Coachella Unincorporated reporter Fatima Ramirez is a member of Olive Crest Academy’s first graduating class.

FATIMA RAMIREZ/Coachella Unincorporated

COACHELLA — As I sit on a park bench, enjoying the appetizing food and appreciating the company of my classmates, I realize how much I have grown to appreciate every single one of them.

My classmates and I are taking part in a celebratory event known as Spring Picnic at Olive Crest Academy – the charter high school from which I graduate today — a  a day of fun, food and family at Bagdouma Park for the entire student body.

I have been a part of Olive Crest Academy (OCA) since the day it first opened its doors in 2010. While some might find it unorthodox to leave behind a familiar school in order to attend a completely different one, the promise of an early college model enticed me too much to decline the opportunity.

And with that leap of faith, I began my path to something I can only now recognize as fate.

OCA prides itself in offering qualified students the chance to participate in classes at College of the Desert. While I was applying to be a concurrent student during my junior year, I could not help but wonder what attending a college class would be like. After receiving the news that I had been accepted and the time came for scheduling classes, I was caught up in an array of bittersweet emotions. Although I had enrolled in a class during the fall term, it proved to be a more difficult task the second time around.

College of the Desert’s impacted classrooms and the fact that high school students are the lowest priority, I was not able to sign up for a class.

I stayed positive. When my counselor mentioned the possibility of crashing a course, I knew that somehow this would be the right solution. When I walked into the class, I soon realized I was not the only one with similar intentions for it was filled with people planning to get a spot in the class. As luck would have it, the way the professor decided to give away the remaining spots was by the drawing of cards. Luckily I was able to get one of the few remaining spots and went on to thoroughly enjoy and learn many lessons from this class.

Attending Olive Crest Academy has not only helped me be successful in my academics. Our family program, a daily class with the students and teacher who have been my school family for my entire time here, has taught me valuable life lessons and has provided me with a safe environment filled with people who genuinely care.

Teacher Margaret Hensel recently told Coachella Unincorporated, “I think (the family class) is such an awesome opportunity for the student body to really bond and come together and have a safe haven, not many schools – in fact, this is the only school – I’ve ever worked in that offered the family class and I think it’s wonderful.”

As I approach graduation, I cannot help but look back onto the past three years and be immensely proud and thankful for what the school has done for me. I would be extremely disappointed and upset if this opportunity was not given due to my school’s complicated relationship with the Coachella Valley Unified School District. (OCA is a charter school, but it operates under Coachella Valley Unified School District. The school board recently renewed the school’s charter for two years, against staff recommendation to deny the petition. The school’s future beyond that remains unclear.)

As part of the first graduating class, I look forward to seeing future classes benefit from the same experiences I have had as a student of Olive Crest Academy.

Fatima Ramirez is a reporter for Coachella Unincorporated. She will be a first year student this Fall at Northern Arizona University, where she plans to major in journalism. 

Learn more about Olive Crest Academy.

JOSH BUNCE/Vet Voice Foundation

I am proud to be a veteran of the U.S. Army.  I served in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006 and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan in 2008.  I’m home in California now, studying mathematics and philosophy at the University of Riverside, and settling back into civilian life.  As many of my fellow veterans have experienced, coming home after a tour of duty presents a unique set of challenges.

As I make the transition from soldier to student, I’ve found that spending time in the outdoors provides me with a much-needed sense of peace and solace.  I’m better able to reflect on the journey I’ve taken away from the hubbub of everyday life, classes, traffic, and the noise of the city.  I find this tranquility in the California desert.

Just recently, I went on a tour of the desert in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties with a group of veterans.  Early on a Sunday morning we gathered at Whitewater Canyon Preserve – a get-together that included a Cold War-era veteran as well as those who, like me, served more recently.

Over the day, we traveled through Yucca Valley and then further north, stopping at Amboy Crater – which lies within the boundaries of the proposed Mojave Trails National Monument.  We ate lunch at Kelso Depot within the Mojave National Preserve and then continued on to visit the proposed Soda Mountains Wilderness Area.  Before the end of the day, we paused at the Afton Canyon overlook near I-15, another site within the proposed Mojave Trails National Monument.

During this tour, I learned that the desert is not only an incredible place to visit, but also an important economic driver for the region.  Each year, people spend $230 million visiting the California desert region.  Spending by visitors to Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks and the Mojave National Preserve alone supports over 1,000 jobs. This investment from travel and tourism to the California desert is critical to our economy, still recovering as it is.

I returned from our trip dusty but satisfied in a day well spent.  I felt a sense of calm and appreciation for being able to spend time with my fellow veterans who know what it’s like to serve our country.  I found a place of healing and understanding and I returned more committed than ever to protecting California’s desert and other public lands so that we may all enjoy these special places.

That’s why I’m urging the newly elected Congressman Raul Ruiz to be a leader for protecting the California desert and public lands.  I ask him to prioritize legislation that will conserve public lands for generations to come – both for my fellow veterans and all who want to visit these spectacular places.

I’ve lived in a lot of places – some far flung across the globe.  But for me, there’s nothing like the stark yet subtle beauty of the California desert.  The intricate and complex conditions make the contours of the landscape and the colors of the land and sky stand out.  The solitude offers a place of calm for me, my fellow veterans, and many others who visit these areas.

The sudden scuttle of a lizard along the trail is a reminder that the desert is teeming with life, and the quiet sweep of a hawk overhead makes me feel free, and proud to live in such an incredible place.

Josh Bunce is a member of Vet Voice Foundation.  He served in the U.S. Army in Iraq and Afghanistan.  He now resides in Riverside.  Learn more about Vet Voice at www.vetvoicefoundation.org.

Coachella Valley High School students preparing their meals for a Teen Chef battle. Photo: COACHELLA UNINCORPORATED

JOHNNY FLORES JR/Coachella Unincorporated

COACHELLA – The chefs carefully placed a souvlaki pita and a southwest chicken sandwich in front of the three judges, next to their scorecards.

But this is no ordinary cooking competition. This is a Teen Chef battle, part of Coachella Valley High School’s afterschool cooking program in which two teams compete for the coveted Emerald Spoon.

“Southwestern cuisine is a blend of southwestern, Native American and Mexican cuisine,” said student Jaziel Morales, wearing a cowboy hat for presentation points. “Vitamins and minerals come from the mangos, lime, and cheese. Fiber comes from the bread and the lycopene is found in the tomatoes, which helps lower your cholesterol.”

The two teams were judged on teamwork, organization, knife skills, presentation, creativity in presentation, visual presentation, food safety, cleanliness and taste. Judges scored each category on a scale from 1 to 5.

At the end of this session, the Southwest chicken sandwich team was deemed the winner. They enthusiastically accepted the Emerald Spoon from Naomi Soto, the HealthCorps coordinator at Coachella Valley High School (CVHS) who oversees this program.

“I love food and teaching with other people has given me a different perspective on food. I have learned new ideas, how to respect other cultures, and how to experience different palettes,” said Soto.

This weekly program is part of the HealthCorps initiative at Coachella Valley High School. Created by Dr. Mehmet Oz, the program strives to teach and inspire teens to make healthier choices for not only themselves but for their families as well. The program is in 66 high schools in 14 states. The HealthCorps program at CVHS is funded by The California Endowment.

“This class is fun, easy, and I get to learn about new cultures,” said Isaiah Howze a junior at CVHS. “I’ve learned how to combine the new with the old, how to use less oil, and make everything healthier. I cook a lot more at home and I would definitely do this again next year.”

Soto has also introduced yoga and nutrition classes to the students and staff at CVHS. Earlier this year, staff wore pedometers as part of a walking competition. “We want to incorporate wellness and health at all levels, as well as sustainable change,” she said.

“I think (The California Endowment) chose Coachella Valley High School to be apart of this initiative because there is a willingness from the community and school to learn. The community is special…willing to try and take new things on,” Soto added. “I’m really fortunate to be here and be able to experience just that.”

More Teen Chef Battle photos.

More information about HealthCorps.

Alejandra Alarcon, as a baby with her older sister Gabriela and brother Robert, in the family van. Their mother usually made the van comfortable for the long trips to Mexicali.

ALEJANDRA ALARCON/Coachella Unincorporated

COACHELLA — Like a lot of other families living in the Eastern Coachella Valley, when one of our family members fell sick, it meant driving about a hundred miles across the border into Mexico, to the City of Mexicali, to get taken care of by a doctor. The only other option, it seemed, was not being taken care of at all.

Now, because of healthcare reform efforts in the United States, young people growing up today in the Eastern Coachella Valley – the unincorporated rural communities of southern Riverside County — don’t need to go without health insurance the way I did. The scenario is finally beginning to change. At least, it can change – if people here are made aware of the health services now available to them through federal health care reform, right in their own community.

“We owe it to our country to inform the citizens to take advantage of all these resources that are available,” said Ronnie Cho, associate director of public engagement for the White House, during a speech about health care reform that I attended in Washington D.C. as a reporter last April.

Cho is right. For the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to make a difference, people need to first be aware that health care is an option for them. People need to know that they can afford to visit a doctor, without having to stray more than a few miles away from their home.

When my family would go to visit relatives across the border in Mexicali, we always took advantage of the opportunity to stop by the Mexican pharmacy to buy medicine for ourselves, as well as for our friends and neighbors who always requested some.

As a child, I thought those trips to Mexicali to visit the doctor were the only way – it was just what people did — until later on in my youth, when my father got a job with a new trucking business that gave him medical benefits that included family coverage. Because my dad worked for a lot of different trucking companies during the years, and because there were lengths of time when he was unemployed, our health care situation was never stable. But at least for those few years, my family and I received the best health care we’d ever had.

“Young people are relatively healthy, so they think, ‘I don’t need health care,’ until something happens and they actually need it,” said Cho.

Again, Cho got it right. I can remember my worried mother, back in 2008, telling my little sister and me that we once again did not have health insurance and would have to resume our trips to Mexicali. In retrospect, I never minded the long trips to the doctor or dentist’s office. In fact, I never worried about my health. My parents always had medicine from Mexicali available in our cabinets for emergencies. For my siblings and me, it was not something that got in the way; it was something that we believed had to be done because there was no cheaper option.

The irony is that even though being uninsured felt normal to me and my siblings growing up, it is families like ours that need that insurance the most. Families like mine that live in the unincorporated communities of the Eastern Coachella Valley – most of us are Latino, many (like my parents) are immigrants, and many make a living as farmworkers or do some other type of physical labor – are especially in need of the protections provided by health insurance, because of occupational hazards and other health risks associated with living in an area where people lack money and resources.

Today, the Affordable Care Act, which will be fully implemented on January 1, 2014, is helping families like mine take control of our medical insurance, by providing options and a sense of security. It’s an idea – health care security — that at one time, at least for my family and I, seemed impossible to imagine. The health insurance that for so long seemed like such a special privilege will now become available to more people than ever before.

The ACA was put into place in part to make sure insurance companies cannot end your coverage plan when you need it the most, cannot bill you into debt, cannot discriminate due to pre-existing medical conditions.

Among other provisions, the ACA will secure medical insurance for American citizens after getting laid off or changing jobs. It will require insurance companies to cover the cost of mammograms and cancer screenings. And for the first time, young adults will remain eligible to be covered under their parent’s or guardian’s health insurance plan through the age of 26, even if they are married.

As a result, 3.1 million young adults are now covered along with their families, and over 107,000 Americans with pre-existing conditions who didn’t previously have insurance, are now receiving health coverage, according to federal data.

If you know where to look, it is free and simple to apply for affordable or no cost medical insurance programs such as Medicaid and the Childrens’ Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which cover medical services that include doctor check-ups, emergency care, hospital care, vaccinations, prescription drugs, vision, hearing, and dental.

There was a time, for a lot of us living here in the Eastern Coachella Valley, when driving across the border seemed like the easiest and most affordable way to access health care. Fortunately, for many of us, that no longer needs to be the case. Our communities can have the security of health insurance that for so long seemed just beyond our reach, if we just know where to find it.

To see if you qualify for Medicaid or CHIP, or to apply online, visit: http://insurekidsnow.gov

To find out what is your best insurance option for your specific demographics and needs go to:http://finder.healthcare.gov

This article was first published on New America Media May 11, 2013.

Teacher Simon Moore speaks with a student at CVHS’s Health Careers Academy.

Ed. Note: In 2011, California’s legislature passed AB 790, a statewide initiative aimed at addressing the growing number of high school graduates unprepared or under-prepared for either college or a career. Studies document that up to 70 percent of high school seniors fall into one of these two categories. The initiative targeted 20 school districts and some 600,000 high school students across California. Schools implementing the Linked Learning Pilot Program – one of a number of school reform efforts in the state – integrate academic rigor with a demanding technical curriculum geared toward a professional field. In its first two years, the program has met with promising success. Coachella Valley High School is not in the pilot program but is implementing a similar program. This is the third and final installment of a series of reports by New America Media’s ethnic media partners on how these programs are being applied in some of the state’s most underserved communities.

BRENDA RINCON/New America Media

THERMAL, Calif. – This June, Stephany Madrigal will not only be graduating high school, but will be doing so as a certified medical assistant, qualified to enter the workforce and earn about $25,000 annually.

But she won’t be doing that.

Instead, she will attend California State University at San Marcos where she plans to earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing. She hopes to work part-time as a medical assistant. She credits her academic success to Coachella Valley High School’s (CVHS) Health Careers Academy (HCA), a classroom-career training hybrid program often misunderstood even on its own campus.

“Other teachers and counselors that don’t have the buy-in or don’t have the understanding of what happens in the academies are some of our biggest problems, if you will, as we try to be more successful,” says Simon Moore, lead teacher for the HCA.

Academy students participate in a curriculum that includes job shadowing, internships, college visits, and regular progress checks with teachers – a luxury at a school with only nine counselors for its 2,300 students.

CVHS also offers academies in Hospitality, Tourism & Recreation, a Public Safety Academy, and a Digital Design & Production Academy. According to John Noonan, who oversees the academy programs, they graduate 99 percent of their students, far exceeding the 70 percent graduation rate of the school as a whole. There are about 900 students in the school’s academies.

Even so, Moore says the biggest misconception is that the academies are strictly vocational and do not prepare students for college.

Madrigal says this is not the case. Even though she was a straight-A student, she was not on the college track until she joined HCA. “It was one of my academy teachers that told me about the SATs,” she says. “My counselor never told me.”

In addition to close relationships with teachers, academy students develop close bonds with one another due to their mutual career interests. “Everyone in the health academy says this is like a big family.  It sounds cliché, but it’s actually what happens,” says Madrigal. “We are with each other every day, we get to know each other and our teachers; we have all their support.”

She adds that students help one another fulfill the academy’s community service requirement, 30 hours each school year, and that together they apply for scholarships and attend SAT workshops.

“All my friends are going to college,” says Madrigal.

It’s About Jobs

Along with other high schools in the region, Coachella Valley High School’s career academies are part of a broader collaborative economic development program.

“In order for our region to have a healthy, thriving economy, we must have great jobs,” says Kim McNulty, director of Next Generation Learning at the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership (CVEP). “In order to attract and grow companies who offer high-wage, high-growth jobs, you’ve got to have a smart, well-educated, well-trained workforce.”

In Coachella, high dropout rates and low college attendance have been the norm with just over 25 percent of residents having a four-year college degree.

While each of the area’s three school districts oversees their individual academy programs, CVEP supports their work with a regional strategic plan, community outreach efforts, and by bringing together the career academy teams with partners in the business community.

The academies take learning outside the classroom; job shadowing and hands-on exposure are powerful learning tools for students interested in exploring a specific field. Non-Academy teachers, however, are not as enthusiastic.

“We have teachers that complain about students being out of class one day a week for job shadowing … [but] they don’t get it. They think [students] are missing information – and they are – but you have to understand what they are gaining as well,” says Moore. “I hear students say their goal is to go to college. That’s not the goal. The goal is to get a job after finishing college in a career you want to work in.”

Before coming to the Health Careers Academy, Moore had a lengthy career in emergency medical services.

The academies are able to achieve their graduation rate even with an academically diverse student makeup. According to Moore, high academic achievers are programmed by educators to believe the academies will not help them reach their goals.

“A lot of teachers have this misconception because they don’t understand this [career] exposure,” says Moore. “[Academy students] are literally working with doctors, literally working with nurses, in laboratories, in all these different positions.”

But more and more of the school’s top students are enrolling in the academies. Two of last year’s top 10 graduates, including the salutatorian, were HCA students. “Every year we have had someone in the top 10. This year we have the potential to have three, which would be a record,” says Moore.

He estimates that half of his graduates go on to higher education, while the other half go directly into the workforce. California mandates that a minimum of 55 percent of students enrolled in career academies are “at-risk.”

Julia Salazar was one of these students.

Replicating the Family

“As a freshman, I didn’t do any work,” says Salazar. “My dad didn’t care if I went to college or not. [The Academy] helped me focus. I learned it’s important to get a college education.”

Salazar will graduate in June and plans to enroll at the local community college and become a Licensed Vocational Nurse.

“We have all types of students,” says Kent Braithwaite, a teacher in the HCA. “We have students who might not be graduating from high school and are now going to have professional careers as certified nursing assistants, all the way to future surgeons.”

According to Coachella Valley High School, only four percent of academy students have parents who have graduated from college. About 48 percent of students have parents who did not graduate from high school.

“I believe [these numbers] are an important factor as to why the academies’ small learning communities are important,” says Noonan, the school’s academy director.

“The academy program is absolutely perfectly suited for this type of community because the academy structure replicates the family,” says Braithwaite, who has been teaching here for 34 years. “In our community, in the Coachella Valley Unified School District, we are dealing with many shattered families who are challenged economically. The priorities are keeping a roof over the head and food on the table.”

Academy teachers are used to going to bat for their students and defending a program they believe prepares their students for the real world.

“To the naysayers, I say I challenge you to match the students who are only book smart with some of our health academy students that are 3.0 and above and have all these other skills, these interpersonal skills, interacting skills,” says Moore. “Our kids blow them out of the water 90 percent of the time.”

Brenda Rincon is a writer and the editor of Coachella Unincorporated, a youth-led community media project founded by New America Media to serve the rural communities of the Eastern Coachella Valley, an agricultural region in Riverside County, California. This story was made possible through a grant from the California Education Policy Fund. 

In Oakland Classrooms, Students ‘Learn to Work’

Film Project on LA Street Vendors Brings Community into the Classroom


Disabled youth are enriched by the benefits of the Challenger baseball league. They play every Friday night at Bagdouma Park. Photo: JOHNNY FLORES/Coachella Uninc.

JOHNNY FLORES, JR/Coachella Unincorporated

COACHELLA — Javier Avila and Calani Raceles are two young men with mental challenges doing the unimaginable — playing baseball.

“At first, my son didn’t even want to show up. He couldn’t catch a ball, let alone hold a bat. Through this program his hand eye coordination skills have improved, and he can do all those things,” says Enia Raceles, Calani’s mother. “Now he looks forward to each Friday so he can hit again and talk to his baseball friends.”

Both Javier and Calani are players in Challenger division of Coachella Little League. The program is made up of over twenty physically and mentally challenged young people, ages 11 to 23, with disabilities including autism, Down syndrome and cerebral palsy. The division started in 2010 and is the only one in the Coachella Valley.

“As the only division of its kind here in the Coachella Valley, we want to teach everyone with a disability that you can play a sport and that it is possible,” says Esmeralda Ortega, vice president of the Challenger division.

Every Friday at 7 p.m. at Bagdouma Park, these young people get together under the guidance of dedicated volunteers of all ages. Together, they work on the fundamentals of hitting and catching and conclude with a game against each other or against another team.

But this isn’t an ordinary game. The score is not kept. There are no outs recorded, and each player must bat and record a hit before the next side can do so.

“Most teenagers get together on Friday nights, go to the movies, hang out, play videogames,” says Alex Rodriguez, secretary of the Challenger division. “For these kids, this is their Friday night, getting together on a Friday night with their friends outside of school and they play baseball.

“They’re just like me and you. They have drama, hopes, dreams. Only a disability separates us.”

Javier’s father, Jose Avila, is grateful that this program exists and wishes more programs like these were available for children like his son.

“A lot of these kids can’t do much like me and you. Programs like these help increase hand eye coordination, motor skills, sportsmanship, and above all socialization,” says Avila. “Here, they’re not outsiders but just another person like me and you. Here, disabilities don’t exist and friendships are formed.”

To join or volunteer with Challenger division, please contact Esmeralda Ortega at (760) 972-9053 or Alex Rodriguez at (760) 238-2690.

THERMAL – Elementary school students from throughout Coachella Valley Unified School District will participate in the annual Red Hot Ballroom Dance Competition this Saturday, April 27, at Desert Mirage High School’s Gymnasium.

The competition begins at 9 a.m., with awards being distributed at 11:30 a.m.

The students, part of the after school ASES program, will compete as couples in waltz, tango, East Coast swing, rumba, cha-cha, and fox trot.

Red Hot Ballroom is a 501c(3) non-profit corporation established to bring ballroom dancing into schools. Ballroom dancing is used as a vehicle to teach the fourth, fifth and sixth grade students the social graces (confidence, self-esteem and respect for others) and good physical health over a 28 week program culminating in this dance competition.

For more information, please call (760)413-3593 or visit www.redhotdancing.org.

ICUC will hold a meeting to celebrate recent transportation commitments to North Shore at the North Shore Yacht Club today. Photo: COACHELLA UNINC

NORTH SHORE — Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC) will hold a community meeting to celebrate ICUC leaders’ efforts to improve access to public transportation to North Shore and to share the commitment to making this project successful over two years.

The forum will take place today, April 24, at the North Shore Beach and Yacht Club at 5 p.m.

This forum will include student and parent testimonies, a report on the community-led research campaign, and public comments by Riverside County Supervisor John J. Benoit, SunLine and Riverside County Transportation Commission.

After a year and a half of research and over 1,000 conversations in the local community, ICUC leaders seek to improve access to public transportation by aligning the North Shore victory to deeper transportation needs in Mecca, Oasis and Thermal.

According to ICUC surveyed research of 167 people living in North Shore, 76 percent of people in the town rely on family, friends or coworkers for transportation. And over 40 percent of North Shore’s residents surveyed live on less than $12,000 a year.  The ICUC leader-led event will ask the Benoit, SunLine, and the County of Riverside to assess transportation needs and resources of Mecca, Oasis and Thermal to later create a Rural Transportation Plan for the Eastern Coachella Valley.

Kids of all ages, former Duroville residents, participate in a physical activities program led by Latino Health Access at Mountain View Estates. Photo: IVAN DELGADO/Coachella Uninc.

IVAN DELGADO/Coachella Unincorporated

OASIS – Thirteen-year-old Diego Martinez runs around the grassy field, throwing water balloons at the kids from his neighborhood — an activity new for this former Duroville resident.

Diego is among the many children who recently relocated to Mountain View Estates, a new mobile home park in the Eastern Coachella Valley, as a result of the hazardous conditions that deemed the Duroville trailer park uninhabitable.

“I’m able to play soccer, run around on the grass, and play on the swings at the playground,” said Diego, smiling. “I couldn’t do that at Duroville because of the dogs running around and biting us.”

But Diego and his friends no longer have to worry about dogs. They now feel safe enough to go outside and play in the well-kept field in their new community.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the kids participate in organized physical activities – such as water balloon fights and non-competitive soccer — organized by Latino Health Access, a non-profit organization that reaches out to underserved families with public health problems.

“What we’re doing is bringing some organized physical activities for the children, so they can have fun. They have a nice place out here now, something they didn’t have out in Duroville, and we wanted to take advantage of that,” said Alejandro Espinoza, program coordinator for Latino Health Access. “The most important thing is for them to have fun, something to look forward to on a weekly basis. We also have volunteers that serve as role models for the children, something they should really be exposed to.”

Derek Barajas, 16, is one of the many volunteers from Xavier College Prep High School in Palm Desert.

“I like it, they look up to us as role-models, and it gives them hope,” said Barajas. “Mountain View Estates is a lot nicer and gives them more of a community, and after school, it gives them something to look forward to.”

Maricela Timozly, 12, also recently moved to Mountain View Estates with her family.

“At Duroville, I had no one to play with,” said Maricela, surrounded by several children.

“Everyone was afraid to go out on the streets, because of the dogs and the cars. At Mountain View Estates, it’s safer to go out with security driving around and sidewalks on the street.”

Residents of the new park have access to public water and sewer systems, electrical service, wide paved streets, curb and gutter and interior street lighting – basic amenities lacking at Duroville. Additional features include a community center, clubhouse, soccer fields, volleyball court, basketball court, laundry facilities, playgrounds and gym.

Fifty families from Duroville are now living at Mountain View Estates, with 131 more scheduled to move in by the end of May 2013. According to Riverside County, approximately $28.4 million has been invested in the project from county funds, federal grants and private financing. The project’s completion and relocation of residents is a crucial component of the federal government’s plan to close Duroville, located on the Torres-Martinez Indian reservation.

Guillermo Alvarez, 23, also with Latino Health Access, said that the young residents have come to count on these twice-weekly activities.

“They already know we’re here Tuesdays and Thursdays, so we don’t even need to tell them, they just come over,” he said. “They’re happy, and they actually listen to us now, whereas before they were just running left and right.”

Alvarez added, “One reason is to just have fun, because they’ve just got out of a long day at school, but the other reason is to help them develop. One of the mottos that we have is that kids play, and adults exercise.”

On this Tuesday afternoon, Maricela, Diego, and their friends build their social skills by interacting with one another. They improve their hand-eye coordination by playing games and sports. They are exercising, without even knowing it, as they run around the field playing games and hurl water balloons at one another.

“Sure there are a lot of hidden benefits,” said Espinoza. “But in their eyes, the kids are just having fun.”

Attendees of the Fresno Tech Fest included Ivan Delgado, of Coachella Unincorporated, and Trinidad Arredondo, of Regional Access Project Foundation. Photo: Courtesy of ASPIRATION

MECCA — The California Nonprofit Technology Festival – a high-spirited, fully interactive statewide convening — is coming to the Eastern Coachella Valley.

Also known as Coachella Tech Fest, this event will take place Friday, May 3, and Saturday, May 4, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Mecca Boys & Girls Club.

“We are excited to bring together nonprofits from across the state for this unique opportunity to collaborate with the amazing people creating change in the Coachella Valley,” said Misty Avila, director of communications and training for Aspiration, an organization dedicated to bringing technology to non-profits.

Ivan Delgado, beat reporter for Coachella Unincorporated, encourages anyone involved in community organizations to attend.

“There is a lot of different information available, such as a WordPress and social media workshops and how non profits can use these to their advantage,” said Delgado, who attended Fresno Tech Fest in September 2012.

Coachella Tech Fest is designed for those interested in social justice, including:

• Nonprofit staff building online communications into their work
• Community-based and youth development organizations looking to find a community of support for their technology challenges
• Social justice techies supporting nonprofits and social change efforts with technology

Sessions are based on the needs of the participants. Those interested should register as soon as possible to let organizers know their areas of interest. Sliding scale registration is available.

Coachella Tech Fest is made possible by California Consumer Protection, Eastern Coachella Valley Building Healthy Communities, Regional Access Project Foundation, and Mecca Boys and Girls Club.

Register Here