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Building Healthy, Equitable Communities
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Staff Perspectives

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Staff Perspective

Get Healthy San Mateo County staff offer their perspective on a public health issue featured in our newsletters. 

Post Sonali Suratkar

Supporting Anchor Mission Work

My name is Sonali, and I am excited to join the Health Equity Team as a Community Health Planner to support County Health’s Anchor Institution strategies. Through the CalFresh Healthy Living Program, I supported many partners to advance health equity, making healthy food choices and active school travel more accessible to high-need communities. It was fulfilling to proactively engage with the diverse teams that influenced institutional policy changes.

Staff Perspective Liz Sanchez

Back with HPP! 

Hello! My name is Liz Sanchez and I am excited to be rejoining the CalFresh Healthy Living team and HPP as a Community Program Specialist II. Over the past several years, I have been working out of class in various roles supporting San Mateo County’s COVID response. In the beginning stages of the pandemic, I worked as the education liaison, assisting in helping schools reopen.

Staff Perspective Nupoor Kulkarni

SMC Pride 2022—STILL HERE, STILL PROUD!
Staff Perspective by Nupoor Kulkarni

From Indigenous land ceremonies to COVID test kit distribution, Inclusive Pride flags flying and community partners advocating for LGBTQ+ folks of all ages, SMC Pride 2022 is care in action. San Mateo County (SMC) Pride Celebration is hosted by our SMC BHRS Pride Initiative who partners with numerous agencies, including the SMC Pride Center, SMC LGBTQ Commission, Outlet, SMC Fair, and many others throughout the years to bring our communities this special event.

Staff Perspective Mai Le

Continuing to Collaborate for Children’s Success

Hello! My name is Mai (pronounced like “my”) and I am so happy to introduce myself as a new Community Health Planner with San Mateo County Health Policy and Planning (HPP). I’ll be working to move the Community Collaboration for Children’s Success (CCCS) forward and support our civic empowerment and health initiatives.

Staff Perspective Melissa Ibarra

Ensuring a Safe Return to Schools for All

Hello Get Healthy San Mateo readers! 

My name is Melissa, and I’m excited to join Health Policy and Planning as a Community Health Planner for the next year. I lead the Safe Return to Schools for All initiative, which aims to enhance the partnership between San Mateo County Health and the San Mateo Office of Education to ensure a safe return to schools for all students and school communities. I will also serve as the School Liaison between the community and San Mateo County Health.  

Staff Perspective Shireen Malekafzali

A Year of Change

The start of a new decade hit us with a pandemic that no one saw coming. An abrupt economic crisis followed, along with anxiety, isolation, and uncertainty. The pandemic highlighted and exacerbated the existing inequities within our county and country. To say that it’s been a challenge is an understatement. Families have lost so much – from loved ones, to jobs, financial security, and their normal family and community connections.

Staff Perspective Brian Oh

My Final Post with Deep Gratitude

Greetings, GHSMC partners! I write my final post with deep gratitude and optimism during one of the more challenging years in recent memory. As I wrap up my transition this month working for the County of San Mateo, I am encouraged by all the great health equity work that I was fortunate to be a part of during my three years with the Health Policy and Planning team.  We were able to advance policy efforts such as Daly City being the first city in the county to adopt a Vision Zero Action Plan to eliminate traffic deaths, which disproportionately affect our most vulnerable communities.

Staff Perspective Shireen Malekafzali

Forging Ahead with a Stronger Framework

Dear Get Healthy SMC,

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 told us that being healthy wasn’t just about getting to the gym, having vegetables with lunch, and cutting out soda for kids. You shared your experiences and those of your families and communities that demonstrated that we can’t be healthy in isolation – we need healthy, equitable communities for all.

Staff Perspective Justin Watkins Grace Streltzov

Local Produce Promotes Health, Economic Well-Being and Sustainable Agriculture

Justin and Grace here combining forces to talk about anchor strategies, which is a framework for building health and wealth in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods. Across the country, hospitals and health systems are using their economic power to improve community well-being. These large place-based enterprises, also known as “anchor institutions”, are using their resources to create economic opportunities for excluded and low-income residents through inclusive workforce programs, equitable procurement policies, sustainability efforts and mission-aligned investments.

Staff Perspective Grace Streltzov

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.

Staff Perspective Maeve Johnston

That’s a Wrap: Lessons from the Community Collaborative for Children’s Success Planning Process

Over the last year and a half, four communities in San Mateo County have been hard at work looking for solutions to overcome barriers to youth success. Despite busy schedules and competing priorities, over 1,000 community members showed their investment in young people’s futures by taking surveys, attending night meetings, knocking on doors, talking to neighbors and digging deep with their communities to come together around top priorities.