It was my great honor to recognize Dr. Noha Aboelata, daughter of Oakland, for her invaluable medical services, community advocacy and leadership. My staff and I consider her a close advisor, friend, and trusted messenger. I greatly admire her and her largely African American staff at Roots Community Health Center located by my office in Eastmont Towncenter for their dedication, which is immeasurable. I find it remarkable that they provide the services they do and consider them a stellar organization within my district and the County overall. I was so very pleased to present this award to her on Tuesday during the Board of Supervisors Regular meeting, with deep appreciation and gratitude.

I had the pleasure of reading "Cali Love" recently, a newsletter by Candace Mays and Alex Reed, which brought to the forefront of my mind the conflicted feelings many African Americans must have about celebrating Presidents Day; especially because many of the implications it carries juxtapose the intended sentiment of Black History month. 

Here is an excerpt: "Because I can't stop thinking about the role the American presidency has played and continues to play in our subjugation. Instead, of Presidents' Day, I'm declaring today "Freedom Seekers' Day" in celebratory honor of those who maximized their resources, empowered their communities, and exercised their knowledge of the law to put a stop to the practice of slavery in California."

Food for thought and real talk are woven into an impressive recounting of California's history of Black oppression and Black triumph. As we come to the end of Black History Month 2021, may we always remember those who came before us, never limit ourselves or the goals we want to reach, and never stop questioning the world in which we live.

REACH is a pivotal center I helped establish in Ashland, aimed at supporting and empowering youth and families. I am so proud of the work they were able to continue to do despite the pandemic, specifically rising to the enormous challenge of providing in-person services in the face of a quarantined, virtual world.

REACH safely operated in-person, school-linked health programming for over 150 members since June. This included two summer camp sessions, four Fall sessions, and five planned Winter and Spring -  all providing the unique REACH brand of in-person enrichment experiences and academic support, scaffolded by our health + wellness approach.

REACH also served as the first Alameda County sponsored COVID-19 testing site, launched a walk-up food distribution for the Eden unincorporated area that continues first and third Wednesdays, kept Fuente’s health center open, and deployed staff as disaster service workers within Public Health.

Two of my community development projects, Eden Area Livability Initiative and My Eden Voice!, continued their impactful, equity-based and grassroots community empowerment work despite Covid.

The Eden Area Livability Initiative (EALI) was developed from the formulation of the Livability Principles, based on the Ahwahnee Principles, which identify regional and local beliefs to guide the development of an integrated approach for future planning, development, land use and all aspects of service delivery (including education, infrastructure, fire, recreation, public health, public safety, and public works) decisions within the Eden Area.

With PHASE I complete, PHASE II of EALI brought over 400 participants together to vote on community goals, which were then organized into 5 working groups focused on agriculture and environment, economic development, education, governance, and public safety. I am pleased to announce that these working groups have completed their work and an evaluation was conducted by the Prevention Institution on the process. One major result of this hard work is the Cherryland Community Center!

In 2020, My Eden Voice (MEV!) focused on expanding access to parks and open space and renter protections for the unincorporated communities. In 2021, the group will work on advancing the Eden Equitable Recovery Initiative, focusing on COVID recovery that centers the needs and voices of those who have been disproportionately impacted by this crisis. They will also work to establish an Equity Taskforce to ensure that Alameda County meets its goals for an equitable recovery in the Eden Area.

ALL IN Alameda County has been very active in its effort to address issues of poverty throughout the pandemic.

Early in the pandemic, ALL IN and Dig Deep Farms launched an emergency food distribution that not only provides fresh produce but also prepared meals from small business food vendors who received $15,000 mini-grants to prepare 1,000 healthy meals for individuals and families.

ALL IN also celebrated its one-year anniversary of the clinically integrated Food as Medicine model at the Tiburcio Vasquez Health Center in Ashland. To date, 526 patients have each received a food prescription for 16 weeks of fresh produce for a total of 6,283 bags (approximately 100,528 servings) via doorstep delivery from Dig Deep Farms. 

Don't miss the latest installment of The People's Health Briefing. In it, Roots Community Health Center CEO and founder Dr. Noha Aboelata breaks down the impact of COVID19 on Alameda County, Oakland and East Oakland in particular.

Please take a moment to watch and learn!

View all installments of "The People's Health Briefing" here in the "All Videos" section.

To learn more about Roots Community Health Center, visit their website.

I'm pleased to announce that the Illegal Dumping Taskforce and I will host the Inaugural Statewide Illegal Dumping Conference virtually on the mornings of April 21st, 22nd, and 23rd - and best of all it's FREE!

Representatives from all sectors of the waste economy are invited including elected officials, District Attorneys, Code Enforcement, Law Enforcement and Public Works personnel, community based organizations, waste haulers and any individuals working to address illegal dumping!

This virtual conference will take place over three days between April 21-23, 2021 from 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM.

More information can be found on the Eventbrite page including registration and contact information.

Most Tuesdays, the Board of Supervisors holds a Regular Meeting during which the public is allowed to speak to the Board on items not on the agenda starting at or around 9:30am for the time being. (Please note that the BOS meetings do not start at a set time! More information appears closer to the meeting date and time, but be prepared to wait for it to begin.)

Agenda items in particular represent decisions made about our communities, and while we might not always agree on the best path forward, I am fond of saying that reasonable people will disagree and also that I get some of my best ideas from my constituency base. I am honored to serve on the Board as a County Supervisor and take the ideas, concerns, and feedback of the public very seriously.

Please, consider tuning into these meeting and encouraging your family, friends, and neighbors to do the same. We are stronger as a County when we are connected to one another, and engaged with the civic process.

The meeting calendar, including links to the agenda when it is available, can be found here.

The links to the livestream broadcast of the meetings, including a Zoom link in the event that Granicus is experiencing technical difficulties, can be found here.