Community Assessment Essay Example for Free

Community Assessment Essay The name of my community is Buchanan County, Va. The total size of the area is approximately 504 square meters. (County Date, â€Å"n.d.†) The county was named after James Buchanan the 15th President of the United States. The approximate number of families in the community according to the U.S. Census is 6,866. (Population, 2010,) Buchanan County is a residential type of community. Buchanan County is a community with people who have been here from generation to generation. The community is a very family oriented community. Families are very close and always lived here all their life in this part of Virginia in this small pleasant community. The majority of houses in Buchanan County, VA are privately owned. Rental houses are of plenty in Buchanan. They are more trailers parks that are occupied and rented than rental houses. Most of the trailer parks and rental houses are in poor condition a lot of privately owned houses are in good condition. There’s maybe approximately 200ft in some areas between neighbors. The typical age of homes is 10-30 yr. old homes. Buchanan County has no subdivisions per driving thru the community. The population of the community is as follows: Infants as of 2007 where 203(Public records infants, 2007). The number of preschoolers are 149 which is 3%, Kindergarten 174 and 3.5%, grades 1-8 which is 2,089 and is 42.3%, grades 9-12 which is 1,132 and is 22.9%.(county assessment, 2011). Fifteen years and over marital status is as follows total is 22,457 (100%) of this age population, never married 4,069 (18.1%), now married 14,265 (63.5%), separated 641 (2.9%), , divorced 1,595 (7.1%), ages 30-34 is 1,418 (5.9%), ages 50-54 is 2,086 (8.7%), ages 85 and over is 308 (1.3%), and widowed 1,887 (8.4%).(census 2010, 2010) There are 10 public schools and 1 private in the county which are as follows Twin Valley Elementary/Middle School which is located in the Oakwood, VA area which is from PK-7 grade and has approximately 417 children receiving an education, Twin Valley High School which is located in the Pilgrims Knob, VA area which is from 8-12 grade and has approximately 286 children receiving an education, Grundy High School which is located in Grundy, VA which is from 9-12 grade and has approximately 472 children receiving an education, Hurley High School which is located in Hurley, VA which is from 8-12 grade and has approximately 257 children receiving an education, Haysi High School which is located in Haysi, VA which is from 9-12 grade and has approximately 284 children receiving an education, Hurley Middle School which is located in Hurley, VA which is from PK-7 grade and has approximately 419 children receiving an education. Council Elementary/Middle School which is located in Council, VA which is from PK-7 grade and has approximately 217 children receiving an education, Russell Prater Elementary School which is located in Vansant, VA which is from PK-5 grade and has approximately 116 children receiving an education, Riverview Elementary School which is located in Grundy, VA which is from PK-8 grade and has approximately 921 children receiving an education, JM Bevin’s which is located in Grundy, VA which is from K-5 grade and has approximately 132 children receiving an education, and Mountain mission is a private school located in Grundy, VA which is from PK-12 grade and has approximately 259 children receiving an education.(Schools, 2011) To the best of my knowledge I don’t believe we have any type of daycare facilities. Buchanan County has a head start program in the community. Almost every school has a Pre-k program. There is a public Library located in Grundy, Va. There is a vocational center at Grundy, VA as well. There are several forms of higher education, Southwest Virginia Community College at Richland’s, VA, Appalachian College of Pharmacy in Oakwood, VA, and Appalachian School of Law in Grundy, Va. As of 2007 there were 125 voters in Buchanan County, Va. (census 2010, 2010) There are several voting locations throughout the community. Most of the voting booths are located at most of the surrounding area schools. Most individuals may travel up to 10miles or more to get to a voting location depending on what area in the county you live in. Air pollution is of plenty in Buchanan County, Va. The Coke ovens of Jewel Smokeless Mines pollute the air with lots of smoke. The coke ovens are located at Dismal Road at Patterson, Va. U.S. route 460 is a very busy highway for all due to much travel from Richland’s, VA and Kentucky to Grundy, VA either to work or to get home. There are several bodies of water throughout the county. The most famous are the Levisa River and Dismal River both located throughout the county. The water source is county water from PSA which our major water source comes from John Flanagan Dam. The sanitation department is located in Grundy, Va. The noise in the county is not bad, but CNX has many ventilation fans that you can hear sometimes running circulating air throughout the underground mining systems. The only crimes I can find that are bad is substance abuse which the county had 991 total drug violations in 2000. (Buchanan County, 2000) The unemployment rate for the county is 7.30% which is high and the average household income is $29, 712. (Income, â€Å"n.d.†) The best occupations for men are to work for CNX in the mines or the gas well occupation. The best occupation for women is the healthcare occupation. The only new jobs in the county were with the coalfield express to make the highway better through the surrounding areas in Buchanan. The Health Department in Grundy, VA offers WIC for low income families and also several other government funds such as Tanf. There’s a food pantry in Grundy, VA. There’s a service called people incorporated that offer assistance such as shelter to children and mothers who have been abused. There’s a free clinic for surrounding areas for Buchanan, Tazewell, and Russell is the Reddy Tri County Health Clinic which is in Richland’s, VA. The stores in Buchanan County are Food city in Vansant, VA, Save a lot in Oakwood, VA, and Wal-Mart in Grundy, VA. All of these stores have healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables and other healthy products. The public transportation is as follows: There’s the County transit bus for all ages and incomes serving the Buchanan County, VA and surrounding areas, and the children have public school buses available for school transportation. There’s about an average of 7-8 red lights throughout the community. The average number of cars per each house as per driving and my observations in the community are about 2 per household. Most of the cars are in good shape. The recreational activities are of plenty in Buchanan. We offer many parks. Each area in the county has some form of recreation. The most famous of parks serving the Buchanan county areas and surrounding areas is the Breaks Interstate Park. The Breaks offers a new Water Park, hiking and biking trails, paddle boats, and Lovers Leap. There’s a park in each community most has a ball field with a track around it. There’s several public pools in the community they are at Twin Valley Elementary School in Oakwood, VA which also has a track and tennis court , the YMCA in Grundy, VA which also has exercise equipment, William P. Harris Park in Council, VA it also has a tennis and volley ball court with a ball field and several picnic shelters. These area parks are for all ages. The area has several churches and religions. The percent of religious people are 24.67%. The Non-religious percent of people are 8.1 %.(religion, â€Å"n.d.†) There are several churches in the community: Baptist churches, Church of Christ, Jehovah Witness, Presbyterian, Methodist, and Pentecostal. The percent’s are as follows: Baptist is 11.30%, Jewish is 0%, Methodist is 1.92%, Pentecostal 0.46%, Presbyterian 1.02%, and other is 9.81%.(religion, â€Å"n.d.†) The cultures in Buchanan are mainly white people (dominant culture) which accounts for 96.3%, black people are 2.8%, American Indian and Alaska Native people are 0.1%, Asian are 0.3%, People reporting two or more races are 0.5%, Persons of Hispanic or Latino origin are 0.4%, and White not Hispanic 96%. (Culture, 2011) The distance of most relatives in Buchanan County would probably be no more than 10-20 minutes away. The countys public water system was designed with the regulations and guidelines of the Virg inia Department of Health. The size of each fire hydrant and water line allow for 250 gallons of water to safely flow from the hydrant each minute. (Wampler, May 11, 2006) The closest police station is in Grundy, VA on Walnut drive, the sheriff’s office is in the same location as the police station. There is also the 29th circuit task force which is on Almarine Dr, in Grundy, VA. There are about 12 fires stations. The most used in the community is Grundy Volunteer Fire Department in Grundy, VA. Most families have locks and gates on their houses for safety. Maybe an average of 20 homes has alarm systems in this area. The numbers of clinics in the community are 10 and are community health clinics. There’s only one hospital in the community and that is Buchanan General Hospital. The only long term care facility is Heritage Hall on Slate Creek Rd. in Grundy, VA. The psychiatric facilities in the community are the Cumberland Mountain House in Keen Mountain, VA and the Baxter House at Oakwood, VA which educate and rehabilitate with group therapy. Patient education is provided by the clinics throughout the area, but mainly at Buchanan General Hospital in Grundy, VA. They are approximately about 15 or more ambulance services in the community. 911 is available in the community. They are several Home health agencies to help with families with disabilities. They are many pharmacies available in the community. A big shortage of Doctors and Dentists in the community. The community only has 69 doctors in the community and six dentists, but on the other hand nursing is of plenty 111.8 per person in Buchanan County, VA. ((Healthy people, 2009) Media Sources in Buchanan are newspapers Virginia Mountaineer and The Voice. Local TV is available our news stations are WCYB and WVVA. Cable is available from Time Warner. Cable and high speed internet are available from time warner and Verizon. Local radio stations are WMJD FM and WNRG AM. The main nursing diagnoses that stand out are: Actual problems with substance abuse, Risk for relocation as evidenced by a shortage of jobs, and Risk for poor health as evidenced by a shortage of healthcare workers. References Buchanan County. (2000). Retrieved July 5, 2012, from www.fedstats.gov/mapstats/arrests/county Census 2010. (2010). Retrieved July 5, 2012, from www.u.s.census.com County Data for Buchanan County, Virginia. (â€Å"n.d.†). Retrieved July 04, 2012, from http://www.landsofvirginia.com/county/detail/?id=5040 County assessment. (2011). Retrieved July 5, 2012, from www.buchanancountyonline.com/communityassessment2011.pdf Profile of general population and housing characteristics: 2010. (2010). Retrieved July 04, 2012, from http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk Public records infants. (2007). Retrieved July 5, 2012, from www.openpublic-records.com/virginia/buchanan_county_public_records Schools. (2011). Retrieved July 5, 2012, from www.localschooldirectory.com/publicschool/88240/VA Wampler, J. (May 11, 2006, May). PSA Cracks Down on Water Thieves. Virginia Mountaineer, pp. 3. Retrieved from www.virginiamountaineer.com Culture. (2011). R etrieved July 6, 2012, from www.quickfacts.census.gov Healthy people of Appalachia. (2009). Retrieved July 6, 2012, from www.healthyappalachia.org/files/docs/word/BuchananDraft%5B1%5D.pdf Income.