Johnson+City-Aprile+Jordan

= ﻿ = Aprile Jordan =Johnson City, TN =

** Community Survey Guidelines ** Johnson City shares a contiguous southeastern border with Elizabethton, Tennessee. Johnson City also shares contiguous borders with Kingsport to the far north along I-26 and Bluff City to the east along US 11E. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 39.6 square miles, of which 39.3 square miles is land and 0.3 square miles is water. **Johnson City Population data: ** Total Population: 63,141 White alone - 52,940 (86.3%) Black alone - 4,167 (6.8%) Hispanic - 2,239 (3.7%) Two or more races - 1,019 (1.7%) Asian alone - 763 (1.2%) American alone - 130 (0.2%) Other race alone - 62 (0.1%) Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone - 4 (0.01%) 1,688 residents are foreign born (3%total: 1% Latin America, 0.9% Asia, 0.6% Europe) Males: 30,106 (47.7%) Females: 33,035 (52.3%) Median Age: 36.9 years <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Average Cost of Living Index: 83.9 (Less than U.S. Average 100) <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Estimated Median Household Income: $36,990 <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Estimated Median House or Condo Value: $150,579 <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Median Rent: $586 <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Average Household Size: 2.2 <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Percentage of Family Households: 59.1% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Percentage of Unmarried Family Partner Households: 4.3% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Homosexuals: 0.2% homosexual women, 0.2% homosexual men <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Unemployment Status: 7.8% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Registered Sex Offenders: 83 (761 to 1 ratio; near state average) **<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Johnson City compared to Tennessee state average: ** <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Median household income below state average. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Median house value below state average. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Black race population percentage above state average. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Hispanic race population percentage below state average. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Foreign-born population percentage significantly below state average. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Institutionalized population percentage above state average. <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Estimated Median Household Income: $41,725 <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Estimated Median House or Condo Value: $137,300 <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Average Household size: 2.3 <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Percentage of Family Households: 69.3% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Percentage of Unmarried Family Partner Households: 4.2% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Unemployment Status: 9.5% **<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px;">For population 25 years and over in Johnson City: ** <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">High school or higher: 78.8% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Bachelor's degree or higher: 29.4% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Graduate or professional degree: 11.3% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Unemployed: 5.7% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Mean travel time to work (commute): 17.5 minutes **<span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px;">For population 15 years and over in Johnson City city: ** <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Never married: 28.8% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Now married: 48.7% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Separated: 1.5% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Widowed: 7.9% <span style="font-family: 'Georgia','serif'; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 1.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">Divorced: 13.2% It is Saturday morning. There are many people outside. Most people are doing yard work, mowing the lawn, burning leaves and debris. Some are just walking down the road where a sidewalk should be, but there is no room for one. There are also a large number of children playing in parking lots and in side roads. They all seem to be unattended, even the kids that look to be 3-4 years old. I also noticed two different people in ten minutes walking down a sidewalk down South Roan St. in fast food uniforms. They were probably walking to work. This does not surprise me because there are many people living in Johnson City that are on the border of poverty level. There are multiple people that live in my complex alone that do not have reliable transportation, do not have a high school diploma or any other qualifications for a higher paying job, and work minimum wage jobs their entire life. The people who are doing yard work look like they are middle age or older. They also look very weathered. Their skin is dark and leathery, and it is difficult to determine their ages. Another interesting thing I noticed is that it is also difficult to tell what gender or sex some of the people are. As I drove down the road I kept looking at 2 or 3 specific people to try to tell if they were female or male and I could not tell. They were not wearing gender specific clothes, they had shorter haircuts, and their body shape would fit either a man or a woman. I noticed that there were two railroads near the university. One that goes between ETSU and the VA, and another that goes through ETSU to the south of campus. I have noticed both railroads were actually used by trains and are not abandoned. These could be very dangerous. While speaking to a Johnson City resident, they mentioned a car full of people at a community event were not paying attention and stopped at a railroad crossing and were hit by the train. You can see mountains in almost every direction but Johnson City itself is only slightly hilly in most areas. This can cause some havoc while driving in the snow and ice. There are very steep slopes in many of the side roads and back roads, even on some of the main roads (Mt. Castle Dr. and Browns Mill Road and the Sonic on Roan St). When the roads are icy or sludgy, which has happened multiple times in the last two years, the roads or driveways with steep hills are very dangerous. I have seen more than one car in the past slide down a hill from a stand still at the top of the hill. I have also noticed that some of the side streets in Johnson City seem very narrow. Swadley Road for example is so narrow that if you had to pass a school bus going in the opposite direction you would be really nervous and probably pull the car over and wait for the bus to pass. The only problem with that is you would probably fall into a ditch or hit someone’s mailbox. There seemed to be a lot of repairs made to most of the roads we traveled on, but not too many open pot holes or cracks. There were many filled in pot holes and cracks and most of the side roads are very uneven. This makes me think that the city repairs the roads fairly quickly, which is a good thing for public safety. In certain parts of the city there are many large buildings that could be factories, but I cannot tell by looking at them what those buildings are. There are restaurants and retail stores throughout the city but the larger ones are in the main part of the city near I-26 and Roan St or State of Franklin Blvd. As you leave that area most of the restaurants are fast food chains, some of them abandoned or closed, like the KFC on Market St. Some are “mom and pop” businesses and restaurants like Campus Q on West Walnut or Yummi’s on S. Roan St. I did see a few large buildings in a small part of the city but I do not know what they were. ETSU is a large facility with many jobs. There were also a large number of healthcare facilities including JCMC, Woodridge, and the downtown clinic. These seem to be the main sources of jibs in the area. These seem to be the main sources of jobs in the area. I also noticed that there were many buildings, retail units, and factories that are obviously abandoned or vacant. This shows that many businesses and companies in the area have gone out of business and no one can afford to replace them. There are MSHA facilities like Johnson City Medical Center (JCMC), Woodridge, and Franklin Woods. Wellmont also has urgent care facilities in Johnson City. The downtown clinic is available, although the wait time I have heard is usually many hours. I was informed by one of the nurses there that they charge on a sliding scale based on income and need proof of low income to receive a discount. There is a first assist in Johnson City. There is also a VA hospital very close to JCMC. There is one fire department that I pass everyday on University Blvd. It is not listed as one of the 9 fire stations listed on the Johnson City website. It may be a volunteer fire station. As far as pharmacies go, you have your pick of multiple CVS’s, Walgreens, Rite Aids and a few individual family owned pharmacies in the main part of the city like Wilsons pharmacy. There are also pharmacies in Food City, Kroger, Sam’s club, and Ingles. There are numerous grocery stores including IGA, Food city, Kroger, Wal-Mart, and Earth Fair as well as convenience stores and drug store like Walgreens, and CVS. It is relatively easy to find and get what you need in Johnson City. The Walgreens on Market St is open 24 hours a day, along with a few fast food places, which means there is always something available, even at 2 in the morning. There is a wholesale store near State of Franklin called Sam’s and it is almost always busy. Most of the stores in the area like Food City, Kroger, and CVS offer discounts if you carry their member cards. If you buy anything from these stores without the card, it is extremely expensive, but if you use the card most of the prices are pretty much the same. These cards are not credit cards and cannot be used to pay of anything; they are just discount cards to get you the discounted prices. When I talked to people who live in Johnson City, the first thing most people say is that it is a wonderful place to live and everyone is so nice. But 9 out of 10 people I talk to start to complain about how terrible their life is after saying how wonderful it is to live here. Three people said that they were stuck in a job that they hated because they were afraid that they could not find another job, or have already looked for another job for years but couldn’t find one. Most of the women I talked to had children and are on TennCare. One woman I spoke to had an infant and a boyfriend. She said they never got married because she wouldn’t qualify for TennCare with his income if they did get married, and they could not afford the medical bills without insurance. My family used First Assist frequently and I have been told by other healthcare workers that it is a great place to go if you do not have insurance. There is also the Downtown Clinic on West Fairview Ave. They charge based on income but often have very long waits. I asked a few people about insurance offered by their jobs. Most people said that they do not qualify for insurance because they are not fulltime. Every single person that said this also said that they had been asking for and working toward a fulltime position for a long time, some said months, others said years, but their employer would not give them a full time position. Most of these people also said that they were working 30-35 hours a week. I noticed many crumbling structures but very few obvious signs of vandalism. There was one stop sign with graffiti on it but for the most part it seems as though the only reason something looks bad in this area is because it is old, falling apart, damaged by weather, or just not taken care of. Most of the buildings in the area look old. Some of the buildings looks as though they were maintained well while the buildings next door look like they should be condemned. I believe this is because most of the buildings are old and the owners may or may not have the means to maintain the buildings. Without maintenance the buildings will deteriorate. There seems to be plenty of housing available for residents to live in. There are many apartment buildings, condominiums, and houses with “For Rent” signs in the lawn. Some of the signs say “move in special”. I drove by Science Hill high school and it looks like it is maintained well and in good condition. ETSU is a large influence in Johnson City. There is off campus housing available for students including Fraternity and Sorority houses. Many store and restaurants offer discounts to students, faculty and staff. There are a million churches in this area, which does not surprise me because we are in the Bible belt. What did surprise me is that I could not find a Catholic church, temple or any other religious structures other than Christian churches during the windshield survey. My immediate concern was the lack of sidewalks in certain areas. I also noticed many driving issues while doing the survey. Many people seem confused and uncertain as to what to do at a 4 way stop, particularly the one on People St and Green line Road. There were also many children under the age of 5 playing outside unattended. Assets I noticed were the number of police available. I noticed at least 5 police cars while driving. There are just as many older, cars, SUVs, and trucks that have that “worn in” look as there are newer ones without a scratch. One day, while stopping to eat a Panera, I saw a car I had never seen before. I asked my fiancé what it was. He said it was a 2011 Maserati. It was parked next to a rusty, 15 year old pickup truck. When we walked inside the owner was talking about how he had just bought it for $250,000. There is a public bus stop right outside of my apartment complex. I have seen many different people standing at the bus stop waiting for the bus. At least in the area where I live, the public transportation system is very useful and needed. Aside from the hills and curves in certain areas that seem to be dangerous to other of us who are unfamiliar with them, the roads are repaired often. There are multiple repaired cracks and potholes on every road that I drove on. There were a few potholes that were not repaired, but not many. Those hills and curves are actually very dangerous in winter weather conditions. I have witnessed many accidents and potential accidents in those conditions. There are a few trails near ETSU for hikers or joggers. I have noticed that in certain areas there is a lack of sidewalks. One area in on Swadley Road and parts of South Roan St and University Blvd. Swadley Road is very narrow, and there is no room for a sidewalk unless someone fills in the ditched on both sides and cuts down at least 4 trees. I have seen people walking in all these areas without sidewalks. They tend to walk in the road, and if there is traffic they will move to the grass until the traffic passes. This poses a safety hazard. Acceptance to diversity is one of the only things I have noticed that is missing. My fiancé is of Ecuadorian decent. He has been a victim of racist comments from customers at least once a week while working at a local retail store. If he was not the person the customer was complaining about, they were complaining to him, not realizing he is Spanish, about another coworker (gay, lesbian, or black). It was said that at his job he was the token ethnic person. He worked at a nation-wide electronic store with about 75-80 people working at the location in Johnson City. The university setting seems to be different than the public setting when it comes to acceptance of others. I have seen a wonderful atmosphere of diversity at ETSU. However while living in Johnson City, people generally not accepting of most types of diversity.
 * 1) **__ Identify a specific community to be assessed (get it approved by instructor), example: Johnson City, Jonesborough, Kingsport, etc. __**
 * 1) **__ Identify what the boundaries of the community are, both man-made and natural. Example: Walnut St-east, Market St.- west, Bald Mtn.- South, French Broad River- North. Identify square mileage, etc. by going to web site for community. Specify location in relationship to the state of TN. __**
 * 1) **__ Using appropriate web sites specify population; example: total population, races, age groups, gender, etc. __**
 * 1) **__ Record what you see in relationship to day (Monday vs. Saturday) and time (morning vs. evening) survey was done. Notice people, animals, age, condition, race, culture of the people __**.
 * 2) **__ What are the people doing (yard work, walking, playing, driving, etc.)? __**
 * 1) **__ Note rivers, road conditions, railroads, mountains, etc. Also note the safety or/and hazards of these items. __**
 * 1) **__ Do you see mills, factories, places of employment, social economic status of the community? Are these items apparent? __**
 * 1) **__ What health care facilities are available? Health care access, pharmacy, EMT services, fire and rescue. __**
 * 1) **__ Are there stores that carry essentials? Grocery stores, super stores, discount stores? Are prices comparable? __**
 * 1) **__ If appropriate, stop and talk to people you see. Ask about employment and healthcare opportunities in their community. What do they see as problems? __**
 * 1) **__ Notice evidence of vandalism or violence. What religious institutions do you see? What conditions are the residences? Apartments, rental units, houses, mobile homes, and other types of dwellings? Are their schools and what level and condition are they in? Do you see any parks or playgrounds? __**
 * 1) **__ What health and safety hazards are immediately recognized? What health and safety assets do you see? __**
 * 1) **__ What type of transportation do you see and in what condition are they? What are the road conditions? Would different types of weather influence transportation? Are there sidewalks, walking trails, biking, etc.? __**
 * 1) **__ What is missing from your community? __**
 * 1) **__ After your assessment identify the top three ‘needs’ for the community. __**
 * 2) Unattended young children.
 * 3) Safe driving for
 * 4) Lack of sidewalks.
 * 5) **__ Give suggestions on how you as a nurse working with this community might help the community to address the ‘needs’. __**
 * 6) I would want to talk to some of the parents or guardians of the children that are playing outside unattended. I would ask them why they are playing outside unattended. Were they supposed to be watched by an older sibling, or told to go outside and play while the parent makes dinner? Was there one adult that was supposed to watch 4 or 5 kids outside and one of them got away? Did the child somehow open a door or crawl through a doggy door to get outside without the parent knowing. Depending on why the child is outside would be how I would go about helping fix the situation. I would help find a way to childproof doggy doors and door handles and make these things accessible and affordable to those who need it. I could make and provide a pamphlet on ways to safely supervise and entertain groups of children, whether at a party, or after school in your neighborhood.
 * 7) The only thing that come to mind that I think would have any affect, and not cost the city too much more money, would be to pit some safe driving tips on commercials or news channels. If they were shown regularly they could educate a large population on a variety of traffic situations. This might help with the issue of people not knowing what to do in certain traffic situations. But there is a bigger issue of drivers that do not have the skill needed, or the awareness to drive car. This could mean intoxicated drivers, or certain elderly drivers. One thing that I have heard works in some states is to start a program with local bars and restaurants. The way the program works is if a bartender, waitress, feels the person should not drive home; they will call a cab for that person. The cab will be paid for partly by the program and partly be the bar or restaurant. This cut down on drunk driving. The issue of elderly driving is more complicated, because there are many competent elderly drivers, and there are some incompetent elderly drivers. It is too expensive for the state and the elderly after a certain age, and every so many years, drivers to have to have a driving test, although I believe this to be the best solution. A carpooling system may work for some people but older adults treasure their independence.
 * 8) Creating new sidewalks is also a tricky issue, especially on Swadley Road. There simply is no room for a sidewalk. I could talk to the residents and apartment complexes to see if anyone would be willing to give up property to building a sidewalk, although I am sure most people would say no. At the very least I could talk to the city about lowering the speed limit from 25mph to 15mph based on the fact that there is no sidewalk and there is nowhere else to talk besides the road. This could cut down on injuries and car accidents in the area.
 * 9) **__ Apply things we have discussed in class as applicable. __**
 * 10) In the setting of a public health nurse or a community nurse it is important to understand, or find out what is causing the issue instead of simply fixing it. For instance I need to find out why the young children are playing outside unattended. If I simply assume the reason and try to aim my prevention at that one reason, I may be wasting my time.
 * 11) With this same issue it is important to work with the community instead of simply telling people what they need to do or need to not do. We can find out what it is they think they need and combine that with the overall assessment of the issue. If they feel as though they are a part of the solution to a problem they know needs to be fixed, then they are more likely to participate in the solution. However if they are being told to change the way they live because someone they don’t know is telling them there is a problem they never knew existed, they may not think about it twice.