Ybor City, Tampa: A Vulnerable Populations Community Assessment Report

This report presents a community assessment of vulnerable populations in Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, examining its historical context, geographic location, and demographic characteristics. The assessment details the community's evolution, from its roots as a cigar-manufacturing hub to its current status as a diverse entertainment and residential center. The report outlines the boundaries of Ybor City and its key features, including its immigrant population, cultural landmarks, and economic landscape. It provides a survey of the community, defining the characteristics of its people, place, and social interactions. Furthermore, it identifies the community's assets, such as educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and emergency services, while also addressing the limitations in service access. The report describes the data collection methods, including observation and in-depth interviews, and outlines the data analysis techniques used to assess the community's needs. The findings highlight the socioeconomic and health disparities faced by vulnerable groups within Ybor City, emphasizing the importance of targeted interventions to improve access to essential services and promote overall well-being.

Running Head: VULNERABLE POPULATIONS 1
Vulnerable Populations
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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Vulnerable Populations
Introduction
The vulnerable population can be defined as the group of persons who are disadvantaged
in one way or the other in terms of accessing essential services as compared to the other groups
in the population. Consequently, the group ends up exploited due to their inability to compete
with the general public. Some of the factors that categorize marginalized community may
include but not limited to lack of the person's ability to deliver informed legal and accepted
consent, incarceration, economically disadvantaged, and lack of adequate healthcare facilities.
For instance, in the United States of America, some prisoners were used as experiment control
where those suffering from syphilis were not treated while others were treated to explore what
would be the effect of the disease if treated or left not handled. Then individuals experienced,
and this resulted in the drafting of code of conduct, regulations, and guidelines that regarded and
defended the vulnerable populations. Due to the above listed social disadvantages, the
communities suffer in many ways until an intervention is realized to enhance their survival.
Consequently, this essay is tailored at discussing the vulnerability of Ybor City as evident from
time immemorial, during the world wars until to date.
Ybor City, Tampa Florida
The Ybor city is characterized by its unique composition of residents where the main
habitats are immigrants who vary in both racial and ethnic background. The town was thriving in
producing cigar and offered employment opportunities to a good number of residents during the
period. The residents had as a result established some mutual aid relationship and learned how to
co-exist amongst themselves because they were aware of their marginalization and fact that they

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belonged to a different nation that would recognize their presence to the least. The cigar business
of the city led to its growth and expansion in approximately twenty years resulting in the offered
nickname of ‘Cigar City.'
The growth and expansion of the Ybor City can be traced back from the 1890s up to the
beginning of the Great Depression experienced in 1930s (Fielder et al., 2018). The economic
crisis was accompanied by a reduction in the demand for the fine cigars which formed the basis
for city expansion. This significantly reduced the levels of employment as industries collapsed in
a neighborhood with the decline in demand being accelerated by World War II. The departure of
business people and residents was evident in the suburbs until the 1970s when the areas were
virtually abandoned with the attempts of developing the cities again failing, and by 1980s, artists
came and began the process of improvement. By 1990s and 2000s, the artists had managed to
transform the city into an entertainment center with several night clubs in the with a considerable
number of buildings developed for other uses (Landry et al., 2018). As a result, the city has now
experienced a diversified form of the economy with more residences, and offices wit the
population significantly growing for the first time in the history of the town.
Boundaries of Ybor City, Tampa Florida
The edges of the Greater Ybor city over-extended from the Tampa Bay on the southern
side with Buffalo Avenue, the current Dr. Martin Luther King Jnr. Blvd from the Northern side,
Nebraska Avenue is bordering from the West and the 40th street On the Eastern front. The current
neighbor the VM Ybor, East Ybor, Ybor Heights alongside a section of East Tampa (Cosby,
2018).
Describe Geographic, Physical Location, and Features

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Ybor City is geographically located in Tampa, Florida in U.S. in the northeast of
downtown. Ybor City is found in Hillsborough County and was incorporated into Tampa in
1887. The geographical coordinates of Ybor city are 27° 57' 53" North, 82° 26' 7" West. The city
is found 41 meters above sea level (Landry et al., 2018). Besides, the city is considered as the
only locality on Florida's west coast that is to be elected a national historic milestone district.
The city have an immigrant statute among other features that include the original Columbian
restraint, white row houses on a cobblestone street, as well as the street art that pays tribute to the
Hav-A-Tampa cigars that give the city a unique experience. On the other hand, the Hartline
controls the streetcars and the bus scheme. The NEVs has been utilized by the small startups to
shuttle passengers between Tampa's core regions that include Ybor (Landry et al., 2018).
Perform a General Survey of Ybor City
Define Characteristics of People, Place and Social Interaction
The Ybor city was established by Vicente Ybor among other cigar manufacturers in the
1880s with the main population being immigrants from Cuba, Spain as well as Italy. The
population in the city has unique features following that it has multiple ethnic groups as well as
multi-racial populace and thus promoting shared aid societies. The main economic activities
mainly availed by the
The economy and land use description of Ybor city includes commercial property that
takes up to 50% of the land while institutional use takes 16% i.e., Hillsborough County Sheriff's
Operations Centre and Hillsborough Community University (Westfall, 2018). The other
proportion of the area includes residential and industrial use each component taking up to 23%
and 7% respectively. Notably, the top five businesses by type includes professional services
retail (18.4%), (22.8%), wholesale and distribution (13.2%) manufacturing (14.0%), as well as

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restaurants & bars (11.4%) (Cross, 2017) (Landry et al., 2018). On average most of the part of
Ybor City use the gridded street scheme that was established by Gavino Guiterrez, 1885 while
currently most of the roadways are paved with modern materials even though a few brick streets
remain. Notably, among the remarkable public transport facilities in the city includes TECO line
street car system, downtown Tampa as well as the Channel side district.
Notably, among the social interaction sites include night clubs and hotels and restaurants
that facilitates mutual interactions among the population. There are various museums such as the
cigar museum and visitor center, Ybor City Museum State Park as well as the TECO line
streetcar museum that attracts people from multiple destinations who come to enjoy the unique
features in the area (Westfall, 2018). The city also holds annual events that the population uses to
socialize and unite. The events include the Sant’Yago Knight parade also known as the
Gasparilla Night parade that is often held two weeks after the Gasparilla Pirate Festival between
mid to late February. The other social event is known as Guavaween that includes daytime
events and nighttime parade in October, whose nickname is "The Big Guava." The Ybor city has
a unique feature known as the Tampa's Latin Quarter that offers a unique blend of aromas, sights
as well as sounds that includes the smooth taste of Spanish Sangria, the smell of Cuban coffee as
well as cigars (Cross, 2017). In the late evening, the place offers Latin sounds of Rumba and
salsa, thus giving its audience a moment to have fancy and refreshments.
Community Assets, Ybor city
Ybor City has several assets which are behind its popularity in recent times. The
neighborhood has witnessed growth over the past century. With time and with the expansion,
numerous changes came by, and the community was endowed with a vast wealth of assets. The
city prides itself of the quality education that it offers. The city has the best middle schools and

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high schools that provide quality education. The city popular and strong schools include Ferrell
middle school, Academy prep center of Tampa, and Blake High School. Besides that, the Tampa
Bay area has emerged as a driving force behind Florida’s fast-growing healthcare and life
sciences industries. There are over 3000 life sciences in the region (Greenbaum, 2010). To top on
that, the city houses over 20 world-class medical facilities of which include the Tampa General
Hospital, one of the best hospitals in the U.S., Moffit cancer center and Amgen. On matters
concerning disaster preparedness, the city is always prepared to tackle any disaster. The city has
the Tampa Fire Rescue Department, an agency that provides fire protection.
Furthermore, given the Hurricane disaster, the city has adopted comprehensive disaster
preparedness and management plans to aid them in case of an emergency. Also, and given the
high population in the area, there is Tampa police District 3 station that in association with the
residents help curb the levels of crime. Also on matters religion, 40.7% of the people in Ybor
city are religious with a percentage of Catholics leading with the highest percentage share of
11.1% (Mirabal, N. R. (2008). The other percentage is shared among the other religions in the
city.
Access of unavailable services
There are 262 schools in the city with 198 public schools and the rest are private schools.
The education system is not centralized. Even though these schools provide quality education,
they fail to provide some services that students seek for instance there are some programs that
the schools do not offer, and in this case therefore students that seek this programs are forced to
move out of the city to neighboring cities in search of the same programs. Similarly, the
healthcare industry is an industry that is dependent. Therefore, at times patients are referred to
other hospitals in the U.S by the hospitals in the city. Moreover ,it is evident that disaster

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preparedness in the city is not as effective as such, therefore, the city for instance during the
Hurricane Catastrophe had to call in help from well –wishers .Lastly, given the high population
and diversification of people, some religions are not well catered for in the region ,therefore,
some people are forced to seek to go and worship outside the city .In this case, thus ,it is evident
that even though there are adequate services in Ybor city, there are people with whom their
needs are not equally met.

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Data Collection and Analysis Methods
Data Collection Methods
Observation Observation served a significant role in
collecting primary data. By observing the
dwelling places of the people, it was possible
to draw conclusions regarding the lifestyle of
the people. It is easy to tell people live in
poverty by observing not only their housing
but also their clothing. Plenty of the people live
in poor housing conditions and unpleasant
clothing which is an indication of vulnerability.
A similar concept has been addressed by Jones
(2017) when talking about revolutionizing
shelter. Also, I was able to observe high
density housing which is perceive by Maharaj
(2018) as an indicator of poverty.
In depth interviews Individual in-depth interviews played a
fundamental role in collecting information
about the community. This includes asking oral
questions to the members of the community
while making relevant notes regarding the
people. Through interviews, it was possible to
tell not only the boundaries of the community
but also the history of the community. My
choice in using in-depth interviews was
triggered by White et al., 2016 who was able to
gather relevant information about the small
firms and industries like Cigar in the
community.
Qualitative methods of Study I utilized the internet to review most of
evidence based pieces of literature contacted
within the city. In so doing, I could relate the
secondary information gathered to the primary
data collected in the field and assess for
consistency. The internet sources of
information served a significant role because of
not only providing reliable data but also due to
their availability.
Data analysis and Interpretation Methods
Quantitative Data The primary quantitative data was analyzed
using data analysis tools like Microsoft excel.
For instance, I collected information from the

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hospital settings within the city to find out the
leading causes of death in the area. The
collected figures were filled in the excel sheet
and graphs constructed to facilitate the
interpretation of data. Figure 1 of the appendix
illustrates a typical example of the excel sheet
template outlook displaying the major causes
of death in the area.
Qualitative Data The information gathered from the pieces of
literature was analyzed by comparing one
author from the other and identifying
similarities in the information delivered.
Conclusions were then drawn based on the
similarity index in the data presented. This
served a significant role in promoting data
reliability.
Data Generation Methods
Application of the EMS Data Generator Having collected qualitative data from diverse
pieces of literature, it was necessary to pull out
similarity information that will draw effective
conclusions. However, this part was too
difficult if manually conducted. Therefore, I
opted to use an EMS Data Generator
application in generating data. Figure 2 in the
appendix section is a typical example of the
data which was obtained from EMS DATA
generator.
Demographic features in Ybor city
Race and ethnicity; The racial and ethnic classification of the people in Ybor city is
based on self-identification. There exist Hispanic people and non-Hispanic people but of all the
races. For instance, the whites and mixed-race people found in Ybor city are non-Hispanic while
the Asians are Hispanic. The whites have the leading percentage pf 65.23%, the black Americans
have 24.19% (Feagin, Feagin & Feagin,2009), and the Asians are the fewest with a percentage of
4.21% of the total population.

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Age and sex; The younger youth and older adults carry the highest number among others
in Ybor city. The younger adults who are the youth take the highest percentage of the total
population in Ybor city (Long, 2016). The youth from the age of 18 to 21 years old carries the
lowest rate of the entire community. Consequently, the older adults above the age of 64yrs are
also few but not as the college (age 18 to 21years).
Occupational status; Most people in the city are learned, and therefore they believe in
education as a necessity to a better life. And thus, since most are learned, they work in white-
collar jobs.
Educational status; there is a higher percentage of people who are learned. The city has
schools which have aided learning among the people who live in Ybor City. The discount of the
high school graduates or more top 87.1%. The percentage is so high meaning that a lot of people
are learned and value education. Furthermore. The number of people who own a bachelor's
degree is 36.2%.
Income and poverty: the number of wealthy people. Or instead lives above the poverty
line are 80$, meaning the city has rich people. Only 20% of the population is poor. The median
household income, according to the value of the 2017-dollar value, is 48,245 dollars
Comparison of Demographic Features
Race and ethnicity; the US has races. Whites, American Indians, Alaska Native, Asian,
African American, and Native Hawaiian. Unlike Ybor city with two ethnicities with many races.
The percentage of whites in the USA is higher than in Ybor city.
Socioeconomic status; The US average is 3.9%. St Petersburg has a job market increase
in the last year is approximately 2% (Dunn, H. (2015). The predicted growth in the next decade

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is roughly %. The US predicted increase 8in the next ten years is 33.5%. This means that the US
predicted value is less than that of the city.
Educational status; comparing the State's educational situation with that of Ybor city,
the State has 4500 accredited institutions that offer higher education in the State (Cannistraro &
Meyer,2003). The education system is not centralized but instead certified on a national by
independent bodies. Based on the report of the 2017 census, 27% of the population who are 65
years of age and above are holders of a bachelor’s degree.
Occupational status; the percentage of the US population has is employed 59.7%.,
compared to Ybor city, which has 80% of its population employed.
Political Structure and Function—Governance & Policy of the Community
The political structure of the city is structured in a manner that ensures that all the
services are facilitated to the people in a just and fairway. It has been made in a way that
provides smooth facilitation or rather provision of services. There is a city council, which is a
legislative branch of the City government and operates as per the provisions of the 1974 revised
charter of the city of Tampa (Becker, 2013). The city council is responsible for enacting
ordinances and resolutions that the mayor administers. The mayor, in this manner, is the overall
ruler of the city.
Additionally, there is an Attorney General and is cognizant of all legal matters of the city.
The attorney is tasked with taking charge and control of all legitimate ventures within the city,
and more so he/she acts as a legal advisor to the mayor. There is also a city clerk who provides
management support in preparing meeting Agendas and legal notices for the city council. From

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here, several departments function to serve particular tasks that the city council tweaks on their
shoulders. For instance, the Emergency Department serves any time there is a crisis.
Psychological Morale of the People of Ybor city
Psychological morale relates to how people feel emotionally and therefore, the level of
satisfaction they enjoy. As per RN Pride, approximately 80% of the people of Ybor city enjoy
high living standards. It is, therefore, evident that these people have a high level of life
satisfaction. This satisfaction can be associated with the affordable and quality healthcare they
enjoy and also the quality education in their schools. To sum up all this, it is clear that the
residents of the city enjoy high levels of psychological morale.
Healthy People 2020 Objective Related to Health Concerns of Vulnerable People
Living in Tampa, Ybor.
Healthy People 2020 is a prevention agenda introduced by the federal government (Bolin,
et., al, 2015). Its main plan is to build a more robust and strong nation by providing quality
healthcare services to all the people, including the ones in Ybor. Its objective is designed to
reduce the threats associated with healthcare provision by identifying the most vital and
preventable danger.
One of the objectives found in Healthy People 2020 states that health services should be
expanded to reach everyone, including vulnerable people (Evans, 2017). This will help in
reducing health disparities faced by vulnerable individuals like those in Ybor. This objective also
states that health insurance should be made affordable for everyone, especially those coming
from rural and low-income parts like Tampa. However, factors such as socioeconomic,