and/or expands existing dental and oral health services.
In the area
of access to information we recommend
1)
the Department of Health and Social Services improve the content of the resource
directory and the distribution of the
directory
2) researching ways to improve the Health Department's Community
Health Advisers Program
3) that the
committee continues to look at ways to improve the referrals provided when
callers contact a hot-line number.
Health Care Committee Report and Recommendations:
Health Care Committee and/or Research Meetings during the past 3 months were attended by the following: Rev. Rick Malivuk, Rev. Joe Johnson, Yoemy Waller, AnnMarie Armstrong, Rev. Ron Heinz, Anna Heinz, Don Bushkie, Fr. Denniston Kerr, Fred Johnson, Gail Cross, Temple Taudte, Andrea Walsh, Alberto Portella, Bill Black, Cynthia Haas, Jane Brown, Phil Haas, Kim Jordan, Michael Hopkins, Charles Farrington, Willie White, Consuela Rice & Priss Streater
11 Research Meetings
were held with the following experts to better understand the problems related
to health care and potential solutions: Brantz Rozel,
CEO of Suncoast Community Health Centers; Charles Bottoms,
CEO of Tampa Family Health Centers; Lisette Adkins, Staff of Westcoast
District Dental Association; Deborah Meegan
Executive Director of Brandon Outreach Clinic; Sonia Woycke; Staff of
Volunteer Health Services; Bob Costello,
Director of Quality Planning BayCare Health System; Dr. Bruce Waterman,
past president Hillsborough County Dental
Association & founder Smile Friday's Dental Program; Sister Sara Proctor,
Staff of Catholic Mobile Medical;
Dr. Doug Holt, Director of HiUsborough County Health Department; Marlinda Fulton,
Staff of Hillsborough County
Dental Association; Dr. Ervin Cerveny, Dental Director of Suncoast
Health Centers
The Problem in Hillsborough County: In October, at the Annual Convention,
370 people voted to prioritize Health Care as a problem area to address in
2008. Access to health care in Hillsborough County was a focus in a 2006/2007
report by the Hillsborough County Health Department. In their report we read
that 10% of adults surveyed were unable
to get medical care *in the last 12 months. Health insurance is a strong predictor
of access to health care; approximately
14% or 165,000 of Hillsborough County residents under 65 have no health insurance.
23% of adults had no personal
health care provider. In our research we narrowed our focus to two areas where
we found a lack of access. One is a lack
of access to dental- services. Another is a lack of access to information regarding
health services that are available.
Dental Care - Access to dental care, or oral health care, is a concern across the state of Florida. Oral health indicators in Hillsborough County are consistently below state wide indicators. According to the State Oral Health Improvement Plan for Disadvantaged Floridians (SOHIP) 45.9% of low-income adults over the age of 65 have no teeth in Hillsborough h County compared to 13.4% of low-income adults over 65 in the state. In Hillsborough County only 45.1 % of low-income adults have annual dental visits, compared to an average of 53.7% in the state. SOHIP reports that a key barrier restricting provision of and. access to oral health care is a lack of knowledge among policy makers that oral health is important.
We have found that the Hillsborough County Health Department has not provided general dental care since 1997.
The county health care plan no longer includes general dental care. Dentists have reported that Medicaid and Medicare dental health plans do not provide sufficient reimbursements for services, so practitioners are discouraged from accepting Medicaid and Medicare patients. Other obstacles to obtaining oral health care are: high cost (even when discounted with insurance or by health centers); restrictive eligibility guidelines (particularly those that exclude adults, people outside income guidelines, and undocumented immigrants); hours of operation which conflict with work schedules; wait times; and locations which are not accessible by public transportation or in rural communities. We have learned from practitioners and people experiencing the problem that there is a need for mobile dental ser-vices especially in rural areas. We have also heard from people use the existing services that even the reduced fee (sliding scale and discounted) services are often too expensive.
Access to Information - Accurate and appropriate information about services in Hillsborough County is not available in our congregations and in the broader community. The County Resource Directory provides a list of referrals, but resources like the Federally Qualified Health Centers and private non-profit clinics are not listed. And, the county does not widely distribute this directory. Besides seeking information within a congregations community members may look to the crisis hot-line, 2-1 - 1, or the county hotline. These phone numbers provide referrals to services. Yet, our members report that these hotlines often provide inappropriate referrals to services which callers are not eligible for or to agencies that do not provide the services the caller is seeking. Through our research we have learned that practitioners believe face-to-face communication, or word-of-mouth, is the best way of disseminating information about health. We would like to see such strategies implemented and improved.
Issue Development: In the area of dental care the committee recommends 1) identifying strategies that will 'increase access to dental and oral health services in Hillsborough County by reducing the barriers identified and 2) that the county improves and/or expands existing dental and oral health services. In the area of access to information we recommend 1) the Department of Health and Social Services improve the content of the resource directory and the distribution of the directory 2) researching ways to improve the Health Department's Community Health Advisers Program 3) that the committee continues to look at ways to improve the referrals provided when callers contact a hot-line number.
Power People Who Can Do It: Dr. Gordon and Dr. Holt from the County Health Department, Dr. Cerveny and Brantz Roszel from the Suncoast Health Centers, Charles Bottoms from the Tampa Family Health Centers, and the Department of Health and Social Services.
Nehemiah Action 2008
When: |
Monday,
April 7th @ 6:30 PM |
Where: |
Lake Magdalene United Methodist Church |
Other Concerns Considered at the Convention
Transportation
Public transporation in Tampa suffers from a variety of weaknesses that make it almost useless for many who need the service. We achieved success in some areas, but this remains an arena of great need for the less affluent members of our community and will remain a HOPE action item in the coming year.
Education
Problem - Many children in Florida are unable to read at grade level. Also, because education is vital for a democratic population, and beause less affluent schools and neighborhoods receive less support from the school system than do more affluent ones, the Hillsborough County education system requires continual supervision by community groups.
Historic Action Items and Background
At HOPE's 2006 Convention, The Two Nehemiah Action Items recommended by the Research Teams, following 2006 Convention beginnings, were approved for the April 23 Action.
Selected
Actions 2006: |
Historic Work
Current Items - Following months of research, on March 26th, the following items were approved for further research and possible execution at the April 23rd Nehemiah Action:
Successful Effects of Historic Action - Bus service is extended to midnight during the week and two extra hours on weekends on 9 bus routes in FY 2007. Began on November 9th 2006. Additionally, to help support more bus shelters along routes, advertising is now allowed, which makes more money available to build and maintain shelters.
Problem - Public transporation in Tampa suffers from a variety of weaknesses that make it almost useless for many who need the service. We achieved success in some areas, but this remains an arena of great need for the less affluent members of our community and will remain a HOPE action item in the coming year.
Resources for the HOPE Community
| Jobs and Related Resources | Data and Other Resources |
| Education and Job Tranining | |
| Public Transportation |
Jobs and Related Sources (Back to TOP)
TampaBay Workforce Alliance (813) 740-4680 - Free services, work with job seekers and employers seeking jobs. They help find jobs, have a bank of computers for job seekers to use and help one determine what training might best fit an individual, either provide training or find a training locale and cover most, if not all costs of training (private, school districts, universities, community colleges, technical schools, etc.).
Employ Florida - The parent organization of the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance. Their logo is:
Looking for a job? Looking for employees? Look no Further
Hillsborough County Health & Social Services Department Employment Opportunity Program (EOP) - At eight centers throughout Hillsborough County, this group helps with (1) job readiness, (2) removing possible barriers to employment, (3) partnerships with employers, (4) referring job seekers to employers.
The Agency for Workforce Innovation - They are responsible for implementing policy in the areas of workforce development, welfare transition, unemployment compensation, labor market information, early learning and school readiness.
Florida Choices - Career development reources from the Florida Department of Education.
Education and Job Training (Back to TOC)
FACTs – Terrific resource for anyone seeking information regarding career, job training and/or general information. For Jobs, use the Career Planning Popup Menus Also, the TampaBay Workforce Alliance (813) 740-4680.
Florida Department of Education - Links to all types of education and workforce development.
Hillsborough County School District
GED (General Education Diploma) and ESOL/ESL (English as a Second Language)
Financial Aid Resources - For higher education
The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education
Southern Regional Education Board - Great Resource for South East Region higher education information
State Support for Higher Education - Monies allocated by states to education beyond high school.
Data Sources and Other Resources (Back to TOC)
Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy - South Florida group that conducts research related to community social and justice issues.
The Census Bureau - Florida Information
Labor Market Statistics - Compiled reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for local regions.
National Center for Education Statistics - Vast amount of information on almost any topic relating to education and job training.
One Stop Management Information System (OSMIS) - Job seeker and employer labor market information (requires that one register to access services - this is free).
Public Transportation in Hillsborough County (Back to TOC)
Hartline - Busses throughout the city and county. Discount Fares and Express Busses are available.
Streetcar - Connects downtown to Central Ybor.