August 2017

When his friend at Poway High School died by suicide 20 years ago, Stan Collins did not hear much from his teachers. "I just remember the trauma of sitting next to his empty desk the rest of the year," Collins said. "Twenty years ago, schools were still in the mindset of if you talk about suicide it's going to cause it to happen." Now Collins talks about suicide every day as a specialist with the San Diego County Suicide Prevention Council . And he is working to ensure school staff across...

To See the Conference Agenda, List of All-Star Speakers, and To Register Click Here Why Should Californians Attend This Unique Conference ? From high levels of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), to job and financial struggles, racism and other forms of inequity and injustice, traumatic stress is epidemic today. Climate change will aggravate all of these existing adversities, and add many new ones as well. Yet, California is leading the U.S. in finding innovative new ways to address...

A project in the San Diego County area is demonstrating once again that urban farming at the neighborhood level offers a host of benefits, from individuals to communities. The nonprofit San Diego Housing Corp. and a group of university nursing students have set up a community garden near the Torrey Apartments in El Cajon. Herbs, vegetables, and citrus trees have sprung up in garden boxes in a formerly neglected spot. The produce will add to the diets of the more than 200 residents of the...

Every year that the oldest Americans grow more frail and in need of assisted-living facilities, more and more of the 75 million members of the Baby Boom generation realize that they're right behind them. Now San Diego County is implementing another needed reform , creating the Choose Well website so people can easily compare assisted-living facilities, their cost, amenities, regulatory histories, licensing, nursing care and more. The website even assigns each facility an overall rating. With...

Tabby the bear is delivering smiles to homeless children across Chula Vista with the help of university students and police officers. Created by students from Brandman University in Irvine in partnership with the Chula Vista Police Department, the bear is meant to provide comfort to distressed children. The project is part of Brandman's organization leadership doctoral program, which challenged the students in an assignment to change the world by creating the most value possible. One team...