July 2014 Newsletter


Summer is here and our Healthy Corner Store Project is starting to become a reality! Have you heard about our project, who's involved, and where we are in the process? If not, check out our updates and more below!    
HOPE Spotlight: Yolanda Silva, Training of Trainers Participant
Yolanda Silva, Training of Trainers participant

This month, we would like to recognize Yolanda Silva for her contributions to our collaborative.  

 

Yolanda has a background in nutrition and a passion for social justice. Combining her background and passion, she has been working with different organizations in the Bay Area to promote healthy eating and living. Last year, Yolanda participated in HOPE's summer food justice workshops because the topic caught her interest. She wanted to be more involved in food justice, particularly in playing a role in providing healthy food access to Oakland's youth and low income families.

 

Currently, Yolanda is completing her leadership training in HOPE's Training of Trainers, where she has the opportunity to network with others who share the same passion for social justice. As part of the leadership training, participants are encouraged to implement their skills into a project either in or outside of HOPE. Yolanda has been working with HOPE on the Healthy Mobile Food Vendor Project, which would provide healthy food options compared to the unhealthy options that currently exist near schools in East Oakland.

 

Since being a part of HOPE, Yolanda has learned and improved skills in networking and communication. She hopes to be a valuable resource person and provide nutrition education and healthy food options for families.

 

HOPE Welcomes Healthy Corner Store Community Partners

HOPE's Healthy Corner Store (HCS) Project would increase access to fresh and healthy foods, job creation, and community support in Oakland's underserved neighborhoods. HOPE invited local organizations to become community partners that would work with us to support the corner stores and store owners. The community partners that are a part of the HCS Project include:

 

HCS Project Leaders helped put together an orientation for the community partners on June 17, 2014. The community partners had the opportunity to meet and learn about each other's work. Those who attended received resources to support the success of the project like outreach strategies, marketing materials, and monitoring and evaluation tools. Many people who attended walked away feeling inspired to revitalize Oakland and changing their communities for the better. HOPE and our community partners are excited that the HCS project is starting to become a reality!

 

Introducing Summer Youth Healthy Corner Store Project Leaders
Austin, Carmen, and Ayana, summer Youth Healthy Corner Store Project Leaders.

HOPE's Healthy Corner Store (HCS) Project is working with corner stores in East and West Oakland to increase availability of nutritious, affordable food. The project has quickly expanded and recruited 3 new youth project leaders for the summer giving them the opportunity to work and make a change in their own community. The 3 youth are Ayana Edgerly, Austin Phal, and Carmen Jimenez.

 

Ayana Edgerly, a current Youth Project Leader on the Youth Action Board will be working with other HCS project leaders to make a change to her neighborhood corner store in West Oakland, known as Sunbeam Market. Austin Phal and Carmen Jimenez are both students at Fremont High School and hope to change the corner stores near their school and influence their peers' health decisions as part of the Youth Wellness Advisory Board.

 

Together, the summer youth leaders plan to conduct corner store assessments such as surveys, and interviews to determine which stores would be best to participate in the project and what changes should be made in those selective stores. The youth recently collaborated with Paula Beal, the HCS Project Leader in West Oakland, with creating and planning an August Night Out on the first Tuesday in August. They hope to launch off the new and renovated corner store, Sunbeam Market, while also giving West Oakland residents the opportunity to meet each other and come together as a community. During the event, Hope's Community Partners will be tabling, giving out beneficial information. They hope to also encourage physical activity with bike blenders and healthy eating with a healthy food cook-off and taste testing.

 

By the end of their work with the project, the youth leaders hope to gain more experience exercising their leadership skills and gain formal skills in community engagement/outreach. They also hope to change the face of corner stores and increase the food accessibility in Oakland.


Off the Cuff Cooking
FEEST dinner at Girls, Inc. on June 27, 2014.
In collaboration with Girls Inc. of Alameda County, HOPE's Youth Action Board members are hosting monthly Food Education Empowerment and Sustainability Team (FEEST) dinners. FEEST is a youth-led improvisational dinner program that engages young people in issues of civic and social justice, food security, cultural expression, systems change, and community development.

Young people get together with plant based ingredients and cook together without recipes. The next FEEST Dinner is scheduled to be on Saturday, July 26th from 5-9pm. If you would like to attend, please contact Mario at (510) 444-4212 or mario@hopecollaborative.net
.

 

Learnings from BALLE 2014
"Focus Space" at the 2014 BALLE conference.

Leon Davis, HOPE Steering Committee Co-Chair, received a scholarship to attend the Business Alliance for Local Living Economies (BALLE) "Prosperity for All" conference to represent HOPE from June 11th-13th. The conference brought hundreds of entrepreneurs and local business leaders to Oakland, CA to dive deep into the most energized issues in the Localist Movement. Some of the notable people there were Dacher Kelner from Greater Good Science Center, Michael Curtin from DC Central Kitchen, and James Johnson-Piett from Urbane Development.    


Attendees networked with and learned from advocates, social enterprises, and small business owners who are all focused on creating small, community-driven, and locally owned businesses. As part of the conference, attendees had the opportunity to visit different sites. Leon joined a metal arts tour at The Crucible in West Oakland and metal workshop program at Laney College. The conversation was around ownership, entrepreneurism, and non-traditional funding sources. Leon took away "Focus Space", where guest speakers took the space to allow anyone to express how they feel.  

Click here for more BALLE highlights. 

 

Stay tuned for more updates from the HOPE Collaborative. You can also visit us at www.hopecollaborative.net, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn to find updates.
 

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Since
rely,
HOPE Collaborative
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In This Issue
HOPE Spotlight: Yolanda Silva
HOPE Welcomes Healthy Corner Store Community Partners
Introducing Summer Youth Healthy Corner Store Project Leaders
Off the Cuff Cooking
Learnings from BALLE 2014
Upcoming Events
 
Oakland Food Policy Council meeting on Thurs., July 17 from 4:30-7:30pm at 1000 Broadway, 5th floor, Room B

Built Environment Action Team (BEAT) meeting on Tues., July 22 from 4-6pm at RISE Elementary (8521 A St.)

HOPE Steering Committee meeting
on Tues., August 12 from 4-6pm at the HOPE office
 
Alameda County Social Services Agency Farm Stand every Monday from 10am-2pm at Eastmont Self-Sufficiency Center (6955 Foothill Blvd.)

Every Saturday from 9:30am-2pm, get fresh and healthy produce in West Oakland at the Freedom Farm Stand behind Brother's Kitchen (300 San Pablo)
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� 2014 HOPE Collaborative

 

221 Oak St. Ste. D, Oakland, CA 94607 | Office: (510) 444-4133 | Fax: (510) 444-4819

 HOPE is a project of The Tides Center