Fresno Street Journal

CONTENTS 4

Credits

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Fresno Street Journal: The Story Behind the Name

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From the Director

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Organizational Spotlight: Conscious Cultural Technology

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Cover Story: The Cost of Poverty

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Organizational Spotlight: Centro La Familia Advocacy Center

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Organizational Spotlight: Leadership Advantage Seminars

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Organizational Spotlight: Central California Legal Services

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Organizational Spotlight: Central Valley Health Policy Institute

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WAFT Agenda

A publication of the FWBH Advocacy Center.

CREDITS Fresno Street Journal is a publication of the FWBH Advocacy Center.

The FWBH Advocacy Center is a community resource that encourages the empowerment of neighborhood citizens to become more informed, active and effective participants in community and government decision-making. The center provides training to target community residents which teaches how to develop strategies of change and advocacy for themselves and their communities.

The primary purpose of the Center is to encourage local policy makers to develop, implement and create policies and systems change that eliminate health disparities as well as alleviating concentrated poverty.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

SPONSORS AND SUPPORTERS

Margarita Rocha Director Centro La Familia

The California Endowment Centro La Familia Central California Legal Services

Keith Kelley President/CEO Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development

Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development Lao and Cambodian Community City of Fresno Housing Authorities

Chris Schneider Executive Director Central California Legal Services

ValPrint H.A.W. 56 Stereo 1 Wherehouse

Gloria Rodriguez Director of Student Services New Millennium Charter School

Fresno Police Department Southwest District Fresno County Schools Parent Services Center Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission

Rev. Floyd Harris Community Advocate

FWBH Advocacy Center 1727 L Street Fresno, CA 93721-1119 | Phone: (559) 237-5005 | http://the-fwbh-advocacycenter.org/

Fresno Street Journal: The Story Behind the Name I would like to invite you on a road trip. You don’t even have to leave town, just hop in your car and take a drive. Our journey begins in North Fresno, at the corner of Fresno Street and Friant Avenue. Look up at the tall, multi-story office complexes. Enjoy the sleek architecture and the well-manicured lawns. Look at the restaurants, the schools, the parks. Look at the homes. Soak in the beauty of our city.

the architecture, the homes, parks and lawns.

Look at the store fronts. Downtown is very close now, but that’s not where we are headed.

Follow Fresno Street as it curves west. Stay in the left lane, and proceed under the bridge.

Welcome to our destination.

The purpose of the 93706 Council is to develop a unified network of residents, businesses, stakeholders and faith-based organizations that serve as advocates for the community. It is a centralized clearing house that shares resources and develops creative strategies that address issues that impact the quality of life of the 93706 community.

Leave the starting line, and drive south on Fresno Street. Cross Alluvial, cross Herndon, cross Bullard.

Has the landscape changed? Have the people changed? What do you see now? How do you feel?

The FWBH Advocacy Center, Conscious Cultural Technology (CCT), and the 93706 Council have created Fresno Street Journal to draw attention to the issues facing our entire city; to bring a divided city together. Just as Fresno Street is a main artery through the heart of our community, the Fresno Street Journal desires to be a main conduit for distribution of the information, facts and findings that will turn our town around, and lead us into the future we all hope for.

Is there change in your ash tray? Hand a dollar to the man on the corner as you cross Shaw.

Then look left and admire Fashion Fair Mall.

According to the mall’s website, the $10 million dollar 2003 renovation has “left Fashion Fair better positioned than ever to capitalize on this formidable market.”

Ponder on the word “formidable” as you cross Shaw and Ashlan avenues. Look it up if you need to. As you cross Shields, look to your right. You should be able to catch a glimpse of Manchester Center Mall. Have you taken your kids to ride the carousel there?

Thank you for joining us on our trip, but the actual journey is far from over.

In this premier edition of the Fresno Street Journal we will introduce to you many of the organizations working to accomplish the mission of “one Fresno.”

You should be nearing McKinley Avenue now.

Can you see it yet? Look again at the schools,

FROM THE DIRECTOR

FROM THE DIRECTOR

Fresno Works for Better Health Advocacy Center 2010

Gwen Morris, Executive Director

“The Center is the go-to voice in the community that translates to change,” because it provides resources and support to community leaders who want to actively make a difference in their community.

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n 2007, The California Endowment funded One by One Leadership to serve as a fiscal agent on behalf of two other partners of the Fresno Works for Better Health collaborative.

Through this partnership with Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development and Fresno Center for New Americans, the FWBH Advocacy Center (the Center) was developed.

policy makers to develop, implement and create policies and systems change that eliminate health disparities and concentrated poverty. It provides resident training that teaches citizens how to develop strategies of change and advocate for themselves and their communities.

“The Center is the go-to voice in the community that translates to change,” because it provides resources and support to community leaders who want to actively make a difference in their community. In addition, the Center monitors key local, state and federal government policies to ensure accountability and community enhancement. The Center assists public officials

The Advocacy Center is a community resource that encourages the empowerment of neighborhood citizens to become more informed, active and effective participants in community and government decision-making. The primary purpose of the Center is to encourage local

in developing policies that promote economic, social and health vitality in Fresno’s poorest areas while bringing together organizations to speak to significant issues which would not otherwise be addressed.

The Center tracks and monitors policies and systems delivery which impact health and well being of the community. The Center through the further development of WAFT has begun taking a critical look at the consistent thread of racial and economic injustice that is impacting our local community. In response to a need by FWBH Advocacy Center to establish greater visibility and increased impact in the community, we are launching Fresno Street Magazine as a way to begin telling the story of what community

Over the last two years the board of directors, executive director, and various consultants have collaboratively facilitated community networks, incubated another non-profit to help sustain the work being done in the 93706 neighborhoods to improve the quality of life for its residents.

looks like when diverse individuals and teams work with one goal, to improve quality of life.

The Center wishes to share information and resources made available by our community partners, particularly those who are doing current work in the 93706 community. We would also like to introduce an emerging leader and organization that is bringing new and innovative partnerships and coalitions to the table. Conscious Cultural Technology and Mr.

Moreover, the center created the Worlds Apart Futures Together (WAFT) Parade and Festival for 93706 and has partnered with Central Valley Health Policy Institute to facilitate WAFT conferences and workshops. Additionally, the Center has conducted community needs assessments, created a collaborative network, drafted several white and policy papers and briefs, and written editorial opinion pieces.

Charles Bailey are playing a major role working with new emerging leadership to bring more

Services, Reverend Floyd Harris and Gloria Ponce-Rodriquez. Last, but certainly not least,

assistance to our community.

thank you Dr. James A. Aldredge, your friendship and mentorship has been a tremendous value in the work we do in community.

The Center is grateful for the assistance of many individuals and agencies and would like to acknowledge, The California Endowment (TCE), particularly Marion Standish and Sara Reyes, for their support. Additionally, the Center thanks the Board of Directors: Margarita Rocha with Centro La Familia, Keith Kelley with Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development, Chris Schneider with Central California Legal

I hope you find the information enclosed in this journal both informational and helpful as we continue building our “Future Together�.

Gwen L. Morris

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ORGANIZATIONAL SPOTLIGHT

Conscious Cultural Technology (C.C.T.) Fresno Works for Better Health would like to introduce CONSCIOUS CULTURAL TECHNOLOGY (CCT), a Faith-Based Intermediary designed to create opportunities for individuals and organizations to build their capacity

By Charles Bailey, Jr. to better train, educate and engage citizens in community development. This will envelop reaching across racial, cultural, economic, and denominational boundaries to develop policies and systems for neighborhood growth and sustainability. Our focus is on training, education and leadership development. Developing Social Networks that are designed to positively impact policies and systems that have historically been antagonistic to the development of multicultural communities is a foremost goal of CCT preceded only by a spirit of compassion and a desire to foster unity among community members.

Partnering with the Advocacy Center to provide the 93706 students and families with more opportunities for vocational training and administrative development, CCT will launch its first training in the early part of 2011; look for more from this growing company whose Executive Director is Charles Bailey.

Aside from developing the 501(c)(3) Charles Bailey, Jr. is a motivational speaker, minister and educator. His investment in changing lives through the medium of counseling is matched only by his compelling, personal story. His dynamic anointing has impacted countless lives through his charismatic speaking, counseling and educational workshops.

Charles earned a M.S. in Educational Counseling and B.A. in Liberal Studies. He has spent the past eight years of his professional career in education and his duties have enveloped teaching, coaching and mentoring. Charles has been a noted guest speaker at colleges, high schools, churches, and conferences throughout California and other states. He has spoken in a diversity of areas, including but not limited to job search & work readiness, diversity training, career preparation, educational access, and issues of faith. His platform includes keynotes for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, the California Correctional Women’s Facility (CCWF), Church and Youth Conferences among others.

Actively involved in community service and outreach, he is also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc and is currently a Commissioner-elect for the Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission. He resides in Fresno where he is the proud father of a daughter and son and is currently pursuing his Ph D in Psychology with a focus in Social Psychology.

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GET INVOLVED

remembering

West Fresno THROUGH THE EYES OF THREE GENERATIONS 12

West Fresno has a long and rich history that stretches back to the founding of the city. Diverse communities of Italian, Armenian, Japanese, Chinese, Basque, Russian German and African Americans have all lived together in this vibrant neighborhood. This history should be remembered and celebrated! A new oral history project on West Fresno from the 1920s to the present is starting at Fresno State under the direction of Kris Clarke, social work professor and 1974 Lincoln Elementary School graduate. The oral history will focus on the story of diverse communities and the geography of discrimination.

We seek current and former residents of West Fresno interested in telling their story of West Fresno. Our aim is to create a strong and diverse collection of oral histories that are digitally recorded for future generations and accessible to the community. We invite all who have a story to tell to contact us as we plan to start recording interviews in January.

If you would like to participate in the “Remembering West Fresno” project, please contact: Kris Clarke, Ph.D Telephone: 559.278.2985 Email: kclarke@csufresno.edu 13

THE COST OF

POVERT Y Why the Poor are paying more

By Kris Clarke, PhD

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You have to be rich to be poor. That’s what some people who have never lived below the poverty line don’t understand.

From The Washington Post, Monday, May 18, 2009

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overty challenges us here in Fresno like no other. We have it but we really don’t know what to do about it. I know we cannot just sit here and do nothing but we look around and it doesn’t seem that bad to some yet report after report talks about our poverty in Fresno and the Valley. How much more must we read about the poor before we act?

Put it another way: The poorer you are, the more things cost. More in money, time, hassle, exhaustion, menace. This is a fact of life that reality television and magazines don’t often explain.

So we’ll explain it here. Consider this a primer on the economics of poverty.

“The poor pay more for a gallon of milk; they pay more on a capital basis for inferior housing,” says Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.). “The poor and 100 million who are struggling for the

middle class actually end up paying more for transportation, for housing, for health care, for mortgages. They get steered to subprime lending. . . . The poor pay more for things middle-class America takes for granted.”

Poverty 101: We’ll start with the basics.

Like food: You don’t have a car to get to a supermarket, much less to Costco or Trader Joe’s, where the middle class goes to save money. You don’t have three hours to take the bus. So you buy groceries at the corner store, where a gallon of milk costs an extra dollar.

A loaf of bread there costs you $2.99 for white; for wheat, it’s $3.79. The clerk behind the counter tells you the gallon of leaking milk in the bottom of the back cooler is $4.99. She holds up four fingers to clarify. The milk is beneath the shelf that holds beef bologna for $3.79. A pound of butter sells for $4.49. In the back of the store

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are fruits and vegetables. The green peppers are shriveled, the bananas are more brown than yellow, the oranges are picked over.

Prices in urban corner stores are almost always higher, economists say. But the poor and working poor don’t need an economist to explain what they live every day. Often, prices in supermarkets in poorer neighborhoods are higher because these stores charge more because the cost of doing business in some neighborhoods is higher.

“First, they are probably paying more on goods because they don’t get the low wholesale price that bigger stores get,” says Bradley R. Schiller, a professor emeritus at American University and the author of “The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination.”

“The real estate is higher. The fact that volume is low means fewer sales per worker. They make fewer dollars of revenue per square foot of space.

They don’t end up making more money. Every corner grocery store wishes they had profits their customers think they have,” Schiller wrote.

According to the Census Bureau, more than 37 million people in the country live below the poverty line. The poor know these facts of life.

These facts become their lives.

More than five years ago, the Brookings Institution issued a report noting Fresno as a city with the highest concentration of poverty of the 50 largest cities in the United States. “As a community, most of us didn’t need that report to tell us that poverty is reaching crisis levels.

Just drive a few minutes south of Shaw and it smacks you right in your face -- shabby and neglected neighborhoods, ill-clothed children, proliferation of homeless leaving in tents off local freeways.

“We have also seen it through the endless reports and newspaper articles chronicling poverty statistics and its impact in Fresno County. Like up-and-down jobless rates, chronic poverty rates have plagued this county for decades. We donate to charities, we volunteer our time, but the question remains: are we making an impact?” wrote Amy Chubb, the former executive director

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for the Fresno Works for Better Health Advocacy Center.

community as a whole understands what poverty is, its causative factors and its profoundly devastating consequences on the decline of families, children, and the community. Once educated, it becomes incumbent upon individuals to get involved through an influx of resources and volunteerism, especially mentoring, to repair dysfunctional families.

Officially poverty rates are 19.6 percent in the City of Fresno. Poverty is winning. As a community and despite the number of nonprofit agencies and generous donors, we have only managed to crack the surface.

Why? Poor people don’t vote and are easy to brush aside. The country as a whole wavers on causation, blaming the poor for bringing on their own circumstances or pointing fingers at failed government policies.

Poverty is being defined as “the extent to which an individual does without resources,” a meaningful way to grasp a difficult conundrum plagued with obstacles. Equally importantly, how can poverty be reduced in Fresno? If the definition first appears simple, resolution is much more of a challenge. Part of the solutions toward eliminating poverty are:

To address these and other issues, Fresno Works for Better Health (FWBH) a collaborative established and funded by The California Endowment. The center’s primary mission is to educate the community as a whole about FWBH’s accomplishments, and advocate for policy changes to reduce poverty.

• Getting a good education; • Implementing policies that are proactive against poverty • Educating the community on Best Practices

More than statistics, poverty has a face.

Imperative to the long-term success of the Advocacy Center is the extent to which local, state and federal governmental officials and the

• Working full-time; and • Stabilizing families

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• Businesses working toward double bottom lines • Community Benefits packages • Gathering and sharing data that highlights challenges and supports change • Having the guts to do the right thing Most people in poverty in Fresno County are not lazy nor do they lack the motivation to work.

More often than not, families in poverty is attributed to circumstances beyond the control of the individual or family.

Accomplishing such goals will take compassion, tenacity, patience and leadership among community members to reduce the poverty rate. It will also take systems that work and are held accountable, like mental health, health care, schools, nonprofits, government county departments. It will also take much work to empower people in poverty to unite in their voices and become emboldened to speak for themselves.

for most; rather, poverty is an unavoidable quagmire. Imperative to the long-term success of the Advocacy Center is the extent to which local, state and federal governmental officials and the community as a whole understands what poverty is, its causative factors and its profoundly devastating consequences on the decline of families, children, and the community.

Once educated, it becomes incumbent upon individuals to get involved through an influx of resources and volunteerism, especially mentoring, to repair dysfunctional families.”

The time to break the cycle starts now. With your help, we will devour this monster called poverty.

Contributors to this article are DeNeen L.Brown (2009 staff writer for Washington Post) and Keith A. Kelley (President/CEO Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development) with excerpts from Amy Chubb, former ED for Fresno Works for better Health Advocacy Center.

Finally, it will require time to educate the community that poverty is not a choice

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ORGANIZATIONAL SPOTLIGHT

Centro La Familia Advocacy Center Centro La Familia Advocacy Services, Inc (Centro), the Family Support Center, is a non-profit organization founded in 1972 that serves the low-income families of Fresno County.

Our mission, “to empower low-income people to access life sustaining resources” aligns with our direct services and the strong collaborative relationships we’ve established in throughout Fresno County.

Over the last 38 years that we’ve been in existence, we’ve gained excelling experience in providing a full continuum of prevention, intervention, and advocacy services to impoverished community members. CLFA seeks to provide services and information to families, building upon its success in urban/rural communities historically underserved in Fresno County. The achievements of CLFA are reflected in its development, implementation and participation in a comprehensive, multi-level advocacy and outreach plan regarding services, public benefits and housing advocacy, public health insurance enrollments, as well as special projects. The outreach design involves a three-level approach: one-to-one contact by CLFA staff members who are trusted and recognized in the community; media campaigns on radio, television and in print; high visibility in these communities through health fairs, food distribution centers, schools, community centers; and Centro’s Promotora program.

CLFA has assisted thousands of low-income residents with outreach/education; diabetes awareness and prevention; nutrition and health; mental health awareness and support groups; breast cancer awareness, lead poison prevention, parent education that also includes prevention/intervention services; domestic violence/human trafficking services to noncitizens which include temporary restraining orders with U-Visa and T-Visa, immigration services and denial of entitlement benefits.

Centro’s bilingual and bicultural staff assists clients in navigating the systems of the services we provide. It is governed by a Board of Directors and lead by the Executive Director, Margarita Rocha.

Centro La Familia Advocacy Inc is nestled in a residential community in west Fresno, 302 Fresno St., Suite 102, 93706 |Phone:(559) 237-2961 |Fax (559) 237-2968 |www.centrolafamilia.org

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ORGANIZATIONAL SPOTLIGHT

Leadership Advantage Seminars (L.A.S.) Improving Life and Work Through Life Long Learning!

By Dr. Robert Watts, Jr.

The current economic climate and political disorientation in the United States are symptoms of a deeper malaise. In part, the condition is indicative of a lack of social responsibility, specifically at the community level where leadership must collaborate through shared values and strategies to encourage citizens to be active agents in shaping their destinies. Included in this are a commitment to personal wellness and fitness, education, professional and cultural competency, and political awareness. Through strengthened social responsibility, people become stronger at self-leadership and making informed choices of whom they decide to follow. A leader is only a leader because someone has decided to support their vision and the direction they have established, strengthening followers means to empower them by developing their capacity to be dynamic contributors to the vision, values, goals and dreams espoused by leadership. Recognizing the importance of this truth necessitates taking immediate action, to this end; Watts and Associates has developed Leadership Advantage Seminars (L.A.S.) to assist leaders.

The purpose of Leadership Advantage Seminars is to provide current and emerging leaders with pertinent information that empowers them to influence, unite and direct people to address critical challenges within the organizations and communities they serve. In addition, L.A.S facilitates coalescing people around organizational and community learning as a common value, which diffuses knowledge and strengthens results at every level. Using an interactive learner centered seminar method; every L.A.S event is an excitingly relevant learning experience that imparts skills and knowledge to leaders beneficial to themselves and the people who rely on their vision and direction to fulfill their common purpose.

To learn more about L.A.S. please go to www.RobertWattsJr.com or call Dr. DaSharoi Crocker at (559) 708-5443.

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ORGANIZATIONAL SPOTLIGHT

Central California Legal Services, Inc. Central California Legal Services, Inc. (CCLS) has worked with the Fresno Works for Better Health Advocacy Center (FWBHAC) since its inception. CCLS has a long history of providing services in the FWBHAC target area. The two organizations work together to leverage resources so we can have maximum impact on the community. Our joint efforts around the Earned Income Tax Credit assistance have helped deliver millions of dollars to residents of the FWBHAC target area.

CCLS History CCLS provides free legal advice and representation in civil matters to eligible low-income individuals throughout its six-county service area. Incorporated as “Fresno County Legal Services, Inc.,” in 1966, the program was created by a group of dedicated individuals who spearheaded the foundation of the agency. CCLS is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax exempt organization.

CCLS is proud of its delivery of civil legal services to low-income individuals in the following service areas: domestic violence and elder abuse prevention, tenants’ rights, healthcare access, education/ youth law, consumer law, rights and access to public benefits, community economic development, employee rights and taxpayer assistance. The program serves eligible individuals in the counties of Fresno, Tulare, Kings, Merced, Tuolumne, Mariposa and senior citizens in Madera County. Services are delivered through fully staffed offices located in the cities of Fresno, Merced and Visalia.

CCLS employs attorneys, paralegals and support staff with significant program support from pro bono attorneys, law students, interns and other volunteers. Last year, CCLS provided legal assistance on a total of 5,983 individual cases. Hispanics/Latinos represent the largest ethnic group at 44%; Anglos 30%; African-Americans 15%; Asian/Pacific Islanders 3%; Native Americans at 1% and Other at 7%. CCLS employs an ethnically diverse staff with the capacity to communicate in multiple client languages including Hmong, Lao, Cambodian, Russian, Arabic, Urdu and Spanish. CCLS uses a number of tools for clients to overcome barriers to service, including a toll-free number, a TTY line and outreach clinics. continued on nezxt page

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Today, CCLS employs 56 professionals who provide area residents access to high-quality and effective free, civil legal services to more than 6,000 individuals per year. Clients may access legal services at our offices, at legal clinics and through outreach and community education workshops that inform the client community of their rights and the legal services available.

had been launched but for different reasons the projects never came to fruition. In the mid 1990’s a new effort emerged. CCLS worked very closely with the residents of West Fresno who were committed to seeing this new effort be successful. From the first community meeting at Edison High School where community members demanded that Redevelopment Agency and Community Development Block Grant Funds (CDBG) be utilized to bring a shopping center to West Fresno, to the ground breaking and the grand opening, CCLS stood with the community.

Throughout the process, CCLS provided technical support to the West Fresno Coalition for Affordable Housing, the name under which the efforts were carried out.

CCLS Community Economic Development work in the FWBHAC target area In the mid 1990’s CCLS began working on our first community economic development projects.

Our work in this area is driven by the recognition that the vast majority of our clients turn to us for services because they lack economic stability.

Many individuals find themselves unemployed or under employed; those fortunate enough to have employment earn minimum wage and receive no benefits. It is clear that for individuals and communities to move out of poverty, jobs need to be created.

Following the opening of the Kearney Palms Shopping Center, CCLS helped to incorporate Fresno West Coalition for Economic Development (FWCED). The first board of directors of FWCED was formed by the leaders of the campaign to bring the shopping center to West Fresno. CCLS assisted FWCED in obtaining its first operational grant and served as the fiscal agent in its early years. continued on page 28

For decades, West Fresno residents had been promised a shopping center. Several efforts

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Continued from page 26

Earned Income Tax Credit Campaign, CCLS and FWBHAC

its efforts and assisted over 2,900 families/ individuals resulting in federal refunds of over $4.9 million coming back to the City of Fresno of which over $2.5 million was in EITC. This represents an $80 to $1 return on the City’s investment. In addition, individual filers were able to save an additional $100-$200 by not having to pay for these services, thus allowing them to keep more of their tax refunds.

In 2003, CCLS initiated a campaign to provide free assistance to help residents file for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This EITC is proven to be the most effective program to move more families out of poverty than any other federal poverty program. However, many persons who qualify don’t apply for the credit. CCLS discovered that millions of dollars remained unclaimed each year in Fresno and began a public education and outreach campaign.

We reached out to partner agencies to encourage them to participate in the campaign as well.

During this two year period in the 93706 zip code alone, 454 families were assisted with their tax preparations, resulting in federal refunds of over $900,000 of which more than $452,000 was in EITC. These efforts represent a great opportunity to also improve the economic conditions of the City’s impoverished neighborhoods.

Approximately 80% of the tax credit is spent in local communities on items such as shelter, food or clothing. For others, the credit can be a down payment on a home, seed money for a small business or funding for education. The EITC can also be claimed retroactively for a period of three years. This represents significant dollars for low and moderate income households.

In November of 2007 FWBHAC published a study entitled “The Economic Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit in the City of Fresno.” The study highlighted the under-utilization of EITC in the FWFBHAC target area and urged action by public officials, including the adoption of a City of Fresno EITC. Although the City did not adopt its own EITC, in the 2008/2009 and 2009/2010 fiscal years, the City of Fresno authorized the use of CDBG funds to promote EITC efforts.

As a recipient of some of those funds, CCLS conducted highly successful campaigns in the target areas.

2011 I-CAN! E-File Tax Assistance On January 15, 2011 CCLS will launch the EITC campaign. A free, on-line software program, I-CAN! E-File will be available at www. centralcallegal.org. CCLS will also have computer work stations available for people to claim their EITC. CCLS offices in Fresno are currently located at 1401 Fulton Street, Suite 700. The offices will be relocated in mid-February 2010 to 2115 Kern Street. The phone number is (559) 570-1200.

In 2008/2009, with funding from the City CDBG grant, more than 1,200 families/individuals received tax preparation assistance resulting in over $1.6 million in federal refunds coming back to the City of Fresno of which almost $900,000 was in EITC. This represented a $32 to $1 return on the City’s investment.

In 2009/2010, once again with funding from the City CDBG grant, CCLS more than doubled

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ORGANIZATIONAL SPOTLIGHT

Central Valley Health Policy Institute Place Matter- Regional Equity Initiative One Zip Code at a Time By: John Capitman and Marlene Bengiamin At the Central Valley Health Policy Institute (CVHPI) at Fresno State, our mission is to improve equity in health and health care for the eight San Joaquin Valley counties by enhancing the region’s capacity for policy analysis and program development, implementation and evaluation. Achieving health equity and eliminating racial/ethnic, social class, gender and other health disparities have been adopted as national goals for public health as reflected in US Healthy People 2020 (http:// www.healthypeople.gov/2020/default.aspx) and its hundreds of endorsing organizations.

Healthy People 2020 recommends the adoption of comprehensive strategies to eliminate health disparities. Such strategies are built on multi-sector collaboration and linkages among community organizations and government to create improved life opportunities and more accessible, more effective services in communities most among other goals. We hope our partnership with Fresno Works for Better Health Advocacy Center in sponsoring Place Matters: 93706 can bring new energy and commitment to initiatives seeking health justice in this key Valley community.

continued on nezxt page

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Worlds Apart, Futures Together

Reports have proliferated that detail the area’s dramatic needs and proposals for policy change, and community initiatives to address pressing concerns such as environmental hazards, violence reduction and safety, quality schools and other services, and employment options. Yet as residents and leaders met in the early months of 2010 to develop a community plan in response to The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities initiative, there was a strong consensus that not enough had changed and that 93706 continued to face daunting challenges and that Fresno continued to avoid facing its legacy of racial/ethnic and socio-economic inequities.

Planning process participants emphasized their increasing cynicism and despair about the capacity of neighborhood organizations to broaden their networks or work together to create change.

In 2006, many organizations concerned with persistent concentrated poverty in central and southwest Fresno brought together a broad crosssection of city and county leaders to build a shared understanding of root causes and jump-start efforts for re-building healthy and prosperous neighborhoods. “Worlds Apart, Futures Together” highlighted how political, cultural, and socioeconomic exclusion of African American, Latino, and South East Asian communities had fueled public choices that directed development and opportunities to other portions of Fresno and private choices that deepened the isolation of low-income people of color from the progress and optimism available to other communities.

Through the active engagement of government, business, and community organizations, conference participants agreed on their commitment to change and a number of specific initiatives. Even before 2006 and continuing through today, a number of organizations were active in promoting economic development and improved quality of life in the 93706 neighborhood.

Place Matters: San Joaquin Valley Regional Equity Forum Since 2006, the eight counties of the San Joaquin Valley have participated in the national Place Matters initiative that has brought together 16 teams representing 21 counties and three

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cities that have among the most dramatic racial/ ethnic disparities in health and well-being.

Spearheaded by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, Place Matters has underscored the social determinants of health inequalities and encouraged a new focus on improving living conditions and economic prospects in the most impacted low income communities of color within these areas.

CVHPI has participated in the national Place Matters initiative since its inception. Recognizing the need to build a broader collaborative in the Valley, in May, 2010 we joined with other regional and community-based health and social justice organizations facilitated the first of its kind, Place Matters: San Joaquin Valley Regional Equity Forum. This remarkable event brought together over 150 organizations regional key stakeholders representing 75 organizations in an effort to develop a regional agenda to reduce and eliminate health inequities. Key leaders in air and water quality, healthy food access, physical activity environments, access to health care, affordable housing and community economic development contributed to a full day of broadly inclusive discussions. Presentations

from diverse perspectives highlighted how variations across the region in the policies and environments that shape community life also determine place-based inequities in the burden of chronic disease and years of productive life.

During the event, Dr. Capitman, Executive Director, CVHPI, California State University, Fresno presented preliminary findings on how years of productive life lost and ambulatory care sensitive hospital admissions (avoidable hospitalization) vary across the region’s communities as defined by zip codes. In all these data, the 93706 zip code stands out as among the most impacted. Demographic measures highlight a much higher proportion of African American and Asian residents, much higher poverty, and less employment opportunities than other portions of the Valley. Its residents lose about one-third more years of potential life before age 65 and are 20% more likely to have a preventable hospitalization than residents of Fresno County or California. Rates for key chronic conditions (diabetes, heart diseases, asthma) in 93706 are notably higher than for Fresno or California. continued on nezxt page

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SAN JOAQUIN ZIP CODES WITH HIGHEST AND LOWEST RATES OF AVOIDABLE HOSPITALIZATION

Lowest Rates of Avoidable Hospitalization

GREEN

95304

San Joaquin

95377

San Joaquin

93239 / 93204

Kings

93608 / 93668 93660 / 93640

Fresno

93206 / 93224 93249 / 93251 93280

Kern

93203

Kern

93234 / 93210

Fresno

95363

Stanislaus

95368

Stanislaus

93241

Kern

93648

Fresno

93314

Kern

93646

Tulare

95348

Merced

93611

Fresno

34

Highest Rates of Avoidable Hospitalization

RED

93205 / 93240 93283 / 93255

Kern

93301

Kern

93308

Kern

93268

Kern

95202 / 95203

San Joaquin

95205

San Joaquin

95212

San Joaquin

95204

San Joaquin

93505

Kern

95350

Stanislaus

93706

Fresno

95336

San Joaquin

93243/ 93560

Kern

93257

Tulare

93274

Tulare

San Joaquin Valley Zip Codes Ambulatory Care Sensitive Condition Admissions/10,000 persons 1998-2007 Several other distinguished leaders representing several regional and local initiatives also addressed social determinants of health and the significance of a regional shared agenda. For example, Jonathon London, PhD from the UC Davis Center for Regional change highlighted the importance of differing ways of thinking about the socio-economic conditions of census tracks and communities.

He pointed to the idea of social vulnerability as an indicator of the combined impacts of racism, classism, education and other indicators of social status. His maps also point to 93706 as having among the most concentrated tracks of social vulnerability.

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A Regional Health Equity Agenda Beginning with Community Capacity Building

8. Provide affordable and accessible public transportation Yet they noted it was in many ways premature to discuss a regional agenda. Community organizations are struggling to create visible movement on local priorities in a period of fraying safety net funding and little government capacity to engage new initiatives. They need support in educating communities, analyzing policies from a local perspective, and shaping new strategies. Not surprisingly, the action step that received the most support from participants was to bring together inclusive local coalitions to focus attention on the most impacted urban neighborhoods and rural communities. Other action steps called for better shared regional understanding of successful initiatives and great ideas that could still move forward from grassroots and community organizations.

Participants enthusiastically embraced the social determinants of health framework, and highlighted the need for regional collaboration among empowered neighborhoods with authentic leaders to carry forward a broad multisector agenda.

1. Build Economic development /infrastructure 2. Promote healthy community/environment 3. Provide affordable housing 4. Offer education/ adult and child literacy 5. Integrate Land use policy 6. Provide access to affordable healthy food for all individuals 7. Control out of pocket cost for access to care and medications

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Place Matters: 93706 CVHPI’s research and findings from other organizations have focused on how the economic and environmental conditions across San Joaquin zip codes are associated with broad inequalities in the burden of disease, quality of life, and survival. In these studies, the dramatically more negative health outcomes for 93706 repeatedly come to the fore. Fresno Works for Better Health Advocacy Center noting the lack of collaboration and relative ineffectiveness of community-based initiatives in 93706 has been pursuing a number of avenues for increasing the skills and impact of community leaders, from capacity building within organizations to coalition building within the neighborhood.

In January, 2011 Fresno Works for Better Health Advocacy Center, CVHPI, and a broad consortium of southwest Fresno and regional organizations are planning to come together with the goal of renewing the optimism and a sense of regional responsibility for improving opportunities and life outcomes in 93706. The partners plan on a one-day leadership meeting

followed by an evening community presentation and “town hall� event.

The specific goals of Place Matters: 93706 will be to: 1) Recognize and support the policies, programs, and efforts that are bringing needed success and opportunity to 93706.

2) Build greater consensus and collaboration among community lead groups within 93706 in shaping and implementing an inclusive health justice vision and action plan.

3) Energize a renewal and recommitment of among leaders and organizations from throughout Fresno to improving quality of life and life outcomes for 93706 residents as a core component of regional development and health equity efforts.

4) Demonstrate renewed clarity of purpose around a shared agenda for community improvement to residents of 93706.

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Agenda Wednesday, January 19, 2011 4:00 to 4:15 pm 4:15 to 4:25 pm 4:25 to 5:00 pm 5:00 to 5:30 pm

West Fresno Regional Center

INTRODUCTION OPENING Oliver Baines, Fresno City Council - District 3 WELCOME Dinner PLENARY SPEAKERS. Dr. Tou N. Her, Moderator

5:30 to 6:30

6:30 to 7:30

• Fr. Jim Pappas – St. George Greek Orthodox Church of Fresno, CA • Judy Rogers, Executive Director of United One Productions • Brian Angus. Executive Director Fresno County Economic Opportunities Commission (EOC) • Brian King, co-founder and chief executive officer Fresno Street Saints • Margarita Rocha, Executive Director Centro La Familia • Captain Greg Garner, Southwest Policing District Commander - Bringing Broken Neighborhoods Back to Life All --Introduction • Name, affiliation and one gift you gave to your community in 2010……

• One issue you heard today that you would like to discuss forther

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Thursday, January 20, 2011 12:00 to 12:15 pm

West Fresno Regional Center

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

LUNCH 12:15 to 1:00 pm

PLENARY SPEAKERS. Emerging Leaders---Charles Bailey, Moderator Facilitated small group discussion---93706 Vision and Collaborative Process Dr. Valerie Batts, Executive Director, VISIONS, Inc Dr. Julian Sonn, Deputy Head: Centre for Leadership Studies. University of Stellenbosch Business School

1:30 to 4:00 pm

1. Developing a shared language for addressing race and class inequities 2. Understanding and removing barriers to cooperation among 93706 community organizations 3. Renewing the commitment of broader Fresno and regional organizations to policy and system changes and investments aimed at increasing prosperity and health in 93706 Developing consensus and report to group/closure-

4:00 to 4:45 pm

Dr. Valerie Batts, Executive Director, VISIONS, Inc Dr. Julian Sonn, Deputy Head: Centre for Leadership Studies. University of Stellenbosch Business School

5:00 to 6:00 pm 6:00 to 7:45 pm

Dinner 93706 Community Meeting (Town Hall meeting) Successful Initiatives and Unfinished Agendas in 93706

6:15 to 6:40

Dr. James Aldridge Luisa Medina Consensus Report on 93706 Vision and Collaborative Process Charles Bailey

6:40 to 7:10

Building Consensus on a Cooperative Process and Action Plan Community Small table dialogue Dr. Valerie Batts

7:10 to 7:45 7:45 to 8:00 pm

Dr. Julian Sonn Closure/final remarks

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