About us
Mid-City Community Advocacy Network (Mid-City CAN) Governance Guidelines
(Amended 2004, 2005, 2011)
Click here to read them in English [Spanish] [Somali] [Vietnamese]
History
Mid-City CAN's initial focus was to establish an environment that fostered a strong community-based collaborative. This was initially accomplished through community-wide events such as pancake breakfasts and neighborhood rummage sales. Mid-City CAN became recognized as a town meeting, a forum through which community concerns could be addressed. Today, Mid-City CAN brings together a wide variety of community-based service providers, creating a web of support so that no one in need falls through the cracks.
Recognizing Mid-City CAN's ability to involve a broad spectrum of local residents, including youth and parents, in the design and delivery of services, the County of San Diego included Mid-City CAN in its 1995 application to the State to become an AB 1741 Youth Pilot Project Community. The bill comprised four aspects: Prevention, Efficiency of Service, Local Decision Making and Blended Funding.
Upon acceptance of the County's application, Mid-City CAN became one of seven such pilot projects. The funds provided by the bill allowed Mid-City CAN to develop a full-time staff, include more youth and residents in the development of the collaborative, and garner greater participation from diverse segments of the community. These things have helped Mid-City CAN sharpen its focus, be more responsive to community needs, and better coordinate community efforts.
In 2000, Mid-City CAN became a member of the Partnership for the Public’s Health, a statewide initiative that worked to build collaborative efforts between county offices of public health, community residents and community based organization. This initiative sought to engage community residents in advocating for public health issues that are negatively impacting their community. The key values of this initiative were to identify the many assets within Mid-City and bring them together to improve the quality of life for our residents. Although the Partnership for the Public's Health initiative ended in 2004, Mid-City CAN continues to implement this vision by continuing to mobilize community residents in working together to improve the community health of our neighborhoods.
Mid-City CAN's goals
- To provide coordination and integration of social, health and community services
- To develop greater community involvement
- To provide a forum for community-based decision making, and
- To advocate for changes in government policies and systems that will improve the quality of life for all of Mid-City’s residents – especially our children.







