Free «Windshield Survey for South Florida» Essay

Geographic Description

South Florida is the southernmost fraction of the Florida state in the United States. It emerges among the commonest directional regions of the Florida state. It comprises of the Florida Keys, the Glades and Miami metropolitan region. Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward constitute the metropolitan region in South Florida. South Florida lacks official boundaries because of its vernacular status. It maintains a more liberal political stand than other regions within Florida State. Furthermore, South Florida is more conservative than moderate. The economy of South Florida demonstrates considerable similarities with that of the Central Florida.

In South Florida, tourism stands as the most noteworthy industry. However, the region maintains a vibrant agricultural sector that operates a much smaller scale. South Florida exhibits unusual growth patterns with some undeveloped regions while the developed ones are exceedingly urbanized. The percentage of individuals residing in the same houses above one year lies at 83.7%. In South Florida, signs of decay are evident in the amount of abandoned and decaying properties more so the homes. The abandoned and decaying properties in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, which constitute South Florida amount to 14,600. South Florida ranks first in terms of “zombie foreclosures” when judged against other large metropolitan areas.

Health Resources

South Florida has numerous health resources and facilities proving different health services to the people residing in different counties that constitute this region. The health department of South Florida is situated in Broward County. The department provides health information through health promotion, assesses and presents epidemiological data, identifies and communicates about communicable diseases. Florida has approximately 30, 609 dentists with Palm Beach, Miami Dade, Glades and Monroe Counties having 3041, 4493, 4 and 103 total registered dentists respectively.

University-level healthcare centers in South Florida engage in occupational and physical therapies, dental services, healthcare assessments and education. Nova Southeastern University has pharmacies that provide and fill prescription for the communities in South Florida. Other universities and licensed pharmacies provide similar services in this region. Publix Super Market provides pharmacy services for most regions around South Florida together with CVS and Post Haste pharmacies.

Health agencies that include the health department and Clinical Operations Division engage in health promotion through health education and demonstration. Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties possess the most Federally Qualified Health Centers in South Florida. Some community health centers such as Jackson Memorial Hospital, Palm Center Clinic and Community Health of South Florida have subsidiaries in different cities and towns.

Some health resources are designated for women, for instance JTCHC Women’s Center, while others are designated for children, for instance Children’s Wellness Center. Heart disease and cancer are the principal causes of death in South Florida and Memorial Regional Hospital provides cancer and cardiac health services to the patients. Mental health assessments and treatment are available for the South Florida State Hospital, Treasure Coast Treatment Facility and South Florida Evaluation and Treatment Center. Community Health of South Florida runs 10 modern primary healthcare centers and supports 42 school-based programs.

The healthcare centers provide behavioral and primary health services. Baptist Health South Florida is among the faith-based health institutions that use volunteerism in promoting health within the community. It provides faith-based counseling and pastoral care services to the South Florida community. Baptist Health South Florida provides more than 45 support groups that cover emotional, physical and mental health issues, for instance addiction, cancer and smoking cessation. Others are the OCD support groups in the different counties that constitute South Florida, for instance Miami Adult OCD and Weston Support Groups.

South Florida has a lot of stores; among them are Nordstrom, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Dillards, Sawgrass Mills, Dolphin Mall and Aventura Mall. Most of these stores have multiple locations, for instance Kohl’s and Macy’s. In South Florida, a variety of transportation systems are present; they are airports, commuter rail, Metrorail, highways, Metromover and seaports. The main airport is Miami International Airport while the major bus networks are Palm Tran, Broward County Transit and Metrobus.

Citizen Safety and Protective Services

South Florida has approximately 59 fire departments some being Hollywood Beach Safety, Fire Depts, Pembroke Pro Firefighters, Broward County Fire Department, Fire Prevention Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and Hallandale Fire Department. There are also many police departments and some of them are Hollywood Police Dept., Seminole Police Dept., Police Garage, Broward Sherriff’s Office, US Border Patrol and Broward County Law Enforcement.  The region also adopts neighborhood watch, for instance the South Florida Neighborhood Watch. South Florida has shelters for those previously subjected to abuse, for instance Women in Distress of Broward County, Abuse Counseling & Treatment, Inc. and Miami-Dade Advocates for Victims.

Services Provided By Senior Citizens Senior Centers, Meals on Wheels, Transportation, Day Care, Long Term Care

South Florida hosts a number of parks, as well as recreation areas, which are Everglades Holiday Park, Broward County Park, South Florida Water Management District, Juno Beach, Jim Barry Light Harbor, Green Cay Nature Center and Wetlands, Bahia Honda State Park, OletaRiver State Recreation Area and Long Key State Park.

Community Welfare Services Beyond City/State Aid as Provisions for Emergency Food, Shelter and Clothing

Community Welfare services that provide necessities during emergency are ACCESS Florida Program, Food for Life Network, Emergency Food Program, Food Assistance Program Site, Ministerios el Buen Pastor, Pass It on Ministries of South Florida,  Volunteers of America of Florida, Food Pantry and Clothing Referrals and SUNCAP Program. The community welfare groups present shelter, food and clothing donations for seniors and others during emergencies.