Introduction

The Orange County Health Department approached the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education (HBHE) at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health and requested that a community diagnosis (CD) be performed for the Trinity Court and Pritchard Park public housing communities located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Between August 1998 and April 1999, Marlyn Allicock, Nicole Bates, Julie Cheh, and Jill Fisher, first year Masters students in HBHE, engaged in a nine-month CD process.

The purpose of a community diagnosis is to explore the aspects of a community that affect the health and livelihood of its residents. Applied to the Trinity Court and Pritchard Park communities, this process required: 1) learning what it was like to be a resident of Trinity Court and Pritchard Park; 2) understanding the strengths and needs of the Trinity Court and Pritchard Park communities; 3) helping residents and service providers identify ways of working together to improve the communities; and 4) encouraging interaction between residents and service providers for future efforts.

Two approaches were used to gain information about Trinity Court and Pritchard Park for this document. Quantitative, secondary data analyses were conducted to provide a framework for understanding the history, geography, economic outlook, and community profile of Trinity Court and Pritchard Park. Whenever possible, data were collected at the community level. However, due to the small size of the communities, few sources of secondary data were available specifically at the Trinity Court and Pritchard Park levels. The age of available statistical data also contributes to the imprecision of the secondary data presented in this document. Because the secondary data analyses for this community diagnosis were completed in the spring of 1999, census data reporting state and county level conditions are outdated by nearly one full decade. Rich, qualitative information about life in Trinity Court and Pritchard Park was gathered through interviews with service providers and community members to compensate for any information not available through the secondary data. A total of 10 service provider and 11 community members (roughly 20% of the total adult population) were completed. A great deal of qualitative data were also gathered during meetings attended by providers, our CD team, and residents, as well as informal exchanges with community members.

This CD document presents the findings from our community diagnosis of Trinity Court and Pritchard Park in two parts. Chapters one through seven report the secondary data collected during the CD process. These chapters cover the history, geography, economic outlook, community profile, crime, health, and the assets and resources of Trinity Court and Pritchard Park. The remaining chapters summarize the qualitative data collected through interactions with community members and service providers. These theme chapters discuss the most salient issues affecting the communities, including residents' sense of community and reputation; the Family Resource Center (FRC); the children of Trinity Court and Pritchard Park; safety concerns; the competing perspectives of service providers and residents; and community action and involvement.

Executive Summary

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Methodology