In my current work as Best Starts for Kids Program Manager, I support efforts to invest in promotion and prevention work spanning 31 community based organizations who serve about 5,000 families per month.

My priorities are reflective of community and my lived and professional experience with a human services background across multiple sectors including refugee resettlement, housing, workforce development, school partnerships, and managing prenatal to five programs.

COVID-19

In early February, as the COVID-19 vaccine began rolling out to the public, our campaign help an event attended by nearly 600 community members titled, ““Y’all getting vaccinated?: A talk about racism, medicine, COVID-19 vaccines, and the Black community,” to educate and hear from community members on their concerns about the vaccine during this public health crisis.

According to King County, besides South East King County, District 5 has some of the lowest vaccination rates. We need to work with culturally competent community partners to ensure the safety of our neighbors.

CHILD CARE

Including child care providers that are overwhelmingly BIPOC women. Additionally, in my previous role I developed to support public schools and community partners to maintain strong partnerships, including communication to families about available programs and services.

We need to make child care more affordable and accessible to families at all income levels. We can do this by increasing the number of child care slots available and increasing subsidy rates.

ELDER CARE

With a growing population of seniors in our district, I want to expand on and increase awareness around the State’s recently passed Long-Term Care Act using County resources and increase wrap around services for our aging neighbors including affordable housing, health care, and other services such as community-based supports for family caregivers, older adults, and people with disabilities, including dementia and Alzheimer’s.

PUBLIC HEALTH AND COMMUNITY VIOLENCE

We must continue to invest in our existing alternatives to incarceration through a public health response to social safety. We have multiple community partners able to provide restorative services for accountable responses to individuals who commit an offense and must prioritize funding to these types of community practices that prevent violence and are grounded in mental health.

Additionally, to address youth violence as a social disease, we need to engage with local school district partners, mobilize the community to inform elected leaders about resource gaps contributing to social determinants of violence, and build the capacity of guardians to work with school partners to ensure the safety of young people in our community. The solutions are clear, we need to increase funding for afterschool programs, youth enrichment, and a public health response that can provide culturally responsive materials to address young people who have risks for firearm violence.