Mental Health Media Campaign Hits the Streets

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Early Saturday morning, April 21, more than 3,300 walkers took their dedication to the street for the annual National Alliance on Mental Illness Walk. The event helps reduce stigma toward mental illness by raising awareness, as well as raising money to fund mental illness advocacy, research, education, and support programs both locally and nationally.

Mayor Jerry Sanders, honorary Chair of the event, and HHSA's Behavioral Health Services Director Dr. Jennifer Schaffer both spoke to the walkers before the kickoff.

Schaffer then joined Alfredo Aguirre, Mental Health Services Director, and other BHS staff for the walk through the park. Team “It’s Up to Us” - named after the County’s successful mental health awareness campaign - boasted 62 walkers who raised $3,045. All the walkers combined to raise more than $150,000.

Probation, Sheriff’s Teams Compete in “Baker to Vegas” Relay

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Runners make their way through the desert during the 2011 relay.

It’s not obvious why anyone would run a race 120 miles through barren desert, from nondescript Baker, Calif. to Las Vegas.

But a team of 20 runners and about 20 volunteers from our Probation Department and a separate Sheriff’s Department team will head to the high desert this weekend to join thousands of members of law enforcement from around the world in the “Baker to Vegas” relay race challenge.

When the Probation team starts running about 4 p.m. Saturday, the forecast says it will be 103 degrees. Most of the team will stay up all night running, too.  They won’t sleep, but at least it’ll be cooler.

“This is like the craziest thing I’ve ever done with law enforcement people,” said Linda Yoakum-Latimer who is Probation’s team captain. The Senior Probation Officer said she’s spent much of the year organizing fundraisers for the team’s entry fee, transportation and other costs.

The chance to meet peers from around the world and the grueling format makes Baker to Vegas a uniquely absurd, fun and competitive race, Yoakum-Latimer explained.

“It’s very positive; it’s very upbeat,” she said.

The format of the race sees 20 runners each passing a baton for 20 different legs of the 120 mile race. Not all legs are equal, with the longest 10.7 miles “straight uphill,” Yoakum-Latimer said, and the shortest, about 4 miles.

Volunteers in cars follow each runner and deliver runners to the start of the next leg, where the baton is passed.

“The volunteers are as important as the runners,” Yoakum Latimer said. And, she said, logistically the volunteer end and driving are almost as frantic—and a great time.

“This is what we do for fun; we go out in the desert and we drive like crazy,” she said.

Yoakum-Latimer said Probation has participated in the relay race for 14 years and has gotten pretty competitive.  Time trials at Miramar Lakes decided which members of the department would run. The team’s fastest runner, James Parison, a Deputy Probation Officer who works at East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility, did a 6.9 minute mile in his time trial. He’ll take the 10.7 mile leg.

The team will compete in the “mixed” category, with six women and 14 men.

Not everyone in the department understands why their colleagues participate. Some people think it sounds too grueling, too crazy. But Yoakum-Latimer said, no matter how you view Baker to Vegas, the event generates a lot of conversation in the Probation Department and creates a common interest outside the usual workaday subjects. Friday, members of the department wore any “Baker to Vegas” team shirts they had from past events and showed their support for this year’s team.

The race weekend culminates in an awards ceremony and party in Las Vegas Sunday night.

“The energy there is amazing; people have been up all night and yet, there’s so much energy,” Yoakum-Latimer said. “It’s all about what they’re going to do next year, how they’re going to do even better.”

Prosecutor is Expert in Extraditions

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Deputy District Attorney Sylvia Tenorio, who worked with the U.S. Department of Justice prior to joining the

District Attorney's Office in 2000, is one of the go-to experts when criminals flee San Diego County.  

She has handled numerous extraditions around the U.S. and from countries including Mexico, Belgium and the Philippines. A particularly proud moment was being involved in extraditing a defendant who brutally raped and murdered an 84-year-old Carlsbad woman before fleeing to Mexico.

This was one of the first DNA cases submitted to the Mexican government for consideration of a formal extradition request, Tenorio said. The defendant, Alejandro Avalos Fernandez, was later found and arrested in the huge metropolis of Mexico City and ultimately extradited back to San Diego to face his brutal crime. 

"Although many equally important extraditions preceded and followed this case, this was very significant legally and emotionally," she said. "we overcame a lot of obstacles." 

In the last four years, 15 defendants have been extradited from Mexico and more than 100 from around the U.S. Bringing back a suspect who has fled the country, can take months and requires inch-thick paperwork submissions to multiple agencies here and abroad.  

"The biggest misconception is that Mexico doesn't extradite, nationals," Tenorio said. "But, they do."The cases involve a lot of work, but the results are rewarding."  

When Tenorio is not hunting down criminals on the run, she volunteers with the Barrio Logan College Institute, which helps first-generation college students through tutoring and mentoring.      

 

 

Be a Superhero, Give Blood!

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They look like your normal County employees, but underneath their every day work clothes, they’re actually Superheroes. They’re saving lives by donating blood.

The 28th Annual County Employees Blood Drive picks up again with three collection events this week and another next week. The drive kicked off April 5 at the County Administration Center and actually exceeded its goal by 20 pints, not that we’re fostering any competition!  

The donations do make all the difference to trauma patients or people who suffer from life-threatening blood disorders like aplastic anemia, sickle cell anemia and leukemia.  

Border Health Assistant Juan Olmeda knows all about it. He organized the County blood drives for years until he was diagnosed with leukemia in 2009. After working to save the lives of others, suddenly he was fighting for his own. As part of his treatment, he needed two pints of blood a day. 

Fortunately, his sister Lourdes proved to be a match for a bone marrow transplant and last year he was able to return to work. Today he’s still recovering. “I’m not 100 percent but going that way little by little,” says Olmeda.  

His message? You never know when you or someone in your family may need a donation. Join the ranks of County Superheroes and do your part to save lives.

Everyone has blood and it’s simple to donate. You can make an appointment on line or walk-in. The dates and locations are below. Remember, Lives Depend on It!    

County Employee Helps Improve Health in Lemon Grove

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As a community health promotion specialist for the County Health and Human Services Agency, Katie Judd has been promoting wellness in East County communities for the past six years.

Given her work in the region and relationship with local leaders, Judd was selected to be in a group of 19 people who will help decide how to spend $1million to improve the health of Lemon Grove residents.

The city is the only one in San Diego County to receive a grant from Kaiser Permanente’s Healthy Eating Active Living Zones, an initiative the health-care provider is rolling out across Southern California. The grant will be administered by Community Health Improvement Partners, a County partner.  

“I am excited,” said Judd, age 32, who has worked for the County for 10 years. “I will get to help focus all the work that we’ve been doing and apply it to a specific community.”

The advisory committee also includes Ernie Anastos, superintendent of Lemon Grove schools, Blanca Brown, school board member, City Manager Graham Mitchell, and representatives from service and community organizations, child-care agencies, health-care providers and Lemon Grove residents.

Over the next three years, the committee will help Lemon Grove create an environment that gives Lemon Grove 26,000 residents easier access to healthy foods and makes it easier to be physically active, key components of the County’s campaign to improve the health and wellbeing of San Diegans.

“We’re really taking on the Live Well, San Diego! initiative and fighting childhood obesity,” Judd said, referring to her work in the East County region. “We are changing systems and the environment to promote wellness.”

The group will lead the efforts to create a wellness hub close to the heart of Lemon Grove, to adopt a healthy vending machine policy across the city, establish a wellness program for school district employees, create walking clubs and encourage local restaurants to offer healthy menu options.

“We hope to establish a Mecca for healthy living,” said Judd. “We will be working collectively to create the vision for what residents want Lemon Grove to look like and creating a healthy community for years to come.”

Spirit Fund Moves Employee to Create Musical Tribute

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Many of us have been moved by success stories of the all-donation Spirit Fund, which pays for medical treatment of animals in the County's care, including those injured by abuse.  Animal Services Lt. Kathy Cleveland was so touched she donated her free time to set pictures of some of the animals helped by the fund to music.  She also lent her voice - that's her singing!  You'll see some Animal Services staff and volunteers in there.  

 

Learn more about the Spirit Fund from this video or the Animal Services website.

 

Talk about Healthy Work!

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Several employees at the HHSA North Central Regional Center were honored for saving the lives of fellow employees. Front row (left to right): Maria de la Paz Palma, Maria Casas, Mignonette Santos, Betty Ronquillo, Lisa Kellum and Isobel Kinsang. Back row (left to right): Aida Pinones, Angel Vazquez-Murillo, Lydia Manangan, Tanya Rowe and Peter Holmes.Recently Mignonette Santos found her co-worker on the floor. It appeared he had suffered a major heart attack.

What followed was a joint effort by several HHSA employees in the North County Regional Center that probably saved the man’s life. Talk about healthy work!

Isobel Kinsang quickly called 911. While emergency services were on their way, Peter Holmes and Aida Pinones checked that the victim’s airways were clear. Luckily a CPR-trained security guard, Maria de la Paz Palma, was nearby and started chest compressions. She was assisted by Public Health Nurse Angel Vazquez-Murillo.

Employees then used the AED (automated external defibrillator) machine to deliver an electric charge to restart the heart. This care continued until paramedics arrived. The employee was taken to the hospital and is now recovering in a rehabilitation facility.

These folks went way beyond “Work Safe, Stay Healthy.” Thanks to their training and enthusiasm, one of our co-workers is still alive.

It’s Tweenie Time!

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Kitten season’s here and that means another call for foster parents who can take care of tiny Tweenies.

Each year the Department of Animal Services (DAS) gets hundreds of kittens who are too young for adoption. The kittens are usually 4 to 8 weeks old and need foster care. These kittens are called Tweenies because they fall beTWEEN the ages of 4 and 8 weeks.

This program started in 2007 with 36 foster parents and 125 Tweenie kittens and has grown to over 110 foster parents and more than 500 kittens fostered last year. Now it’s time to help this season’s Tweenies.

Animal Services is looking for foster families who can care for these little ones until they’re 8 to 9 weeks old and can return to the shelter for spay and neuter and adoption at a robust 2 lbs! DAS loves to have County employees be foster parents to Tweenies because they have done such a good job in the past.

DAS supplies food, bowls, toys, litter and bedding. All you need to do is provide a home and snuggles. You can foster two or more of these babies but no singles as these Tweenies needs the companionship of their siblings.

If you have the time, desire and commitment to be a foster parent, raising young kittens can be very entertaining, rewarding and full of picture perfect moments. For more information on becoming a Tweenie foster parent, contact Department of Animal Services Volunteer Coordinator Marlena Young at (619) 767-2611 or Marlena.young@sdcounty.ca.gov .

Watch a CTN.org video below about a foster parent for pets, including some Tweenies.

 

CAC County Employees More than Meet the Challenge!

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The 28th Annual County Employees Blood Drive is off to a good start thanks to the donors at the County Administration Center. The drive kicked off Thursday at 10 a.m. and by the end of the day, the bloodmobile stationed outside the building exceeded its goal by 22 pints.  

There were 47 donations with 17 first-time donors. Last year, the total for this drive was just 25.

Four more County blood drive events are scheduled this month. If you’d like to help boost the numbers at those drives, check out the dates and locations below. You can make an appointment on line or walk-in. Remember, Lives Depend on It!