The Sons and Brothers Summer Camp and the Sisterhood Rising Leadership Retreat take place at the end of July and serve as spaces where youth of color can experience healing, meaningful growth, transformation, and empowerment as they develop into the next generation of young leaders. The camps are inclusive of youth who are gender non-binary.

Click here for more information and to apply to Sisterhood Rising Leadership Retreat. 

Click here for more information and to apply to Sons and Brothers Camp.

At the upcoming Budget Teach-In, we'll review what's on the mayor's proposed budget and will prepare for the evening budget hearing. Click Here to RSVP

Making sure all youth can grow up to be happy, healthy, contributing adults is everyone's responsibility. Transportation is crucial to youth development and state and local elected officials are responding to advocacy across California for affordable, efficient, and safe transit systems.

"I request $50 million to be allocated from the FY 2018- 2019 State Budget to fund a Student Transit Pass Pilot Program, as described by AB 17 from 2017. The funding for this program would foster a new generation of transit users, help underserved students, and reduce the number of cars on the road," wrote Assemblymember Holden to the California Assembly Committee on Budget in December 2017.

Holden's request for $50 million to reintroduce a Student Transit Pass Pilot Program comes a year after the first version of the bill, AB 17, made the long legislative journey to the governor's desk, but was vetoed. If signed by Governor Brown, the new version of the youth transit pass program,  AB2304, "will provide students and schools the opportunity to partner with regional transit providers to develop innovative student transit programs," explains Assemblymember Holden.

Equity, youth opportunity, and the environment are at the core of the Mid-City CAN's Improving Transportation City Heights' (ITCH) effort to fund Youth Opportunity Passes, our local version of no-cost student transit passes. "We call them Youth Opportunity Passes because mobility is about getting to the opportunities we need in order to grow and develop," said Alondra Guzman, President of the newly-formed Hoover ITCH student club at a recent press conference.

Check out our Youth Council Instagram to stay up to date with the youth's organizing work. Please contact Laura Baeza, Youth Organizer, at [email protected] to learn more about Youth Council and how youth build power in City Heights.

Click here to apply to be a Neighborhood Captain and work with Mid-City CAN's innovative Civic Engagement team building power block-by-block in City Heights.

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"If you're reading this, you should attend. It's open to the public and encouraged to anybody who lives in City Heights, who works here, who cares about the environment, the policies that affect City Heights, and opportunities for residents. Anybody who has that commitment is encouraged to attend," Steve Eldred.

On Monday, February 26, Assistant Chief David Nisleit was confirmed by City Council as the new chief of SDPD. Mid-City CAN recognizes the year of community-led advocacy to create an open and transparent process in the selection of the new chief. From the allocation of $100K by the city for a nation-wide police chief search to the creation of six community forums, the search process was more transparent and inclusive than ever, thanks to you!

“Equity is just and fair inclusion into a society in which all, including all racial and ethnic groups, can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential. Equity gives all people a just and fair shot in life despite historic patterns of racial and economic exclusion,” explains PolicyLink. Fair inclusion in our region means prioritizing City Heights, a community that for long, has been excluded from the resources and opportunities we need to prosper.

SAN DIEGO – Today, Mayor Kevin Faulconer announced in a press conference his choice of Assistant Chief David Nisleit as the City of San Diego’s next Chief of Police.

The Coalition for Police Accountability and Transparency (“CPAT”) released the following statement:

After a year of grassroots advocacy for an open, transparent and community-centered selection process for determining the next Chief of the San Diego Police Department,  CPAT looks forward to both the public hearing and confirmation hearing mandated in Council Policy 300-08. 

2017 was a big year for Mid-City CAN. From the district-wide adoption of our Peace Promotion's School Climate Bill of Rights to the opening of the City Heights Skatepark, we worked hard to create a safe, healthy, productive City Heights. Click below to check out our infographic:

Photos and story by Siham Ismail—Food and Social Justice Club and Mid-City CAN Youth Media Team

“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
- Mahatma Gandhi

Students from the Food and Social Justice Club at Crawford High School take this phrase to heart when setting goals for the club.

This tight-knit group of students with a mission to bring healthy food to their school has accomplished some amazing things. One of their biggest achievements has been the introduction of halal food in their school menu. The term halal refers to the humane way of slaughtering an animal or something that is permissible for Muslims to eat.

Halal foods are also very nutritious.

“The training reinforces the need for low income communities of color to be on boards and commissions so issues of gentrification, affordable housing, unionized jobs, accessible healthcare don’t get lost in the developers’ agenda," commented Andrea Rocha on the upcoming Boards & Commissions Training, launching February 12^th, 2018.

The School Climate Bill of Rights was adopted unanimously by San Diego Unified on July 11, 2017. Authored by Mid-City CAN’s Peace Promotion Momentum Team after years of organizing, the bill of rights is a significant step towards dismantling the school to prison pipeline. To address this system of criminalization leading many youth out of their school and into prisons, the bill of rights grants students, parents, staff, and community members six core rights.

“Students, staff, administrators, and parents/guardians have a right to a positive, collaborative, healthy, healing school environment. Schools should strive to be sanctuaries for students and parents/guardians,” reads the first right.

So, what’s next?

By Jose Hernandez and Paola Villarino—Mid-City CAN Youth Council

The mayor’s proposal to hire the new chief of police through a secret panel is flawed and unacceptable. Mid-City CAN is part of the Coalition for Police Accountability and Transparency, urging the mayor to form a transparent search committee that includes members nominated by the community.

We commend the city for the addition of community forums in City Heights and San Ysidro, but moving forward with a secret panel will only weaken community trust in the next chief of police.

Peace, safety, and fairness from a transparent, open, and accountable democracy. This is what we, as youth, need to thrive. And that is why we are so committed to making sure our next police chief is hired through a community-led process. The inclusion of funding for a national search in the San Diego city budget was a great first step, but how that search is conducted is even more important. As youth, we are working to make City Heights—one of our city's most policed neighborhoods—more safe, healthy, and productive. We call on our leaders to step out from behind closed doors and work hand-in-hand with the community to select our next police chief.