Gaby Medina, a mom and health educator in the neighborhood of Westwood, in Denver, Colo. (79.36%), didn’t have a lot of faith in the safety of local tap water when she arrived here from Mexico. Much of Denver's foreign-born population similarly distrust the safety of tap water. However, Gaby eventually learned to trust the water. She then took a big step to make sure her family, friends, and fellow Latino residents across the community understand that tap water is far safer, healthier, and more affordable than sugary drinks.
Is tap water safe? Gabriela “Gaby” Medina is your average Latina mom who wants to help her 10-year-old daughter and her family live happy, healthy lives. In Mexico, tap water is not always safe to drink. “Initially, yes, I was hesitant ...
Alena Clark and Yvette Lucero-Nguyen worried that their University of Northern Colorado campus wasn’t breastfeeding-friendly for employees or students. So they worked with faculty, staff, and students to increase awareness of the health benefits of breastfeeding. They coordinated with different departments on campus to establish three Lactation Stations to provide breastfeeding parents a private, comfortable place to express breast milk or breastfeed. They also drafted an institution-wide written policy for breastfeeding support to protect employees and students.
University Employees and Students Without Breastfeeding Privacy
In spring 2011, Alena Clark, Nutrition and Dietetics Associate Professor at the University of Northern Colorado (UNC), where about 18% of undergraduates ...
Many Latino immigrants arrive in Broward County, Fla. (27% Latino) with no community ties, no possessions, no (or little) money, and no prospects for employment. Aside from the everyday challenges of facing this scenario, they also often face legal questions or citizenship matters. That’s why Hispanic Unity of Florida (HUF) was founded to offer free legal aid to low-income families in their most troubling times, to relieve stress and, in turn, improve people’s health and quality of life. Magaly Alvarado, a program manager with HUF, knew that she and her organization could and should do more to help their community.
Latino immigrants & toxic stress
Broward County, Fla., is home to a diverse immigrant population as it has become a hub for many Latin American and Caribbean ...
Health issues disproportionately plague the immigrant community in Broward County, Fla. (27% Latino), as they often lack access to healthcare due to lack of insurance, language barriers, and other obstacles. Magaly Alvarado, of Hispanic Unity of Florida (HUF), works to improve the lives of this underserved population—especially in health and wellness. They began conducting special registration events and outreach to reduce the barriers Latinos face in enrolling for health insurance and accessing healthcare.
Hard choices due to finances
Magaly Alvarado, program manager of the local immigrant advocate group Hispanic Unity of Florida (HUF), knows that Broward County, Fla. (27% Latino), has a geographic location that has led it to become a popular entry point into the United States ...
UrbiCulture Community Farms are making school lunches look a little more like a garden with their new school garden programs. Teachers plant alongside students, helping them understand what it takes to grow food, and be more open to eating a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. Students harvest the fresh produce from the 6,500 square-foot garden to bring to the cafeteria for all students to try and enjoy.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: Columbian Elementary School teacher Brenna Larson Brooks enjoyed gardening at home in Denver. She wanted to use her backyard for a food garden, so she reached out to UrbiCulture Community Farms, a Denver nonprofit that turns donated land into gardens that grow food for the community. UrbiCulture helped Brooks design and build her home garden and that gave ...
Linda Joseph, a special needs teacher in Florida, with some of the highest drowning rates in the country, wanted to make sure her students could swim and weren’t afraid of the water. As someone who values whole-child health, Joseph knows that water safety boosts confidence and opens doors to many water-based physical activities and associated mental and physical benefits. She went to a nearby pool for information and learned about and enrolled her students in free water safety education lessons through SWIM Central.
Fear of Drowning is High in Florida Linda Joseph, a special needs teacher at Lauderdale Lakes Middle School, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (13.7% Latino), lost both of her parents to a drowning accident when she was 16. She became fearful of water and didn’t learn to ...
In the past 15 years, the drowning rate of school-age children in Broward County, Fla., has plummeted thanks in part to SWIM Central, a program that provides free water safety education classes and transportation for public school children. However, drowning rates remain the No. 1 cause of death among children younger than 5. SWIM Central’s manager and primary funder, the Children’s Services Council, teamed up to develop a voucher program for parents to get their children under 5 into water safety education classes for free or very low cost.
Drowning is No.1 Killer in South Florida Cindy Arenberg Seltzer and Jay Sanford have long been advocates for water safety education for children in Broward County, Fla. (27.5% Latino). Seltzer is president and CEO of the ...
Nicolas Rivard and Allison Hu, urban designers in San Antonio and members of Dignowity Hill Neighborhood Association, learned about an upcoming street construction project that lacks walkable streetscape elements in their largely Latino neighborhood, and decided to act. The urban designers mobilized and empowered community members to get involved and request walkable streetscape elements, and the city responded by adding street trees, separated sidewalks, and landscaping. Today, through their recent project, Place Changing, the designers use “design activism” or “participatory design” processes to build urban literacy and equip residents with strategies to continue to get involved in city planning and development projects.
Walkability Low in East San Antonio Neighborhood
Nicolas ...
Two architecture and urban planning graduate students from the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) recognized good fruit from fruit trees were being left to rot in urban areas of San Antonio, Texas, (63.2% Latino), where many Latino families live in need of fresh foods. Working together for a class project, the friends created a blossoming non-profit to make sure families in need can access a variety of fresh fruit.
EMERGENCE
Awareness/Learn: In summer 2013, UTSA grad student Melissa Federspill started a class focused on health planning, called “Health in the Built Environment.” Students in the class were advised to visualize solutions to inner-city health problems. The class analyzed a predominately Latino neighborhood close to campus, the Avenue to Guadalupe neighborhood ...
