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Riverbend City ® ActivityNeeds AssessmentIntroductionScene
1Scene 2CreditsIntroduction
Ruby Lake is a predominantly Latino neighborhood located in
Riverbend City.
During the recent train derailment and chemical spill, Ruby
Lake found itself directly in the path of the chemical cloud.
Unfortunately, the neighborhood evacuation did not go
smoothly. It became painfully clear that the emergency
preparedness plan for Ruby Lake was outdated. This pointed to
a larger problem: the neighborhood lacked an updated needs
assessment. Ten years ago, when the last needs assessment was
conducted, Ruby Lake was just starting its transformation from
a Polish to a Latino neighborhood, so the community needs have
changed dramatically.
When a demographic shift changes the fabric of a community,
an updated needs assessment is necessary. One of the first steps
is to form a neighborhood-based needs assessment committee to
discuss the needs of the community. As you listen to the
members of the newly formed Ruby Lake Needs Assessment
Committee, consider what needs appear to be the most
pressing—and consider the degree to which you feel the initial
meeting is effective.
Scene 1
The Mayor's Office
Diversity Liaison Mo Xiong meets with Mayor Keith Bauer and
Ruby Lake community activist Victor Maldonado to propose an
updated community needs assessment for the Ruby Lake
neighborhood.Mo XiongDiversity Liason
Mo introduces her plans to create a Ruby Lake Needs
Assessment Committee.
Mo: Keith, Victor, thank you so much for meeting with me
today.

2. Victor: Thank you for inviting me, Mo. It's good to see some
concern about the events at Ruby Lake during the disaster.
Mo: Well, the problem was pretty obvious, Victor. Ruby Lake
was in the direct wind path of the chemicals, and we needed to
evacuate fast. Unfortunately, our community outreach plan was
completely out of date.
Keith: Mo, what specifically was out of date?
Mo: Everything. Emergency information sheets, evacuation
plans, translators, phone trees. Our whole system for
communicating crucial information to community members was
inadequate.
Victor: That's not news to me. Things were definitely chaotic.
What I want to know is how things got this way.
Mo: Well, the biggest problem is that we haven't done a
community needs assessment in the Ruby Lake neighborhood in
10 years. And as you know, 10 years ago, Ruby Lake was still
primarily a Polish neighborhood.
Victor: Yes, that's about when my family came to Ruby Lake.
Our upstairs neighbors were the Lazarskis, and our downstairs
neighbors were the Zalenskis. Mrs. Zalenski used to make us
pierogies, and my mother made tamales for their family.

3. Mo: I love stories like that.
Keith:But as you can see, Victor, there's been a significant
demographic shift in your neighborhood, and the city hasn't
caught up to it yet.
Mo: And that's what this meeting is all about. We're going to
be meeting with some folks next week about the issue of
disaster preparedness in Ruby Lake. But what we want to talk to
you about is creating a needs assessment committee in the Ruby
Lake neighborhood. The disaster made it clear to us that a
complete needs assessment is overdue.
Victor MaldonadoCommunity Activist
Victor: The people in my neighborhood, we're a tight
community and we talk a lot. And one of the favorite topics of
conversation right now is how badly the city handled the
evacuation. People feel betrayed.
Keith: I'm sorry to hear that, Victor. How do they feel
betrayed?
Victor: Well… I don't want to sound disrespectful, Mayor. But
you know, during the election, you campaigned heavily in the
Ruby Lake neighborhood. We heard promises about how you
were going to prioritize the needs of the ethnic communities.
But we've seen how much money's been spent on parks and
roads in wealthy neighborhoods like Lindner Hills…and
meanwhile, we have major infrastructure problems that haven't
been addressed.

4. Keith: Well, yes. I have made the needs of Ruby Lake and
other ethnic neighborhoods a top priority. And I plan to
continue to do so. Hey, that's why we created Mo's position.
Mo: Um… yeah, Keith.
Victor: I'm glad to hear that. And…well, again, I don't want to
sound disrespectful, Mayor. But you know, there's another
election next year, and it's going to be a close one… and last
time, you got the majority of votes in Ruby Lake…
Keith: Comprende, amigo! I'm deeply grateful for the support
of the Ruby Lake neighborhood.
Keith BauerMayor
Keith: So, here's the plan. We form a needs assessment
committee that represents a cross-section of people in the Ruby
Lake neighborhood. The committee will give us a preliminary
overview of community needs. Then we'll conduct quantitative
and qualitative research in the neighborhood to get a more
formal understanding of what the needs really are. After that,
the committee will vote on what they see as the top three needs
in the community. We'll take that recommendation and go from
there.
Victor: Sounds good to me, Mayor. I appreciate it. How do we
get started?
Mo: Well, we need to invite community members to be on the
committee. I'd like to work with you to identify appropriate
people.

5. Victor: Sure. How many people did you have in mind?
Mo: 25? 30? For starters, we should identify a community
leader who could help facilitate the meetings.
Victor: Well, we should definitely talk to Father Yuni, the
priest at San Lorenzo Church. He's young and very much in
touch with the community. Although… is it okay to bring in a
religious leader?
Mo: Oh, definitely. It's common practice to include religious
leaders on needs assessment committees. So…can you think of
anyone else off the top of your head to include? Shop owners?
Police officers?
Victor: Yes… Pilar Mendez… she owns a popular bodega. I
know she'd want to be a part of this. Police officers… we might
want to talk to Lieutenant Ed Kowalski. He's been a fixture in
the neighborhood for years.
Mo: Great! Let's schedule a meeting and get to work on
organizing the committee.
Keith: Fantastico! Scene 2San Lorenzo Catholic ChurchFather
Junot "Yuni" RiveraCatholic Priest
Yuni: Welcome, everybody! I'm so glad you're here. For those
of you whom I haven't had the honor to meet yet, I'm Father
Yuni Rivera. I graduated from Ruby Lake High School, and
I've been here at San Lorenzo for the past five years. I'm proud

6. to be part of this community.
I'm delighted to introduce two important people. My friend
Victor Maldonado is someone many of you know. He's a
community activist who's been a rock star at bringing good
things to Ruby Lake. And I'd also like to welcome and
introduce Mo Xiong, who's the Diversity Liaison in the Mayor's
office.
Mo: Thanks, Father Yuni! Well, I'm delighted to be here at the
first meeting of the Ruby Lake Needs Assessment Committee.
As you know, the city is developing an updated needs
assessment for this community. There hasn't been a needs
assessment done in 10 years, and as you know, the
demographics of this community have changed quite a bit. The
city wants to be better able to serve your needs, and before we
can do that, we need to have a good sense of what those needs
are.
Victor? Do you want to talk a little about what we're going to
be doing today?
Victor: Sure, Mo. Well, since this is our first meeting, we're
going to be doing some brainstorming. The city wants to know
what we feel are the most pressing needs in our community. So
I want you folks to put it all on the table and don't hold back!
If you think that something stinks in our community, let your
voice be heard. I mean, folks around here aren't exactly known
for being shy, right?
<background laughter>
I see we have a question.
Nicole: Thanks, Victor! Hi, I'm Nicole Fernandez, and I'm a
fourth grade teacher at Ruby Lake Elementary School. I'm
excited about the opportunity to be on this committee. My

7. concern is that this doesn't turn into one big complaint session
that the city doesn't do anything about. Is the city going to
make changes based on what we say?
Mo: Thank you, Nicole. Don't worry—you're not speaking in a
vacuum here. Based on the needs you identify, we're going to
conduct research to find out more about the scope of these
needs. Then we'll return that information to you and ask you to
prioritize the top community needs. We'll use that information
to make changes.
Nicole: Oh…well that sounds promising. Thank you.
Yuni:So… like Victor said, don't hold back. I'll be taking notes
in my famous chicken scrawl. Let's get started.
Bruce GreenbergSuperintendent of the Riverbend City Public
School District
Bruce Greenberg, the Superintendent of the Riverbend City
Public Schools, discusses his concerns with the local schools.
Bruce: Thank you so much for inviting me to participate in this
meeting. I'm delighted to be here with Nicole Fernandez, an
award-winning teacher at Ruby Lake Elementary.
Mo: Bruce, what are your concerns about the schools in the
Ruby Lake neighborhood?
Bruce: Well, I'm happy to say that the graduation rate at Ruby
Lake High School has improved. Ruby Lake High has had one
of the lowest graduation rates in the city, and that's starting to
change. But it's still too much too low.

8. Nicole: I agree. I think we could do more at the elementary
school level to make sure students are prepared academically
when they get to high school. There are way too many kids in
my fourth grade class that don't have the fundamentals of
reading yet. I do my best, but with class sizes so big, I can't
give every student the attention they deserve.
Bruce: Absolutely, Nicole. And another serious problem in
this neighborhood is the lack of after school programs for
students. Compared to wealthier areas in the city, there's a
serious lack of activities. And since so many students come
home to an empty house, that's a recipe for trouble.
Ed: From a law enforcement perspective, I couldn't agree more.
When kids have constructive things to do, they stay out of
trouble.
Nicole: Could we start after school programs that help kids with
reading?
Bruce: Of course. I would recommend a variety of academic
and physical fitness programs. The Lindner Hills Community
Center has all kinds of after-school activities—karate, dance,
you name it. And the kids love it. Good after-school programs
can steer kids away from crime and help them build academic
skills. We just need the money to make this happen.Pilar
MendezStore Owner
Pilar: Unemployment is a serious problem in Ruby Lake.
Whenever I have a job opening, I can't even tell you how many
applications I receive. It's depressing. And I'm just the owner
of a little store. I can't imagine how much competition there

9. must be for jobs that pay more.
Martin: We see that at the clinic, too. Dozens of applicants for
a job opening. But it's not surprising. The Schneider Chemical
Plant closing really affected Ruby Lake.
Victor: Well, that's appropriate. I bet they manufactured some
of the chemicals that got spilled in our city.
Pilar: Probably! It's such a shame. That plant was here for
years. Once it closed, people didn't know what to do. They
don't have skills to do other things.
Martin: That is such a problem. People around here don't have
the skills to compete for the jobs that are available. Riverbend
City has a pretty good market for hi-tech and health care jobs.
But someone who's been working at the chemical plant for years
doesn't have the skills for that.
Victor: Do you think a job readiness program would be a good
idea?
Pilar: Oh my goodness, yes. For young kids graduating from
high school too. I see all these kids hanging around, good kids
who want to work, but they can't find a job. Then some of them
get into trouble because they have nothing better to do. Ed
KowalskiRiverbend City Police Department
Ed: You want to know what the most serious problem in this
neighborhood is? That's a no-brainer to me. Crime. Especially
gang activity.

10. Victor: Ed, don't you think that's an exaggeration? Violent
crime is down in Ruby Lake.
Ed: Violent crime is slightly down in Ruby Lake, and thefts are
up. And you can't tell me you're not worried about the gangs.
I've been living here since I was a kid, and we never had this
much youth crime.
Nicole: You mean, you never had this much youth crime before
we Latinos moved in.
Ed: Now that's not fair. I'm no racist. If I didn't care about the
kids in Ruby Lake, I wouldn't be worried about gang influence.
Victor: I worry about the gangs too, Ed. It's definitely not as
bad here as in other parts of the city, but any gang activity is
too much. What do you think we should do about it?
Ed: More police officers. More officers on the street mean less
petty crime. And as for the gangs, I say we implement the
initiative they've been using in the Shoals neighborhood. They
closely watch gang members and pull them over any time they
commit even a minor infraction.
Nicole: You mean they profile kids who look like gang
members?

11. Ed: No, Nicole, we don't profile kids. We monitor known gang
members. We've been doing this for four years in the Shoals
neighborhood, and it makes a difference. I think we should try
it in Ruby Lake.Martin LewisClinic Counselor
Martin: I've been working in the Ruby Lake clinic for three
years now, and one of the growing problems in the community
is metabolic syndrome.
Mo: I'm not sure what that is.
Martin: That just means that people have a group of risk factors
for heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. It's usually related to
obesity. A lot of immigrant communities have this issue.
People get accustomed to American dietary habits and their
waistlines expand. I'd love to see some kind of public health
campaign to teach people about healthier choices.
Yuni: Part of the problem is that it's not easy to get healthy
food in this neighborhood. We've got fast food everywhere, but
there's no large grocery store close to Ruby Lake. People who
don't own a car have to ride two busses to get to Cloverleaf
Foods.
Martin: I agree, Padre. And people don't have big plots of land
around here to grow their own produce.
Yuni: Maybe what we need is a community garden.
Mo: That's a great idea, Father Yuni. Martin, what other health
issues do you encounter in your clinic?

12. Martin: Another serious problem in this neighborhood is teen
pregnancy. I really think we need to do something about this.
I'm sorry, Padre, I hope this isn't an inappropriate topic to
discuss here.
Yuni: Oh no, don't be silly. This is a topic close to my heart.
My little niece Marisol is pregnant, poor thing.
Martin: I'm sorry to hear that, Padre. Unfortunately, she's not
alone. I know the city is going to follow up this meeting with
some research. It would be great to see some numbers on how
prevalent teen pregnancy is in Ruby Lake. My hunch is that the
numbers will be shocking. Victor MaldonadoCommunity
Activist
Victor talks about infrastructure problems in the Ruby Lake
Neighborhood.
Victor: Well, I have to say that one of my biggest concerns
around here is infrastructure.
Pilar: Ah, Victor… I bet you're a little concerned about the
sewers, huh?
Victor: Well, as a matter of fact, I am, Pilar.
Pilar: Care to share your tale of woe?
Victor: Well, for those of you who don't know, I had two cars
that flooded out in less than a month. Two. Both of them

13. totaled.
Ed: Both totaled?
Victor: Yes, both totaled. I was parked in front of my
apartment building before a storm. The sewers backed up and
my car was totaled. So I went through my insurance and finally
got a new car… and then it happened again.
Ed:<laughs> You need a garage, my good man.
Victor: No. What I need is a neighborhood with a properly
functioning drainage system. And streets without humungous
potholes. And a park that isn't falling apart.
Pilar: I know. The city spent thousands of dollars on that
beautiful new park in the Lindner Hills neighborhood. Can't
they even put some new grass down in ours?
Ed: Look, I'm sorry your cars got totaled, Victor. But to be
blunt, I think that infrastructure is the least of our problems
around here. Crime needs to be our main focus. I can probably
find you half a dozen people who had their cars stolen twice.
Victor: Oh, come on, Ed. Infrastructure and crime are related.
If our neighborhood looks like a pit, people commit more
crimes.

14. Ed: Maybe. But I say, we prioritize neighborhood safety first
before we worry about putting grass down in the park. If there's
crime in the park, we could put a freakin' botanical garden down
there, and no one's gonna come. Father Yuni's NotesWhiteboard
Page 1: HEALTH ISSUES
Metabolic syndrome (diabetes, stroke, heart disease risks)
-- Common with immigrants
-- Community gardens might help?
-- Teen pregnancy.
Page 2: SCHOOL ISSUES
Dropout rate – down, still high
Poor reading skills in early grades
After school programs needed!
Page 3: JOB ISSUES
Unemployment
Schneider Chemical Plant Closing – hit Ruby Lake hard
Workers lack skills for hi-tech, health care jobs
Job readiness program – young people need jobs!
Page 4: CRIME ISSUES
Violent crime down (slightly)
Theft, petty crime up
Gang activity

15. Solution
s: More officers? Monitor gang members?
Page 5: INFRASTRUCTURE ISSUES
Drainage system
Potholes
Park in bad shape
Reflection Questions
Now that the Ruby Lake Needs Assessment Committee has
discussed community needs, the next step will be to prioritize
these needs. Before this happens, the city will conduct research
to better understand the scope of these community issues.
After-school programs.Community gardens.
Crime prevention measures and programs.
Health promotion programs to promote healthier dietary
habits.
High school dropout prevention.
Infrastructure updates.

16. Job readiness training.
Teen pregnancy prevention. Based on what you have heard
so far, how do you think the needs in the Ruby Lake community
should be prioritized? Rank them in the order you feel they
should be prioritized.
Your response:
This question has not been answered yet.

17. Conclusion
Congratulations!
You have finished this activity.CreditsSubject Matter Expert:
Ruthanne Hackman, Yvonne J. KochanowskiInteractive Design:
Marty ElmerInteractive Developer: Dre Allen, Matt
TaylorInstructional Design: Brian Powers, Sherry SternMedia
Instructional Design: Naomi Rockler-GladenProject
Management: Andrea Thompson Back to top
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
Sheet1Short Run Total CostLaborOutputFixed CostMaterial
Labor Variable CostTotal
CostAFCAVCACMC004000040.00ERROR:#DIV/0!ERROR:#DI
V/0!ERROR:#DIV/0!ERROR:#VALUE!124010122262.0020.001
1.0031.0011.00264030245494.006.679.0015.678.003940453681
121.004.449.0013.449.00411405548103143.003.649.3613.0011.
00512406060120160.003.3310.0013.3317.00613406590155195.
003.0811.9215.0035.00Fixed Equipment40Materials (per
unit)5Each Worker up to 512Each worker after 515
Fixed, Variable, and Total Cost
Fixed Cost026911121340404040404040Variable
Cost02691112130225481103120155Total
Cost0269111213406294121143160195
AFC, AVC, AC, and MC
AFC269111213206.6666666666666674.44444444444444463.63

18. 636363636363623.33333333333333353.0769230769230771AV
C11999.36363636363636331011.923076923076923AC3115.666
66666666666813.4444444444444451313.33333333333333415M
C1189111735
.
Business Brief
Short run cost is defined as a period when at minimum one of
the firm’s input quantities is fixed. This means the period in
which at least one of the firm’s input cannot vary. Minimizing
the firm’s cost of production is subject to a firm producing a
given amount of output (Economic help, 2016). There are
always difficulties in identifying the input combination that
reduces a firm’s total cost of producing at a level of output a nd
a firm that wants to minimize or reduce its cost of producing a
given amount of output is known as a cost-minimizing firm.
Relationship between short-run costs

19. Fixed cost is the value of fixed inputs; it doest not change with
output. The capital cost constitutes the firm’s total fixed cost,
the composition of the firm’s cost that is output insensitive.
While the sensitive of output varies in terms of total variable
cost. For example, the firm’s expenditure on labor goes up or
down as the firm produces more or less output. Firm’s labor
thus constitutes its total variable cost which is part of the
output-sensitive component of the costs. (variable cost changes
as labor and output increases or decreases).
In short-run, the total cost is calculated as fixed cost added with
variable cost. The total cost also changes as there is an increase
in cost components (labor, output, and variable) taking into
consideration the constant fixed costs (appendix A and B).In
short run cost of production, the average fixed cost can be said
to be the division of fixed cost by each level of output. Looking
at the appendix, as the output increases the average fixed costs
declines.
Average variable cost (AVC) equal to variable cost divided by
the level of output at each point in time. Looking at the
appendix, at a level of output the AVC declines but at the end,
it goes up. This was due to no significant increase in the
variable cost, total cost, and the output. Average variable cost
declines because the firm spends more on quantity produced.

20. Average cost is the total cost divided by output. The average
cost declines as the output increases (the level of output is a
major determinant of it average cost). It can also be the sum of
average fixed cost and average variable cost (appendix A and
C).
Marginal cost measures the increase (or decrease) in total cost
if increasing (or decreasing) the output level by one unit. In
determining how many units to produce, the most crucial
variable is a marginal cost. The change in cost caused by a
change in output, derived by dividing the change in total cost by
the change in output quantity (appendix A and C).
References
Economics Help. (2016). Costs and Cost Minimization February
21, 2017, from
http://www.fep.up.pt/docentes/moutinho/micro/Besanko-
ch07.pdf

22. Appendix A
Short Run Total Cost
Labor
Output
Fixed Cost
Variable Cost
Total Cost
AFC
AVC
AC
MC

23. 0
0
100
0.00
100.00
#DIV/0!
#DIV/0!
#DIV/0!
1
2
100
165.00
265.00
50.00
82.50
132.50
82.50
2
6
100
420.00
520.00
16.67
70.00

24. 86.67
63.75
3
9
100
630.00
730.00
11.11
70.00
81.11
70.00
4
11
100
795.00
895.00
9.09
72.27
81.36
82.50
5
12
100
915.00
1015.00

25. 8.33
76.25
84.58
120.00
6
13
100
1125.00
1225.00
7.69
86.54
94.23
210.00
Fixed Equipment
100

26. Materials (per unit)
45
Each Worker up to 5
75
Each worker after 5
90
Appendix B

27. Appendix C
AFC, AVC, AC, and MC
AFC2691112135016.66666666666666811.1111111111111119.0
9090909090909178.33333333333333397.6923076923076925AV
C82.5707072.27272727272726676.2586.538461538461533AC1
32.586.66666666666667181.11111111111111481.36363636363
63684.58333333333332994.230769230769226MC82.563.75708
2.5120210
Fixed, Variable, and Total Cost
Fixed Cost0269111213100100100100100100100Variable
Cost026911121301654206307959151125Total
Cost026911121310026552073089510151225