And Academic Partnering

A program launched by Cal State Northridge and the state Department of Health is an example of the kind of creative partnerships needed to combat poverty in the San Fernando Valley.

Project Community Nutrition Resource targets one aspect of poverty: lack of affordable health care for the working poor.

Few low-paying jobs provide insurance. People without insurance can seek care in a handful of free or low-cost clinics or at emergency rooms, by which time the situation is often dire. Continuity of care or a good doctor-patient relationship, difficult enough to achieve in the world of the insured, is virtually impossible for the uninsured.

Without the safety net of health insurance, preventive care becomes more important than ever.

To that end, students and faculty members from CSUN’s College of Health and Human Development are staffing a 12-month program to provide information to low-income families on nutrition and the benefits of exercise. The information provided, ranging from the food guide pyramid to weight and stress management, is culturally sensitive and targeted to individual audiences to take into account food preferences and habits. Three teams of students and faculty will work with Head Start programs directed by the Child Care Resource Center. One team will be based at Van Nuys Pierce Park apartment complex, two at Pacoima and San Fernando middle schools and one team will work with pregnant women at Olive View Medical Center.

If the program is successful, the state health department plans to use it as a model for other programs across California. In the meantime, it will provide both valuable experience for CSUN students and needed help for Valley residents--a two-way benefit that is the reward of a community partnership.

To Take Action: The CSUN team working at the Woodman Center Head Start Program, 5944 Woodman Ave. at the corner of Woodman and Oxnard, will present education programs, open to the public, from 11 a.m. to noon April 14, April 28, May 5 and May 12. For more information on Project Community Nutrition Resource, call Jerry Ann Harrel-Smith at CSUN, (818) 677-7251.