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The Homeless Connect event was the brainchild of shelter manager Doris Starling of the Midnight Mission, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit contracted to run The Courtyard, and Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, whose First District includes the Civic Center. Information and services were available from a variety of participants: Orange County Health Care Agency, the Orange County Public Defender's Office, 2-1-1 Orange County, Illumination Foundation, Share Ourselves, Goodwill of Orange...

Protection, shelter, fear, and displacement: I found them all in Santa Ana, California, a self-proclaimed sanctuary city. This was my first home in the U.S. after my mom brought me here as a child. I remember a vibrant Fourth Street, a hub for all Mexican-related things, from homemade tortillas to traditional music. Though much has changed in the 18 years since I lived there, Santa Ana remains the epicenter for social justice activism in Orange County, one of the most conservative places in...

In 2012, as various Orange County agencies teamed up to address the sexual exploitation of children, they discovered 17 victims in the county. A year later, the number had more than doubled, to 35, and last year, it multiplied again, to 75. Victims of forced labor are more likely to take public transportation, OCTA CEO Darrell Johnson said Wednesday, so the transportation authority trained more than 1,100 staff and contract bus operators to spot signs of sex trafficking. Oree Freeman, 22, a...

Orange County ACEs Task Force AGENDA May 16th, 2017 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Location: Laguna Woods Village - Performing Arts Conference Room Clubhouse #3 - 23822 Avenida Sevilla Laguna Woods, CA 92630 Please RSVP: Mary Brogdon-Organizer mlbrogdon@mac.com (714)624-4368 Inform Guard at gate that you are attending the Information Meeting. ● Share highlight of gratitude in your last month ● To create a safe space, our Shared Understandings are: - Treat others with kindness ~ Respect others opinions ~...

Orange County Supervisor Shawn Nelson has proposed putting temporary homeless shelters on county-owned land in Irvine, Huntington Beach and Santa Ana – and he wants the first one to open within 30 days. Nelson said the county would provide transportation to relocate homeless people. He said it was unclear on how the county would house people’s pets. And he said the new shelters might provide basic support services, similar to those provided at its Santa Ana shelter, such as access to health...

In a light-blue room called The Safe Place, Malinda Wheeler gazed at a painting she had commissioned by a sexual-assault victim. It shows a young woman sitting on a ledge and includes a simple message: “Your feelings matter. Your voice matters. You matter. Your story matters always.” For nearly two decades, Wheeler, through her company Forensic Nurse Specialists, has run The Safe Place at Anaheim Regional Medical Center, Orange County’s only sexual-assault examination unit, the main place in...

Who should you partner with to create lasting change through resilience in your community? The Building Community Resilience (BCR) initiative aims to address, prevent, and reduce the effects of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and adverse community environments (ACEs) on children’s health and wellbeing ( The “Pair of ACEs” ). An essential element of the successes of BCR’s five test sites around the country has been strategic collaborations. In your work to build resilience, identifying...

In september 2015, the body of Aylan Kurdi, a 3-year-old Syrian migrant, washed up on a Turkish beach. The boy had fallen off a rubber raft provided by a smuggler who had promised the boy’s father a motorboat. As the startling images of the drowned boy spread, they prompted an outpouring of humanitarian aid—including from the tech sector, which wanted to help prevent the next Aylan from drowning. Knowing that many refugees have access to cellphones, volunteers around the world began...

The Management Assistance Group (MAG) is one of NPQ ’s go-to sources of information about social justice movements. MAG works with a number of the networks that are moving some of this nation’s most difficult issues. MAG has come to believe there are five elements that are critical to advancing a thriving justice ecosystem. This is the second in a special five-part series, in which MAG and NPQ invite you to contribute to the evolution of what these elements mean in practice. A critical shift...

Save the Date: Tuesday, July 11 4CA Policymaker Education Day on Childhood Adversity, Sacramento The California Campaign to Counter Childhood Adversity (4CA) invites you to Sacramento for Policymaker Education Day. Our lawmakers need to hear from you about how adverse childhood experiences and childhood trauma affect your community and what they can do to help. Join with allies from across California to engage your elected officials on this important issue. Who: 4CA Policymaker Education Day...

A scan done in March by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) through StateNet of bills introduced in 2017 that specifically include adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the text produced a surprising volume of bills (close of 40) in a large number of states (18). A scan done a year ago produced less than a handful. NCSL is a bipartisan organization that serves both state legislators and their staffs. The shear volume of bills in so many states represents a promising...

Orange County ACEs Task Force AGENDA April 18th, 2017 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm Location: Laguna Woods Village - Performing Arts Conference Room Clubhouse #3 23822 Avenida Sevilla Laguna Woods, CA 92630 Please RSVP: Mary Brogdon-Organizer mlbrogdon@mac.com (714)624-4368 Inform Guard at gate that you are attending the Information Meeting. Share highlight of gratitude in your last month Participatory Decision Making Process To create a safe space, our Shared Understandings are : Treat others with...