A Letter from Los Angeles County Board Chair & Supervisor Hilda L. Solis
 Dear Friends,Â
The holiday season is here, and it is critical that we continue to follow COVID-19 safety guidelines while celebrating with our loved ones. Here are some tips when planning your Halloween activities:
- Keep gatherings small and outdoors. If it must be indoors, improve the air flow by opening windows and doors if it is safe to do so.Â
- Avoid indoor haunted houses where people may crowd together and scream ─ people spray tiny droplets when doing so. The droplets can build up indoors, increasing the risk of spreading COVID-19 if someone is infected.Â
- Avoid crowded places. Being in crowds, especially indoors, puts you at a higher risk.
- Wear a face mask. Incorporate a face mask that covers your nose and mouth snugly into your costume. A costume mask, even if it is extra spooky, is not a substitute for a face mask that protects against COVID-19. Wear the mask whenever you are inside with other people or in crowded outdoor spaces.Â
- Be flexible. Be willing to change your plans or leave if you feel uncomfortable or find yourself in a place where COVID-19 can spread more easily. For example, indoors in a loud crowded bar or restaurant with a lot of people who are not wearing face masks.Â
If there are unvaccinated persons in your household, choose safer Halloween options. This is especially important for unvaccinated older adults, people with underlying medical conditions, and our young ones who are not yet, but soon will be, eligible to be vaccinated. Ideas for safer activities include: Â
- A scavenger hunt. Give your kids a list of Halloween-themed things to look for outdoors, like different types of decorations.
- Hold a virtual costume party online.Â
- Exchange candy with families you know. Drop off a Halloween treat at the doorstep to surprise the kids.Â
- Trick-or-treat inside your home with your family by hiding candy for your kids to find. For a fun surprise, hide yourself, too!
- Have a spooky movie night or a Halloween craft or pumpkin carving party with the family.
As shared last week, Los Angeles County is now administering boosters for all three FDA-approved vaccines: Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson! To find a vaccination site, make an appointment at vaccination sites, and much more, residents may visit: www.VaccinateLACounty.com (English) or www.VacunateLosAngeles.com (Spanish). If someone you know doesn’t have internet access, can’t use a computer, or is over the age of 65, they can call 1-833-540-0473 for help finding an appointment, connecting to free transportation to and from a vaccination site, or scheduling a home-visit if they are homebound.
Have a safe and fun Halloween!
Sincerely,Â
Chair Hilda L. Solis
Supervisor, First District
 Experience, hear, and learn about the traditions of DÃa de Los Muertos—Day of the Dead— at Grand Park's ninth annual Downtown DÃa de Los Muertos. From Friday, October
22nd through Tuesday, November 2nd, this 12-day public art installation honors people, places, and ideas that merit reverence and commemoration. Â
Presented in partnership with Self Help Graphics & Art, Grand Park's Downtown DÃa de Los Muertos invites everyone to contribute to a community altar and to stroll through the park to view 20 altars made by professional artists and local community organizations, including East Los Angeles Women's Center, Eastside LEADS, and Latino Outreach Understand Division (LOUD) / Los Angeles Family AIDS Network, among others.
This year's altars include a homage to Chicana activist, author and community organizer, Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez, as well as altars honoring the LGBTQ+ community and the loss of community members during the pandemic ─ including my altar, which honors and remembers First District residents.
 The Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative is updating its strategies for addressing and preventing homelessness and making sure the public is engaged throughout the process. After conducting a series of public meetings to discuss strategy recommendations, the Homeless Initiative is continuing to collect public comment online. Your feedback is essential to ensuring the Homeless Initiative strategies reflect your priorities.
All comments will be considered as the Homeless Initiative drafts its final recommendations, which will be submitted to the Board of Supervisors for consideration later this year. The last day to submit public comment is November 5, 2021, before 5 p.m.
Watch this video for an overview of the proposed new framework for Homeless Initiative strategies. The recommendations call for an "All Hands on Deck" approach that includes:
- maximizing the ability of mainstream safety net programs to rapidly rehouse people who are newly homeless as well as to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place;
- ensuring that the County's homeless services system remains a system of last resort, with a particular focus on serving people who are persistently homeless;
- creating a clearer path for how cities can co-invest with the County in housing and regional outreach; and
- closing racial disparities and advancing equity.
The CalFresh Restaurant Meals Program allows CalFresh customers to use the EBT card to purchase prepared meals at over 1,300 participating restaurants. This program is available to individuals who meet one of the following conditions:
- Experiencing homelessness
- Elderly - age 60 years or older and his/her spouse (husband, wife, common-law husband, common-law wife)
- Disabled and his/her spouse (husband, wife, common-law husband, common-law wife) - Receiving Social Security Disability Benefits; Railroad Retirement Benefit Annuities; or Cash Assistance Program for Immigrants (CAPI).
For details and how to apply, visit the link below.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing up to $3 million in funding for projects that design, demonstrate, and/or disseminate environmental education practices, methods, or techniques that will serve to increase environmental and conservation literacy, and encourage behavior that will benefit the environment in the local communities where they are located. To learn more, visit the link below. |
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