Videos

During the summer of 2021, six farmworker leaders from the Achieving Resilient Communities (ARC) farmworker advisory committee participated in a digital storytelling workshop led by StoryCenter and the ARC project to develop short videos based on their personal lived experiences with heat related illness and exposure to wildfire smoke.

This video was developed as a recruitment tool for the Filtration for Respiratory Exposure to wildfire smoke from Swamp Cooler Air (FRESSCA) Study.

The project is funded under Assistance Agreement No. RD-84024201-0 awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to the Public Health Institute. This project also receives support from the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) B28TP5832-S. This video has not been formally reviewed by the EPA or CBCRP. The views expressed in this video are solely those of PHI and do not necessarily reflect those of the agency or the cancer research program. The EPA and CBCRP do not endorse any products or commercial services mentioned in this video.

The Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN) has been promoting environmental justice (EJ) in the San Joaquin Valley since 2000. CCEJN has developed culturally appropriate environmental justice materials that are used to educate, organize, and empower residents of disadvantaged communities, including youth.

In 2018, CCEJN partnered with Social Justice STEM to create the state's first standards-aligned 'EJ and Climate Change' curriculum for middle and high school students. A year later, we used this curriculum to launch 'YES Program. Youth Environmentally Savvy.'

In partnership with six EJ organizations, youth from across the San Joaquin Valley (Stockton, Modesto, Madera, Fresno, Kettleman City, and Delano) have deepened their knowledge about the environmental justice issues affecting their communities and have engaged in projects to address those issues.

Jhamere grew up with many distractions: violence, crime, poor healthcare, a poor diet, but he survived and made it to college. In college, he studied all the distractions and inequities that shaped his life. He grew up in apartments lining the freeways but didn't attribute that to his asthma. After college, he met his mentor at and earth day event who taught him about the freight movement and freeways in his neighborhood that were causing poor health conditions. Today, Jhamere is the AB 617 Project Manager for West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project. The West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP) is a resident led, community-based environmental justice organization dedicated to achieving healthy homes, healthy jobs and healthy neighborhood for all who live, work, learn and play in West Oakland, California.

We are living in a world where profit over people and the health of our planet has become normalized. The accumulation of material goods, without the understanding of the consequences that come along with this mentality has become a pandemic in itself, affecting everyone and everything on this planet. We find ourselves in a critical time in history, on a very slippery slope but with much hope. Ruben is the air monitoring technician with the Latino Environmental Advocacy & Policy (LEAP) Institute helping communities in Kings County, Western Fresno, and the pleasant valley stay informed through a community air monitoring network. The Latino Environmental Advocacy & Policy (LEAP) Institute is working with Valley communities to achieve economic, environmental, climate, and transportation justice.

Sarina Vega of Casa Familiar in San Ysidro, CA, talks of green spaces in this border community and dreams of a plan for a community park to improve air quality, health, and wellness. This video is dedicated to all the residents of San Ysidro. Casa Familiar is the leading non-profit organization directly in San Ysidro with a 40+ year history of advocacy, service provision, community planning and development.

Having access to real-time information can lead one to make more informed decisions. Growing up in the Southeast part of San Francisco, there were many times when David could have used real-time information to keep him safe when catching the bus to get to school. Today, David works at Tracking California as a project coordinator to support AIRE partners and other community groups funded through AB 617 community air grants. As a "Tracker", David works to make real-time air pollution readily available in communities across California. With this data, he hopes that communities like his can take action to reduce their exposure to harmful pollutants. At Tracking California, we believe that environmental health data should be made accessible, understandable, and useful for improving public health in impacted communities. We believe communities should have a leadership role in driving these actions.

Growing up in Imperial County, Christian always wanted to leave to escape from issues like pollution. Today, he is working with the community to make Imperial a place where himself and others no longer want to leave. Comite Civico is a community-based organization that works in addressing environmental and social justice for the communities of Imperial Valley, California, and other communities of color. We use our environmental injustice reporting system, our educational and advocacy campaigns, and our scientific research partnerships to push forward change for the betterment of our communities.

The Agricultural Pesticide Mapping Tool is a user-friendly tool for exploring the California Department of Pesticide Regulation's Pesticide Use Reporting data, 1991-2018. Use the tool to see how agricultural pesticide use in California varies by location and over time, including the top 10 agricultural pesticides used in an area. For a comprehensive overview of the Pesticide Mapping Tool, with a description of the data, a walk through of the tool's features, a demonstration of the tool in action watch the video below.