The document provides a comprehensive overview of the Oakland community in Topeka, Kansas, including demographics, community values, and local services. Residents express a desire for improved safety measures and community engagement, with a majority feeling safe but indicating the need for increased police presence. Key community features include various ethnicities, local churches, schools, and recreational opportunities, alongside concerns about crime rates and infrastructure.

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Oakland
(Topeka, KS
66616)
Presented by Brooke Brewer,
Emily Brown, Meloni Montgomery,
Amanda Rice, & Alexandra Tapang

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Boundaries
 North: Kansas River
 South: 2nd Street
 East: NE Strait Ave.
 West: Kansas River

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Community Core
 People of the community:
 Primarily Caucasian
 Some Hispanic, African American, American Indian and others.
 Most residents are employed
 Variety of households: Married couples, married couples with
children, and single parents
 Wide age range

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Community Core
Values, beliefs, & culture
 Churches in the community: Sacred Heart Parish, North Rock
Baptist Temple, Oakland Church of the Nazarene, Joyful
Harvest Church, Oakland Presbyterian Church, Oakland
Christian Church, Oakland United Methodist Church, Our
Land of Guadalupe, Grace Baptist Church
 Ethnicities: 30.1% German, 14.6% Irish, 10.5% Hispanic,
9.5% English, & 3.5% French.
 96.3% of the community speak English and 3.6% speak
Spanish.
 There are two Hispanic restaurants in this community: La
Siesta Restaurant and La Fiesta

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Community Core
Lifestyle & Characteristics
 Suburban community
 Lower-middle socioeconomic status
 Mostly English speaking community.

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Community Core
Demographics
 Population: 5,968 residents
 Male: 2, 949 (49.4%) Female: 3,020 (50.6%)
 Average household size: 2.4 people
 Average family size: 3 members
 Median Age: Males: 33.8 years Females: 38.2 years
 Education level: Most residents have a high school diploma
or equivalent
 17.5% of adults in community are married with children
 44.3% of adults in community are marrried

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Community Core
Windshield Survey
 Sight: Clean, older homes, people walking around, children
playing, most houses and lawns are well kept.
 Hear: Overall quiet, very little traffic noise, children playing.
 Smell: Chappell's Backyard BBQ, Pizza Parlor, Brass Rail, La Fiesta,
La Siesta Restaurant, Mentzer's Great Fast Food, Tilton's, Marlene
Bakery, Panderia Reynosa Bakery.
 Taste: Clean air, no distinct smell
 Feel/Relational response: Residents were willing to answer our
questions, and they were friendly. Some of the participants are
current Washburn University students.

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Community Core
Neighborhood Interview
 Who: People living and working in the area (20 participants)
 Where: Oakland, KS – Tilton’s, Oakland Community Center,
Fire Station #6
 Questions & Results/Responses:
 Do you like living in this area?
 Yes: 20
 No: 0
 Do you feel safe in this neighborhood?
 Yes: 18
 No: 2

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Community Core
Neighborhood Interview
 What kind of improvements would you like to see for the
neighborhood?
 “Less gang members”
 “Better maintenance of property”
 “Better citizen involvement”
 “More police watch”
 “Stronger police presence”
 “More street lights”
 “More intersection traffic control” – lacks yield signs
 “Better traffic control” – “kids are getting hit by cars”
 “Improve parks for kids”

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Community Core
Neighborhood Interview
 How do you travel in this  What do you think of the
area? quality of education your
 Personal Car: 16 children are receiving in
school?
 Public Transport: 4
 “Poor level”
 Walk: 0
 “Teachers have low
quality teaching”
 Where do you receive health
care services?
 “Poor discipline and no
real consequences”
 “Cotton-O’Neil Clinic”
 “Needs improved IEP”
 “St. Francis”
 “Disagree with ‘No Child
 “Stormont Vail”
Left Behind’”
 “Good” – Street State

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Subsystems
 Physical Environment
 Most homes in the neighborhood were well kept. Homes seemed
to be older, most built in the 1940-50’s. Some homes had clutter in
the front yard, and paint chipping from the exterior.
 The neighborhood did not seem to have many sidewalks. Most
walks did not seem adequate, many were broken and had
grass/weeds growing through the cracks.
 Could see families interacting in the streets and on porches.
Seemed like a family orientated neighborhood.
 Air quality Index - 40 (0-50) Air quality is considered satisfactory,
and air pollution poses little or no risk. Air smells and does not
appear to have any smell of pollution.
 Water quality index- 37 (0-100). 37 is considered low
susceptibility.

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Subsystems
 Education:
 USD 501 provides preschool, elementary, jr high, and high
schools.
 Schools available in the Oakland area are Lundgren Elementary,
State Street, Scott Computer Technology Magnet, Chase Middle
School, Highland Park High School. The private schools is Our
Lady of Guadalupe.
 Extracurricular activities- sports, after school programs at
Oakland Community Center, and skate park. The Community
Center also offers classes for preschoolers. School nurses are
available at all schools. Parents as Teachers is also available to
families. Topeka and Shawnee
County Library is available
to the neighborhood.
 Graduation Rate 2010-2011- 70.4%
 Dropout Rate 2010-2011- 3.6%.

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Subsystems
 Transportation & safety:
 Many residents have their vehicle and use that as a means for
transportation. Public transportation (Topeka Transit) is also
available for the community to use. School bus transportation is
available for the children.
 Air/water quality monitored by KDHE Bureau of Air/Water.
 Fire Station #6, Topeka Police Department patrol the
neighborhood.
 Garbage company (Waste Management) for sanitation.
 Sidewalks seemed to need repair, would not be able to easily
ride a bike on.
 During interviews: 18 out of 20 felt safe in their neighborhood.
We did not see many traffic lights or stop signs in the
neighborhood during survey of neighborhood.
 Crime Rate: Topeka has a high crime rate -- mostly thefts.

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Subsystems
 Politics & government:
 Mayor: William W. Bunten
 City Council:
 District 1 Karen Hiller
 District 2 John Alcala
 District 3 Sylvia Ortiz
 District 4 Denise Everhart
 District 5 Larry Wolgast (Deputy Mayor)
 District 6 Chad Manspeaker
 District 7 Bob Archer
 District 8 Andrew Gray
 District 9 Richard Harmon

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Subsystems
 Health & social services:
 Both Stormont-Vail and St. Francis Hospitals are located in central
Topeka. Had an adult care center.
 Cotton-O’neil clinic available to the neighborhood which is
located right after the Sardou Bridge.
 During Interview: 12 participants that used primary care
physicians. When asked regarding main hospital preferences, 14
prefer St. Francis Hospital while 6 prefer Stormont-Vail .
 Chronic Conditions: Arthritis, Diabetes, Lung Disease, Heart
Disease.

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Subsystems
 Communications:
 Residents gather at many of the local churches, community center,
and local school events.
 Newspaper: Topeka Capital Journal
 Formal communication: newspapers, radio, television, telephone,
and postal service.
 Informal communication: word of mouth, school newsletters,
bulletin boards at schools/local stores/community center, church,
public library, personal/public email.
 Economics:
 Average hourly wage for Topeka: $19.24/hr. Average yearly
income:$38,960
 Unemployment rate: 7.2%, Food stamps and WIC are used and
accepted at the local stores in Topeka.
 Tilton is one of grocery stores in the Oakland neighborhood. Also
has a small bakery.

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Subsystems
 Recreation:
 School sports and local summer sports through Shawnee County
Parks & Rec local skate park and community center
 Neighborhood has community garden behind Oakland
Community Center, playgrounds/school playgrounds for
children,
 Public swimming pools in Topeka
 Children also play in their own yards.
 Fiesta Mexicana is hosted by Our Lady of Guadalupe yearly in the
Oakland neighborhood and is available to all of Topeka and
surrounding areas

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Subsystem
connectedness of the subsystems

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Boundaries
 Barriers
 Conceptual:
 Individuals are adaptive to their community to where other
communities act as a culture shock to them. Many have lived in
this community there whole life thus not giving them
opportunities those other communities may have to offer.
 Oakland is becoming more and more prone to criminal activity
as fewer people feel a sense of ownership toward the
neighborhood, as stated in the Oakland Neighborhood Plan.
 Concrete
 No modern street drainage in parts of Oakland
 Street and sidewalks do not connect to neighborhood amenities
 High traffic speeds within the neighborhood

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Boundaries
 Normal line of defenses
 Community Building: The community comes together to make the
neighborhood a stronger advocate for itself
 Neighborhood patrols and the Police Department assist with
keeping the streets safe and protecting the neighborhood
 Community Gardens: encourages youth to participate with
community garden.
 Flexible line of defenses
 The community worked together to “Clean-up” to avoid
environmental code problems
 In the destruction of houses in the past, they developed a
“neighbor-to-neighbor” housing Rehab Program

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Boundaries
 Lines of resistance
 Neighborhood Watch
 Crosswalks for school
 Speed bumps to prevent speeding
 More stop signs and yield signs
 More street lights
 Supporting services
 Church Services
 Community Projects
 Night Out Against Crime – funded by “Party in the Park”
 Neighborhood Clean up

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Nursing Process
Assessment Data (Subjective & Objective)
 Do you feel safe in this neighborhood?

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Nursing Process
Assessment Data (Subjective & Objective)
 What kind of improvements would you like to see for the
neighborhood?
 “Less gang members”
 “Better maintenance of property”
 “Better citizen involvement”
 “More police watch”
 “Stronger police presence”
 “More street lights”
 “More intersection traffic control” – lacks yield signs
 “Better traffic control” – “kids are getting hit by cars”
 “Improve parks for kids”

25. +
Nursing Process
 Community nursing diagnosis:
 Oakland Community is at risk for ineffective
protection related to lack of police presence.
 Rationale:
 Even though 90% of the interviewees stated they felt safe in their
neighborhood half of the improvements stated were related to
stronger police presence. If the police simply drove through the
neighborhood more often, there may be less gang involvement or
activity in the neighborhood. Also if there was a stronger police
presence, the need for better traffic control may be recognized.
After speaking with the firefighters, the need for stronger police
presence magnified.

26. +
Nursing Process
 Recommendations (research, education, practice):
 We recommend speaking with the police department or starting
a petition to request stronger police presence in the
neighborhood.
 Another way to raise awareness would be to ask the fire
department to participate in any form.
 Include more community events promoting awareness against
crime in the neighborhood.
 Present a nursing project at the community center regarding
safety in the neighborhood
 Keeping track of crime rates through the police department

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Implementation
 Potential project based on assessment
 Participate in “Party in the Park.” It is a community event that
helps raise money for “National Night Out Against Crime.”
 Rationale for implementation
 Along with increasing police presence in the neighborhood, this
can help promote community spirit and police-community
partnership for a safer neighborhood.
 This will provide a great opportunity for nursing students to learn
more on how small contributions such as this event can positively
influence the community’s spirit and health.
 Even with a diverse community, as a whole, everyone shows
willingness to see change especially when it comes to their safety
& security.
 Change agents
 Nursing students, police officers, fire fighters.

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The End
Thank you for your time listening to our presentation. Enjoy your day!

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References
https://www.topekapublicschools.net/schools/
http://www.topeka.org/
http://www.city-data.com/neighborhood/Oakland-Topeka-
KS.html
http://svapp15586.ksde.org/k12/CountyStatics.aspx?
org_no=D0501
http://www.kdheks.gov/arthritis/kohp.htm
http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.ks_topeka_msa.htm
 http://www.topeka.org/planning/oakland_neigh_plans.shtml
 http://www.neighborhoodscout.com/ks/topeka/oakland/#desc
https://sites.google.com/site/oaklandnia/annual-events/party-in-
the-park