At the urging of COPA leadership, the Board of Supervisors of Monterey County unanimously voted to quadruple the size of COPA's healthcare pilot project from $500 thousand to $2 Million on an annual basis.

The expanded program will provide at least 2,500 low-income undocumented residents, including farm workers and their families, with full-scope primary and preventative care, labs, radiology, medication and specialty services. A third-party administrator will be hired to issue enrollment cards, administer payments and track data.

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Upon successful implementation of a pilot project providing healthcare for undocumented residents of Monterey County, COPA leaders took another major step forward, securing unanimous Board of Supervisor support to create an action team that will prepare and present a proposal back to the Board this spring. This is an important preliminary step in securing Monterey County funds to ensure that all residents have access to quality, affordable healthcare regardless of immigration status.

In photo, Episcopal Bishop Mary Gray Reeves leads joint study session with Monterey County Board of Supervisors and COPA leadership on healthcare for undocumented residents.

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By unanimous vote, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors finally agreed to fund a healthcare pilot project for undocumented residents, put forth by leaders of Communities Organized for (relational) Power in Action (COPA).

$500 thousand has been allocated to pay for lab tests, radiology and pharmacy services -- things generally unaffordable for residents concentrated in the agriculture or hospitality industry. The purpose is to prevent future visits to the county hospital's emergency room. The Episcopal Diocese estimates that between 1,200 and 2,000 uninsured undocumented county residents will be eligible for the program. According to Canon Jesus Reyes:

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COPA leaders' impassioned case for county funding of health services for uninsured, undocumented children appeared not to fall on deaf ears at a meeting of the Monterey County Board of Supervisors. The County Health Department director followed up with a request that the Board budget $500 thousand for a pilot project to make low-price prescription drugs and other specialty services available such children.

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When a healthcare program for undocumented children they had created was threatened by Santa Cruz County budget cuts, COPA leaders did not stand idly by. They quickly mobilized supporters from Catholic, Jewish, Methodist and other nonprofit partners to persuade the Board of Supervisors and healthcare provides to fund the effort. And they succeeded.

United Way of Santa Cruz County recognized the organization's efforts (and its collaboration with Community Foundation and 1st 5 nonprofits) with an "Advocacy Award" for COPA leadership (pictured above).

Doña Francisca's death by car, the 4th accident in front of the Sherwood Village senior living facility, brought clarity to members of Aging Latinos in Action. Without a stop sign, seniors were left vulnerable to rushing and inattentive drivers. ALA reached out to COPA for training, then conducted their own research actions and meetings with sitting Council members to secure a crosswalk in front of their living facility. In photo, ALA leaders process down their newly installed crosswalk.

Said leader Fermin Gonzalez, "We're not part of history...we're making history!"

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COPA leaders and their young children celebrated the breaking of ground at Acosta Plaza with shovels, stories and speeches. The story, the way Bibiana Alcala tells it, involved an important first phone call. "Once our residents said they wanted a basketball court....we contacted COPA."

Youth and community leaders of Acosta Plaza, in collaboration with other congregations of COPA, lobbied neighborhood associations, Mayor Gunter of Salinas and statewide community foundations to identify funding for the construction of a basketball court. The $100,000 construction project is the result of negotiation: Residents will assist COPA-member and affordable housing provider CHISPA in building the court while the City of Salinas and the California Endowment will help shoulder the costs.

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Testifying before the Monterey County Board of Supervisors, COPA leader Elsa Quezada called for a County strategy to educate undocumented and uninsured Monterey residents about newly available healthcare services. "They are our neighbors, our friends, they go to church with us, they join us at the park, the rodeo...their children go to school with our children," she argued.

At COPA's urging, the Board approved the creation of a strategic plan and simplified "access point document" to better spread the word about healthcare access to the uninsured; both are to be produced within 90 days.

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Nestled off the 101 Highway between Santa Cruz and Paso Robles, St. John Catholic Church hosted a listening session to begin to "organize for justice and healing." Fr. Claudio reminded parishioners and community leaders that "righteousness and peace will embrace," before urging them to share their stories of abuse at the hands of the police. Resident after resident disclosed how thousands of dollars had been spent to recuperate cars that were unfairly impounded and sold by local police. The parish hall was packed; though the effort is young, people expressed hope in the possibility of addressing police practices as a community.

King City Residents Air Grievances, KION News - Channel 46

When confronted by Everett High School youth leaders about whether he would pitch in to help clean up Acosta Plaza, Salinas Mayor Joe Gunter didn't skip a beat. "Yes," he said to a group of presumptuous, yet polite, youth that had already successfully shaken down $500 from a neighborhood association for a basketball court. The campaign to clean up Acosta Plaza is led by East Salinan youth and recent college graduates eager to improve their neighborhood's image.

The Californian.com notes that Plaza cleanup is "going to do a lot of good."

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