Salinas is a small city with high rates of violence. Local leaders came together in 2009 to develop a comprehensive plan to save the lives lost from gang violence – and at the end of the process, found themselves without funds to put their plan into action. Now the city is pooling whatever resources they have to implement their violence-reduction strategies one neighborhood at a time.
Author: California Health Report
By Jenn Walker Ysidro Avila rummages through a tote bag and begins spreading packets of seeds out on the coffee table. “One of my favorites is Salvia hispanica or Salvia columbariae, which is the chia seed,” he says. “I have a winter spinach, which is an organic giant version of spinach.” The list of the bag’s contents continues. Blue hopi corn seeds, organic alfalfa seeds,
By Genevieve Bookwalter
The lone shelter for domestic violence victims in one of the state’s poorest counties has turned away a growing number of mothers and children over the past three years, reflecting a state and national trend as demand for services grows but funding becomes harder to find.
By Minerva Perez
Getting to big cities is hard for Mexican nationals living and working the California’s Central Valley, but the documents that make everyday life possible are issued by Mexican consulates in Sacramento, Fresno and San Francisco. Enter the Consulado Móvil, which allows the Fresno office of the Mexican Consulate to meet people halfway.
By Brenda Duran
Long Beach City College is developing a program to help the fastest growing population of students – Latinos – succeed in higher education.
By Melissa Flores
Finding a interpreter who speaks Triqui, Mixteco and Zapotec – the indigenous languages of the Oaxacan region of Mexico – can be a challenge. A Salinas hospital is going to train trilingual, low-income women to fill these in-demand positions.
By Heather Gilligan
Men and boys of color face unique challenges. Local leaders and state assembly members met in Oakland on Jan. 20 to talk about policies and programs to address these challenges – steps that important to the U.S. as a whole, not just to disadvantaged communities, advocates and experts said.
Zara Marselian sits in the top-floor conference room of the recently completed La Maestra Clinics headquarters. One of the few tall buildings in the heart of City Heights, its windows look east to rooftops and mountains, fast food restaurants and the crowded streets of one of the most diverse neighborhoods in the nation. A relentless advocate for immigrants and their impoverished neighbors, Marselian is already plotting the organization’s next steps to support the community she serves with great vigor and compassion. She hasn’t had much time to look out the windows – she sees her community at the street level. “There is so much need here,” Marselian says. “We are here to learn how to make the services work for the people who need them most. This is our community and we serve it best by building our circle of care for the community.”
By Rosa Ramirez
If the doctor ordered you to eat one additional serving of fruits and vegetables each day as a way to improve your health, would you do it? Recently a group of pediatricians, trying to get young children to swap unhealthy foods like fries and burgers for eggplant dishes and quinoa salads, began to take a new approach: they’re giving children a prescription for daily vegetables.
By Jessica Portner
Jamie Oliver’s food truck stops in Long Beach to teach local kids about the benefits of healthy home cooking.