New School Year, New Planting Season

So this week marked the start of a new academic year. This week we also began a new planting cycle and our latest series of gardening workshops, which brought out 15 people of various ages, languages, and backgrounds. Folks began planting basil, dill, kohlrabi, sugar snap peas that will hopefully survive in time to be transplanted on our next garden workday:  

Sat. Sept. 25th,  9am @ 
the Lincoln Heights Community Garden
2449 Sichel Street
Los Angeles, CA 90031


In addition to the usual SEACA folks, there will also be volunteers from USC on hand to help clean up the garden, fill in the beds, and of course transplant the seedlings.  Tam & I also started some lettuce, radishes, and carrots seedlings as well. I think we're going to eat well in two months! In the meanwhile, let us know if you want to join us on Sept. 25th.

I also wanted to share with you this story that was aired on KCRW about a month ago on Evan Kleiman's Good Food. One of her guests was Dr. Thomas Robinson of the Stanford School of Medicine who talked about how students are more likely to improve their diets when you raised their awareness of social justice issues than if you just talked about individual health benefits. Examples given were people who became vegetarian because of animal welfare issues or others wanting to eat locally to reduce their carbon footprint.  Interesting, huh? It also confirms what we've known all along: people want to be a part of something bigger and to feel that their personal choices can make a difference.

http://www.kcrw.com/etc/programs/gf/gf100821buffalo_wings_moonsh

Summer Programs 2010!

We have a packed summer! Come  join us for fun and informative workshops on cooking and other skills.


Cooking, Mondays 4-6pm


Heads Up! Workshops, Wednesdays 3-5pm
Have questions about money, relationships, and your body? Join SEACA this summer to build on your knowledge of these topics and more!

How To Be Smarter With Your Money, 7/15
Communications & Conflict Resolution 7/22
Healthy Relationships & Sexuality 7/29
Family/Relationship Violence & Legal Advice 8/5
Self Care & Harm Reduction 8/12

All workshops take place at the SEACA office. Everyone is welcome!
970 N. Broadway, Suite 209
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 628-8667

SEACA Celebrates!

SEACA ended the academic year with many accomplishments and a few celebrations! This past year, we completed a community health assessment by door-knocking in our communities, collected oral histories of community members, and built the first Lincoln Heights Community Garden --- just to name a few of our accomplishments. Watch the video to recap our year.

Congratulations to all our members, volunteers, and partners for all your hard work! We look forward to seeing everyone back in August.

If you already miss us, join us this summer for some fun and informative life skills workshops. Details coming soon...

May Day Rally!

On May 1st, 2010 SEACA members marched in solidarity around the Garment District with workers at the Garment Worker Center. Then, we joined the march on Broadway in the biggest immigrant and workers' rights rally in the country.

SEACA and UCLA Releases Education Report

SEACA’s communities face numerous educational challenges. Belmont and Lincoln High have some of the lowest academic outcomes in the city. Through firsthand interviews by students in the schools, In the Majority: Challenges, Resources, and Strategies for Educating Immigrant Students and Students of Color in LAUSD provides a critical analysis of education within schools and highlights strategies for schools, community organizations and parents to work together for effective change for positive student outcomes. Read the entire report here.

SEACA Members Speak Out Against DASH Cuts

SEACA members spoke out at a public hearing on the cuts to the DASH bus service. Everyone from the elderly residents of Chinatown, to the high school students at Lincoln High School to the residents of the William Mead Housing Projects will be impacted. More information about the proposed cuts can be found at the LA Department of Transportation web site. Listen to SEACA's member stories and how they hope to impact the process in the video.

SEACA's New Toy and Youtube Channel!

We've been putting our new Flip camera to good use. SEACA members and staff have been having a great time capturing the spirit of our work on video.

Subscribe to our Youtube channel, which we will periodically update. You can watch SEACA members collect health surveys and we'll soon be updating the channel with oral histories.



Thanks to the Studio for Southern California History for our Flip camera and for their tremendous help! The Studio has generously donated the camera to us and are providing training and technical assistance as we collect oral histories. They are an amazing partner organization right here in Chinatown that seeks "to critically chronicle Southern California history from a social and cultural perspective."