Tagged With "Downtown Women"
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Advancing a Plan for Addressing Trauma and Building Resilience within L.A. County Systems (prnewswire.com)
Center for Collective Wisdom Releases Extensive Report Outlining Research and Recommendations First 5 LA, the California Community Foundation, The California Endowment, The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation and the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation along with other local, state and nationally-recognized expert organizations today released a report to advance a comprehensive trauma and resiliency-informed approach in Los Angeles County . "Trauma is a serious health concern affecting many children and...
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An Introduction to #MeToo in Japan (globalvoices.org)
In December 2017, the #MeToo movement finally reached Japan after three women decided to speak out against their abusers. The experiences of these three women provide insights into the challenges Japanese women face when speaking out about their experiences of sexual assault. While the #MeToo movement is generally regarded to have started in October 2017, when multiple women spoke out about their experiences of being allegedly sexually assaulted by Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, the...
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Anne Douglas celebrates her birthday at the skid row women's shelter that bears her name (latimes.com)
Anne Douglas could have celebrated her birthday at home in Beverly Hills with her husband, actor Kirk Douglas. Instead, she sat behind a silver-and-pink birthday cake Wednesday as women lined up, weeping, to embrace and thank her for starting the Los Angeles Mission's Anne Douglas Center for Women — one of skid row's first homeless shelters for women. "When I first encountered the women at this homeless shelter it was heartbreaking, and I was determined to make it better," said Douglas, who...
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At Transgéneros Unidas, Latinas find refuge and fellowship (latimes.com)
Every Thursday in Long Beach, a group of transgender women ranging in age from early 20s to 60s, catch up, swap advice and talk about past traumas. The meetings provide a needed refuge — a once-a-week respite from the too-long stares of strangers and the heaviness of hyper-vigilance. Transgender women are disproportionately targeted as the victims of hate crimes in L.A. County. The women walked to chairs arranged in a circle, and Del Rio gave them the week’s theme: hate crimes and suicide in...
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“BECOMING MS. BURTON: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women” by Susan Burton and Cari Lynn
I met Susan Burton in 2010, but I had learned her name years before. I was doing research about the challenges of re-entry for people incarcerated due to our nation's cruel and biased drug war. At the time, I was in the process of writing The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness - a book that aimed to expose the ways the War on Drugs had not only decimated impoverished communities of color but had also helped to birth a new system of racial and social control eerily...
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Blake and Magic Launch Series to Advance Black Males (lasentinal.net)
Bishop Charles E. Blake, pastor of West Angeles Church of God in Christ, and businessman Earvin “Magic” Johnson are partnering to offer advancement services to equip African American men to succeed in life. “This initiative was birthed out of a deep concern about poor academic achievement, financial disenfranchisement, high unemployment, soaring crime levels, the desperate state of the African-American male and the breakdown of the family unit that plagues our cities, small and large, urban...
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California issues update on state residents' ACE scores from 2011 & 2013 surveys
The latest adverse childhood experiences survey from the California Department of Public Health shows that 42% of the population has an ACE score of 3 or higher; 16% have an ACE score of 4 or higher. Those with an ACE score of 4 or higher are: 3x more likely to be current smokers 4x more likely to have a depressive disorder 2x more likely to have asthma 2x more likely to be obese 4x more likely to have COPD 3x more likely to have a stroke Here are a few other highlights from the six-page...
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Community weighs in on plans to address homelessness (latimes.com)
Community members got their first chance Wednesday to weigh in on new plans by the city and county of Los Angeles to address the region's growing problem with homelessness. During two public hearings, advocates for the homeless praised the proposals while others pointed to gaps in the plans, including a lack of strategies to help women who are forced out of their homes because of domestic violence. The county's draft, released last week, proposed spending $150 million in county and state...
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Consumer Corner: Putting More Eyes on Human Trafficking in Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County is one of the top three points of entry into the U.S. for victims of slavery and trafficking. The diverse communities here make it easier to hide and move victims from place to place, and that in turn makes it difficult for law enforcement to locate and help them. New efforts in Los Angeles and Santa Monica focus on the place to place aspect of trafficking; to find and protect trafficking victims by identifying the places and situations where trafficking occurs or crosses.
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Crisis Worsens for Homeless Women, Report Finds [ladowntownnews.com]
By Nicholas Slayton, Los Angeles Downtown News, February 5, 2020 Homelessness among women has increased in the last year, with 10,845 women experiencing homelessness in the City of Los Angeles, and more women experiencing homelessness for the first time, according to a new report from the Downtown Women’s Center. The Downtown Women’s Center, in partnership with the University of Southern California, unveiled the 2019 Los Angeles City Women’s Needs Assessment on Thursday, Jan. 30 at its...
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Echo Parenting Changing the Paradigm Conference: March 5-6, 2015
10% discount for all LA County ACES Connection group members! Enter code "ACEs" when completing the online registration . Childhood trauma is responsible for many of our physical, mental and societal problems and interferes with a parent or...
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Funds From Ballot Initiative Help Newly Released Prisoners Find a Home in Los Angeles [calhealthreport.org]
As Latanja Madison’s release date from prison inched closer, she felt more terrified than elated. During a decade behind bars at the California Institution for Women in Corona, the 55-year-old Madison underwent multiple orthopedic surgeries and now uses a walker. Her immediate family members passed away during her incarceration, creating grave doubts she would have a support system. She feared leaving prison may lead to a worse fate – habitual homelessness. “I’m more blue collar than white...
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How a Group of Female Inmates Won the Right to Live with Their Children [Vice.com]
The springtime sun blazes over East Arrow Highway in Pomona, California, and the glare off the whitish-gray concrete walkways forces everyone to squint. Regina Dotson moves busily in and out of her office on the second floor of a residential...
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How L.A. County can open more doors for homeless women: Guest commentary [DailyNews.com]
Los Angeles County’s 2015 Homeless Count showed a 12 percent jump in homelessness, grabbing headlines and leading to a declaration of “emergency” by elected officials. Yet another number stands out — 33 percent, representing the over 13,000 women who make up the county’s homeless population. A woman experiencing homelessness enters a system designed by and for the majority. Her homelessness may have resulted from a violent home, a final paycheck, or untenable...
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L.A. County has seven female police chiefs. They've brought different skills — and set an all-time high (latimes.com)
(Lisa) Rosales is one of seven female police chiefs in Los Angeles County, an all-time high. Women lead departments in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills, Claremont, Hermosa Beach, Alhambra and Manhattan Beach. Several of the chiefs gathered recently at USC’s Sol Price School of Public Policy for a panel discussion on female leaders in law enforcement. Rosales said her style of policing encompasses listening, empathy and patience — qualities she said have helped de-escalate potentially volatile...
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Women Surround Crying Mom Whose Toddler Was Having A Meltdown At The Airport (sunnyskyz.com)
This wonderful story was posted on Facebook by Beth Bornstein Dunnington who took part in an unforgettable moment at the Los Angeles International Airport. "Something extraordinary at LAX today... (writing this on the plane). I was at the gate, waiting to get on my plane to Portland. Flights to two different cities were boarding on either side of the Portland fight. A toddler who looked to be eighteen or so months old was having a total meltdown, running between the seats, kicking and...
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2019 Los Angeles Women's Needs Assessment [downtownwomenscenter.org]
By Downtown Women's Center, February 2020 A report on women experiencing homelessness The 2019 Los Angeles Women’s Needs Assessment is a community-based research project developed in partnership with unsheltered and sheltered women in the City of Los Angeles. Expanding on the legacy of six past projects documenting the demographics, needs, and conditions of homeless and low-income women in downtown Los Angeles, this project includes women from a broader geographic swath of the city. [ Please...
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San Francisco Trauma Informed Systems Initiative 2014 Year In Review
The Department made the commitment to train all of its 9,000 staff to become trauma-informed. From the report: The Trauma Informed Systems Initiative Workgroup is led by Dr. Ken Epstein and currently staffed by a full time Coordinator, a team of 4...
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Santa Monica offers cash to seniors to help with rent (calmatters.org)
“We had one household where the participant was eating every other day,” said Lisa Varon, senior analyst with the city of Santa Monica. “We had another household where the participant was trading her parking space for protein powder. We had people who were forgoing medical or dental care that they needed and making really difficult choices. They were all managing to hang on by a just a tiny thread and they were doing it with a lot of dignity the last quarter of their lives.” Aging in...
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Self Care Webinar on 11/16/16 Hosted by Futures Without Violence
Compassion Fatigue & Self-Care for Individuals and Organizations Brought to you by Futures Without Violence’s Supporting Organizational Sustainability Institute (SOS Institute) in partnership with the Office on Violence Against Women. Date: Wednesday, November 16, 2016 Time : 9:30 a.m. PT, 10:30 a.m. MT, 11:30 p.m. CT, 12:30 p.m. ET (1 Hr. 30 Min.) ***Closed caption will be provided. Registration Link:...
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Spirituality in Post-Traumatic Growth
One of the five domains of post-traumatic growth is spirituality. Helping us understand the role of spirituality in recovering from trauma at the Echo Frontiers of Resilience conference is Shaun Tomson . If you think the name and face look familiar then perhaps you know him from his days as a world champion surfer. Shaun needed every single one of the lessons he had learned about facing challenges in the form of towering waves and overcoming wipe-outs when he lost his 15-year-old son to a...
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Study: Community Trauma from Gun Violence Results in Negative Health and Behavioral Outcomes (Violence Policy Center)
Research on trauma is frequently featured in mainstream news outlets, pointing to its connection to a range of behavioral and health outcomes. While trauma can have multiple interpretations, for the purposes of this report, it is the result of experiencing or witnessing chronic and sustained violence, or specific events that can have lasting effects on individuals. Researchers have identified 13 distinct types of trauma, including community violence. Community violence is an umbrella term...
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Supervisors Want More Diversity Among County Doctors (egpnews.com)
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to diversify the pool of doctors working at county hospitals, trauma centers and health care facilities. Supervisor Hilda Solis proposed coordinating with labor unions to recruit more culturally and linguistically competent physicians to staff the second largest municipal health care system in the nation. By ensuring that our physicians are as diverse as the patients they see, we place a strong emphasis on effective and...
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The Hollywood Reporter includes ACEs in coverage of sexual harassment and abuse (socialjusticesolutions.org)
Following a previous essay about my encounter with Harvey Weinstein, The Hollywood Reporter interviewed me for their 2017 Women in Entertainment issue. It is so important that the science we now have about trauma and resilience reaches a larger audience. At Echo Parenting & Education , we want people to understand that our relationships with one another, and especially our children, will determine whether we continue in these destructive cycles, or whether the trauma and abuse stop now.
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Why am I acting crazy?
What do Harvey Weinstein, sexual assault, and the #MeToo campaign have to do with childhood trauma? Everything! Please join us for the February 6 Working with Childhood training where I will be making these connections on a personal and professional level. In the training we will talk about how trauma shows up in how we think and behave. So often, people who have experienced trauma are labeled 'difficult' 'neurotic' 'paranoid' 'volatile' 'control freak' etc. when these are the outworkings of...
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Why mentoring matters, and what you can do for Los Angeles-area youth: Guest commentary (svgtribune.com)
The failure to engage the needs of inner-city boys is an ongoing American tragedy. Inner-city violence is causing death and injury that resonates with all it touches while burdening entire communities with the dread of daily insecurity. One third of those murdered in Los Angeles County are African American, who comprise only 8 percent of the population. This violence kills and scars the bodies and psyche of the men and women who are subjected to it. It is a tragedy that drains billions of...
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LA County Supes Seek Better Care And Outcomes For Pregnant And Post-Partum Incarcerated Women And Girls And Their Babies (witnessla.com)
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted to identify ways to better support pregnant women and girls in the county’s jails and juvenile lockups. The motion, authored by Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn, directs the Department of Health Services and the sheriff’s department, in coordination with other relevant county departments to report back to the board in 90 days with data on the number of pregnant women and girls in sheriff’s department or probation custody,...
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LA County Supes Vote To Keep Pregnant Teens Out Of Lockup
Written by Taylor Walker In February 2018, the LA County Board of Supervisors voted to look at ways to better support pregnant women and girls in the county’s jails and juvenile lockups. Acknowledging that incarcerated pregnant girls and women often live in poor conditions before giving birth and being separated from their babies, the February motion , authored by Supervisors Hilda Solis and Janice Hahn, directed the Department of Health Services to report back to the board in 90 days with...
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LA County women are getting healthier, study finds, but poverty and homelessness rise [DailyNews.com]
More of Los Angeles County’s women now have medical insurance, are employed, don’t smoke and are less likely to die of breast cancer or heart disease, according to a report released Wednesday. But an increased number also live in poverty, are homeless and have difficulty accessing health care. The concluding message behind the data compiled in a triennial report by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is that while many gains have been made for women in the last several years,...
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LA’s new Family Justice Center to be ‘a place of refuge,’ for those fleeing domestic violence, abuse (dailynews.com)
In one of the busiest hospitals in the nation, a refuge now resides. Officials declared that the Family Justice Center, inside the LAC+USC Medical Center in Boyle Heights, will be a place where Los Angeles County residents can escape domestic violence, finding all the pieces to put their lives back together. The new center formally opened Thursday, hailed as a one-stop shop where medical, mental-health, legal and social-service components all come together for victims, officials said. It’s a...
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LA supervisors want to beef up home visitation programs (scpr.org)
Two Los Angeles County Supervisors are calling for steps to better coordinate and expand the work of several voluntary home visitation programs that help parents raise healthier children. Arguing that the various programs and their funding are disjointed, Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Janice Hahn proposed a motion for Tuesday's board of supervisors meeting that would order the County Department of Public Health to develop a plan "to coordinate, enhance, expand and advocate for high quality...
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Los Angeles Tests the Power of ‘Play Streets’ [nytimes.com]
LOS ANGELES — The temporary transformation of Fickett Street in Boyle Heights began with yellow shades resembling huge kites suspended over the sun-scorched asphalt. Soon, a thoroughfare known for its speeding vehicles and gang activity became something else entirely — a “play street” in which women gathered for Lotería, or Mexican bingo, and kids fashioned seesaws out of giant snap-together plastic shapes in colors inspired by local Mexican-American murals. There are roughly 7,500 miles of...
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Mind Matters: Overcoming Adversity and Building Resilience Two-Day Intensive Training
with Author, Carolyn Rich Curtis, Ph.D. 8:30 AM–5:00 PM $399 for 2-day Intensive Training CEUs are available for an additional charge. Each trainee must have a copy of Mind Matters ($299 plus tax (CA and SD only) plus S/H) As a result of this training , you will learn to teach: Self-soothing skills to manage emotions Ways to analyze stressful thoughts How to deal with intrusive memories Ways to develop a protective lifestyle And you, as an instructor, will learn . . . How to provide a safe...
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Nine in 10 Homeless Skid Row Women Have Experienced Physical or Sexual Violence, According to New Report (ladowntownnews.com)
A report being released this morning paints a staggering picture of a quickly growing Skid Row population. Women living on the streets are increasing in number and are older compared to past years, according to the study. More than 90% of surveyed Skid Row women also have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime. “The report has a range of findings, but it is clear that targeting services and dollars to specific groups of homeless people is what gets to the root of the...
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Op-Ed What’s good for women and girls is good for L.A. County (latimes.com)
On Tuesday, Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis will introduce a motion to create a five-year Initiative on Women and Girls in Los Angeles County government. It directs all 37 county departments to address the disproportionate disadvantages facing women and girls here. If it is enacted, the county would systematically review its activities and refocus resources in order to advance women’s opportunities. Such a comprehensive approach to promoting gender equality is unusual in the United...
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Paper Tigers Inspires Action
Just moments into watching "Paper Tigers" last August, Angie Dillon Shore and Socorro Shiels found themselves wiping away tears. By the film's conclusion, Angie, a former youth counselor and current Upstream Investments Program Manager, and Socorro, then the Superintendent of Santa Rosa City Schools both felt compelled to take immediate action. What if together, these two women could bring the film to local educators and parents? Could the film change the conversation...
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Report Rates Child Well-Being in California Counties [ChronicleOfSocialChange.org]
A new report from Children Now details wide disparities in children’s well-being across California’s 58 counties. The 2016–2017 California County Scorecard of Children’s Well-Being looks at a series of indicators organized around the three domains of child welfare and economic well-being; health; and education. The report provides a comparison over time for each of 28 indicators, as well as a breakdown by ethnicity on each data point for every county in the state. Children Now, an advocacy...
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SAMHSA's Concept of Trauma and Guidance for a Trauma-Informed Approach
Years in the making, this important piece of the trauma-informed pie is on the table! Check it out.
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9 former gang members see photos of themselves without tattoos for the first time. (upworthy.com)
Before you judge them, hear their stories. "Skin Deep", an innovative project from photographer Steven Burton, captured portraits of 28 former gang members and incarcerated men and women, and he spent more than 400 hours in Photoshop digitally removing their tattoos. Burton was inspired by Rev. Gregory J. Boyle, who many know as G-Dog. Boyle, an ordained Catholic priest, is the founder and director of Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles-based gang intervention, rehabilitation, and re-entry...
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Trauma-informed policing: Learn how three highly experienced community leaders strengthen ties between police and community
ACEs initiative participants in communities where there is tension between the community and law enforcement will want to join Becky Haas in a compelling conversation on law enforcement, ACEs science, COVID-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement and protests. Haas is a nationally recognized adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) science initiative builder and trainer. She and colleagues Renee Wilson-Simmons, the head of the ACE Awareness Foundation of Memphis, Tennessee, and Maggi Duncan,...
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The myth of survivor solidarity: Why it’s so hard for us to all just get along (culturico.com)
As a Weinstein survivor, I’ve noticed that journalists love to explore the presumed solidarity among “sister survivors” – in our case, the over 100 women who came forward about Weinstein’s sexual predation. But what journalists don’t write about are the challenges in preventing any group of trauma survivors from imploding. Only when we survivors understand the impact of trauma can we overcome the underlying forces that threaten to pull us apart and stand together against injustice and abuse.
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(Updated) City of West Hollywood Announces First Pilot Project in the Nation for Guaranteed Income to Test Impact of Cash Payments on the Financial Stability of LGBTQIA Older Adults (weho.org)
Update : At this time, the City of West Hollywood’s Pilot partners, National Council of Jewish Women/LA and Center for Guaranteed Income Research, are in the application assessment phase of the Pilot. The timeline for this phase has been extended to ensure completeness, accuracy, and the highest degree of rigorous assessment. The West Hollywood Pilot for Guaranteed Income is part of an emerging area of policy-making and fund distribution and there are many nuanced components. The City and...
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Reporters’ Explosive Takedown Investigation of Harvey Weinstein (rollingstone.com)
Author: To read Daniel Kreps' article, click, ‘She Said’: See Trailer for Film About Harvey Weinstein Investigation – Rolling Stone TWO REPORTERS’ INVESTIGATION into the sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein — a story that helped spread the #MeToo movement — is the focus of the upcoming movie She Said , arriving in theaters on Nov. 18. The film stars Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan as Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the real-life New York Times investigative reporters that headed the...
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Message to Harvey Weinstein’s Lawyer: His Victims Weren’t ‘Hollywood Wannabes’ Who’d Do Anything for a Break (Guest Blog on The Wrap.com)
Getty Images Author: To read Louise Godbold's article, please click here. In the opening arguments to Harvey Weinstein’s criminal trial in Los Angeles this week, the producer’s defense lawyer pointed to his moldering, overweight client and asked the rhetorical question, “ Do you think these beautiful women had sex with him because he’s hot?” The inference is that poor Harvey was not going to get laid unless in exchange for what he provided in career advancement to conniving “Hollywood...
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Where the #MeToo movement stands, 5 years after Weinstein allegations came to light (npr.org)
It's been five years since T he New York Times first launched stories spotlighting years of abuse and harassment by movie producer, Harvey Weinstein. The stories helped make the #MeToo movement go viral around the world.. Jung Yeon-Je/AFP via Getty Images Author: To read Jaclyn Diaz' article, please click here. The #MeToo Movement was created by Burke in 2006 as a way to empower people who had been sexually assaulted and harassed. Kimberly Hamlin, a feminist history scholar at Miami...
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Becoming Ms. Burton: From Prison to Recovery to Leading the Fight for Incarcerated Women. (beingsusanburton.com)
Susan Burton and Cari Lynn’s social justice memoir follows Burton’s journey from a prison inmate to a leading campaigner for criminal justice system reform. Susan Burton is the founder of A New Way of Life, a nonprofit organization that provides housing and other support to formerly incarcerated women. She is nationally known as an advocate for restoring basic civil and human rights to those who have served time. Susan is the 2010 recipient of the Gleitsman Citizen Activist Award from the...
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Black Angelenos Care for Alzheimer’s Patients — and Each Other (capitalandmain.com)
People Images/Getty Images To read more of George B. Sanchez-Tello's article, please click here. Peggy Melancon, known as Mother Peggy, got on the wrong bus in South L.A. She didn’t recognize her hairdresser. She kept losing her keys. These were the signs of her illness that daughters Jeanie Harris and Sharon Melancon recognized only after Mother Peggy was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a degenerative brain disease. Mother Peggy would need someone with her all the time, and Harris, Melancon and...
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CRC Accelerator Hiatus Announcement: Limited Time Left to Complete the CRC Accelerator Program, Certificate of Participation Toolkit & The Road Ahead
March marks the final month of the granting period for the CRC Accelerator. Here are the next steps for certification or a certificate of participation.