Building Healthy Communities- South Kern (BHC-SK) has opened its grant program, which awards up to $500 for projects that aim to improve community health in South Kern.

Grants to Build Healthy Communities

The Grants for Blocks Program will provide up to $500 in materials/supplies to groups of residents or youth from South Kern to complete projects that will improve our community.

What is Building Healthy Communities – South Kern?

Building Healthy Communities – South Kern is an effort to positively change the health of our communities through a shared vision, goals, and Action Plan. Residents, youth, businesses, and organizations in Arvin, Lamont, Weedpatch and the unincorporated areas of Greenfield are working together to make our communities healthier, and to create a brighter future for our children.

Who can apply for Grants to Build Healthy Communities?

Applications can be made by any group of residents, youth, or community partners such as parent groups, groups of neighbors, youth or student groups, or others. Groups should be from the communities of Arvin, Lamont, Weedpatch, or the unincorporated areas of Greenfield.

What can funds be used for?

Funds can be used for any project that would benefit the communities of Arvin, Lamont, Weedpatch, and the unincorporated areas of Greenfield. Funds can only be used for materials or supplies and not to pay for services or the time it takes to complete the projects. Projects must be completed by November 30, 2015.

What factors will be used to decide which projects are funded?

Projects will be scored based on showing that they are:

• Addressing a significant need in the communities of South Kern;
• Meeting this need by making real and lasting improvements in our communities;
• Led by residents or youth from South Kern;
• Bringing different people and groups together, especially new groups or residents;
• Using the $500 available for reasonable and pre-defined project expenses;
• Bring additional resources beyond the $500 grant amount, such as additional funds or volunteer time;
• Helping make our communities healthier places to live, work, and play;
• Innovative or unique;
• Supporting BHC-SK priorities (Education, Environment, Health, Recreation, and Economic Development).

How do I apply for funding?

• Fill out and submit the application. For Spanish click here.
• Submit the application to 7839 Burgundy Avenue in Lamont. Applications received by 5:00 on the 5th of each month will be considered at the following Steering Committee meeting.
• We expect to fund $9,000 in projects this year.
• Funded applications will be limited to one per Group/Resident
• Groups/Residents will be notified if their application will be considered for funding once a decision has been made
• Finalists will be asked to present to the BHC-SK Steering Committee.
• Funds must be spent by November 30th 2016

For more details about the grant or application process, or for any other questions, visit our website, www.healthysouthkern.org or contact Marina Ugues, BHC-SK Program Assistant at the Lamont/Weedpatch Family Resource Center, 661-845-2724, 7839 Burgundy Avenue, Lamont.

Thanks to everyone who joined us to kick off our sixth annual Live the Challenge last month!

It’s still not too late to Live the Challenge with other South Kern residents who are making health happen in their community. Last year, over a thousand South Kern residents committed to make a healthy lifestyle change for 100 days and over 300 runners attended the Live the Challenge Run/Walk in April!

To get involved, think of a healthy change you are willing to make for 100 days for you or your community and click here to make it official!

For more information, please call 661-845-2724.

Join us for the first Central Table Meeting of the year, where we will share our our work plan for this year with the community and kick off our annual ‘Live the Challenge!’

Last year, over a thousand South Kern residents committed to make a healthy lifestyle change for 100 days and over 300 runners attended the Live the Challenge Run/Walk in April!’

The Central Table Meeting will be held, Thursday, Jan. 28, at Sunset School in Weedpatch from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Transportation is available.

For more information about the meeting please contact Marina at 661-845-2724 or click here.

South Kern Sol, Staff

With just day until the close of Covered California open enrollment, community groups have come together to help Kern residents enroll by the January 31 deadline.

The groups, held their first enrollment event last Saturday at East Hills mall and enrolled about 90 families.

The next enrollment event will be held tomorrow, Jan. 21 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Valley Plaza Mall.

Residents are encouraged to stop by and learn about their options for health coverage. Certified application counselors will be onsite to help those who qualify enroll.

The group will be having their last enrollment event on Jan. 31 at the Mercy Conference Center at 1600 D Street in Bakersfield from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The events are being put together by the Community Health Initiative of Kern and sponsored by Kern Family Health Care and Building Healthy Communities South Kern, with the support of Certified Application Counselor partners, and multiple other Health Care partners.

For more information, please call Emily Hernandez at (661) 632-5005 or (661) 747-6606 or visit www.coveredca.com.

By Ray Gonzales, PH.D.

Five years ago, The California Endowment launched a $1 billion dollar, ten year investment in its Building Healthy Communities (BHC) campaign. The campaign targets 14 communities across the state, one of which is South Kern, with the goal of improving health outcomes.

Now at the halfway mark, BHC South Kern has made great strides in making the community a healthier place for its residents.

BHC communities were identified based on a number of critical indicators, such as health outcomes, poverty rates and employment statistics, as well as education attainment among both adults and children. The rationale was that these social determinants resulted in the poor health outcomes of residents in selected communities.

Planning for BHC South Kern began in June of 2010 at the offices of the Lamont School District, where community members from the four selected areas of Arvin, Lamont, Weedpatch, and Greenfield gathered to organize, learn more about the statewide initiative and select representatives to a Steering Committee that would guide the planning process.

Over the ensuing nine months, residents, youth groups, educators, health professionals, local government officials and advocates came together to work toward the campaign goals. In the first year, the Steering Committee and twenty-three focus groups met monthly, and three area-wide meetings were held that brought together more than a thousand residents to discuss the most pressing health issues and possible solutions.

The result was the formulation of a plan that reflects a shared vision of the future, prioritizes goals and lays out strategies to achieve the targeted changes.

Highlighting the community-wide effort, BHC South Kern Hub Manager Jennifer Wood-Slayton noted, “residents have emerged as leaders, the youth took the lead in community and park cleanups, and parents tackled school discipline issues.”

Dr. Michelle McLean, superintendent of Arvin Union School District and an early leader in the movement, pointed to the role being played by community groups including the Family Resource Center and the Dolores Huerta Foundation in advancing the campaign goals.

Since its initial adoption in 2010, the BHC South Kern plan has been updated twice to ensure that priorities remain relevant to the community. Currently the five areas being targeted are health, the environment, education, recreation, and the local economy.

Research committees worked to develop strategies for each area, including efforts to enhance access to quality medical care, in part through expanded enrollment in the Affordable Care Act, and to reduce the harmful effects of agricultural pollution and ensure access to clean water.

That last effort culminated in the Agua4All plan, which helped establish water stations around South Kern, including three school districts and five head start programs, noted McLean. In Arvin, Agua4All led to the introduction of water filtration systems that ensure residents there have access to water free of arsenic.

The Agua4All campaign was recently recognized by First Lady Michelle Obama at the White House.

In South Kern schools, groups partnered with districts to improve their School Wellness Policies. “Arvin Union School District developed ‘breakfast in the classroom’ and more access to fresh fruits and vegetables,” explained McLean, “including salad bars and non-flavored milk … programs which were adopted by other school districts.”

Community youth, meanwhile, have taken the lead in such things as spreading the message around environmental concerns, while advocates continue to put pressure on local councils to address community needs.

Timoteo Prado and Lori DeLeon are with the Dolores Huerta Foundation. They note the success they and others have had in introducing Positive Behavior Intervention Supports (PBIS) in Kern schools, a key step in changing school discipline policies that have long had a negative impact on students of color.       

The “different strategies … were voted on by the communities along the way,” said Wood-Slayton, adding the overall plan is meant to be flexible so as to accommodate the shifting needs of those it is meant to benefit.

Looking forward to the next five years, there is clearly more work that needs to be done. In future articles I’ll explore in more depth some of the activities being pursued to make health a reality for all South Kern residents.

But if the unprecedented outpouring of community-wide support and participation that has happened over the last five years is an indicator, I’m confident we can make this happen.

Ray Gonzales (pictured below) is a retired California State University Professor who also served in the State Legislature; U.S. Diplomatic Service; Director of Recruitment for U.S. Peace Corps, and currently serves on the Bakersfield City Schol District Board. Over 250 published articles and latest book: A Lifetime of Dissent, 2006.