| CalAsthma Update - January 18, 2008 |
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GENERAL
1) Award Opportunity: James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards
2) Funding Opportunity: EPA Request for Proposals for CARE program
3) Event: EPA’s National Asthma Forum in Washington, D.C., May 1st
4) Resource: Children Now released report on The State of the State’s Children
5) Study: An Association between Asthma and BMI in Adolescents
6) Study: Pesticides and Asthma among Farm Women
7) Study: Work-Related Asthma in the Educational Services Industry
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
8) Event: Conference on Immunization and Health Coalitions in San Francisco, May 21st
9) Funding Opportunity: Kaiser Permanente East Bay Community Grants
10) Job Announcements: RAMP seeks Program Associates and Communications Specialist
11) Job Announcements: PolicyLink seeks Associate Director and Program Associates
12) Job Announcements: CBE seeks Community Organizer and Survey Coordinator
13) Job Announcement: CLCV seeks Communications Director
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
14) Job Announcement: CLCV seeks Development Manager
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GENERAL
1) Award Opportunity: James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards
The James Irvine Foundation has released an invitation for nominations for their 2008 Leadership Awards. The James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards annually recognize four to six Californians who are advancing innovative and effective solutions to significant issues for the state’s future. Nominees for the award may be working in any field – such as, education, health, the arts, housing, economic development, or the environment – and in the public, private, or nonprofit sector. Award recipients will receive $125,000 to support their work to benefit the people of California. For more information and to nominate a leader, visit http://www.irvine.org/leadershipAwards/. Nominations are due by 5pm on January 18th.
2) Funding Opportunity: EPA Request for Proposals for CARE program
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a request for proposals to support community based partnerships to reduce pollution at the local level through the Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) program. Approximately $3 million will be available in 2008 and the EPA anticipates awarding CARE funds in two levels. Level I cooperative agreements range from $75,000 to $100,000 and will help establish community based partnerships to develop local environmental priorities. Level II awards, range from $150,000 to $300,000 each and will support communities which have established broad-based partnerships, have identified the priority toxic risks in the community, and are prepared to measure results, implement risk reduction activities, and become self-sustaining. Applications are due March 17th and eligible applicants include county and local governments, tribes, non-profits organizations, and universities. Additional information is available at http://www.epa.gov/CARE/.
3) Event: EPA’s National Asthma Forum in Washington, D.C., May 1st
EPA’s Communities in Action for Asthma-Friendly Environments National Forum will be held in May 1 – 2, 2008 in Washington, D.C. Asthma leaders from across the nation will be in attendance to share best practices and discuss effective strategies for managing asthma in their communities. Highlights of the Forum include: the latest research findings and the implications for asthma control at the community level, success stories and practical approaches to develop effective program leaders, create close community ties, provide effective clinical care, and build a sustainable program, among others, and a celebration of the 2008 National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management winners. For more information and to register, visit http://www.epaasthmaforum.com/.
4) Resource: Children Now released report on The State of the State’s Children
Children Now has released the 2008 California Report Card: The State of the State's Children. This report highlights the generally poor health and education status of the state's children by assigning letter grades to key individual determinants, such as a C- in asthma, a C in health insurance, a C- in K-12 education and a D+ in obesity. The report includes the most current and comprehensive set of indicators of California children's health and education status. For more information and to download the report, visit http://publications.childrennow.org/publications/invest/reportcard_2008.cfm.
5) Study: An Association between Asthma and BMI in Adolescents
In a study published in the December 2007 edition of the Journal of Asthma, Bay Area researchers examined the relationship between asthma prevalence and BMI in a cross-sectional survey of 471,969 adolescents using results from the California Healthy Kids Survey. The size of the survey allowed for the relationship to be investigated with much greater resolution than previously possible. Findings showed that both lifetime and current asthma prevalence increased monotonically with increasing BMI, starting with individuals as low as the 45th to 55th percentiles of BMI. The pattern was similar between males and females and among six racial/ethnic groups. The results suggest that weight reduction even among persons not classified as overweight or obese may be an important component of asthma management. To view the abstract of this study visit, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18097866?ordinalpos=1&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum and to view the full article, visit http://www.calasthma.org/resources/show_resource/1010/.
6) Study: Pesticides and Asthma among Farm Women
In a study published in the January 1st edition of the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, researchers evaluated pesticide and other occupational exposures as risk factors for adult onset asthma. A total of 25,814 farm women in the Agricultural Health Study were studied and self-reported history of doctor-diagnosed asthma with or without eczema and/or hay fever were the criteria used to create two case groups: patients with atopic asthma and those with nonatopic asthma. Findings showed that growing up on a farm was protective for atopic asthma and, to a lesser extent, for nonatopic asthma and pesticide use was almost exclusively associated with atopic asthma. The authors concluded that the finding suggested that pesticides may contribute to atopic asthma, but not nonatopic asthma, among farm women. To view the abstract of this study, visit http://ajrccm.atsjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/177/1/11.
7) Study: Work-Related Asthma in the Educational Services Industry
In a study published in the January 2008 edition of the American Journal of Industrial Medicine, researchers characterized work-related asthma (WRA) cases working in the educational services industry identified by state-based occupational disease surveillance systems. The researchers examined nearly 3,000 cases of work related asthma reported from 1993 to 2000 in four states: California, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Jersey. A total of 9% of WRA cases were employed in the educational services industry and of these, 69% of cases were classified as new-onset asthma and 31% as work-aggravated asthma. Of the new-onset asthma cases, 61% were occupational asthma and the most frequently reported occupation was teachers and teachers’ aides (54%). The most frequently reported agents were indoor air pollutants (28%), unspecified mold (16%), dusts (14%), and cleaning products (7%). The authors concluded that asthma within the educational services industry is an occupational health problem and that the identification, elimination, and/or control of respiratory hazards are important factors for the protection of staff and students. To view the abstract of this study, visit http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/117347976/ABSTRACT, and to view the full article visit, http://www.calasthma.org/resources/show_resource/1011/.
NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
8) Event: Conference on Immunization and Health Coalitions in San Francisco, May 21st
On May 21 - 23 the Eighth National Conference on Immunization and Health Coalitions will be held in San Francisco at the Downtown Marriott Hotel. This year’s conference focuses on how coalitions and collaborative efforts can influence disease prevention, reduce health disparities, educate new populations, and build community health infrastructure. The conference features Dr. Fran Butterfoss of the Center for Pediatric Research, presenting on Working Together across Coalitions and Health Communities, and Dr. Noreen Clark, University of Michigan, presenting on Allies Against Asthma: A Model for Community Health Coalitions. There is still time to submit abstracts for the breakout sessions – abstracts must reflect successful practices regarding coalition partnerships and collaborations, coalition evaluation, health education and advocacy, and cultural competency, among other things. The conference early registration cost before February 28th is $225. For more information, registration, and to review the call for abstracts, visit the website at: http://www.sfimmunize.org/page2.html.
9) Funding Opportunity: Kaiser Permanente East Bay Community Grants
Kaiser Permanente East Bay Area’s 2008 Community Benefit and Community Relations Grant Programs are accepting applications for funding. These programs are administered through the East Bay Area Public Affairs Department on behalf of the Richmond and Oakland Medical Centers. The Community Benefit grant program seeks to assist organizations that address specific identified community health needs will accept applications for funding during one grant cycle only from January 2nd and ending on March 31st. The Community Relations grant program seeks to assist organizations with financial sponsorship of community based events and activities, such as health fairs, dinners, health education forums, and conferences/symposiums and will fund requests throughout the year, ending on October 31st. For more information, visit http://oakland.kaiser.org/cb.htm#cb_grant.
10) Job Announcements: RAMP seeks Program Associates and Communications Specialist
RAMP recently received a five-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control to serve as a Center for Excellence in Eliminating Disparities (CEED) in asthma under the auspices of REACH-US. Using a social-ecological approach, the goal is to develop and broadly disseminate a coordinated and comprehensive model of asthma management and prevention in order to eliminate asthma disparities among African Americans and Latinos. As a CEED, RAMP will: build upon its existing roles and strengthen its comprehensive approach to addressing asthma, which currently includes work in clinical, school, and outdoor settings; expand its scope to include child care settings, homes, and additional elements in the built environment; and formalize its community and stakeholder participatory process, program management, and multi-level intervention approaches with specific focus on partnerships with African American and Latino communities and eliminating asthma disparities.
In order to implement RAMP's growing scope of work, RAMP seeks to hire for three different positions for their Oakland office. Detailed descriptions of the three positions can be found at the links below:
--Program Associate (focusing on regional advocacy and technical assistance) — http://www.phi.org/about-employment-details.cfm?id=1101
The full-time Program Associate (Health Educator IV) manages some of RAMP’s regional advocacy efforts and its technical assistance activities. With the regional advocacy, the incumbent will lead some of RAMP’s collaborative regional advocacy activities, such as addressing asthma in schools or child care settings or addressing the connection between asthma and the built environment, housing, and/or diesel pollution. With the technical assistance (TA) activities, the incumbent will provide an array of TA to community asthma coalitions across the Bay Area.
--Program Associate (focusing on state and regional policy and advocacy) — http://www.phi.org/about-employment-details.cfm?id=1102
The full-time Program Associate (Health Educator IV) manages RAMP’s activities related to state policy work and to regional advocacy efforts. With the regional advocacy efforts, the incumbent will lead some of RAMP’s collaborative regional advocacy activities, such as addressing asthma in schools or child care settings or addressing the connection between asthma and the built environment, housing, and/or diesel pollution. With the state policy work, the incumbent will lead a statewide network of community-based asthma coalitions through a process to identify policy priorities and then advocate for them, in collaboration with key partners.
--Communications Specialist — http://www.phi.org/about-employment-details.cfm?id=1129
The full-time Communications Specialist will be responsible for communications and public relations strategies, activities and products for a network of asthma coalitions, as well as several other programs implemented by RAMP.
11) Job Announcements: PolicyLink seeks Associate Director and Program Associates
PolicyLink, a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity, in issues areas such as asthma, seeks candidates to fill three positions in their Oakland office. Ideal candidates will possess an interest in policy, advocacy, and issue areas that are at the core of the PolicyLink mission. PolicyLink seeks an Associate Director for Health programs, a Program Associate for Infrastructure Equity programs, and a Program Associate to work closely with the Founder and CEO. For more information on any of the positions and how to apply, visit http://www.policylink.org/JobOpportunities.html?msource=JOB1.
12) Job Announcements: CBE seeks Community Organizer and Survey Coordinator
non-profit organization that seeks to achieve environmental health and justice by building grassroots power in and with communities of color and low-income communities, is located in Oakland and seeks a Community Organizer and a Community Survey Coordinator. The full-time Community Organizer will work in the Richmond area and will be responsible for maintaining and expanding CBE’s membership base, particularly among the refinery/industry fence-line communities. The Community Survey Coordinator (at 80% time) will oversee implementation of a community health survey in the Richmond area and will work closely with collaborative partners. For more information, visit http://www.cbecal.org/action/jobs.html or send an e-mail to cperez@cbecal.org.
13) Job Announcement: CLCV seeks Communications Director
The California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV), a leader in the environmental movement both in California and around the nation, seeks a Communications Director for their Oakland office. The Communications Director is responsible for devising, implementing, and managing internal and external communications in support of CLCV’s mission and goals. S/he will develop strategies to advance organizational objectives and support CLCV campaigns using a range or media and marketing tools. The Communications Director is a senior position and will report to the Director of Development. For more information, visit http://www.ecovote.org/involved/jobs-commdir.html.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
14) Job Announcement: CLCV seeks Development Manager
The California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV), a leader in the environmental movement both in California and around the nation, seeks a Development Manager for their Los Angeles office. The Development Manager is responsible for supporting CLCV’s major donor development activities in Southern California through the development of written materials for donor development, management of one major fundraising event, and support of the Executive Director and Board member donor solicitation and stewardship. For more information, visit http://www.ecovote.org/involved/jobs-devmgr.html.
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