The Mid-City CAN Story

In the late 1980's, a group of concerned Mid-City community representatives came together to respond to the rapidly deteriorating conditions in the area. Now known as Mid-City Community Advocacy Network (Mid-City CAN), this unique collaboration is comprised of schools, businesses, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, youth, parents, ethnic and cultural groups, civic associations and faith-based institutions.

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 Organizational Accomplishments

In 2008, Mid-City CAn will celebrate its 19th year of existence and currently has 120 members on its roster representing over 70 organizations.

Mid-City CAN's goals are:

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.

Coordination & Integration of Services

Since 1995, the Mid-City CAN Coordinating Council continues to maintain Governance Guidelines to support the changing work of the collaborative.
From 1995 - 2001, Mid-City CAN awarded over $150,000 in "mini-grants" to a variety of community groups and organizations who were working to improve the quality of life for Mid-City residents. Mini-grants ranged from $2000 - $5000 each.
Mid-City CAN developed an Integrated Services Network for the five Mid-City area school-based and community based Family Resource Centers. The Network was responsible for the creation of a common referral form that can be utilized by school counselors, school nurses and social workers to make referrals to the family resource centers..
Mid-City CAN received a grant from the President's Council on Crime Prevention and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to increase coordination and integration of agencies and coalitions serving children, youth and families.
From 1997 - 2000, Mid-City CAN collaborated with the San Diego County Department of Health and Human Services and other organizations in the central region to develop and implement a plan for CalWORKS to move people off welfare and into self-sufficiency.
In 2003, Mid-City CAN partnered with Price Charities to create and maintain an online Resource Guide to Services in Mid-City. Because the resource guide is electronic, it is easier to keep updated and current. School nurses, case managers, social workers, police officers and parents utilize this resource guide to find a variety of helpful services in the community.
In 2004, Mid-City CAN partnered with the County of San Diego’s Health and Human Services Agency in creating a Community Health Atlas for Mid-City San Diego which provides important health, economic and demographic data in GIS mapping format. This user friendly resource provides important facts about Mid-City to member organizations and residents.
In 2006 Mid-City CAN’s Domestic Violence Momentum Team developed a strategic plan to address the lack of language capacity in serving non-English/non-Spanish speaking victims of Domestic Violence. In June of 2007, the momentum team sponsored a training for the staff of agencies serving immigrant and refugee families. The training focused on the dynamics of domestic violence and its impact on immigrant and refugee families.
During a 10 year period from 1997 – 2007, Mid-City CAN has hosted 120 monthly Networking Councils, a forum used to improve the collaborative partnerships in the community through increased communication, relationship building and information sharing. The Networking Council is also the primary means by which the various momentum teams can report to the collaborative members on their various efforts.
In 2007, the Mid-City CAN Food Justice Momentum Team is partnering with the San Diego Nutrition Network in bringing a WIC/Food Stamp “friendly” Farmers Market to the City Heights community.
In 2005, Mid-City CAN was recognized as a Community Service Honoree by Blue Cross of California.

Community Involvement

From 1995 -2000, Mid-City CAN created Youth Engagement Worker positions for eight high school students (four from Hoover High; four from Crawford High) each year.
From 1995 - 2000, Mid-City CAN created Parent Development Worker positions for parents at twelve Mid-City elementary schools. During that same period, Mid-City CAN increased parent involvement at the elementary schools. Involvement in one school alone grew from 10 to 150 parents.
In 1997, Mid-City CAN, in partnership with Springfield College, developed a Neighborhood College with grant funds from the San Diego Foundation.
In 1999, Mid-City CAN received a grant from the San Diego Foundation for Change to organize youth at Crawford High School around issues of community violence.
In 2003, Mid-City CAN was awarded a grant from the Waitt Family Foundation to initiate a community building initiative called Latinos y Latinas en Acción (LLEA). Since then, over 500 adults have participated in a variety of trainings to increase their civic involvement in addressing local issues ranging from immigrant rights to improving the quality of their children’s education. The Waitt Family Foundation generously supported this project over a four year period.

Promoting Community-Based Decision Making

In 2001, Mid-City CAN sponsored a community forum called Celebrate Mid-City to kick-off a new initiative called the Partnership for the Public's Health. Over 120 parents and children attended this event hosted by over 20 community based organizations in partnership with the County of San Diego's Public Health Services.
In 2005, Mid-City CAN successfully brought members of Latinos y Latinas en Acción onto the Coordinating Council (the governing body of the Mid-City CAN collaborative) as elected representatives of the Latino members of Mid-City CAN. Today up to half of the 17 elected seats are held by community residents, with the balance of seats dedicated to organizational representatives.
Mid-City CAN’s LLEA has been instrumental in increasing Latino involvement in the City Heights Redevelopment Area Project Committee (PAC) and had its first member elected to the panel in the fall of 2006. The PAC oversees the allocation of tax increment funds that pay for redevelopment efforts within the City Heights Redevelopment Project Area. The goal is to have additional candidates ready to campaign for this year's PAC elections. Any resident living within the Redevelopment Project Area can vote for or run for a seat on the PAC.
In 2006, Proyecto Casas Saludables sponsored a 1st Housing Conference where over 120 local residents learned about their rights as renters and were able to attend a variety of healthy home related workshops.
In December of 2007 the Tobacco Free Mid-City Project hosted a community forum to develop a community based strategy to address a city-wide policy to promote smoke free multi-unit housing (apartments). Over forty residents, property managers, landlords and organizational representatives attended the forum.

Advocating for Policy and Systems Change

From 2001 - 2003, the Mid-City CAN Community Council worked with hundreds of families who were being displaced by the building of five new elementary schools in the City Heights community. The council ensured that residents were informed of the coming changes and that the school district provide information in multiple languages and provide sufficient support to renters who would have to be moved.
In 2002, Mid-City CAN, in partnership with the San Diego Regional Asthma Coalition, began participating in a three year Community Action to Fight Asthma (CAFA) initiative. Through this initiative, Latino and Somali residents increased their understanding of outdoor asthma “triggers” and the impact they have on the high rates of childhood asthma here in Mid-City. Through the efforts of CAFA, Mid-City CAN and the San Diego Regional Asthma Coalition worked together to address issues related to pests (rats and cockroaches) and trash issues which all play a role as asthma triggers. Through this effort, Mid-City CAN and the city of San Diego’s Environmental Services worked with residents in collecting more than 40 tons of waste in Mid-City’s neighborhoods.
In 2005, Mid-City CAN received a grant from the California Endowment to implement a three year healthy housing initiative called Proyecto Casas Saludables to reduce childhood exposure to lead, mold, toxins and pests that are “triggers” to asthma. Since then, over 130 homes have been inspected in the City Heights community, with residents referred to housing counselors, legal counsel, or to programs that assist with lead removal. Currently, the Mid-City CAN Housing Momentum Team is taking the results of the initiative and identifying ways to improve city and county policies to address the high rates of cockroaches and mold in rental housing.
In the summer of 2006, members of Latinos y Latinas en Acción, in collaboration with teachers and professors from local schools and universities, instituted Universidad Popular (the People’s University) whose first module, taught by our partners at the American Friends Service Committee, focused on human rights. It was followed by an additional module focused on the US educational system and how it is impacting low-income Latino children.
In 2007, the members of Latinos y Latinas en Acción, in partnership with community members of Hablando Claro (and with support from the American Friends Service Committee) established a City Heights Human Rights Committee which is working to address immigrant rights by training residents to be Human Rights Observers. Human Rights Observers will commit to documenting perceived human rights abuses by Immigration services or law enforcement.