all children thrive - ca

A NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR COMMUNITY-LED CHANGE

Raices Cultura and the City of Coachella are joining forces to embark on a new journey of community change that is geared toward supporting youth development and civic engagement through the All Children Thrive - California (ACT - CA) initiative. As an organization that was founded with youth and community empowerment through arts & culture at its core, this initiative aligns with our mission and we are proud to have the City of Coachella as our supporting partner.

There are three phases of ACT - CA: Engage, Grow, and Accelerate. In the Engage phase, the goal is to get connected to the individuals & organizations who will become the core team, drive the workflow, and outreach to the public at large - engaging them in the foundational aspects of ACT-CA to shape a Coachella-specific plan that is community-led and informed by diverse voices. In the Grow phase, the core team expands, the scope of work expands, and we literally grow resources to create greater impact for ACT - CA in Coachella. In the Accelerate phase, we ramp up the Coachella-specific plan and run with it. The work, events, and collaborations amplify in service of ACT - CA and the energy becomes accelerated - it’s full-steam ahead for an abundant pathway of engagement and support!

Participate in our online surveys below! Please complete Survey 1 and Survey 2. Available in Spanish and English. If you would like a gift card emailed to you, please email screenshot proof of your survey completion message to this email here. Gift cards will be emailed while supplies last. Thank you!

Current News:
We are now in the final process of our Grow phase ACT 2.0!

PAST NEWS:
ENGAGE - ACT 1.0

act 1.0 (Phase 1) - engage

The Fall of 2021 marked the launch of Raices Cultura’s Phase 1 of ACT - CA. Our selected area of work is the category of Youth Development and Civic Engagement. From ACT - CA “Youth Development and Civic Engagement embraces the idea that youth are knowledgeable leaders in the community and are critical to creating change. Children and youth are our community’s future leaders. Their ability to thrive is directly related to the current and future well-being of our communities. All Children Thrive creates youth advisory boards and promotes activities that center youth voices and provide space for youth to voice their opinions about the future they would like to see. ACT can help you assess the needs in your community, identify who is being left out, and create opportunities that support all youth.”

One of our first actions was to create a youth cohort of Change Ambassadors! We met once a week to discuss youth needs from a first-hand perspective. From these discussions, we identified various causes of these needs, as well as resources that already exist to remedy these needs. For the needs where no evident resources existed, we discussed potential action plans that may address the gaps. This process is youth-led and stewarded by Raices Cultura staff.

A set of initial public listening sessions were held at the Raices Cultura headquarters on 7th Street in Coachella. The first was an all-ages Community Listening Session meeting where participants from Coachella and surrounding cities attended and mapped out current needs, resources, and gaps for youth development and civic engagement. This was a hybrid session with both in-person and online participants who interacted with facilitators and Raices staff and provided feedback from various perspectives. Combining a work with play ethos, in-person attendees were able to decompress afterward by sharing a sit-down outdoor dinner together catered by Nick’s Pizza mobile truck + a mini concert by local duo Las Tías.

The second was a peer-to-peer Youth Listening Session meeting where local youths met to share their thoughts about changes they would like to see within their schools and neighborhoods. They discussed in detail the concept of youth needs via questions generated by the Youth Ambassadors for a special game of Jumbo Jenga. Afterward, several students were interviewed by Giselle Woo, a special guest at the meeting. At the conclusion of the session, everyone enjoyed an early dinner catered by TKB Deli.

Another action we committed to was gathering data related to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and an informal Needs Assessment from members of the general public during a 1-day tabling event outside of the Coachella Library. Participants answered anonymous digital surveys and each person received a $10 gift card to Sixth Street Coffee. The anonymous surveys are now available online for individuals interested in participating at the links near the top of this page.

All children thrive - california (act-ca)

All Children Thrive (ACT) is a community led movement being launched by cities throughout California. ACT is designed to transform how cities address childhood trauma and focuses on improving child and family wellbeing. ACT brings together community members with city staff and elected officials to create policies, programs and resources to address underlying conditions that lead to childhood trauma and advance opportunities that foster child wellbeing. Learn more and visit the ACT - CA website by clicking on the link here.