RESOURCES On HealthyCity.org Based on a search conducted using 211 data and other sources via www.HealthCity.org, there were approximately 156 education resources available in the UPC study area boundary, ranging from grade schools, colleges and universities, child care centers, arts and cultural agencies, youth development agencies, and occupational and professional associations.26
USC Community Programs The following are only a few examples of existing educational community programs at the UPC. For a more complete list, see Appendix 10. The USC Neighborhood Academic Initiative is a seven year program offered in local middle and high schools structured to prepare low-income students for college admission, engage parents in their child’s education and provide ongoing support throughout the student’s collegiate years. USC School for Early Childhood Education provides comprehensive, high-quality Head Start and Early Head Start programs for more than 500 families in South Los Angeles. The Good Neighbors Campaign funds the Redeemer Community Partnership’s Family Learning Academy, which hosts parent learning days to assist parents with supporting their child’s academic achievement. USC’s Kinder to College program enrolls kindergarten boys in an initiative that prepares them to be proficient in reading and writing by the end of the third grade.
Identified by Focus Group Members Although there are a wide array of educational resources available in and surrounding the UPC study area, residents from the community may not be informed of and benefiting from them. Focus group participants identified 18 education resources, which included nonprofits and educational institutions. Interestingly, seven education resources were also identified as economic resources. Community focus group participants seemed to be unaware of the various USC-sponsored programs that provide education-related programming and activities for students in local elementary, middle and high schools and for entry to college and technical schools. This indicates a need for better channels through which to inform community residents about available resources and programs at USC.
HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE Health is an important issue for the UPC study area related to but different than health care. Many features of communities have been linked with both population health and individual health-related behaviors. These features include safe places to exercise; access
to healthy and affordable food; social networks and support; quality of schools; and fear, anxiety, despair and stress.46 UPC study area residents and organizational focus groups described how education, resource availability and coordination, the built environment and economic status affect their health. We cannot cover every facet of health in this report, so we focused on key elements of access to health care and make linkages to broader issues when possible.
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