Rotation #14- Community Development

For my 14th rotation, I spent the day with T. VanHook in the Community Development department. It was a fascinating experience because I got to not only learn about what T. VanHook does, but I got to delve a bit into my Homeland Security project (the Community Development department is where I will be doing most of my work later), and I got to attend a meeting with the local Marana neighborhood regarding colonia redesignation.

The Department

Community Development oversees neighborhood revitalization, affordable housing and housing rehabilitation, and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) programs. This is a very diverse department, because it works often with other departments in the Town, specifically Planning, Public Works, and Parks and Recreation.

T. VanHook believes that it is very important to establish specific goals and projects, and conducts weekly measurements on progress. And example of this is measuring transit ridership. It is very important to go to the people, rather than ask them to go to you. T. VanHook won an award for her practice in riding the bus and talking to people. She told me an inspiring story of how she ran a program that offered work to the poor and transient communities and a man shuffled up and wanted to work for her. He was in bad shape, but he was enthusiastic, and they helped place him in a safer home environment, assisted with his health, and now he is training other people on how to do their jobs. It is this kind of success story that makes me excited to work in the community.

Data Gathering

T. VanHook had previously gathered information from a different neighborhood over the past weekend, and requested that I create a data table to sort and organize the information. This is important, because the information given by each individual neighbor plays a vital role in two ways; determining eligibility for DCBG programs, and providing information that is important in emergency situations. An example of this is asking how many pets reside in the home. According to federal law, if there is an emergency that requires an evacuation of the community, the Town of Marana is responsible for looking after and relocating the animals in the neighborhood. A big comfort for some, I'm sure.   

T. VanHook plays an important role in emergency management, in that she watches an emergency for financial purposes (getting funds for restoration). She even has a backpack prepared in her office that carries vital code and law books regarding proper policies and procedures in an emergency. This is very useful in case she must vacate quickly and does not want to worry about leaving something important behind.

Neighborhood Meeting

Later in the day, T. VanHook led a meeting with a local Marana neighborhood regarding their colonia designation. There was a huge turnout of interested neighbors wanting to improve the conditions of their neighborhood. Because the last US Census showed that Pima County population was under 1 million people, colonias that show deficiencies in vital structural systems (water and sewer) and get re-certified in 2011 are eligible for CDBG funds (for more information on this, check out the website for the US Department of Housing and Urban Development).

I enjoyed getting to observe T. VanHook's interaction with the community members, and hear their concerns. They were largely supportive of Marana, and wanted to help redesignate their colonia.

Review

I enjoyed working in this department because I got to interact with community members and hear their concerns. I was able to see the link between government and service to the people who need help, and I was glad to contribute what I could toward the process.