hello, i'm damian trujillo. we have the girl scouts latina initiative, this is your "comunidad del valle." ♪ we begin with the fight against autism, the local chapter here in the bay area is called autism speaks. with me here are ciara rodriguez who has a son afflicted with autism and she also has a son. welcome to the show. >> welcome.

>> what am i wearing today? what's my pin stand for? >> you're winning a blue puzzle piece, it is the logo for autism speaks. and it's blue because basically there are more boys who are dying notiiagnosed with autism girls. the cdc did the numbers and 1 in 68 children that could be on the spectrum and one of 42 boys. >> it's amazing. your reaction when you first found out that that was the case in your family? >> my wife and i definitely went through the time period of poor us, why me, why me. then after some time, we just realized it was something we were going to have to face and this was our son. and instead of saying why me, we liked the approach of why not us. so it was difficult. it still is to this day. >> do you need the support of family members also, other families who have a loved one

who has autism? >> you need support from everyone. it's really -- it takes a village to help with any child with a disability and autism is definitely one of those that we depend on on everybody on our family. >> one week ago it was autism day at the coliseum in oakland. >> throwing out today's first ceremonial first pitch, representing autism awareness is evan iamora. fastball. what was that like to be there on the mound with your son and knowing he was able to do this? >> i think it was exciting about it is that he's a special child but he's representing all of these children that are looking just to kind of fit in. and the crowd screaming.

we had the autism section, great in regards to this and so is the ballpark. we sold over 718 tickets. so that many people, that many family members were there just supporting autism. >> that's great. at what point do you roll up your sleeves? you mentioned about the part where your family sometimes feels sorry for themselves. at what point do you say we need to support this child? >> my wife and i were lucky enough to have some experience with that, whether it had been a past work experience or other family members and close friends afflicted by autism. we needed to dive in there, advocate for services and push hard for our son. when that's done, continue to push and keep pushing and hopefully be strategic about it. but we knew right away it was going to be a journey, the journey we still walk every day

and we definitely need to keep fighting. >> how is he developmentally and is it something he has to deal with for the rest of his life. >> he is developmentally delayed, as a 7-year-old he has skills of a 2-year-old. others are outside playing ball with their 7-year-old son, we're trying to get ours to sit still and sit on the tri cycle the appropriate way. with the special services we receive, we're learning to help teach him the skills he needs to be successful. >> i would imagine there's a lot of loving and caring on his part toward family members? >> very much so. >> do you have -- tell us what's coming up in regards to autism speaks? >> on may third we're having a walk at history park in san jose. we want to welcome everybody to come to the walk. it starts at registration starts at 9:00 and the walk starts at

11:00. we'll have a emcee. if anyone wants to sign up for the walk, they can go to autism speaks and sign up a team. there's no cost to doing this work. we encourage fund raising but it's for the families to come and advice i will with resource vendors there and other families that are there. we have 6,000, 7,000 people last year. you're not alone. >> there's a web address for more information. we have a picture that we would like to show quickly, just your hopes and aspirations for him? >> we definitely -- we appreciate our son for appreciate him for who he is, not who he is not. we don't compare him to others. we just like to build off of his strengths and skills and continue to help do that for him for the remainder of his life. we know it's going to be a journey and battle, but we're here and we're ready to advocate

for him and support him in every way we can. >> thank you for your strength that you're providing. >> up next here, the tri-city health center. stay with us. oh, did you want it? yeah. we'll split it. [ female announcer ] made fresh, so light, buttery and flakey. that's half. that's not half! guys, i have more. thanks, mom. [ female announcer ] do you have enough pillsbury crescents? so i should probably get the last roll... yeah but i practiced my bassoon. [ mom ] and i listened. [ brother ] i can do this. [ imitates robot ] everyone deserves ooey, gooey, pillsbury cinnamon rolls. make the weekend pop.

he runs the tri-city health center, dr. page on the show. welcome, sir. >> thank you. >> tell us about your facility and the types of programs you're offering and how you're helping the folks in your area. >> tri-city health center is a federally qualified health center, one of eight in alameda county. we're located in the city of fremont. as a qualified health center we provide primary care across an outpatient based service. it's predominantly focused on uninsured and underinsured and anyone who needs care regardless of the ability to pay. >> tell us about the population over the last couple of years

that's come through your facility seeking help. has there been any kind of increase for whatever reason? >> yes, there has been a gradual increase. we at tri-city provide services in 19 different languages. as such, we have to focus more on population, targeting population health. there's several types of things specific in different ethnic populations and of course medical needs vary depending on age groups. we watch these things in the communities and notice that there's an increased inmigrated population, newly immigrated population. we're watching the latino population and focusing more on how to make services more cultural relevant. we know with economic changes there's a need to be more flexible with the types we provide services and days of week. so tri-city is up for the

challenge. the aca has brought a challenge to the safety net of our country and we're no different in tri-city, we're trying to find the right care to the right people at the right times and often times it's not a 9 to 5 approach. >> what kind of ailments are folks coming in with mostly immigrant population, basic primary care? what are you looking at? >> often times we think that folks who have conditions that would cause you to go to the doctor would be something critical and major. if you think about it things that cause difficulty getting up on top time work and cause problems keeping the children in school to focus and concentrate. often times we know things like diabetes or high blood pressure can change your cycle the way you move and way you become more productive. these are some of the primary things. we have found just last year that we have provided services

with those who had hypertension, over 8,000 patients had that as a primary need. we served over 2,000 patients that had a primary issue with diabetes. these are not just single issues but often times we find depending on the economics, the way you live and how you have gotten here, there are multiple conditions. when a person finally comes to the health care center, there are multiple things that have to be addressed. >> i have heard and comment on this if you will, that the immigrant population usually comes into the country and relatively healthy and we talk about the fast food places and abundance of those and the health starts to deteriorate. >> a lot of these things happen over time but something as basic as the food we eat have major impacts, it's not just how we prepare our foods but having access to the foods that being are accustomed to.

our nutritionists and primary care providers are asking those basic questions about the diets and timing of eating, again, everybody doesn't work a 9:00 to 5:00 job. when we think of basic times we eat, breakfast and lunch and dinner, sometimes they are later in the evening, sometimes in the middle of the night. helping a person balance their lifestyle and intake, we know that nutrition just like exercise has to have a balance. in our area, we're very excited because there's lots of opportunities for physical exercise but getting the people to do it. we've had over 8,000 folks in 2013, one of the primary issues was obesity or overweight. that of course has secondary symptoms that we have to treat. >> you could easily be at the private rich hospital somewhere. why do you choose to treat the poor? >> i don't stand alone. there are many people, many providers who know that community based health care and

medicine is the place where we make an impact directly in the community. tri-city like other federally qualified health centers represent our communities in that our board of governors our directors come directly from the consumer population. we in part are provide oversight by the people we serve. we reflect our community. >> very good point. again, tricity health center. any final thoughts? we have about 10 or 15 seconds left. >> we're excited to be part of the change. the health systems are changing and we're in the midst of that now. >> dr. page, thank you so much for coming. >> up next, the latina initiative of the girl scouts. stay with us.

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the girl scouts are well into their latina initiative. melissa runs a local initiative here and a girl scout larissa.

tell us about larissa and girl scouts like her and what difference do you think being involved with the scouts is making. >> the latina initiative goals are simple. we're trying to get more latinas engaged in girl scouting. there are things people are familiar with, the cookies and camping but not familiar is some of our outreach programs. one of those is the daughters to farm workers program where we target girls in migrant centers in gilroy, half moon bay area, we go to the migrant camp and bring leadership skills to him. larissa is in another program called got choices. >> got choices is a program that helps me throughout my high school year and still continues to help me. it basically helps girls in my situation and other situations as i was a foster kid with four

younger siblings. they just helped me set goals for myself and helped me realize i have a future and that i can be somebody and walk me throughout my high school journey. >> i think it's fabulous you're open and say i'm a foster kid. how difficult was it -- or what's it for a while to admit publicly that you came from a foster home? >> at first it was kind of -- i wasn't embarrassed, it was kind of like it was so different to me. it was -- it wasn't as bad as any foster child experience because my grandparents took us in. but just the fact of being -- not being able to be with my mom was hard. i was how do you say rebellious about it. i didn't want to go to school. i didn't want to take it in that i didn't have my mom anymore. it was hard for me. i didn't show it but it was really hard for me so i wasn't doing what i had to do. i was making my life difficult

and making things more difficult with my grandparents and other family. >> you're in college now? >> yes. >> tell us what difference you think this being part of this organization has made for you? >> it's made a big difference. when i was a freshman, i didn't think i would graduate on time with my class or be able to go to college. but with the support of girl scouts and the workers there, they helped me realize that i could go to college and do have the chance to go to college and make it out there in life. >> it sounds like the future leaders are here and you're a part of helping develop that? >> yeah, absolutely. so far we've been able to serve 1,000 latinas here from oregon to gilroy border. and that's been great. it's been great to give them these opportunities and now we're just looking for leaders because the girls are easy. they come and want to participate but we're looking for more people to volunteer and to help out with some of our outreach. >> is it a generational thing.

if a boy scout recruiter came to my home and told my dad we want your son to be a boy scout -- is it generational or cultural? >> i think there's low awareness. unlike targeting a community that is already knows about girl scouts and trusts girl scouts, it takes us a long time to kul vat the community and let them know we're building girls of courage and confidence and character and that's a good thing and they become like larissa and strive and really become successful. >> how impactful -- how long has the latina initiative been around for? >> it has been around for about like 12 years but really we've been putting a strong focus on latinas in this community in recent years, hired a director. just organizes the initiative and makes sure we get the visibility out there in the community. >> your message, larissa to the folks out there, maybe young

latinas who are kind of on the fence as well, do they go the right way or wrong way? what advice would you give them? >> to not be afraid to give it a try and not worry about what other people think and always follow your dreams and may sound funny, but in reality it's totally worth it. >> what do your friends say that you tell them your part of the girl scouts? >> they kind of laugh at me but i personally don't care. when i try to get them into the programs, they are like girl scouts really, like cookies? no, more stuff than just cookies. we do a whole bunch of other activities. they are like, what, really? i get a couple of them into it, oh, my god, you're right, it's totally different. >> tell us your goals. >> basically i want to major in business and get a certificate in as thetices and license in barbering. we are talking about opening our

own business together so -- >> there you go. good luck. >> she's an excellent cookie seller. we brought you some today. >> very good. the latina initiative of the girl scouts of northern california. any final thoughts? >> just if you can visit our website and donate to the latina initiative to help support our outreach efforts we would really appreciate it and there's the website, you click the donate button. >> thank you so much for coming and good luck to both of you. >> up ne.

another bay area legend on our show, isabel duron. before we get into that, do you think you got out of the journalism business at a good time. now we deal with the twittersphere and everything else that you dabbled with there in the latter stages but it is

not what we see on tv or read in the paper. it's instant, it's mobile. >> it's been changing over at least a decade or more. when kron, where i left, went to video journalism, i know that whole concept, we did this when i started in the business and now we're back with a single person with a camera. but it wasn't even about getting out on time. i love journalism, and what it's supposed to be. it was 43 years now for god's sake, it's time. i took that energy and poured it back into latina for cancer which is also a decade old but it is something -- it is a mission that needs latinos attention. one thing they don't recognize because we talk about diabetes, is that cancer is the number one cause of death in the latino community. one in five latinos dies from cancer. it's something that needs to be put out there. >> it was personal for you when it started and now you're taking it beyond that.

now it's got to be personal for everybody. >> well, absolutely, you know, to me having learned this 15 years ago with my own diagnosis with hodge kin's lymphoma, i took a look at the subject and began to say, what's with all of the latinos, is this an issue? have learned over time obviously that it is and becoming more so. there's a projection from the md anderson cancer institute back in texas in 2009 that the incident with latinos was going to grow is 142%, partially because of the growth in the population, but also because a lot of it is related to environment. i heard a wonderful breast cancer researcher say and i think this applies to a lot of cancer, that genetics load the gun and environmental triggers the gun. we've all been living a lifetime with environmental exposures in particularly in places where you work and latinos work in hard

labor and many places where they are exposed to toxins. so without that kind of knowledge, you don't recognize how you are impacted. our goal is one to raise that awareness and two provide the services to get them access into cancer care. >> very good. i lost my dad -- i blame farm work but can't prove it. >> there's a lot more research and that's what's important. when you can prove it, you have the data. >> there you go. tell us about benito, you can do it. >> it is in fact a bilingual book about cancer from the latino point of view. it was based on testimonials from our parents who come to our parent support group for kids with cancer and the subject -- i think you did a story on him, eduardo. >> yes. >> the whole s.w.a.t. team went to visit him. you know, he died, wasn't able to survive the stress on his body. >> he did get to saint jude's.

>> and his family is in that support group. he is the basis of that book. there's the testimonial of all of those parents about how they feel. it's shame and blame and fear and playmates and siblings and how it starts, everybody is looking for answers, that is the basic primer for anyone who wants to understand. >> do you think a lot of s tune out when it's not personal but when it afflicts your personal family life you start -- >> i think tune out is very easy, it's because we're bombarded with so much information about so many things. we don't know what to select anymore. in fact, with the selectivity with journalism, we can do this, so nar row cast with a we learn and what we want to know that sometimes we really shut out what we need to know. that's what journalism has changed. we sometimes give people what they want aopposed to what we need. >> we need you back. you have a couple of events

coming up. >> mother's day walk against cancer. my belief is talking about cancer won't kill us, the silence will. let's get people in the street to show us all we're here to deal with. that's may 11th. and you can find all of the information and you can register on our website. you can see it there, latinas contra cancer.org and our national latino cancer summit to share what we know and collaborate and find outweighs we can bring this back to the community so we can begin to make changes in their lives at that level. >> this isn't a backyard conference. this is -- >> that's not backyard conference. this is in fact our fourth year. it can be international depending on who's engaged. and we've had 750 participants, about a quarter of them are researchers and they bring the information. remember when we talk about you didn't know it might have been farm worker exposure, absolutely. last year in 2012 our focus was

on the environment from science to social justice because there were so many issues that need to be addressed down at the neighborhood level on the environment for families and even as you heard from dr. page and the health clinics, there's health enequities, it's about knowledge and access and things in your neighborhood that put you at risk from gun violence to lack of playground to no grocery stores where you can get fresh fruits and vegetables to the ability to exercise, no parks. these are health inequities that need to be addressed in every poor neighborhood in this country and also things that put latinos at risk because we have one third of our people living below economic standards. so there's so many things we could be doing but we need to prove in order for us to be able to get the support we need to do things like that. the summit is one of those spotlights on that research. >> it's important to log on to

latinas contra cancer.org. there's the information on your screen. there's the mother's day walk but this conference is something that we should all not miss. >> absolutely. >> thank you for sharing your story. we can do a whole half hour on this topic and i'm open to that. >> thank you forgiving me the opportunity. >> likewise. if you have ideas for the show, follow me on twitter at newsdamian and pick up a copy of our newspaper and support your across the bay area. be sure to supportmosaic journalism project. they are looking for more pl applicants. -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal. is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope.

is it a dinosaur? [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪

good evening, i'm diane dwyer, we begin with that breaking news in the south day. a large fire is burning right now near downtown san jose. this is what it looked like just about an hour ago. as you can tell, you can see that smoke for miles. fire crews have just called out for more trucks to help as well. right now we want to go straight to nbc bay area's kimberly perry who joins us with the latest. >> reporter: diane, i'm going to get out of the way so you can see what's going on here just a few minutes ago, firefighters asked everyone to move back. there are a lot of people here just witnesses watching, looking at the