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Community Assessment And Its Impact On The Community

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Anderson and McFarlane (2004) defined community assessment as a process; it is the act of becoming acquainted with a community (p.169). Community Assessment is similar to a physical assessment of a person because one has to review the history, examine all areas thoroughly, and report problem areas encountered. The community I assessed was Little Haiti. During the assessment, I was able to participate in various activities that helped transition into the community. The main method used in learning about the neighbororhood was observation. Observing the community gave me the opportunity to examine the area from the perspective of an outsider. There were times when I was able to see the city from an insider’s perspective. During the 1970’s, the socio-economic conditions in Haiti deteriorated with widespread corruption, an increasingly repressive state, inadequate basic social and economic infrastructure and a total neglect of the peasant population…. This gave rise to a mass exodus consisting primarily of poor peasants and urban dwellers that became known as the “Haitian Boat People.” Haitians fled deteriorating conditions in Haiti and traveled by boat to the Bahamas and Florida in hope of a better life. While some reunited with family members living in other U.S. regions, the great majority remained in Florida…. Once inhabited mostly by middle-class whites, the City of Miami became the highest point of concentration of Haitian refugees in South Florida throughout the 1970’s

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