hsk-news, stories January 17, 2018 0

‘I know how victims feel’: West High to Combat Bullying With Needed Assemblies

By Chyna Patz, South Kern Sol

West High School has a bullying problem.

Walk around West High any school day and you can find somebody on campus who has been personally affected by bullying, or knows a student who has. I have tested this, and found that every student I had spoken to, had been subjected to bullying, at least once at West.

There have even been times when I have had to watch a close friend get called names, just for being gay. All I could do was hold them and tell them it would be alright.

I’ve had friends physically hurt by bullies, to the point where they felt unsafe coming to school.

I’ve personally been shoved by bullies in hallways and made fun of. I know how other victims feel.

Report after report had been filed by victims,  but there was hardly any effort to change the culture until a student who felt their only option was suicide filed a complaint. That set in motion something that has been sorely needed — an anti-bullying assembly to be hosted Tuesday and Thursday.

Click here to read more from South Kern Sol. 

This story was also published in the Bakersfield Californian on Wednesday, January 17, 2018.  

hsk-news January 17, 2018 0

Job Opportunity: Building Healthy Communities Kern

Building Healthy Communities Kern is looking for an All Action Team Liaison. Please take a look at the job description below for more information.

Job Description: All Action Team Liaison

Job title:  All Action Team Liaison

Project Background & Description:

Building Healthy Communities is a public health initiative aimed at achieving health and racial equity in California. The effort, supported by The California Endowment, is intended to improve the health outcomes of people living in fourteen communities throughout California and to provide a blueprint of creating healthy communities by building power, changing the narrative, building partnerships and leveraging resources. Building Healthy Communities Kern (BHC-Kern) can change the odds for underserved communities in Kern. Advancing the work of BHC-Kern is a broad and diverse collaborative comprised of public agencies, community organizations, schools, faith-based groups, advocates, residents and youth. Supporting the BHC-Kern collaborative is the central team (Learning & Evaluation, Communications Director, Policy & Strategic Facilitator, All Action Team Liaison and Translator) also known as the HUB, which provides coordination, infrastructure and logistical support to collaborative partners.

ROLE

The BHC-Kern All Action Team Liaison will report directly to the Policy & Strategic Facilitator.  The position’s primary function is to provide administrative support to the HUB.  The Liaison is responsible for helping with logistics and arranging meetings, providing clerical support to Hub staff as needed, and helping coordinate large BHC-related events in conjunction with the Hub Policy & Strategic Facilitator.  The All Action Team Liaison may also assist with other initiative-related activities.

The position requires a flexible work schedule as meetings and events may occur outside normal office hours, including evenings and weekends.

RESPONSIBILITES

  • Works collaboratively with the HUB staff, BHC-Kern partners, and community members to meet the goals of the initiative.

  • Follows established protocols and checklists for planning BHC-Kern events, meetings and activities.

  • Arranges logistics (with support and oversight from Policy & Strategic Facilitator) securing locations, arranging food and refreshments, technology, materials, childcare, etc. for all BHC Kern events, including but not limited to, monthly HUB meetings, Action Team meetings, All Action Team Meetings, and monthly partner events.

  • Attends all meetings and is responsible for taking and distributing minutes, being in charge of set up/clean up, and assisting the Policy & Strategic Facilitator with activities.

  • Responds promptly to telephone, mail and e-mail.

  • Maintains membership roster by keeping the partners database up to date.

  • Maintains and populates BHC-Kern social media, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and BHC app.

  • Develops monthly newsletter

  • Other duties as assigned.

THE IDEAL CANDIDATE

The All Action Team Liaison must be able to work with a diverse cross-section of people and serve communities with varied economic, social, racial, and cultural backgrounds.  The All Action Team Liaison should enjoy a challenge, be passionate about the work, and be committed to social justice.  The All Action Team Liaison should be a self-starter and-highly motivated, and able to work with minimum supervision, while keeping Hub staff up to date with all activities.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

  • A.A degree or higher.

  • Two or more years of recent clerical or office assist experience in the non-profit sector is highly desirable. Event planning experience is a plus.

  • Experience working within community settings is highly desirable.

QUALIFICATIONS: TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required.

  • Excellent oral and written communication skills required, including use of proper grammar, punctuation, spelling and standard business formats.

  • Able to manage multiple priorities and work well with others in a busy, fast- paced, evolving team environment.

  • Proactive workstyle, able to anticipate teams’ needs, seeing projects to successful conclusion.

  • Able to use sound judgment in responding to issues and concerns.

  • Able to produce proper and timely record keeping and minutes

  • Able to travel and work evenings and weekends as required.

  • Ability to maintain complete discretion, confidentiality, sensitivity and professional judgment.

  • Possesses strong organizational skills initiative and follow-through

  • Proficient and comfortable using the Internet and social media tools.

  • Possession of a valid driver’s license and the ability to drive within Kern County and California as needed

  • Ability to perform safe and effective lifting and bending.

  • Ability to sit and/or stand for periods of time.

  • Must be able to lift 35 pounds

INTERPERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS

  • Deep interest in and commitment to the vision, mission, and work of BHC-Kern.

  • Professionalism with the ability to maintain a positive attitude and respectful demeanor at all times.

  • Polite, courteous, and professional demeanor, particularly under stress.

  • Able to work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds and communities.

  • Bi-lingual in Spanish preferable

SALARY AND BENEFITS

The All Action Team Liaison is a full-time, contract position.  This position is grant-funded. Salary $40,000.

HOW TO APPLY 

  • Cover letter

  • Resume

  • Sample original writing

  • Three professional references

DEADLINE

Friday February 9, 2018

Mail to:

CSUB Sponsor Program Admin.

Alejandra Garcia

9001 Stockdale Hwy

26BDC Political Science Dept.

Bakersfield, Ca 93311

E-mail:

bhcagarcia@gmail.com

Subject Line: Application for Hub All Action Team Liaison BHC-Kern

"We are coming together to provide community residents with an opportunity to find out about their health coverage options and to enroll into a qualified health plan before Open Enrollment ends."

Clinica Sierra Vista Chief Operating Officer Bill Phelps

Several health care facilities across Kern County are teaming up to hold enrollment events before the deadline on January 31 to help area residents navigate the process.

“We are coming together to provide community residents with an opportunity to find out about their health coverage options and to enroll into a qualified health plan before Open Enrollment ends,” Clinica Sierra Vista Chief Operating Officer Bill Phelps said.

Phelps added that interest is up this year compared to last year but does not have official numbers yet.

The community is invited to attend the next enrollment event, which will be held Saturday, January 27 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Valley Plaza Mall between Macy’s and JC Penney.

For more information call Clinica Sierra Vista at (661) 328-4245 or Omni Family Health at (661) 459-1900.

Click here for more information.

______________________

La fecha límite de la inscripción abierta es el 31 de enero

Varias instalaciones de atención médica por todo el condado de Kern se están reuniendo para celebrar eventos de inscripción antes de la fecha límite del 31 de enero para ayudar a los residentes del área a navegar el proceso.

“Nos estamos reuniendo para brindar a los residentes de la comunidad la oportunidad de conocer sus opciones de cobertura de salud e inscribirse en un plan de salud calificado antes de que finalice la inscripción abierta”, dijo el director de operaciones de Clínica Sierra Vista, Bill Phelps.
Phelps agregó que el interés aumentó este año en comparación con el año pasado, pero aún no tiene cifras oficiales.

La comunidad está invitada a asistir al próximo evento de inscripción que se llevará a cabo el sábado, 27 de enero de 10 a.m. a 3 p.m. en el Valley Plaza Mall, entre Macy’s y JC Penney.

Para obtener más información, llame a Clínica Sierra Vista al (661) 328-4245 o a Omni Family Health al (661) 459-1900.

Haga click aquí para descargar el volante.

"There are 41,000 registered voters between 18-24 years old in Kern County and only 19,000 voted in the 2016 general election."

Reyna Olaguez, South Kern Sol

In mid-November, three youth from South Kern Sol had the opportunity to travel to Austin,Texas to participate in Voto Latino’s 10th Annual Power Summit. The youth, Marisol Sanchez, 17, Veronica Morley, 21, and Yesenia Aguilar, 19, heard from national figures like Maria Teresa Kumar, Voto Latino’s President and CEO, as well as the former Secretary of Housing and Development, Julian Castro– who announced during the summit. that he is considering a run for president in 2020.

Voto Latino brought together nearly 500 youth leaders from Texas and several other states to empower and teach them about the importance of being civically engaged in their communities.

“Even if you are 17 or if you are undocumented and cannot vote- we all know someone who can and we need to make sure they get out to the polls on election day,” said Kumar during her welcome address.

“The take away message was that when communities stand together and vote, communities will rise up and be stronger,” said Reyna Olaguez, South Kern Sol’s Executive Director, who also attended the event. “In Kern and across the nation the reality is that youth are registering to vote, but very few are actually going to the polls on election day and this needs to change in order to change our communities for the better.”

“There are 41,000 registered voters between 18-24 years old in Kern County and only 19,000 voted in the 2016 general election. Out of those, 53 percent are Latino but only 44 percent voted. Youth participation lags behind older voters about 13 to 15 percent,” said Olaguez who added that there are about 365,000 registered voters in Kern.

"As a youth advocate it is hard to move forward, people doubt you-- but it is worse when you're not at the table, because your perspective doesn't get there."

Dean Welliver, South Kern Sol

Our own Dean Welliver, Program Associate at South Kern Sol, recently attended the Inaugural Summit for the Obama Foundation in Chicago. Bringing together civic leaders from across the globe for a two-day summit held October 31 and November 1, the summit was packed with panels, workshops, and speakers including elected officials, writers and artists, social justice leaders, and entrepreneurs.

“My favorite panel was called ‘Getting Women in the Room Where It Happens,’ which included Dolores Huerta,” said Welliver. “There were so many good conversations about how women can support women to deal with sexism in the workplace, tokenization, and self-doubt.” The panel included former National Security Advisor under President Obama, and Mana Al-Sharif, the woman arrested for driving in Saudi Arabia.

Dolores Huerta, Susan Rice, and Mana Al-Sharif speak on the “Getting Women in the Room Where It Happens” Panel

As Program Associate at South Kern Sol, Welliver encourages local youth to find their own voice to raise awareness and visibility of health and race equity issues impacting underserved communities across Kern. Welliver wants to ensure that policymakers and other stakeholders authentically have youth at the table, not just to check of diversity boxes.

“As a youth advocate it is hard to move forward, people doubt you– but it is worse when you’re not at the table, because your perspective doesn’t get there. You want to be seen as well as heard,” said Welliver. “At the Summit, Michelle Obama said that before youth can use their voice, they have to know how to find it. Now with my role at South Kern Sol, I am fostering youth journalist voices who want to create narrative change in their own community.”

Michelle Obama with Poet Elizabeth Alexander

“I came back feeling extremely grateful to Dr. Ross and the [The California Endowment’s] President’s Youth Council, and also Dolores Huerta, Camila Chavez, and the work of The California Endowment,” added Welliver when asked what was his greatest takeaway from the summit.

hsk-news May 16, 2017 0

Film Screening: Raising Zoey, May 17

Don’t miss the unique opportunity to watch Dante Alencastre’s Raising Zoey on the big screen in Bakersfield. The documentary, follows transgender rights activist Zoey Luna as she struggles with acceptance at school.

A panel discussion will follow the film. The screening will be held Wednesday, May 17 at 6 p.m. at Maya Theatre, 1000 California Ave., in Bakersfield. To reserve your free seats please click here.

 

hsk-news, Uncategorized May 4, 2017 0

Language Access Workshop, May 11

Kern County Public Health Services, in collaboration with Building Healthy Communities-South Kern, California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) and Kern County Library, invite you to the Language Access Workshop. This workshop is a follow-up event to the Language Access Convening held on November 9, 2016. The workshop, like the convening, will focus on the Indigenous Mexican community living in Kern County. Indigenous communities from Mexico speak distinct languages that bear no linguistic similarity to English or Spanish.

At the convening, service providers will be able to:

  • Identify current resources for providing language access to indigenous language speakers in Kern County;
  • Identify potential long-term solutions for achieving more reliable and cost-effective language services to indigenous populations in the County; and,
  • Discuss next steps toward achieving short and long-term solutions.

Registration
Please fill out this registration form below or use this link (https://goo.gl/forms/OS7mCaAXGu5OqWty1).

The workshop will be held May 11 at Bakersfield’s Beale Memorial Library, 701 Truxtun Ave. from 1:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

 

 

hsk-news April 26, 2017 0

Film Screening: ’13th’ a Film by Ana DuVernay, May 11

13TH DOCUMENTARY SCREENING FLYER

Please join us on May 11 for a special screening of Ana DuVernay’s new film, ’13th,’ which takes an in-depth look into our country’s prison system within the context of this nation’s history of racial inequality. A panel discussion will follow the film.

The event is free to the public, but people must register as space is limited. Please register here.