Coalition Spotlight: Oakland-Berkeley CAFA Project
Oakland Berkeley Community Action to Fight Asthma (OB-CAFA) is a project of the Ethnic Health Institute at Alta Bates Summit Medical Center. Funded by The California Endowment in 2002 and again in 2005, OB-CAFA’s goal is to reduce environmental asthma triggers in and around Oakland and Berkeley public schools. To achieve this goal, OB-CAFA staff has worked closely with the Oakland and Berkeley Unified School Districts and two environmental justice groups, the Bay Area Environmental Health Collaborative (BAEHC) and the Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative (DDDC).
Recently, OB-CAFA accomplished two significant achievements towards its policy goals and objectives. First, the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) passed its School Wellness Policy. This policy is a federally mandated law requiring schools to design and implement comprehensive programs focused on nutrition and physical activity with the goal of improving the health status of all students. In an attempt to create policies that will support real and lasting change, OUSD included, in the overall School Wellness Policy, guidelines for nutrition, physical activity, adult and student wellness, health education, and safe and healthy school environment components. OB-CAFA was instrumental in the policy process by guiding the workgroup on the Safe and Healthy School Environments Committee through the arduous task of defining the content and scope of the policies, specifically relating to indoor and outdoor air quality, that were eventually recommended to the District. To achieve this milestone, OB-CAFA staff and other workgroup members including school staff, teachers, parents, and students researched and analyzed existing board policies, reviewed available literature, identified gaps in programs and services, and designed the board policies and administrative regulations that were finally passed by the district.
Secondly, OB-CAFA staff has been active participants in the Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative. Formed in October 2004, DDDC’s mission is to build a coalition of environmental justice and public health advocates to develop regional and local campaigns to reduce diesel pollution. OB-CAFA staff has participated in this Collaborative since its inception and is members of the Steering Committee. Consistent with the goal of reducing environmental asthma triggers, OB-CAFA staff provides insight and expertise to the Idling Subcommittee. In recognition of the DDDC’s work, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and Breathe California presented the Collaborative with The Clean Air Award for Leadership and Grassroots Advocacy in June 2006.
Building on the successes of the OUSD Wellness Policy and The Clean Air Award, OB-CAFA will continue to work towards its goal of reducing environmental asthma triggers in its local community. OB-CAFA staff will remain involved with the Wellness Policy as implementation starts in the fall through the newly initiated OUSD Coordinated School Health Council. OB-CAFA staff will also work closely with the Berkeley Unifed School District (BUSD) to implement asthma-related policy objectives over the next two years. In addition, the Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative and Bay Area Environmental Health Collaborative are currently in the process of defining targeted campaign work in the coming year. It is the belief of OB-CAFA that there will be more opportunities and milestones to come in addressing and reducing environmental asthma triggers in Oakland and Berkeley.
For more information contact:
Mindy Landmark, Project Coordinator
510-869-8226
landmam@sutterhealth.org
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