Introduction
My Sisters Place is a non profit organization that provides free shelter to homeless mothers and children within the Hall County in Gainesville. Women consist of 45% of the population while children represents 55% of the community (My Sisters Place, 2014).
Demographics, Vital Statistics, and Morbidity
The current population served by the organization is more than 500. Women consist of 45% of the population while children are 55%.
On age distribution, persons below 6 years represent 6.8%, 6-19 years represent 14.5%, 20-64 years represent 69.6% and those above 64% represent 9.1% of the total population (My Sisters Place, 2014).
In the last two years, the morbidity rates for cancer, HIV, and other chronic ailments have been on the rise among the children and adults alike. This community is characterized by a constant population growth rate of 4%. At present, almost the entire population is literate and this is projected to hit the 100% mark in the near future.
Physical environment
The average size of each household size is 2.8. The main impending disaster in sewage management is the leaks from damaged pipes which sometimes take long to repair, thus exposing the residence to contagious diseases.
Health and social services: The services provided to this community include security, counseling, spiritual guidance, social welfare, and medical services for free.
Continuation
Communication: The main communication is through face to face interaction with the volunteers in the institutions and phone call incase of emergency.
Economics: The main economic activity of the population is peasant business and casual labor provision.
Education: There are ECD, primary and high school learning services offered to the population.
Safety and sanitation: The community has well maintained solid and liquid waste disposal and management authority. Garbage is collected periodically for disposal by the authority (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014).
Transportation: There are several public transportation services by road that is available for the community in the form of buses and small cars.
Politics and government: This community is very active in politics and the majority of them are members of the Democratic Party.
Recreation: The community has a recreation center that doubles up as an entertainment, counseling, and social hall.
Population strengths & problems or risks
Population Strengths
- Healthy living and eating
- Clean physical environment
- Several community engagement partnerships
- Several social, health, and income support services
- Extensive safety since the population lives in an enclosed area (Stanhope & Lancaster, 2014).
Prioritized population health problems
Substance abuse: Members of this population are homeless and more than 30% are victims of substance abuse.
Mental health: Due to frustrations of being homeless, more than 10% of the population have mental health problems (My Sisters Place, 2014).
Access to health care: Since the population is considered poor, access to quality health is relatively difficult.
Environmental quality: Pollution from air, water, and poor waste disposal/spillage is predominant.
HIV/AIDS: The excessive use of substance and other factors has increased HIV/AIDS prevalence rate.
References
My Sisters Place. (2014). Home. Web.
Stanhope, M., & Lancaster, J. (2014). Public health nursing: population-centered health care in the community. New York, NY: Elsevier Health Sciences.