EPA Community Health Roundtable: Network of Health Promoters is Making a Difference

Introduction
Ruben Abrica, the former Mayor of East Palo Alto and current City Council Member, convened the EPA Community Health Roundtable Discussion on October 30, 2006 with the purpose of:

Gathering specific information, insights, observations on the health situation of East Palo Alto residents
Exploring social and environmental justice issues that impact the health of the community
Asking for suggestions on how city government can become a stronger advocate on health issues

Mission Statement
Seeking to bring together the different voices of all people within East Palo Alto to harness the power of every individual through awareness, education, and volunteer service to make the EPA community safer, stronger, and better prepared to respond to public health issues.

EPA Health Profile
One of the accomplishments of the group has been to produce a health profile of the East Palo Alto community. Janine Bishop, Community Advocacy Liaison for Stanford's Pediatric Advocacy Program, helped lead a team of Stanford School of Medicine students that collected health reports and other data from community leaders, assessing the needs and priorities of the community and creating an annotated bibliography for dissemination to East Palo Alto. (Click here to download this document.)

The health profile contains summaries of 10 East Palo Alto specific health reports collected and summarized by topic. The report addresses the following questions:

What is known about the health of East Palo Alto’s residents?
What is not known about the health of East Palo Alto’s residents (where are the gaps in knowledge)?
Are there multiple groups working on similar health issues who may be interested in sharing knowledge?
How can a health profile be designed for East Palo Alto that will be useful to the community and kept up to date?
What are the health needs and priorities of the community?

The health profile is meant to be a living document that will change with time and the accumulation of new knowledge surrounding the health of East Palo Alto.

Health Expo & Cultural Festival
Another accomplishment of the collaborative group was organizing and presenting the East Palo Alto Health Expo & Cultural Festival, held on Saturday, September 29, 2007, at the Costaño School at 2695 Fordham Street, from 11:00am-4:00pm. The multifaceted event featured presentations on physical activities, asthma, diet, nutrition, youth, teen and senior health issues. Several workshops featured Spanish-speaking instructors along with Spanish language materials.

Other attractions included:

YMCA Get Moving Passport/Count your Steps
Health Screenings
Mini Farmers’ Market
Cultural Cooking Demos
Fitness Demos
Local Entertainment
Teen Health SPA

The EPA Community Services Department was a driving force behind this event. Pamela Reliford, of the EPA Community Services Department, was a driving force behind this event.

Community Services Department
Main Office: (650) 853-3140
Pamela Reliford: (650) 853-5907
E-mail: preliford@cityofepa.org

Community Farmers’ Market
Another accomplishment of the EPA Health Roundtable has been to foster the development of a Certified Farmers’ Market in East Palo Alto.

Many residents of East Palo Alto have expressed interest in a having farmers’ market established in the community. As a result, a committee called the East Palo Alto Farmers’ Market Organizing Committee (FMOC) was formed to extend the collaborative efforts of the EPA Community Health Roundtable. FMOC is working toward creating a permanent Farmers’ market in East Palo Alto, scheduled to open in Spring of 2008. This effort will bring a permanent and reliable source of fresh fruits and vegetables to East Palo Alto.

Growing Health Network
Organizations participating in the EPA Health Roundtable include the following (please forgive omissions—to update this list, click here to email Wolfram Alderson):

Sample Data from the EPA HEALTH PROFILE

You Think You Know…But You Have No Idea: A Community Health Survey Report

Prepared by the Youth United for Community Action (YUCA) Health Survey Team

August 2005 Health Study Conducted by

YUCA
2135 Clarke Ave.
EPA, CA 94303
(650) 322-9165

www.youthunited.net

YUCA is a remarkable organization that demonstrates how much young people care about their community. We thank them for their great organizing and social change that they are bringing about.

YUCA's Major Findings Regarding Environmental Health

55% of people in East Palo Alto (EPA) said that air quality in EPA is at least fair, poor or very poor

48% of the people in EPA report that the air in their community smells like smoke (not cigarette, BBQ or marijuana) daily or weekly, with 31% reported smelling smoke daily

14% of the people surveyed say that the air causes them to experience negative health effects (ex. Dizziness, coughing, gagging, choking, etc.

31% of the people surveyed have allergies

o 33% of the people with allergies smell sewage daily

o 74% of the people with allergies smell smoke daily

o 93% of the people with allergies smell exhaust daily

3% of people surveyed suffer from headaches and/or dizziness

o 49% of people who suffer from headaches and dizziness smell exhaust on a daily or weekly basis.

o 56% of people who suffer from headaches and/or dizziness smell smoke on a daily or weekly basis

"In 1983, when the City of East Palo Alto became incorporated, residents gained direct control over our community for the first time. Since then, the city has struggled with a land-use jigsaw puzzle created by years of racist and classist policies that shaped the city to be Silicon Valley’s dumping ground. Tracks of land that were and are host to a railspur right of way, auto wrecking yards, negligent chemical waste facilities, and the county dump remain contaminated by toxic substances including arsenic, chromium, pesticides, herbicides, and chlorinated solvents. East Palo Alto suffers from many environmental problems, like ground water contamination, contaminated land, air pollution, and corporate polluters. These hazardous problems could all be negatively affecting people’s health. That is why when people ask us why we fight for environmental justice, it is ultimately because we are fighting for our lives." -YUCA

General Health Facts
In 2004, the average expenditure per capita (i.e., per person) in the U.S. community population for health care services was $3,284. Among the approximately 85 percent of the population with expenses, the average expense per person was $3,879. Click here to read the full report.

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