Quality of Life
Vision
Before 2044, Polk County will have a Quality of Life that encourages diverse backgrounds to live in harmony while developing physically, spiritually, mentally, and culturally within a healthy and safe environment.
The Quality of Life LEADS Team is comprised of representatives from across Polk County, including non-profits, social services, government, health care, education, and faith-based organizations. Through this diverse membership, different perspectives are gleaned when probing the wide ranging and complex issues contributing to the Quality of Life in Polk County.
Although health is one of the important domains of quality of life, there are many other aspects — jobs, housing, schools, as well as natural and built environments. Intangibles such as culture, values, and spirituality are also key to overall quality of life that add to the complexity of its definition.
Throughout the Fall of 2018, the Team hosted a number of guest speakers and explored a variety of topics in order to set the Team’s focus for the coming year. The Team also sought feedback and guidance from other Polk Vision LEADS Teams to determine how best to align efforts in achieving the long term vision of the organization.
What the Team discovered was that, regardless of the topic, a recurring observation was the need for deeper awareness, understanding and broader community engagement. Polk County is so vast that even providers serving the same population can be unaware of the other’s range of services. In an attempt to best manage these efforts, the Team decided to focus on the Winter Haven community and then methodically advance their work to other areas of the County.
Did you know?
21.8% of Polk County Children (18 and under) Live Below the Poverty Level
US Census Bureau, ACS 5-Year Estimate (2018 – 2023)
14.7% of Polk County Residents Live in Poverty
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimate (2018 – 2023)
4,846 Polk County School Students Experienced Homelessness
(Polk County Public Schools 2024-2025)
Current and future community outreach strategies are geared to share information and resources through an ongoing learning network, allowing cross-sector collaboration with other Polk Vision LEAD Teams. Progress is being made on improving engagement through knowledge and information sharing among Team members. Broadening community-wide involvement will further assist in linking people to services, as well as create opportunities to connect, learn, and engage … for all aspects of quality of life.
We need to look at the places where there are no lanes intersecting so that we can fill in those gaps in services through connectivity.
STEVE BISSONNETTE, President, VISTE