Health Behavior and Health Education
theory, research, and practice
theory, research, and practice
Application of Community Organization and Community Building Day One Community Partnership (Day One)
Coalition Initiated in 1987 and sustained through local funding and then secured funding in 1991 through Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP).
Initiated by a small group of local citizens and leaders concerned with community-wide alcohol and other Drugs (AOD) abuse.
Serves residents of Pasadena and Altadena, California, urban and diverse communities in northeast downtown Los Angeles.
Use coalition building to reduce prevent community-wide AOD abuse.
As a CSAP community-partnership, its membership is now a mix of professional and grassroots individuals to include local government, and community agencies, organizations and constituencies.
Day ONE:
These community advocates:
Application of Community Organization and Community Building Mother's of East Los Angeles (MELA)
Formed in 1984 to protect a primarily Hispanic neighborhood in East Los Angeles.
Developed and implemented a 7 year plan to block construction of a new 700-bed maximum security prison in an area with33 schools and 7 other correctional facilities.
Used door-to-door outreach, meetings at local churches, schools and senior citizens centers to derive 3500 members.
In 1987, MELA blocked a proposed municipal waste incinerator in East LA and an oil pipeline that would have passed under a junior high school.
In 1989, stopped Chem Clear Company from building a plant to treat cyanide and other waste across from a high school.
Additionally, MELA:
In 1997, partnered with University of Southern California and University of California at Los Angeles to study the environmental causes of children's health problems and develop novel approaches to reaching asthmatic children.
In 2001, MELA organized a statewide coalition to link growth of prisons and environmental racism.
Application of Community Organization and Community Building The Youth Empowerment Strategies (YES!) Project
Study Description:
A 3 year intervention designed to engage underserved youth as critical thinkers and collaborative problem solvers.
Study Participants:
Intervention included 301, 5th and 6th graders living in distressed neighborhood environments and attending one of five academically underperforming elementary schools.
They formed 37 small, four- to twelve-member social action groups led by pairs of trained facilitators.
Constructs Used:
Empowerment, Community Capacity, Social Capital, Issue Selection, and Participation and Relevance
Evaluation:
Questionnaires given to YES! staff, YES! group participants and students at comparison schools.
Year-end interviews were conducted with individual group members and school personnel.
Results:
Program participants: