Tag: Safe Passages

May 2019 Newsletter

Hats Off to Our Moms and Graduates

This month we dedicate our newsletter to our high school graduates and all the mothers who have supported the development of our babies through childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood.

Safe Passages supports a continuum of programs and services beginning with Early Childhood and continuing through college and career. This month we celebrate all of the youth graduating from high school from our family of programs. We understand that this is no small accomplishment given our context of generational poverty, historical oppression, and institutionalized inequities that challenge youth of color every day of their lives. Despite the context, our graduates have demonstrated the extraordinary resiliency to navigate through a complex and sometimes unforgiving education system with the tenacity needed to beat the odds.

Read the rest of this article and the entire newsletter.

May 2018 Newsletter

https://mailchi.mp/d5edb92fdde9/safe-passages-highlights-may-2018

Josefina’s Letter- Mental Health Awareness

 

Mental Health Awareness

May 1, 2018

Dear Friends,

May is Mental Health Awareness Month. For those of us who work in human services, mental health has long been considered as critical to individual and collective success as physical health. We live in a world that challenges us everyday.  We strive to overcome these challenges and thrive. However, our often-hostile environments create an abundance of toxic stress that must be actively combated to improve health and life outcomes.

The trauma experienced in our communities is profound on a historical level and remains palpable. Trauma and toxic stress produce negative mental and physical health outcomes, poor economic outcomes, and severely limit our educational achievement. The constant micro and macro aggressions faced by communities of color, women, LBGTQ, immigrant, and refugee communities inflict a heavy toll on our psyche and our bodies. Intersectionality and poverty compounds this impact exponentially.

Throughout history our communities have proven to be resilient, but we cannot ignore the need for accessible mental health services and nontraditional mental health approaches that build on the cultural assets embedded in our communities. Culturally effective mental health approaches should aim to strengthen our individual, family, and community resiliency to break the cycles of dependency and counter the oppressive historical narrative that negatively impacts our well-being.

Over the last two decades, Safe Passages has fought to increase the accessibility of mental health services and to innovate new culturally responsive approaches to improving mental health in the communities we serve. In addition to securing resources to strengthen the safety net for vulnerable children, youth, and families, we implement culturally responsive strategies in our Baby Learning Communities Collaborative Program, School Linked Services, and Law and Social Justice initiatives. Most recently, Safe Passages was selected by the California Public Health Department’s Office of Health Equity to participate in the California Reducing Disparities Project. The goal of the project is to address the toxic stress experienced by African American youth and improve their mental health outcomes.

As we continue our pursuit of social justice and actively work toward better outcomes for youth and families in our communities, let us maintain a steady focus on improving mental health practices and accessibility to effective mental health services. 

 

In Service,
Josefina Alvarado Mena, Esq.
CEO
Safe Passages

April 2018 Newsletter

March 2018 Newsletter

Thanksgiving Celebrations 2017

On Thursday, November 16th, Ralph J. Bunche Academy hosted a “Bunche of Thanks” Event, in partnership with the campus Family Resource Center, proudly funded by Safe Passages. At the event, teachers got to nominate and present Appreciation Awards to their outstanding students. The awards included the “Most Cheerful Helper,” “A True Feminist,” “Most Improved,” “Exemplifies Curiosity,” and more!

Each student got a certificate from the school and a beautiful plant graciously donated by City Slicker Farms! Over 40 families also went home with bags of groceries for the holiday, made possible by our partners at the Alameda Community County Food Bank. Our friends Chef Cindy and Chef Dave from Unique Soul Catering , together with the Culinary Program at Bunche Academy, also cooked 50 delicious smoked turkeys for the students, staff, and their families! 

More information available HERE.

On Friday, November 17th, Safe Passages was proud to partner with United for Success Academy (UFSA) to host a Thanksgiving Dinner and Grocery Giveaway event for the Fruitvale community. The dinner was made possible through the campus Family Resource Center — also proudly funded by Safe Passages —  and Unique Soul Catering, who again generously donated 12 delicious smoked turkeys. The grocery giveaway was made possible by our friends at the Food Bank and Tzu Chi USA, who contributed 108 chickens and 100 bags of groceries to the food distribution, respectively.

Through our combined efforts, we were able to serve a special holiday dinner to over 200 members of the UFSA community and distribute 150 bags of food to all the families.

More information available HERE.

 

A huge thank you to all of our partners, friends, and members of the community who donated their services and time to make these joyful events possible for our students and families! 

Josefina’s Letter- The Intergenerational Power of Women

The Intergenerational Power of Women

March 28, 2018

 

Dear Friends,

March is Women’s History Month, and we have a lot to celebrate. Our power as women is intergenerational. We treasure the incredible, hard-fought legacy gifted to us by the amazing women who came before us. In my own family, my grandmother was a Rosie the Riveter who worked in the San Francisco shipyards during World War II. She later fought gentrification in San Francisco. My mother was a Chicana activist who struggled in the Third World Strike at San Francisco State that lead to the creation of Ethnic Studies. And now, my daughter is practicing her advocacy skills and articulating her vision for a just society through her art and writing. Every family is built on the backbone of strong women who sacrifice, and these sacrifices contribute to the betterment of our communities.

Several movements, including the #MeToo movement, and the student-led gun control movement, are reminding all of us of the intergenerational power of women. These movements also serve to remind us that we must have a major role in dismantling the status quo that disempowers us, and disrupting all the voices that try to silence us.

As Women of Color, we exist in the intersectionality of our experience in a manner that is rich beyond explanation. We are brilliant, powerful, and talented within each generation. We must control our minds, bodies, and voices. And, we must demand this month and every month that our cultural, social, and historical experience drives the social justice agenda in an equitable and formidable way.

We are humbled by the present and historical sacrifice of women around the world who continuously give of themselves to make our world a better place for all of us.

And, we send all of our good wishes to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, who at 83 is holding it down until we reach a better tomorrow.

 

In Service,
Josefina Alvarado Mena, Esq.
CEO
Safe Passages

Safe Passages AmeriCorps – Serving the Community & Preparing for the Future

A huge thank you to our very own AmeriCorps VISTA member Jonathan Smith for lending his talent to create this video highlighting the wonderful work of Safe Passages’ AmeriCorps volunteers!

 

Get Active: Why Urban Arts Matter

A huge thank you to our very own AmeriCorps VISTA member Jonathan Smith for lending his talent to create this video highlighting the wonderful work of the Get Active Urban Arts program!