Recorded presentation

Joni Low, San Diego Regional Asthma Coalition, 2750 Fourth Avenue, San Diego, CA 92103, 619-297-3901, joni@lungsandiego.org

Funded as part of Community Action to Fight Asthma (CAFA), the San Diego Regional Asthma Coalition (SDRAC) is working with the Mid-City Community Advocacy Network (CAN) and residents to promote policy that will reduce environmental asthma triggers and improve the quality of life for school-aged children in San Diego County. The Mid-City community has the highest rate of hospitalizations, emergency department visits, and 9-1-1 call related to asthma in San Diego County. It is a low-income, highly diverse, and densely populated community. The objective of the project is to educate and empower the residents to reduce environmental triggers of asthma.

The SDRAC CAFA project is accomplishing this goal by assisting residents in dealing with their landlords to address asthma triggers, such as overflowing trash bins and cockroaches and rodents; supporting efforts to reduce diesel emissions from school buses and trucks; and training community members in advocacy to deal with community trash problems. Through a door-to-door survey and community forums, trash and pest control were identified as priority issues, followed by pollution from vehicles like cars, buses, and trucks. Three community advocacy workers were hired to recruit and organize neighborhood teams to address these issues. Teams received training on asthma, environmental justice, and advocacy. To date, over 20 community members have joined teams and three neighborhood clean-ups have occurred. The teams are educating others about asthma and the environment, learning advocacy skills, and learning how to navigate the government process to address policy issues.

Learning Objectives:

• - Describe two strategies for engaging community members in policy efforts.
• - Describe how community members can work with cities to address housing code enforcement.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.

Recorded presentation