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OCCUR & SF Foundation FAITHS Program Presents Year-End Celebration: Taking Our Impact Higher!

Even in an era of tumult as we’ve rarely seen before, individuals in great need today are still looking to faiths and nonprofit organizations for answers and support. Many are asking if these institutions can still meet the challenge. Yes, they can.

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L-R: Pastor Paul Bains, Dr. Jonathan Butler and Devone Boggan will lead a closing session called “The Power of Faith and Community.” Courtesy composite photo.
L-R: Pastor Paul Bains, Dr. Jonathan Butler and Devone Boggan will lead a closing session called “The Power of Faith and Community.” Courtesy composite photo.

By Carmen Bogan

Even in an era of tumult as we’ve rarely seen before, individuals in great need today are still looking to faiths and nonprofit organizations for answers and support. Many are asking if these institutions can still meet the challenge. Yes, they can.

On Wednesday, Sept. 27, OCCUR and the San Francisco Foundation FAITHS Program presents the year-end celebration of A Model Built on FAITH Impact Series called the Power of Faith and Community. It will be held virtually from 9 a.m.-11 a.m.

In the 2023 series finale, four extraordinary, noted Bay Area, national and international leaders Pastor Paul Bains, St. Samuel COGIC Church and founder of United Hope Builders in East Palo Alto; Dr. Jonathan Butler, associate minister, S.F. Third Baptist Church, executive director of the San Francisco African American Faith-Based Coalition; and DeVone Boggan, founder of Advance Peace in Richmond, will discuss how the unique power of Bay Area faiths and non-profit leaders can meet the challenges we all face now, and even elevate their call to bring change, hope and healing to individuals and communities when we need it most.

The session will be moderated by Dr. Michelle Myles Chambers, FAITHS Program Director at the San Francisco Foundation (SFF). “In the Bay Area, we are blessed with faiths and nonprofit leaders that are action-oriented,” says Chambers who is also a community activist. “Somehow, organizations who themselves survive with very few resources have found a way to provide for the people they serve. How? Of course, they need more funding and other resources to sustain and grow. But what drives them is greater. It’s about justice, impact, and faith. These are the necessary resources they will always have in abundance. And that makes the difference.”

Panelists for this celebration session will discuss and answer questions about:

  • The essential role of faith and nonprofit leaders as advocates and activists.
  • How to build extraordinary organizations and programs from start to finish.
  • How these leaders found funding and other resources for sustainability.
  • How partnerships can help elevate growth and impact.
  • How Bay Area faith-based and nonprofit leaders can use the intensity of these times to level-up impacts.
  • Self-care, words of advice, encouragement, hope, and celebration of all faith-based and nonprofit leaders boldly answering the call to take on unrelenting, heavy lifts.

Join Us!

 

Date: Sept. 27, 2023

Time: 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. PST

Location: Virtual training, Zoom Meeting ID: 861 4945 3331

To Register for the Event: Visit AModelBuiltOnFaith.org

Questions: Email info@occurnow.org

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Oakland Post: Week of February 5 – 11, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of February 5 – 11, 2025

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OP-ED: Like Physicians, U.S. Health Institutions Must ‘First, Do No Harm’

Coupled with their lack of government and healthcare-related experience, we are concerned these nominees will significantly undermine public health, increase the number of uninsured people, worsen health outcomes, and exacerbate health disparities. Physicians observe Hippocrates’ maxim to “First Do No Harm,”, and we urge Trump administration officials to do the same. It is critical that the leadership of HHS and its agencies make decisions based on facts, evidence, and science. Misinformation and disinformation must not guide policymaking decisions and undermine evidence-based public health strategies. Spreading these falsehoods also erodes trust in our public institutions.

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Albert L. Brooks MD. Courtesy photo.
Albert L. Brooks MD. Courtesy photo.

By Albert L. Brooks MD
Special to The Post

Presidential administrations significantly impact the health and wellbeing of our patients and communities.

Through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the agencies within it, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the National Institutes of Health, this new administration will decide how financial resources are allocated, dictate the focus of federal research, and determine how our public health care insurance systems are managed, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the Vaccines for Children program, Medicare, and Medicaid.

The decisions made over the next four years will impact all Americans but will be felt more acutely by those most underserved and vulnerable.

As physicians, we are greatly concerned by the nominations announced by President Trump to critical healthcare related positions. Many of their previous statements and positions are rooted in misinformation.

Coupled with their lack of government and healthcare-related experience, we are concerned these nominees will significantly undermine public health, increase the number of uninsured people, worsen health outcomes, and exacerbate health disparities. Physicians observe Hippocrates’ maxim to “First Do No Harm,”, and we urge Trump administration officials to do the same.

It is critical that the leadership of HHS and its agencies make decisions based on facts, evidence, and science. Misinformation and disinformation must not guide policymaking decisions and undermine evidence-based public health strategies. Spreading these falsehoods also erodes trust in our public institutions.

Vaccines, in particular, have been a target of disinformation by some HHS nominees. In fact, research continues to confirm that vaccines are safe and effective. Vaccines go through multiple rounds of clinical trials prior to being approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for administration to the public.

Vaccines protect against life-threateningdiseasessuch as measles, polio, tetanus, and meningococcal disease and, when used effectively, have beenshowntoeliminateorsubstantiallyreducediseaseprevalenceand/orseverity.

Because of vaccine mis- and disinformation, there has been a resurgence in vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles and whooping cough, endangering those who are too young or unable to be vaccinated.

Several nominees have spread disinformation alleging that fluoride in public drinking water is harmful. In fact, fluoride in drinking water at the recommended level of 0.7 parts per million, like we have in our EBMUD water, is safe and keeps teeth strong. Because of public health interventions dating back to the 1960s that have resulted in 72.3% of the U.S. population now having access to fluoridated water, there has been a reduction in cavities by about 25% in both children and adults.

We also encourage the next administration to invest in our public health infrastructure. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the critical role of public health agencies in preventing and responding to health crises in our communities.

Health departments at the state and local levels rely on federal funding support and technical assistance to develop public health response plans, implement public health strategies, and work with on the ground organizations to serve hard to reach communities. Public health agencies are critical for protecting everyone in our communities, regardless of income-level, insurance status, or housing status.

Health officials should also work to protect the significant improvements in insurance coverage that have occurred since the passage of theACAin 2010.According to HHS, the numberofuninsuredAmericansfellfrom48millionin2010to25.6millionin2023.

California has led the way by investing in Medi-Cal and expanding eligibility for enrollment. In fact, it reached its lowest uninsured rate ever in 2022 at 6.2%. Voters affirmed this commitment to expanding and protecting access to care in November by passing Proposition 35, which significantly expanded funding for California’s Medi-Cal program. The administration should advance policies that strengthen the ACA, Medicaid, and Medicare and improve access to affordable health care.

Regardless of the president in power, physicians will always put the best interests of our patients and communities at the forefront. We will continue to be a resource to our patients, providing evidence-based and scientifically proven information and striving to better their lives and our community’s health. We urge the new Trump administration to do the same.

Albert L. Brooks MD is the immediate past president of the Alameda-Contra Costa Medical Association, which represents 6,000 East Bay physicians.

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Oakland Post: Week of January 29 – February 4, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of January 29 – February 4, 2025

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