Lindy Thackston of First Coast News gives us the details on the urban core of Jacksonville. The full document can be downloaded here.
Zone 1 - an area known as the Urban Core, which includes zip codes 32202, 32204, 32206, 32208, 32209. and 32254 - is overwhelmingly the most at risk.
Zone 1 has the greatest concentration of African-American citizens, and the Jacksonville Children's Commission says it is consistently the bull's-eye target area, representing the neediest children and families.
Holzendorf says, "Tou cannot raise children in a community where the community is going to hell in a basket."
Zone 1 consistently leads Duval County in homicides, but it is also number one in little or no prenatal care, child poverty, low birth weight babies, child deaths, teen pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, single parent households, and high school dropouts.
Nine percent of people 15 to 24 years old in Zone 1 admit to having an STD.
The infant mortality rate in Zone 1 is a shocking 137 percent higher than the rate of the entire city.
Nearly 40 percent of children in Zone 1 are living in poverty.
"We've been talking about Zone 1 since 1947," said Holzendorf. "For the last 61 years, why haven't we put the resources in that hub so that it no longer exists?"
1 comment:
I am so glad you have this blog! I've been working for the past year to get my organization Single Parent Assistance, Resources & Knowledge, Inc. in the community to provide information to single parents. I Change is on the way!
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