Home: Highlights
Welcome Erika Rincón to the Team!
Erika will be supporting Get Healthy SMC Healthy Economy efforts and the Community Collaboration for Children’s Success (CCCS) initiative. With a focus in workforce development and transportation justice, Erika brings over 10 years of experience working to advance equity and access to opportunity for low-income people of color in California. She holds wide-ranging experience in coalition and capacity building, policy advocacy, community-based planning, education outreach, technical assistance, and research.
Board of Supervisors Codify their Commitment to Black Lives Matter
At the June 23rd County Board of Supervisor meeting, the supervisors unanimously voted on a resolution supporting the Black Lives Matter movement and reaffirming the County’s commitment to racial equity. The most important part of the Board meeting was how many people turned out to express their deep commitment to racial justice.
Planning for Health Toolkit Update: New Chapter on Community Engagement
Community engagement is a critical component to planning for health and advancing equity. Check out our latest update to our Planning for Health Toolkit to learn more about inclusive public engagement that respects community leadership and expertise, and the importance of youth civic empowerment. We will soon add a virtual community engagement section to the toolkit. Stay tuned! To learn more, please contact HPP staff Heather Eastwood.
Please Share Resources
As a community of families and community based leaders, the CCCS network is an important place to share resources and information that our families could use during this difficult time. We are emailing resources to our network weekly and any new opportunities would be appreciated. If you have services or resources you are aware of that are relevant to our CCCS families, please contact Shireen Malekafzali at smalekafzali@smcgov.org.
Local Job Boards for Those Seeking Jobs
Local organizations are regularly updating their job search boards with available jobs in the region:
Job Train jobs board: https://www.jobtrainworks.org/job-seekers-services/
SAMCEDA Jobs board: https://www.samceda.org/Employment-Information
NOVA Job Board https://jobboard.novaworks.org/
Expansion of COVID-19 Testing
Testing for COVID-19 is now available in Daly City and East Palo Alto as well as San Mateo. Testing is available Monday through Saturday on a rotating basis through the three cities and free to any resident without the requirement of a doctor’s note, symptom screening or medical insurance. See all three locations and how to schedule an appointment at https://www.smcgov.org/covid-19-testing.
County Leadership During COVID-19 to Support Our Communities
Our Board of Supervisors have been taking leadership to support our communities. They have passed a moratorium on evictions for rental units across the county. They have passed a moratorium on small business evictions in our unincorporated communities. More information on the moratoriums and housing and small business resources can be found in our Healthy Housing and Healthy Economy sections below.
Resources for Small Businesses
Renaissance Mid-Peninsula continues to offer online classes and workshops to small and disadvantaged business owners such as on how to build your business online now that the shelter-in-place order is in place. They are also supporting disadvantaged business that have been impacted by COVID-19. You can access their support form in English and Spanish.
Becoming Connected Resilient Educators in Uncertain Times
Schools and their staff have responded to the COVID-19 public health emergency by shifting from classroom-based learning to virtual platforms almost overnight. This shift along with the stresses of dealing with the shelter-in-place orders can be stressful for everyone, teachers, students, and families included. In response to the need of San Mateo County educators and administrators, the San Mateo County School Wellness Alliance has created a weekly series of Restorative Practices workshops.
CCCS Schools Get Pro-Social Skills
Martin Elementary in South San Francisco and Woodrow Wilson Elementary in Daly City are two sites for the evidence-based Teaching Pro-social Skills (TPSS) Program that our Human Resources Agency and Behavioral Health and Recovery Services are supporting to address prioritized needs in the CCCS Action Plans: providing mental/behavioral health supports at schools for students, providing social-emotional learning opportunities, improving school climate, and helping keep students in the classroom. Teaching Pro-Social Skills (TPSS) is a ten-week program that uses “Skillstreaming”, an
Collaboration to Create a More Sustainable Food System
At the September Strategic Planning retreat, the San Mateo Food System Alliance (SMFSA) decided that the group must work to address climate change given the deep impacts of climate change across the food system. SMFSA established the Climate Resilience Committee to lead the work for the alliance. The Climate Resilience Committee is currently in the process of exploring how to best support sustainability within the local food and agriculture systems.
Continued Support for Restorative Justice Practices in Local Schools
San Mateo County schools continue to support a positive school climate and reforms to school discipline by implementing Restorative Justice Practices. With funding from Get Healthy San Mateo County, the San Mateo County Office of Education (SMCOE) has partnered with local school districts to train staff and districts to support the development of Restorative Justice Practices Implementation Plans.
Reflections on 2019
It’s hard to imagine that we are in the home stretch of our 2015-2020 Get Healthy SMC Strategic Plan. Five years ago, you helped develop a 10-point vision for healthy, equitable communities and we set out to support you in advancing your priorities. We looked back recently and found that we had contributed to a lot of meaningful outcomes for our communities including 150 policies, plans or resource allocations targeted to preventing disease and improving well-being.
Announcement of Cancelation of Get Healthy SMC Community Implementation Funding 2020
Due to rising costs outpacing revenues San Mateo County Health is addressing budget deficit and workforce reductions. As a result our annual Community Implementation Funding Request for Proposals will be canceled for 2020. County Health leadership have a plan in place to support the budget challenges and all programs are doing their part to ensure important safety-net services are maintained. We remain committed to supporting the important community organizations on the ground advancing the community-identified priorities to achieve a healthy, equitable San Mateo County.
Dynamic Speaker Promotes A Strength-Based Approach to Discipline
Get Healthy SMC, Sequoia Healthcare District, and Peninsula Healthcare District partnered to bring Charlie Appelstein back to San Mateo County for additional parent and staff trainings on December 10th, 11th, 12th. Charlie’s trainings are packed with positive principles and techniques to help educators, professionals and parents develop powerful relationships with the young people they guide.
Don’t Miss This Leadership Development Opportunity
The Boards and Commissions Leadership Institute (BCLI) is recruiting low-income and people of color from San Mateo County to join their next cohort of fellows. There will be an informational session on October 8 from 6pm to 7:30pm at 225 37th Avenue, San Mateo (Room 100). Applications are due October 20. BCLI is a six-month leadership program that supports low-income communities and people of color to access decision-making roles.
San Mateo County Looks to Improve Community Health through Walking and Biking Opportunities
San Mateo County is working on its first ever active transportation plan that will be published in Spring 2020. Led by our colleagues at the Office of Sustainability, we are still seeking input (English and Spanish) on how to best strengthen the county’s walking and biking environments, particularly in denser neighborhoods such as North Fair Oaks where we see higher numbers of collisions involving people walking and biking. Please share your thoughts on how to support safe and active transportation!
Boards and Commissions Vacancies
San Mateo County Bike & Pedestrian Advisory
Committee: There is one vacancy for residents in
Districts 1,2, 4 or 5. This five-member committee advises the
Board of Supervisors on funding, projects, programs and policies
related to improving and increasing bicycling and walking
transportation. Applications
are being accepted until September 6th.
Farming for Pay Equity
Recent federal report shows an underrepresentation of women and minority farmers as agriculture loan recipients. The county’s Vision for a San Mateo County Food and Farm bill (summarized here) recommends prioritizing strategies to create a local food system that addresses inequities such as these in all aspects of the food and farming system.
Improving Health through Equitable Fee Policies
Dear Get Healthy SMC Partners,
One of my favorite things about this job is the chance to learn about issues impacting our most vulnerable in our County and ways we can advance health equity by building financial security for all people. One issue we’ve been researching recently is the impact local fines and fees can have on residents’ ability to grow their assets and savings.