Youth Council returned to City Hall on May 5, 2025 for the FY26 proposed budget hearing to advocate for funding for Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park in City Heights. Their advocacy for the past two and a half years has resulted in receiving $1.75 million from the City of San Diego's budget. The funds will be used to upgrade the 2-5 children's playground at the park. However, $2.5 million is needed to fund the 5-12 year old playground at Henwood Park. Click here to read their testimonials.

Mid-City CAN was proud to host our 4th Annual Health and Pride Resource Fair on Sunday, May 4, 2025 at Wilson Middle School in City Heights and our message rang loud and clear: "Hands Off Gender-Affirming Healthcare!" We stand united in protecting the health and dignity of all our community members! The fair brought together 20 amazing organizations including TransFamily Support Services, Family Health Centers of San Diego Hillcrest, and San Diego Public Library. Guests also enjoyed a food distribution hosted by Feeding San Diego. Antonio Page-Khan, representing the Legal Aid Society of San Diego, Inc., presented LASSD’s Gender-Affirming Healthcare Toolkit. Click here to see photos.

Mid-City CAN and The AjA Project was thrilled to host Art in the Park Session 2 at Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park on Friday, April 25! Community members enjoyed seeing four exciting stations and learned about new features coming to the park including art in the restrooms and new playgrounds! They also enjoyed free delicious tacos and swag! View the new playground designs by clicking the link below:

www.midcitycan.org/henwood_park_update_2025

The design for the playgrounds at Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park has been finalized and Mid-City CAN's Youth Council are excited to share the details! Click here to view the playground designs from multiple perspectives. We need your help to complete the rest of the park upgrades by urging Mayor Todd Gloria to allocate the necessary funding!

Support Youth Council’s campaign by emailing Mayor Gloria!

Join their effort to secure funding for the playground for children ages 5-12 and the Adult and Youth Fitness Area! With a couple quick clicks - we already wrote the message for you - email Mayor Todd Gloria to ask him to fund the children's 5-12 year old playground and the Adult & Youth Fitness Area at Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park. Click here to read the full story.

Click here to email Mayor Todd Gloria

It has been an adventurous past couple of months for our Youth Council members!

They experienced indoor rock climbing at Mesa Rim Climbing Center, took surfing lessons at La Jolla Shores, and spent two nights at the beautiful Joshua Tree National Park. 

It was part of an experience giving them access to outdoor spaces, promoting healthy lifestyle choices, and engagement with nature — made possible through The Prebys Foundation’s initiative, Healing Through Nature.

Click here to read the full story.

Our Improving Transportation in City Heights (ITCH) team and colleagues at Youth Empowerment spoke during the SANDAG Board of Directors meeting on Friday, March 28 to advocate for the extension of the Youth Opportunity Pass (YOP) beyond June 2026.

ITCH member Maria Cortez shared a wonderful story with SANDAG board members while making her public comment.

"When I'm taking the bus or the trolley and I see them (youth) use the (YOP) pass, I tell them thank you and that we got this started - it was for you guys. And they said, 'Thank you, ma'am, because now, we're able to get to our high schools. We're able to to go places where we haven't had the chance to before. Please thank SANDAG for us.'"

Alexis, Chief of Program and Development at Youth Empowerment, talked about the importance of YOP to youth and also for their organization which has a limited budget.

 

City Heights residents, get FREE rides to popular spots like Hoover High School, Weingart Branch Library/Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park, North Park grocery stores (Vons and Smart & Final Extra!), and more with Mid-City GO!

Mid-City GO is a free, electric ride-share service connecting City Heights and North Park. Powered by zero-emission vehicles, it’s an eco-friendly way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support a cleaner future. Best of all, rides are completely free!

Service hours are from Monday to Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.

Download the app to get started or call (619) 413-9986 to schedule a ride. To learn more visit:

https://www.midcitygo.com/

Mid-City GO is a Clean Mobility Options project funded by California Climate Investments and California Energy Commission. Project operations and planning are supported by City Heights CDC and Via San Diego.

Mid-City CAN was excited to join San Diego Mesa College on February 5, 2025 for an inspiring Black History Month celebration honoring Rosa Parks! Lupe and Karely from the Improving Transportation in City Heights (ITCH) team participated in the Silent March to pay tribute to Parks' enduring legacy.

The event was made even more special when it was announced that the City of San Diego has proclaimed February 4 as Rosa Parks Transit Equity Day. This proclamation was presented during the celebration and we’re grateful to the councilmembers for making it happen.

Our Transportation Justice Organizer Lupe was honored to speak at the event. Below is a transcript of her speech:

Hello everyone,  

My name is Guadalupe and I am a community organizer with Mid-City CAN. It is an absolute honor to be here celebrating with you all the life of Rosa Parks – who also left her mark at Rosa Parks Elementary in City Heights.

As a transportation advocate, I have had the opportunity to see the challenges and the inequalities that community members continue to see with the current public transportation system.

Growing up, I took transportation for granted, until I had to get to my college campus on my own.

I still remember how difficult it was having to collect 10 quarters every night to pay for my bus fares to get to school and back home – the following day.

Twelve years ago, I wished I could ride the bus for free, but I didn’t know how to do so or if such a wish was even possible.

Little did I know that 112 miles away, a group of community members including parents, grandparents, and youth were advocating for the Youth Opportunity Pass program (YOP for short) – a program that would allow all youth 18 and under, in the county to ride public transportation at no cost.  

It took a little over a decade for YOP to become a reality, but our community advocates never gave up. They saw value in the program and their community.

Like one of our community advocates, Briseyda Cisneros said, “We want our children to go to schools of their choice. To have access to better opportunities, so that they can go to college and have decent jobs. We want to see them thrive.”  

For the past three years YOP has helped close the achievement gap by getting more youth to school, work, and other early career opportunities – and not just that but it has expanded their horizons by giving them access to more activities and places they had never gone to before.  

Transportation should not be an impediment, but a basic right.  

It makes me happy to know that Mid-City CAN is not alone in this. That there are other advocates and communities who wish to see a transit system that is the BEST way to get around in San Diego that is efficient, transparent, accessible, affordable, and safe, especially for low-income communities and communities of color.  

We should all be able to get to our jobs, school, any destination SAFELY, regardless of our race, legal, and socioeconomic status.  

We are now living some difficult times.

People are now living in fear – unable to practice their daily activities or express themselves as they want.

That is why I am happy to be in solidarity with you all today.

Not just to elevate transportation justice, but to continue to recognize and celebrate Black History Month – even when those at the federal level are refusing to do so.

We are all worthy of greatness. Of being recognized for our struggles.

So let’s continue to be courageous and combat the challenges that are to come.

I am happy to be in community with you all.

Thank you all for your time.

View photos from the celebration by clicking here.

On February 11, 2025, we held our first Networking Night event of the year in partnership with The AjA Project to discuss adding art to Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park. Thanks to the Arts in California Parks grant, the park is set to receive new artistic additions, and the community's voice is essential in shaping this vision. The project is part of Youth Council's efforts to revitalize Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park.

Networking Night centered around gathering input from community members, who participated by placing post-it notes on several visual boards. One board prompted attendees to share the cultural elements, imagery, and visuals they would like to see incorporated into the park design.

Victor Castaneda H, a San Diego based artist + educator with AjA and the teaching artist for our 2024 Artivism Program, presented several ideas of the art design including using "Gobo lights" which would project images or poetry onto a surface such as a wall or ground.   

Community members sparked lively discussions as they broke into groups, brainstorming the type of art they envisioned for Henwood Park.

The input gathered during the evening will play a pivotal role in ensuring that the new art at Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park reflects the heart and spirit of the community. 

A big thank you to everyone who attended the meeting — it was a pleasure seeing you all there!

Click here to see photos from the event!

City Heights volunteers honored for their impact

In City Heights, volunteers are the heart and soul that keeps the community thriving. They are unsung heroes, many volunteering for decades, dedicating their time, energy, and skills to improve the lives of others.

On January 30, 2025, Mid-City CAN volunteers along with City Heights volunteers were honored at the 2025 Volunteer Recognition Celebration, hosted by SAY San Diego and Price Philanthropies.

For Briseyda, supporting youth is a passion. "They are the future. Volunteering is important so children can have a better opportunity — so they can go to college and have a career," she said in Spanish. Briseyda is a member of our Juvenile Justice and Improving Transportation in City Heights (ITCH) team that has been advocating for the Youth Opportunity Pass to become permanent.

Mid-City CAN volunteer Esperanza, who recently spoke at MTS's press conference to announce the launch of Route 910 — an overnight bus service running between downtown San Diego and San Ysidro — volunteers with seven organizations. "Helping people and bringing them resources is something that I am very passionate about so we can achieve equality and equity," she said in Spanish.

Volunteers were presented certificates from San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria and District 9 Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera in recognition of their commitment and service to the City Heights community.

Antonio Figueroa, a volunteer who organizes the annual City Heights Multicultural Festival of Love which will be held on Saturday, February 22 from 11 am to 5 pm at Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park, is thankful for the volunteers of City Heights.  

"I am deeply grateful to the volunteers of this incredible community — your dedication truly makes a difference. And to the residents of City Heights, thank you for creating such a vibrant and unique place, rich in diversity and culture. You make City Heights truly special!" he said.

Congratulations to all of the volunteers and THANK YOU for all that you do!

Click here to see the photos!

Youth Council returned to City Hall on February 10, 2025 to offer public comments during the Special Council Hearing on the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget for the City of San Diego.

For the past two years Youth Council has been actively advocating for funding to revitalize Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park, a vital greenspace in the City Heights community. Their efforts have successfully secured $1.75 million in funding from the city budget. This year, however, the challenge is even greater, as the city is grappling with a $258 million budget deficit.

The students were interviewed by FOX 5/KUSI News.

“I think the message is bigger than we just think of it’s just money, because like we are thinking of a bigger aspect of our community and it’s not just a park that we see as a landmark. We see a community going to reunite,” said Youth Council member Amelia.

A big thank you to Amelia, Kwaku, Judith, Denley, and Adalynn for taking time out of their busy schedules to advocate for the park!

Support our youth: Click here to donate. 

Click the photo below to see the youth featured on FOX 5/KUSI News!

Happy Lunar New Year! We enjoyed attending the 3-day Lunar New Year Festival at Officer Jeremy Henwood Memorial Park on January 24-26 and at GEM Coffee on January 31! The Year of the Wood Snake in 2025 represents wisdom, transformation, and personal growth, with the Wood element adding flexibility and renewal.

See photos from the Henwood Park celebration by clicking here. Photos from the GEM Coffee celebration can be seen by clicking here.

The red envelopes given during the Lion Dance are a traditional gift of money that symbolize good luck and prosperity. Thank you local leaders for recognizing January 29 through February 12, 2025 as “San Diego Lunar New Year Week.”  

Civic Health team to raise mental health awareness

Exciting news! 🎉 Mid-City CAN is thrilled to announce that we are a recipient of The Prebys Foundation’s newest grant - Healing Through Nature Initiative! The grant will go towards our award-winning Youth Council program. We are excited take youth outdoors where they will enjoy nature while building leadership skills and delight in team-building activities. The grant awards - $5.2 Million to 59 nonprofits across San Diego - will support programs serving youth, veterans, justice-impacted individuals, and historically underserved communities, offering proactive ways to enhance quality of life in a post-pandemic world. Thank you Prebys Foundation for the grant! Be sure to follow our social media pages to see where we’ll take the youth for their outdoor adventures!

Learn more about the grant by visiting:

https://www.prebysfdn.org/grants/healing-through-the-arts-and-nature-initiatives

Many thanks to everyone who attended our first Improving Transportation in City Heights (ITCH) meeting of the year! Special thanks to Metropolitan Transit System Code Compliance Sergeant Miguel Gonzalez, Daniel Fontes and Public Officer Walter for attending the meeting and an informative safety regulations presentation.

The MTS Code Compliance Division want you to know that while riding on public transit officers are available 24 hours every day - call or text them if you feel unsafe at 619-595-4690. View photos in our Flick page by clicking here.

📷: Ron Sanchez, Mid-City CAN