Hot Off the Press! We’ve been busy… check out our wins from 2010 – 2014. Click image for more info.

Workshop 1: 10:40 to 11:30 am

• BHC 101 (Room MU1) – Are you new to Building Healthy Communities? Come find out what BHC is, how and why it started, and what the over 2500 partners and residents who are part of Building Healthy Communities are trying to do to make our communities healthier for the next generation.
• Immigration and Healthcare for All (Room 37) – The laws on immigration are changing. DACA and DAPA have created pathways for immigrants to be able to stay in the US legally. And some immigrants or family members may be able to get health coverage now as well. Come hear details about these programs and how they may impact you or someone you know.
• Systems that Shape Where we Live, Work, and Play (Room MU4) – The way our communities look and act are shaped by laws and policies at the local, county, state, and federal levels. Get an overview of the forces that shape our communities and learn how we can work to change these to make our children and families healthier in the future.
• Creating a Cleaner Environment (Room MU3) – What do you do when you see someone polluting? How do you report a hazard that you find? What can you look for to hold local businesses and agriculture accountable for following laws? Come learn more about the KEEN system that helps residents and other partners identify and report on issues in our environment, and get them fixed.
• Building Safe and Clean Parks (Room MU2) – Do you ever wonder why our parks aren’t cleaner or safer? Come find out how our parks and their maintenance are paid for, and what other communities are doing to make sure they always have safe and clean parks for their children and families.

Workshop 2: 11:40 am to 12:30 pm

• Creative Solutions to our Healthcare Needs (Room MU1) – Experts are predicting that there will not be enough doctors to meet our medical needs. Hear from partners and programs who are using innovative solutions to help meet our healthcare needs in creative ways including through school nurses, Promotoras, residency programs, and mobile healthcare.
• Immigration and Healthcare for All (Room 37) – The laws on immigration are changing. DACA and DAPA have created pathways for immigrants to be able to stay in the US legally. And some immigrants or family members may be able to get health coverage now as well. Come hear details about these programs and how they may impact you or someone you know.
• Systems that Shape Where we Live, Work, and Play (Room MU4) – The way our communities look and act are shaped by laws and policies at the local, county, state, and federal levels. Get an overview of the forces that shape our communities and learn how we can work to change these to make our children and families healthier in the future.
• Creating a Cleaner Environment (Room MU3) – What do you do when you see someone polluting? How do you report a hazard that you find? What can you look for to hold local businesses and agriculture accountable for following laws? Come learn more about the KEEN system that helps residents and other partners identify and report on issues in our environment, and get them fixed.
• Building Safe and Clean Parks (Room MU2) – Do you ever wonder why our parks aren’t cleaner or safer? Come find out how our parks and their maintenance are paid for, and what other communities are doing to make sure they always have safe and clean parks for their children and families.

Workshop 3: 1:25 to 2:15 pm

• Creative Solutions to our Healthcare Needs (Room MU1) – Experts are predicting that there will not be enough doctors to meet our medical needs. Hear from partners and programs who are using innovative solutions to help meet our healthcare needs in creative ways including through school nurses, Promotoras, residency programs, and mobile healthcare.
• Creating Fair Schools: Students Matter (Room MU2) – Shools are vital to ensuring that our young people have a bright and healthy future, but many policies in our schools are pushing students out of school and denying them access to the tools they need to be successful. Learn how youth across the Los Angeles area came together to make major changes in their school systems that help every student have a chance at success.
• Can You Drink Your Water? (Room MU4) – BHC Partners have been working to help make sure that residents in South Kern have access to safe drinking water for the past five years. There have been some huge wins in the past year, and now many South Kern residents can get free drinking water or safely drink their tap water. But there is still more that we need to do so that everyone can have safe drinking water from their tap.
• Changing City Budgets for Youth Priorities (Room MU3) – Learn how a group of youth in Merced were able to get funds designated to support a youth council, youth priorities, and a new youth center in their community through the advocacy efforts of their “Invest in Our Youth” campaign.

Building Safe Communities for Walking and Biking (Room 37) – Walking and biking in communities like South Kern can be dangerous. But many communities across the county and state have taken steps to change this and to make their streets safe for pedestrians, bicyclers, and skaters. Hear what we can do in South Kern to make our communities places where it is safe for everyone to bike and walk.

Download PDF Here

Learn about:
Immigration, Fair Schools, Health Care, Safe Parks and more!

Meet other partners who live in South Kern communities, hear how people across the state are building healthy communities and help decide how we will build a healthy community here!

Saturday, March 21st 2015
9:30am-3:30pm
Arvin High School
900 Varsity Rd, Arvin

FREE Food, Prizes, Music and Raffle
Make sure your voice is heard!

Lunch, Transportation, and Child Care/Children’s Activities will be provided
Translation into Spanish, Mixteco and English will be available
For questions or more information, call Marina, 845-2724

Click Here to download the flyer in English for more information.

Haga clic aquí para descargar el folleto en español para más información.

Greater Bakersfield Legal Assistance is excited to announce that for the first time ever GBLA is partnering with One Justice to bring a team of 12 law student volunteers from Los Angeles to deliver much-needed services for individuals facing issues with medical debt, health insurance, workers compensation, and estate planning.

Together with the South Kern Medical Legal Partnership, GBLA and the “Justice Bus” will be at the Lamont Library on April 1, 2015 from 1:00-5:00 pm providing free legal advice and services in the areas of medical debt, health insurance and workers compensation. Two CECs from Clinica Sierra Vista will be available for health insurance enrollment assistance. We are prioritizing South Kern residents, so feel free to spread the word to any of your clients in Arvin, Lamont, Weedpatch, and Greenfield who are in need of such services.

Further, the Justice Bus will be at the GBLA office in Bakersfield on April 2, 2015 from 1:00-5:00 pm providing services and advice related to estate planning.

GBLA along with other pro bono legal partners will be assisting with both clinics. Please see the attached flyers for further details and information on scheduling an appointment. If you have questions, call Katrina Rayco at (661) 321-3992.

Download the Free Medical Debt & Health Insurance Eligibility Legal Clinic flyer here (English & Spanish)

Download the Free End-of-Life & Estate Planning Legal Clinic for Seniors here (English & Spanish)

Dear San Joaquin Valley SB 375 Allies:

Thank you for participating in our intra-regional brainstorming session in Fresno on September 4th. This was a great opportunity to share and identify the regional challenges of SB 375 implementation, and to identify opportunities for state legislative and administrative advocacy.  We will be in contact with you soon to share the notes from that discussion and get additional feedback.

As you may recall, we and our partners (Physicians for Social Responsibility-LA, PolicyLink and Urban Habitat) have facilitated similar conversations with SB 375 equity advocates in the other major regions of the state (SCAG region, San Diego, Bay Area and Sacramento) and now is the time to bring us all together from across California for an initial discussion of common themes for this exciting effort to build on the initial regional discussions and create an equity-first vision for state policy change on SB 375

That first inter-regional convening of SB 375 leaders will be via a Webinar discussion on Wednesday, December 10^th from 3-5PM.  We will share our findings from the regional meetings, and begin to identify policy responses to priority issues and ideas. Your participation in this Webinar is critical to developing a state policy platform that will ensure more equitable outcomes for all of our communities.

Please confirm your participation by Monday, November 10^th by replying to this email.

Thank you,

Veronica Garibay and Phoebe Seaton, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability

Jonathan Malagon and Chione Flegal, PolicyLink 

CitizenSurveyKernCEDD3_Reviewed

Below are some sample Tweets and a link to our report and press release, which has a link to the report as well as Global Community Monitor’s final report on the Bucket Brigade results.

• South Kern Communities Held Hostage by “Rotten Neighbor” #HowCleanIsYourCompost  http://www.crpe-ej.org/crpe/index.php/component/content/article/334
• #NotAllCompostIsSafe, http://www.crpe-ej.org/crpe/index.php/component/content/article/334

Full report: http://www.crpe-ej.org/crpe/images/stories/pdf/Rotten_Neighbor_Report.pdf

Press release: http://www.crpe-ej.org/crpe/index.php/component/content/article/334

Gustavo Aguirre-CRPE