hello and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo. we might have a solution to the youth violence in the south bay and san jose. stay tuned. this is "comunidad del valle." we begin with the health and wellness fair happening in alameda county. this is a nurse with the alameda county public health department. welcome to the show. >> thank you. >> i know we have a lot of these public health and wellness festivals, if you will. i mean, we can't undersell them.

how vital are they in communities like these? >> they are vital. we are providing services to communities and individuals and families who might not have access or differing access levels depending on what is happening for them and their families. but it also brings together partners, the organizations that are providing the service. it gives us an opportunity to network and connect. you now it's a unique way of providing services in a nontraditional setting. and sometimes the settings are intimidating for cultures or groups. this gives us an opportunity to connect. >> we are looking at previous health seminars in the past, screenings, if you will. for some this is the first time they have come in contact with a medical professional. >> being welcoming and providing care to a vulnerable population

really gives that first impression. and we know how important those first impressions are. so when a child, an individual, an older adult, gets a service and has an exchange that is calming and pleasant, it really does connect, like how important this is, and so, i've had many opportunities to connect on a one to one basis. and so we're doing the typical blood pressure screen, for example. but in addition to that i've had folks open to the a variety of things happening in their lives. as a public health nurse i can then assess what's happening and connect them to more services not just the one they came for on that day. >> give us the state of the health in alameda don'county if will. what concerns you about the constituents in alameda county? >> there are many concerns.

>> unfortunately. >> unfortunately. what concerns me the most is that there are certain groups that have generations of poor health. certain groups of people that live within our county have had challenges and it's because of so many different factors, right? sometimes the institutions themselves that want to help have barriers based on funding sources or this grant is only for this segment. it's frustrating. that's one of the biggest things for me as a public health nurse, certain groups of people, particularly latinos and african-americans have these challenges and have had these challenges. but there is a lot of resiliency. but the groups are resilient. despite the generations of ongoing disparities in health the groups are still resilient and still working and trying and

growing and having families. i feel like it's our work that we can strengthen that already existing strength that the families have. >> you're providing immunization for children. how do quit smoking, if you will. and asthma screening. why is that a concern? it's prevalent in that community. >> there are a lot of reasons why. environmental, general netttic . i had poor health because of asthma. not only do i have a personal connection to that health issue. so the screenings will really open the door if a lot of services. in fact the program that we'll be providing the asthma screenings also goes in and does an environmental assessment of a family's home, helps with a free vacuum cleaner, low cost interventions to cover the

mattress, to advocate if there are housing issues that need repair. it's taking a holistic approach. and i would say all the providers we are providing and have come forward have a holistic sense. not just throwing a service at a person but looking at the whole family. >> who should come? >> everyone should come. not just alameda county residents, but everyone. these issues cross -- certainly cultural barriers, county barriers, city barriers. everyone is invited. children, family, services if you want to participate. you can build a network with other providers doing similar work. >> i was talking to someone and saying if you don't take care of the folks now we'll have to take care of them on the back end in

the emergency rooms. that can be more dire for the patient and more expensive for the taxpayer. >> absolutely. public health is very prevention, you know, focused. and i feel as we all should be, if you don't take care of a situation or illness now it will get worse. it's just a matter of time. i agree with you. >> we should get the screening. it's at alameda county. september 15th at the eastmont town center in oakland. it's sponsored by andre swanson. log on to his website and find out more about the health and wellness fair in alameda county. thank you for the work you are doing. up next on "comunidad del valle" how to combat the youth violence in san jose. hmm, it says here that cheerios helps lower cholesterol

as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios it's one way to get the kids off the streets and out of gangs. with me on "comunidad del valle"

are two important people in that process. they work for work the future program and the tattoo removal program. and so many other titles that you all carry. thank you for being on the show. let me ask you first anita, how concerned are you -- here on the news we keep reporting about the escalating level of violence. how concerning is that for you who works with youth and who -- youth find themselves many times in the middle of those problems. how concerning is it? >> it is very concerning. and so we have a lot of programs. and so we try to intervene to help these youths to sort of get back on track and help them alleviate pro alleviate problems they are facing. >> one of the programs is a clean slate tattoo removal program. part of this -- i get e-mails on this. they say one thing is removing

the tattoo. another thing is removing the feelings on the inside and getting rid of not only the tattoos but the background and the baggage that came with it. >> this is our population and who we work with. with clean slate they work at removing the tattoos. but we have a population that has little work experience and training. when they come to work the future they are looking for work experience, for training and looking for that first door to open up regardless of your background and experience. we have been successful getting the kids in job sites and giving them the opportunity to realize they can be successful and connecting them to organizations like clean slate and youth intervention services that provide additional services. that's one of the things we strive on is partnerships with the community and youth intervention services and not only helping them prep for work

but be physically ready for work. >> and this is working. so far the programs you have implements are working with the kids. tell us about that. >> we have our youth program is -- we've got a lot of services. we have career technical training programs. we have usual services. we have job placement services. we have job retention services. and so all these programs together. and we have the holistic integrated approach to helping these youth achieve some of their goals. so is it definitely helping. the youth that we serve are low-welcome youth 18 to 21 years of age with significant barriers such as basic skills deficient or homelessness or criminal record or so forth. it is giving them an avenue to look at other opportunities so they can explore career paths. >> i have friends in juvenile

hall and they say mental health is a part of this. some of the kids may suffer from adhd or mental illness. you are not an expert on mental illness but some of these youth -- we can't give up on them. >> absolutely. so we definitely -- one of the services that we have is case management services. when they meet they have one-on-one case management services with a case manager or counsellor. if this is something they are grappling with we try to address it and see if we can return them to other services within the county and see if we can help them through that. >> the superintendent of the mayor's gang task force said that a good way to stop a bullet is with a job. you give them a job you give them an opportunity. is that what you see out there? >> in my training program, we have training and workshops. but let's put them in that environment. let's get them in a job site.

so we collaborate with a number of non-profit organizations that open their doors to these youth and allow them to integrate into a workplace environment. >> that can't be easy for the potential employers. they are kind of taking a risk. >> they are taking a risk. this is a clientele you are not getting right away college interns who have this background, knowledge or training. a lot of times they are in job sites they are not certainly trained for or educated enough for. they don't have the background or the degrees. but it starts the general interest. that's what the internships are about is creating the interest for that client to better themselves. you have the clients who have that knowledge and background now. if they want to pursue this career this is the training and degree i need to have. it starts with getting them out of the environment of the home or neighborhood and getting them in a work environment.

>> we have been doing too many negative stories on youth violence and it's about time we did something positive and offer some solutions. any final thoughts before we let you go? >> our program, it's an important work we do. so i think i think that people should take advantage of these programs. and we have orientations every tuesday. so i think if anyone is sbr interested come to our orientations. >> if you want to find out more. one of the clean state tattoo removal program and the other is the work to the future program. call the numbers and you will be directed in the proper direction. we'll be back and talk about more how to get our kids out of trouble when we continue. so... [ gasps ]

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we're back here on "comunidad del valle" taking about solutions to the youth violence in san jose. give us your role in this in getting our youth out of the streets and out of gangs and kind of straight. >> basically i'm on assignment at the work the future department. we are collaborating with the green cadre program and other programs doing the marketing and outreach. we established last year and will do it again this year is collaborating with the green cadre program and work the future and other programs that want to participate and qualify. they go through those courses and workshops first. for the students that qualify and have the tattoos what we will do is collaborate with clean slate. they go through the tattoo removal process. they get a referral from the

current program. >> this isn't prevention. they have already done something to get them here. but this is prevention and reintegration. once we lose them out of juvenile hall or where they may have come from now we have to reintegrate them into this community. how important is that? >> it is very important. we have a lot of connections with probation who never their personnel to us. this is our population. it's important for them to go through an integration program and work on the soft skills that they lack and partnerships with clean slate. they are providing a service that work the future doesn't. how can we provide a wrap around service that if work the future doesn't offer it but clean slate does what can we do to integrate the two programs.

we provide new service hours, workshops, soft skill training. we provide everything that clean slate makes it mandatory. so in just in passing during the mayor's gang task force that's how the conversation started. so it was a natural partnership. that's what we have been doing over a year. our green cadre graduates move into treatment after orientation. now we have them work ready. now let's remove the tattoos that are barriers. >> you need a raise, david. but it takes collaboration with different departments whether they be city or county departments. the kids aren't in this alone. there are people and departments and folks backing them up. >> that's true. more so now with everything happening you need people to be on the same page to help the kids. bottom line that's why we are

here, to help the youth not only remove the tattoos but get the jobs. like david said about the soft skills and the job prep. that's what the work the future people do, both the youth training center and the adult center. >> and unfortunately some of the kids are middle schoolers. but they are hardened middle schoolers. they are already tough and i mean tough. you are a retired marine. how often do you have to shake them up a little bit? >> that's the bottom line. we want to let them know that what they've done before in the past, the negative lifestyle we want to turn into a positive lifestyle. but listening to the staff and mentors and job prep. they want to become legit and make a decent paycheck the right way, not bad way. that's part of the job of the agencies that are involved. we don't get paid a lot. but we have the passion to do this for them. >> you know, the mayor and the

city manager and the police chief, they get all the credit for doing the crime fighting. but people are in the backstage -- >> the ground level. >> yeah. you are doing the ground work. do you find that it is working? are you changing lives? >> it is. 20 minutes before we came to the studio i had a conversation with a graduate. he is still working today and working on his g.e.d. and hoping to start college pretty soon and he credited it to the foundation we gave him. these are the small stories we forget after a while. when you bring in the youth, some of them make that small time difference from the little time they are there. we have different trainings. some are three weeks. some are three months. how soon we make an impact is up to the youth too. it comes from the hard-working case managers who are on them. we have case managers who have to manage just the way they deal

with the youth themselves. >> it's easy to say, this kid lost cause put him in that pile. you are picking up that pile and saying it's not a lost cause. you set many up with a kid who spent time in the jail. but now he helped to build a new crime lab. how ironic is that story? >> it goes to the support services in the community. and also with the case managers and the staff following up with them. follow up is important. you check up on them whether it's at clinic or the job site. just check in and see how you're doing. a lot of times the kids have not had people there to support them. >> do not throw your hands in the air in desperation. there is hope for the youth of san jose. wherever you are. there is a couple of numbers for you. work to the future program, the

green cadre program. the clean slate tattoo removal program. a couple numbers to dial for more information. thank you for the work you doing and giving us hope. up next on "comunidad del valle" the voices of latin rock.

now here's what's happening in your community.

and here's our address for next week. and pick up a copy of our newspaper all across the bay area. thank you for sharing part of your sunday with us again. we leave you with the voices of latin rock. ♪ rainbows of love falling down from above ♪ ♪ she's my love ♪ and i know she'll be there when i need her to care she's with me ♪ ♪ my baby and me we're happy and

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