Walking The Talk
by Rachel O'Shields, Houston Fellow '10
It is widely accepted that city government, and government as a whole, is very bureaucratic and consequently, can be extremely frustrating. Although I am not attempting to disprove that theory in its entirety, as a Houston City Hall Fellow, I have noticed some high points in the city’s operations that should give its citizens some faith in their municipal government.
“To work in partnership with the community to promote and protect the health and social well-being of Houstonians”
The mission statement of the Houston Department of Health and Human Services touts quite an ambitious goal. How would a city department go about achieving this sort of objective? Recently, I have observed that they face the issues of the community head on.
Last week, I was fortunate to be a part of AIM, the Houston Department of Health and Human Services’ response to the needs of its under-served communities. AIM stands for “Assessment, Intervention, and Mobilization” and its mission statement is to “Improve the health and well being of the community, one person at a time”. There are three phases of AIM. The first, Assessment, consists of an initial survey of the community that HDHHS intends to serve. Mobilization is the final phase, in which the Health Department maintains these relationships formed with residents and ensures they are getting the services and care they need. Intervention, the phase in which I participated, is the second and largest of the three. Essentially, members from each division of the Health Department, totaling about 300, come together in a specific area of Houston and reach out to the residents. This AIM focused on the Greater Fifth Ward area, but previous AIM’s have included areas, such as Tri-Community, Sunnyside, Near Northside, Independence Heights, and Magnolia.
During the second phase of AIM, or Intervention, there were fifteen Touch teams of HDHHS employees that strategically filtered through the Fifth Ward community. The historic Fifth Ward community is located Northeast of downtown Houston and is one of the six original wards of the city. Although the community has a strong identity and history that binds its residents together, many of these families have experienced poverty, poor health, and a lack of education for generations. In 2000, about 62% of the Fifth Ward population was living below the poverty line. This under-served community has seen its share of social ills and poor health indicators, making it a great candidate for the Health and Human Services Department’s AIM project.
The teams primarily surveyed the residents for immediate needs and if some were uncovered, the Touch teams contacted the other branch of the operation, Service Response and they came out to the affected individuals’ homes to meet their needs. Team members also knocked on doors, handed out information on disease prevention, and engaged residents by informing them of services currently offered to them by the Health Department.
Although I have lived in the outskirts of the city of Houston my entire life, I have never thought or heard of the municipal government as an entity that physically reaches out and serves the community. Sure, everyone knows that the city picks up your trash, ensures that you have running water, and so on, but I have recently witnessed that it does so much more. I believe that due to a cultural disconnect between the terms “public service” and “community service”, many people underestimate the efforts of the city government to truly serve its citizens. This large-scale, grass roots effort is an example of why city government matters and how it can truly align itself with its mission statement.
It is widely accepted that city government, and government as a whole, is very bureaucratic and consequently, can be extremely frustrating. Although I am not attempting to disprove that theory in its entirety, as a Houston City Hall Fellow, I have noticed some high points in the city’s operations that should give its citizens some faith in their municipal government.
“To work in partnership with the community to promote and protect the health and social well-being of Houstonians”
The mission statement of the Houston Department of Health and Human Services touts quite an ambitious goal. How would a city department go about achieving this sort of objective? Recently, I have observed that they face the issues of the community head on.
Last week, I was fortunate to be a part of AIM, the Houston Department of Health and Human Services’ response to the needs of its under-served communities. AIM stands for “Assessment, Intervention, and Mobilization” and its mission statement is to “Improve the health and well being of the community, one person at a time”. There are three phases of AIM. The first, Assessment, consists of an initial survey of the community that HDHHS intends to serve. Mobilization is the final phase, in which the Health Department maintains these relationships formed with residents and ensures they are getting the services and care they need. Intervention, the phase in which I participated, is the second and largest of the three. Essentially, members from each division of the Health Department, totaling about 300, come together in a specific area of Houston and reach out to the residents. This AIM focused on the Greater Fifth Ward area, but previous AIM’s have included areas, such as Tri-Community, Sunnyside, Near Northside, Independence Heights, and Magnolia.
During the second phase of AIM, or Intervention, there were fifteen Touch teams of HDHHS employees that strategically filtered through the Fifth Ward community. The historic Fifth Ward community is located Northeast of downtown Houston and is one of the six original wards of the city. Although the community has a strong identity and history that binds its residents together, many of these families have experienced poverty, poor health, and a lack of education for generations. In 2000, about 62% of the Fifth Ward population was living below the poverty line. This under-served community has seen its share of social ills and poor health indicators, making it a great candidate for the Health and Human Services Department’s AIM project.
The teams primarily surveyed the residents for immediate needs and if some were uncovered, the Touch teams contacted the other branch of the operation, Service Response and they came out to the affected individuals’ homes to meet their needs. Team members also knocked on doors, handed out information on disease prevention, and engaged residents by informing them of services currently offered to them by the Health Department.
Although I have lived in the outskirts of the city of Houston my entire life, I have never thought or heard of the municipal government as an entity that physically reaches out and serves the community. Sure, everyone knows that the city picks up your trash, ensures that you have running water, and so on, but I have recently witnessed that it does so much more. I believe that due to a cultural disconnect between the terms “public service” and “community service”, many people underestimate the efforts of the city government to truly serve its citizens. This large-scale, grass roots effort is an example of why city government matters and how it can truly align itself with its mission statement.
Comments