Our community is important to us! We want to share our thoughts about our community, the change we wish to see and what we are doing to make improvements.
This is our Community!
The Community Health Liaisons had a blog challenge. We had 1 week to come up with a creative and unique way to show our community. Some of us wrote powerful words, others shared pictures and some documented our community through video. In all, we were able to show our community of South LA, through our own eyes and words.
A Regular Day in South LA
Video Created By: Josue Zelada
Perfectly Imperfect
By: Melissa Anguiano
I've lived in South Central Los Angeles for 14 years. This community has shaped me to the person I am today and I am thankful to be a part of change that can benefit my community. My friends, family and neighbors are the people who push me to create change because they know the struggle of the stereotypes we face as a community. “Dangerous neighborhood,” “uneducated,” and “poor.” My community is misunderstood and I hope to be part of the group that reveal our true colors. We are a humble and hard-working community that's perfectly imperfect just like any other.
The Dunbar Hotel
Photo By: Steve Bravo
Our Journey of Becoming the Next Civic Leaders
By: Sabina Cervantes
“They [people] think this a school to learn. This is not a school to learn. This is a street to watch, this is the reality to see and observe,” that’s what this young man said when the Challenge LA team met while doing interviews for the competition. The Challenge LA is a competition in which students from high schools are challenged to develop solutions to complex problems facing their community. Melissa Anguiano and I are participants in the Challenge LA and we are also a part of the BUILD Health LA program. During our first day out on Crocker and 4th street we encountered interesting comments. This man emphasized the fact that many people visit homeless streets as if it is something unfamiliar to them, and are oblivious about the homeless problem that the county of Los Angeles is facing. He says that instead of finding a solution, people depend on others to look for it and just put aside an issue that has been going on for years. The BUILD Health LA team uses these realities as a motivation to make our communities better. We are aware of the imperfections of our community. But, we also see the amazing things our communities can offer and that is why our passion of becoming advocates has grown. We may just be high school students now, but we are in our journey of becoming the next civic leaders of our generation.