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Community Data 2.0: North Port — the Countdown is On!

Next Thursday, March 15, people who live and work in North Port will be gathering for half a day to think and talk together about how everybody can use data to make their own community even better. SCOPE is co-hosting with the City of North Port. We are really looking forward to it – will you be there too? If you haven’t yet registered, you can do so by visiting the City of North Port website here.

Together we’ll be sharing a variety of “locally grown” data resources, considering latest innovations, and “rebooting” to clarify which qualities of life matter most to people who are living in North Port today. This is a way to update community data so that it fits best with what residents care about most. And not just residents anywhere – North Port residents, specifically.

Sometimes when people hear “data” they back away, figuring this is something that doesn’t really apply to everyday life. Actually, there are lots of ways that information about our community can make a difference in how we experience the place where we live, and how we choose to respond to opportunities and challenges as they arise. We’ll explore this together when we meet.

North Port is a special place with particular qualities and features that don’t exist everywhere else in Sarasota County. To name just a few – it’s a place with far more kids, with lots of canals and waterways, and with growing cultural diversity. So what might this mean for how North Port as a community chooses to make the most of life today, and to navigate its future?

And – not all neighborhoods in North Port are the same. What matters most to people in one part of the city might be very different than what matters most in another part. How are these differences taken into consideration?

Over the next week, we’ll share via blog, Facebook and Twitter some of the things that community data help to bring into focus about the community of North Port. We hope you will join in, to generate some rich conversation on what community data reveals and suggests about life in North Port, and Sarasota County more broadly.

Community Sessions - Join the Discussion

I am looking forward to the community sessions we have scheduled in March to discuss the Aging with Dignity & Independence initiative and I hope you will join me. The five opportunities to participate are listed below – all at Sarasota libraries.

We will share what was learned and encourage your discussion and thinking about the six themes identified from our local community-based research.  As a recap, the research engaged more than 500 people through focus groups, surveys and forums, and was possible through a collaborative partnership with The Patterson Foundation, SCOPE and USF Sarasota-Manatee.

The initiative’s goal was to examine the local lived-experience of older adults, and use it as a springboard to develop innovative approaches for preserving their dignity and independence. Along with the themes, the final report provides ideas for change generated by the participants and Advisory Committee, as well as promising practices from across the country. There is something for everyone in the report. Solutions for improvement have relevance for each of us personally as well as for various sectors – business, nonprofit services, health care, faith organizations and neighborhoods.

Over the past few months I made presentations to elected officials, nonprofit service providers, healthcare organizations and business groups. Each was an opportunity to spark a new discussion. Some groups opted to set aside time at future meetings for more reflection on how the report informs their work, and what changes they may wish to consider.

Please join me, learn more and get inspired.  When we make our community better at preserving the dignity and independence of older adults, we really improve quality of life for all ages. Where might you and your circles of connections and relationships make a difference?

To register call SCOPE at 941.365.8751 or email scope@scopexcel.org with “RSVP – ADI Sessions” in the subject line.  Visit our website for more information about this initiative.

Aging with Dignity & Independence - Community Sessions

March 16, 2012    1:00pm – 2:30pm Venice Library, 300 S Nokomis Ave, Venice

March 19, 2012   10:30am – 12:00pm Selby Library, 1331 First St, Sarasota

March 22, 2012   10:30am - 12:00pm Elsie Quirk Library, 100 W Dearborn St, Englewood

March 28, 2012   6:00pm – 7:30pm North Port Library, 13800 S Tamiami Tr, North Port

March 29, 2012   6:00pm – 7:30pm North Sarasota Library, 2801 Newtown Blvd, Sarasota

The Geography of Benefits

Here in Sarasota County, what share of our income is from Unemployment Insurance?  How about Medicare?  How about Social Security?  The New York Times has created an interactive map that makes it possible for anybody to see patterns in the allocation of benefits relating to six types of government programs over the last four decades. The data is visualized at the county scale, using data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. The map is easy to use, and the visuals are impressive: press the “play” button, and see the changes from decade to decade. Click on an individual county, and a graph pops up that shows the trends in that county over time.

Wouldn’t it be neat if we could visualize a variety of data trends this way to spot patterns within our County, zoomed in all the way to the neighborhood scale? The Community Data Collaborative here in Sarasota County is working to create an online data platform with an interactive map of Sarasota County so that each of us living in Sarasota County will be able to click on our own neighborhood and look at different data trends over time. What data trends would you like to see visualized over the course of 40 years for your neighborhood?

Everyone Leads

Paul Schmitz founded Public Allies Milwaukee in 1993. Its mission is to advance new leadership to strengthen communities, nonprofits and civic participation. He recently wrote a book called Everyone Leads. The Stanford Social Innovation Review took a look at that book; here’s what they said. “For Schmitz, the process of leading and building a community requires three elements: the leadership and engagement of residents; the services and support that neighbors provide to neighbors; and the coordination and collaboration toward common goals among citizens, associations, nonprofits, schools, houses of worship, and businesses in a neighborhood. The most successful community projects do not come from the top down, but from the ground up. People from local neighborhoods must work shoulder to shoulder to reach their goal — and without that deeper level of engagement, argues Schmitz, goals will not be reached.”

This sounds pretty simple, logical and elegant. I sure wish it was the prevailing viewpoint and approach for our community. It just does not seem to be. We have too many examples where institutions, the dominant power structure, even nonprofits believe that the best way forward is top down and outside in. This, “we-know-best” attitude shifts positive change away from everyone leads. That just does not promote enduring change.

I ordered this book and I hope I will share what Schmitz has to say about power and process. I’ll get back to you.

What do you think about how lasting change happens?

Through the Census Looking Glass - Take 2: A Closer View of Economic Equality in Sarasota County

In a recent blog post, we examined local patterns of economic equality in Sarasota County through a map of median household income by Census Tract.  What does our community look like when we zoom in a bit further, to census block groups?  Check out this map to see.  As local community data efforts continue to evolve, we look forward to being able to examine household income by locally defined neighborhood boundaries too.

Closing the Hospital Revolving Door

I just read a good article about closing the hospital revolving door. It’s about helping older adults prepare in advance for what happens AFTER they are released from the hospital.  Some studies show that 40% to 50% of re-admissions occur because patients don’t understand the discharge instructions and don’t comply.  In some instances, resources that might be needed post-discharge aren’t available in their community. These issues connect with some of the things we heard in our Aging with Dignity & Independence initiative (ADI) and what I am working through now, with my own parents.

In the research of best practices and resources for the ADI report we came across Project Independence - a program of trained volunteers who help patients transitioning from hospital discharge to independence at home.  The volunteers are under the supervision of a public health nurse case manager and are trained to help patients understand and follow-through with their discharge plan.  They are able to provide guidance and resources as well as be a supportive companion to the isolated persons in the community.

With this program the re-admission rate is claimed at 6%. This is an example of a strategy that can make a difference in one’s health and well-being as well as the ability to remain in one’s home.

This is food for thought. What approaches are being tried out in our community?  What might we do differently?

Lessons Learned with My Parents

A month or so ago I wrote about being an impending caregiver as my parents get older, and trying to be prepared.  It seemed like my mother – younger, more physically fit and in better health than my dad, would end up being the caregiver.

At least those were the odds.

A single quick slip with a wet foot on a tile floor changed all that, and my mom is now recuperating from a shattered hip. She is in a rehabilitation facility in their community which is three hours from Sarasota.  So this is the proverbial game changer for them.  Visiting them every two weeks to help keep things afloat (and reduce the anxieties of my out-of-state siblings), I have a handful of reflections that I like to keep top of mind as we move forward:

• Words matter. Don’t call the rehabilitation facility a nursing home.  Ever.

• My parents are in charge. The choice of action (or not) is theirs, not mine.

• My parents are resilient. (Could they do this without me?  Uh, yes.)

• My role revolves around information and timing. Help gather information, connect to resources at the right time, but not too much.

• The best approach is to frequently step back and first ask, “What would be helpful to you?”

• Social connections -  circles of friends and good neighbors make it all work

• Listen well. Listen to their ideas and concerns.  Listen for their solutions.  Listen for openings in the conversation which signal they are ready to talk about big future stuff - like moving closer to Sarasota.

For me, I feel fortunate to have been involved in the Aging with Dignity & Independence Initiative.  Being immersed in this discussion at a community and intellectual level has helped ground me because once this situation became personal, it was too easy to slip into a mode that is counterproductive for my parents. I like to recall some of the quotes from participants in the initiative’s research:

“Dignity means being treated as the competent, intelligent person I am.  It means having someone ask what I would like rather than tell me what I need.  It means having choices and having a voice.”

“I do have a little fear that if I get older they [my kids] might try to take care of everything, I mean, say “this is what you’re gonna do.”

As long as I remember these words, I think we can get through this as a family, with my parents’ dignity and independence intact.

Data Byte: American Migration Map

In Sarasota County, many of us have moved here from somewhere else in the United States. Have you ever wondered what our county’s migration patterns would look like if they were visualized on a map of the entire United States? The interactive American Migration map makes this possible for any of us to look at migration to and from each county in the United States annually from 2005-2009.  Simply click on Sarasota County on the interactive map, and you will see which counties people move here from (blue), and which counties people move to (red). The map is created by Forbes, sponsored by IBM, and based on IRS data. Over the course of 2009, almost 40 million Americans moved from one house to another and over 40,000 people moved across the Sarasota County line. The map shows us that Sarasota is attracting more people from around the country than we are losing, although this ratio has been decreasing over the past few years. Wouldn’t it be neat if we could see which neighborhoods within Sarasota County people are moving to and from? This might soon be possible through the Community Data Collaborative forming here in Sarasota County.   What other kinds of data about Sarasota County would you like to see visualized on an interactive map like this?

Community of Practice forming for Resident Community Changemakers

SCOPE soon will be announcing the 2012 fellows of the Resident Community Changemakers program.  This 20 hour / week fellowship is designed to support neighbor-initiated, neighbor-led community change efforts throughout Sarasota County.  The fellows will be partnering with their neighbors and with SCOPE over the next 9 months to co-develop community-building approaches that are tailored to the particularities of their home neighborhoods, and will be sharing discoveries and insights along the way with fellow neighbors and the broader community. 

In addition to the fellowship, a “Community of Practice” will be established for others who are interested in resident community changemaking in their home neighborhoods throughout Sarasota County.  We will meet for 2 hours once a month to share strategies and discoveries, and to provide a cross-neighborhood forum for “peer consultation” about efforts that neighbors are leading.  SCOPE will bring along community-building resources to share with participants, including neighborhood-specific community data.  In these ways, we will be able to learn together and provide each other with support to “keep on” with neighbor-led community-building efforts that are happening throughout our county. 

If you are interested in participating in the Community of Practice, please contact Allison Pinto, Ph.D. at apinto@scopexcel.org  The first session will take place in February, and when the date, time and place are determined, details will be available on SCOPE’s website, blog, Facebook page and Twitter feed.  Stay tuned!

SCOPE’s Data Team has Re-Booted!

The Community Data Team meets weekly at SCOPE, both to support the development of a county-wide Community Data Collaborative and to develop data resources that can inform a variety of local community efforts.   The team has recently “re-booted,” and now includes:

• Laurel Corrao -- Laurel is a resident of the Indian Beach / Sapphire Shores neighborhood and is a student at New College majoring in Environmental Sciences.  She is participating in a GIS internship at SCOPE through New College.
• Doug Griffin – Doug is a resident of Longboat Key who is now retired and previously worked as the Vice President of Technology in a higher education setting after ten years in IBM consulting.  His background is in technology and business, with a degree in Operations Research.
• Joan Haber – Joan lives in the Landings community.  She has a degree in Demography and conducts demographic analyses with both SCOPE and the Institute for the Ages.  She also has been actively involved for 15 years in the Disability Community. 
• Colleen McGue – Colleen is a resident of the Central-Cocoanut neighborhood of Newtown and is an employee of SCOPE and the Institute for the Ages.  She has a degree in Community/Regional Planning and Latin American Studies, is experienced in GIS mapping, and has a particular interest in transportation and community change initiatives.
• Walt Welliver – Walt is a resident of Plymouth, Michigan who until recently spent his winters in Sarasota.  He is retired from General Motors where he worked for 30 years.  He pioneered the use of computers in Engineering Data Analysis, Numerical Control and Process Control.  He then worked another 17 years as a Computer Consultant in Data Analysis.  Walt works remotely as a member of the SCOPE Data Team, specializing in the use of Microsoft Excel to set up and analyze community databases. 
• Allison Pinto – Allison is a resident of the Central Cocoanut neighborhood of Newtown and directs the Community Data Initiative at SCOPE.  She also directs Banyan Sprout, Inc., a neighborhood-focused practice in child psychology and community well-being.  She has a degree in clinical child psychology, with a background in complex systems approaches and community change initiatives. 

We’ve got some very exciting data efforts underway, especially as relate to economic, environmental, and social well-being.  If you have interests and skills that relate to data gathering or analysis, time to devote to community data efforts, and are interested in joining the team, please contact Allison Pinto at apinto@scopexcel.org.  And stay tuned…more to follow soon! 

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