EPHIA

Last night Taylor and I attended the East Price Hill Improvement Association meeting in...where else?...East Price Hill. There were about 25-30 people in attendance, mostly community council members and a few residents. Even a few non-residents like us.

So why were we there if we aren't residents of that neighborhood? Well, East Price Hill is home to one of Santa Maria's 3 locations and many of the agency's clients live in Price Hill. I thought it would be helpful to attend so that I could get a better idea of the issues specific to the community. Because social workers take a person-in-environment approach in practice, it would definitely help to learn more about the community environment of many of our clients.

The meeting started at 7:30 in a neighborhood Methodist church. This was my first community council meeting in any neighborhood, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Mostly there were a lot of regular agenda items like reports from various standing committees and such. I did notice, though, that regardless of what committee was presenting, the main focus was on crime. It was clear that the incidence of crime in the neighborhood was a major concern for the people who live there. Many residents believe that if we make more arrests and take the bad guys out of the neighborhood, then we can fully eliminate crime and turn Price Hill into a thriving community. I agree with that--to an extent. Not all of Price Hill's problems can be reduced to crime alone. We still need employment opportunities, income enhancement programs, access to affordable health care, reliable transportation, quality childcare, and so on. On the other hand, if the neighborhood is safe it will be more attractive for such growth and development, allowing the community to really prosper. It's definitely all connected.

Lucky for Price Hill residents, Santa Maria (among other local agencies) is working hard to implement programming in many of those areas. Combined with crime reduction, these social services will help Price Hill thrive.

In the meantime, I intend to spend more time in Price Hill patronizing local businesses, attending local events, and getting to know the residents. It's the neighboring community to our Western Hills home and I should get familiar with it!