Health
Kaiser Permanente Announces $100 Million in Funding to Support Black Businesses, Organizations
Kaiser Permanente has announced $100 million in grants and investments to support Black-owned businesses and Black-led community organizations combating systemic racism. The funding will also support businesses and groups led by other underrepresented groups.
The spending includes a joint initiative with the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the nation’s largest community development organization, to support Black and Brown-led businesses working to recover from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kaiser and LISC will each contribute $30 million to the initiative.
The initiative will provide business loans of $100,000 to up to $4 million. Separately, Kaiser is also designating another $15 million in grant funding to increase access to training, business networks, and capital to help Black and Brown-led businesses.
Kaiser will partner with Pacific Community Ventures and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City on this separate funding effort.
Kaiser has also set aside another $25 million for community groups led by Black and Brown leaders to support work to combat systemic racism and address trauma in marginalized communities.
“The tragic murder of George Floyd and so many others has reverberated around the world, pushing us to demand overdue change to a status quo that keeps communities of color in the margins and holds us all back as a society,” Kaiser chairman and CEO Greg Adams said in a statement.
“As a country, this is a moment to define who we are and what we stand for. We must take strong action to stop the physical, psychological, economic and social impacts of inequity and systemic racism so that we can create healthier communities where everybody, regardless of their skin color, can feel safe and thrive.”
Applicants eligible for loans from the Kaiser-LISC partnership must conduct significant business in Kaiser market areas. Businesses that primarily sell tobacco, alcohol or firearms are not eligible.
Small businesses can apply by visiting https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KaiserFund. Other potential borrowers such as smaller community development financial institutions should e-mail health@lisc.org with some information about their organization and financial needs.
Timing of receipt of funds for approved applicants varies based on each borrower’s financing needs and readiness to proceed, but it typically takes several months from intake to loan closing, a spokesperson for LISC said.
The announcement of these funding efforts comes as many businesses, especially those run by Black and Brown entrepreneurs – who historically have access to less capital than white entrepreneurs – struggle to deal with the economic fallout from forced closure or reduced business during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some businesses have been forced to close permanently due to the significant loss in traffic and commerce.
Community
Calif. Dept. of Public Health: Got Milk Allergies? Don’t Eat Dave’s Bakery Cornbread
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a warning on Jan. 26, instructing consumers with milk allergies or “severe sensitivity to milk” in the state to not eat Dave’s Bakery Corn Bread due to “risk of illness.” The CDPH warns that consumption of the corn bread manufactured by a Gardena-based company — with expiration dates up to June 18, 2024 — may lead to “life threatening” reactions.
By California Black Media
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a warning on Jan. 26, instructing consumers with milk allergies or “severe sensitivity to milk” in the state to not eat Dave’s Bakery Corn Bread due to “risk of illness.”
The CDPH warns that consumption of the corn bread manufactured by a Gardena-based company — with expiration dates up to June 18, 2024 — may lead to “life threatening” reactions.
“This warning applies only to the Corn Bread produced by Bake R Us, DBA Dave’s Baking Company and distributed to schools, retail facilities and in vending machines primarily in southern California,” the DCPH statement reads.
“This product should not be confused with other similarly named companies with national distribution,” it continues.
According to the CDPH, although the corn bread product contains whey, which is a milk allergen, there is no allergy warning label on the packaging, though it is required by state law.
So far, authorities say, no illnesses have been reported in the state, but if anyone finds the products on sale anywhere in the state, they should call the CDPH complaint hotline at (800) 495-3232 or file a report online at CDPH.ca.gov
The CDPH is also recommending that people who have eaten the product and are experiencing any reaction or ill effects should consult their health care provider.
Bay Area
East Bay Regional Park District Issues Rattlesnake Advisory
The East Bay Regional Park District released an advisory today on rattlesnakes, which emerge from winter hibernation in early spring and become more active. Warm weather can bring more potential for rattlesnake encounters with humans and dogs, particularly along trails and roads.
The Richmond Standard
The East Bay Regional Park District released an advisory today on rattlesnakes, which emerge from winter hibernation in early spring and become more active.
Warm weather can bring more potential for rattlesnake encounters with humans and dogs, particularly along trails and roads.
Visitors are encouraged to avoid hiking alone in case of an emergency, to scan the ground ahead as they walk, jog or ride, stay on trails avoiding tall grass, and to look carefully around and under logs and rocks before sitting down. Keep your dog on your leash to be extra safe, park officials said.
If you encounter a rattlesnake, leave it alone – it is unlawful to capture or harm one. Move carefully and slowly away or around it and give it plenty of space, park officials said.
Those who are bitten by a rattlesnake are instructed to stay calm by lying down with the affected limb lower than the heart, then having someone call 911.
Getting medical attention is critical.
Those bitten should not use tourniquets, “sucking,” or snake bite kits. If you are by yourself, walk calmly to the nearest source of help to dial 911, do not run.
If bitten by any other type of snake, wash the wound with soap and water or an antiseptic and seek medical attention.
Not sure what bit you? Check the bite for two puncture marks (in rare cases one) associated with intense, burning pain, which is typical of a rattlesnake bite. Other snakebites can leave marks without associated burning pain.
The Northern Pacific rattlesnake is the species found in East Bay Regional Parks. Snakes are important to the natural environment, helping to control rodents and other reptile populations. But enjoy them from afar.
For more information, download the Park District’s Common Snakes brochure or watch our Gopher Snake or Rattlesnake video to learn how to tell the difference between rattlesnakes and gopher snakes. Additional information is available at ebparks.org/safety/wildlife-encounters.
Alameda County
A Safe Place, Bay Area Domestic Violence Community Organization, Opens New Service Center in Oakland
Oakland-Bay Area non-profit, A Safe Place, announces the grand opening of its newly purchased building in Oakland that will be a service center for families that have suffered from domestic violence. The new, two-story building has over six new service rooms for counseling, mental health support groups, legal services, children’s treatment, safe space for community engagement, and partnership activities.
By Courtney Slocum Riley
Special to The Post
Oakland-Bay Area non-profit, A Safe Place, announces the grand opening of its newly purchased building in Oakland that will be a service center for families that have suffered from domestic violence.
The new, two-story building has over six new service rooms for counseling, mental health support groups, legal services, children’s treatment, safe space for community engagement, and partnership activities.
Domestic violence occurrences and offenses account for a considerable amount of all violent crimes in Alameda County. A Safe Place is attempting to provide a safe place for families to heal. A Safe Place is the only comprehensive domestic violence assistance program including a safehouse, in Oakland.
The grand opening celebration will also serve as a fundraiser to build out healing, therapeutic spaces for children and adult victims and survivors and survivors of domestic violence (male and female).
The new service center will expand the work of the organization, founded in 1976 when a group of women working in San Francisco came together to address the urgent need for a shelter in the East Bay. A year later, they founded A Safe Place (ASP) in Oakland. Run solely by volunteers, they set up a crisis line to offer crisis counseling and information to battered women and their children.
The organization serves over 500 adults and children annually through a host of services including crisis counseling via 24-hour crisis line, emergency motel and safehouse sheltering, mental health services (counseling and support groups).
Under the leadership of Executive Director, Carolyn Russell, the organization has grown from a single program into the comprehensive domestic violence and assistance program. ASP strives to meet the growing and diverse needs of our growing community.
The organization hopes to complete all the upgrades and therapeutic room improvements by August 2024. The public is invited to donate to the effort by using the website at www.asafeplace.org/donate. The organization also accepts in-kind gifts as well as items from the organization’s Amazon Wishlist.
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