 You probably were able to figure out from the number 18 on the signage as you came in that this is year 18 of our nationally recognized community report card, again called the Community Assessment Project. Each year it becomes more and more useful and a valuable tool, and the whole goal is to understand and assess and then improve the quality of life for everyone in Santa Cruz County. And it has been made possible all these years by the consistent financial support, making sponsors who are listed in your program, which you have, it looks something like this, be sure you have one of those. In fact, at this time, it would probably be great to go ahead and give a nice round of applause for all who have donated both their time, their talents, their treasures, their finances. Let's give a nice round of applause for all the supporters. Yes. I want also to thank a special person here today who's made this possible. Her name is Kirsten Liske, and she has been responsible for guiding and shaping this project from start to finish. All the steering committee members as well are listed in the program. All of them have done a great job in making this possible. Let's give them a round of applause as well. And it's my privilege at this time again to introduce my co-MC, Michael Millward. Michael is the president and CEO of the Santa Cruz County Hospice Organization. Michael. Thank you, Paul. And it's really my privilege and pleasure to be with all of you on this really festive and important day in our community. The Community Assessment Project is a joint venture of many individuals and organizations. I thank the United Way of Santa Cruz County for beginning and sustaining the project and applied survey research for administering the community survey, conducting the research, and producing the comprehensive report. The Dominican Hospital has, for the life of the project, produced the summary report magazine and distributed it to every household in the county. Multiple copies are available at the table in the back of the hall for you to take with you today. The Santa Cruz Sentinel has each and every year sponsored the Community Heroes nomination process. Now I will introduce our community leaders who will present the findings of the Year 18 Community Assessment Project. Our first speaker will be Bonnie Hawley of Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks who will present the natural environment findings. Second, Bonnie Liskam of the City of Santa Cruz Economic Development and Redevelopment Agency. She will report on the economy findings. She will be followed by Audra Earl of Watsonville Community Hospital who will present the health findings. Next, Henry Casatineida of Soquel Union Elementary Unified School District. He will report on the education findings. Will O'Sullivan of Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center will present the public safety findings. And finally, Keisha Frost of the United Way of Santa Cruz County will present the social environment findings. Thank you, Michael. At this time our first presenter is Bonnie Hawley. Bonnie, make your way up. Just give her a hand. Good morning. I want to thank the United Way for this opportunity to speak this morning. I'm Bonnie Hawley, Executive Director of Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. We are the local nonprofit organization that works to sustain the legacy of our state parks and beaches by funding projects and programs. It's really fitting, I think, that we're having this meeting during the week of Thanksgiving because this is the time of year where I'm really thankful for living in this community that has such amazing leaders, volunteers, nonprofits, government officials who all work together to creatively solve the problems that we have. It's been a really big year in the environment in Santa Cruz County. Two really big projects came together that have been in the works for over a decade each. The Sanctuary Exploration Center and the acquisition of the Rail Corridor, those are projects that, again, show the amazing partnership work that happens between government, the local business community, nonprofits, and our local volunteer base. So the natural environment is really key to our local quality of life. The climate, the beautiful environment are pillars of our economy, everything from tourism and recreation, agriculture, education, and research. And concern for the environment impacts all sectors, as you will hear today as our speakers talk about the economy and the social environment. You might say that protecting and enhancing the environment is in our DNA as a community. Everyone from our elected officials and their staff, government commissions like the Commission on the Environment, our local educational institutions, everything from K-12 all the way to Cabrio and UCSC. And then we have the nonprofit sector, which is a really important piece of our local business community. I'm going to be highlighting some of the impacts of our local nonprofits. So there are three main areas that I want to talk about today. As you may know, if you've ever seen the full report that comes together for the community assessment, it's about 26 pages long per chapter. And one of our jobs is to go through and highlight what we think are the important issues to focus on. So I'm going to talk a little bit about the nonprofits and also the work that's happening to steward our environment by educating the next generation of children. So protected lands. One of the findings in the report is that one-third of our county land is protected for recreation, habitat, and agricultural conservation. There are groups that work on action. For instance, my own group, Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, worked with the community this year to make sure that some of our most beloved state parks did not close due to budget cuts, the Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park, and Twin Lakes. Castle Rock State Park was saved by the Sempervirens Fund and the newly founded Portola Castle Rock Foundation. And we also have a new nature center at Rancho del Oso thanks to the hard work of the Waddell Creek Association. There have also been some important work done to add lands to our local protected lands. And the biggest news out of that sector this year was the Land Trust, working in conjunction with the Nature Conservancy, saved the Redwoods League, Sempervirens, and others, purchased 8,500 acres of the Cemex property at Davenport. And that is now protected into perpetuity. One of the biggest land deals that happened in many years. There's also a lot of hard work going on to educate, as I said, the next generation of stewards. We have the Mountain Parks Foundation, works on environmental education at our state parks in the mountains. The Santa Cruz Education Foundation helps to fund outdoor science school every year. So we get those kids out into the environment and learning about how to protect it. We also have seen a 40% increase in the miles of recreation trails since 2005 in this county. And that is 232 miles up to 322 miles, which is amazing in just those seven years. There's hard work that goes on every year by volunteer groups like trailworkers.com, Advocates for the Forest of Nicene Marks, the Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz, and the brand new Emma McCrary Memorial Trail Fund. Just this week, you might have read in the paper that Watsonville just adopted a new trail blueprint. And they're going to be adding 33 miles of walking and hiking trails and biking trails around the city of Watsonville, which is just tremendous. And another finding out of the report is that 42% of people who were surveyed are very satisfied with what is being done to preserve the natural environment. So that's just great. Another really important goal in our community is protecting our waterways. Water pollution is the top community concern, as was found by the survey of the people who were talked to for this report. But 72% are personally taking steps to reduce water pollution at home and at work. Unfortunately, swim advisories due to elevated bacteria levels are up by 8%. It's not like it was in the old days when there was an outfall pipe into the river and you could go in and say, that's where water pollution is coming from. Through decades of hard work since the Clean Water Act was adopted, that kind of pollution is really in our past. Now it's polluted runoff in stormwater that is rushing off of the paved surfaces and our yards. And local residents are taking action to protect this really important resource. Ecology action has really wonderful pollution prevention programs. We have beach and river cleanups by Save Our Shores and the brand new group that calls itself the Lovely Ladies Lifting Litter from the Levy. Say that five times fast. The Resource Conservation District has a program for greening stormwater called Slow It, Spread It, Sink It. And the Coastal Watershed Council has an amazing stewardship toolkit on their website where you can go to learn about how to reduce stormwater runoff from your own yard and keep water on your property and filter the water that's going into the stormwater system. We also have a really wonderful education going on through groups like O'Neill Sea Odyssey. And the third finding is access to affordable locally grown food. 38% of our local residents shop at least weekly at a farmer's market or produce stand. And 68% shop once per month or more. Only 16% said they never shop at a farmer's market or produce stand, which I think is amazing. The report also finds that pesticide use has steadily decreased in pounds applied and number of applications. And organic farmland acreage is increasing. It's gone up 26% since 2005. Some local groups that are really doing hard work in this area, the Community Alliance with Family Farmers, CCOF, the UCSC Farm and Garden, Santa Cruz County Farmers Markets. And this beautiful photo is thanks to Live Earth Farms, which is a community supported agriculture program. There's also the great work by Second Harvest Food Bank, the Go For Health Collaborative, which is sponsored by the United Way, and really great education of our kids through Life Lab, Food What, Mesa Verde Gardens, Pacific Elementary School in Davenport, and the Santa Cruz City Schools Wellness Committee. So thanks to everyone in the community who's working so hard, who's so engaged, and improving our local environment. Thanks for all you do personally and professionally to improve our local land. And thanks for supporting programs that are educating the next generation of environmental stewards. Thank you. Good morning. My name is Bonnie Lipscomb. I'm director of economic development for the city of Santa Cruz. And it's my honor to be here today to present the economic findings of year 18 of the Community Assessment Project. So I'm focused on the economy today. And unfortunately, I don't have beautiful slides like Bonnie. It's a little bit drier material. And I'm feeling a little exposed up here. Other than that, the actual economy this year is looking more positive than years in the past. We're still definitely feeling the impacts of the recession. And it's going to be, it has been, and will continue to be a slow recovery. But it is looking positive. So I do have some positive results to report today. To put the current economic trends and perspective, it helps to look first at the backdrop of recent trends at the state and the national level that have had and will continue to have a large impact locally. So what is happening at the state and national levels? The California unemployment rate is projected to continue falling, which is positive, hitting single digits by the end of 2013-2014. It's currently at 10.7%, which is above the county rate of 9.9%, and much above the US rate at 8.4%. Jurisdictionally, we do have some cities within the county that are actually tracking better than the California unemployment rate, which is very positive. California construction continues to heat up both in terms of construction employment and building activity countywide. This is mirrored at the California level and at the countywide level, so this is very positive. US economic growth is anticipated to grow modestly over the next couple of years with the following caveat. And you've heard a lot, I know, over the last few weeks about the looming fiscal cliff. The assumptions are that the fiscal cliff is averted, that there's either a delay or elimination of tax increases and spending cuts, including, and this is important for Santa Cruz County, a delay of the expiration of low-income tax credits, which will affect low-income earners in Santa Cruz County. And I'll focus a little more on that in a few minutes of why that's so important in our county. In California, recent modest growth, state budget cuts, and the additional temporary taxes provided by Prop 30 have combined to bring us to a possible end of a decade of severe state budget challenges. There is a report that came out last week by the state legislative analyst office. I mean, this is pretty amazing. For the last decade, we have had severe economic impacts felt at the state budget level and a pressure put on local governments and local counties and cities as a result. And hopefully with the current trends in the passage of Prop 30, this will be lessened and actual projections are that by 2014-15, our state budget, operating budget, will have a surplus, estimated surplus of 1 billion by 2014-15, up to 9 billion operating surplus by fiscal year 2017-18. This is really, really positive. Recent improvements countywide for quality of life, focusing first on quality of life and then we'll focus on a few other indicators. As I mentioned earlier, unemployment is down over the last year. Last year, it was 12.1% countywide. This year, it's 9.9%. Watsonville is a bit of an outlier. It's still in the double digits at 21%. Santa Cruz City is at 8.2%. Again, this is slightly lower than the California trend of actually California trend of 10.7 and the state trend of 8.4. The cost of rent for a two bedroom unit is down countywide. This is a little different than state trends which have cost of rent starting to rise and more home ownership starting. So we'll have something that we'll have to track in the years ahead. Foreclosures are also down countywide which is very positive. A very recent trend which is still below pre-recession levels are medium family incomes in Santa Cruz County are up. And this is in comparison to the relatively flat levels of medium family incomes at the state and the US. So we're doing better than the state and the US on this on medium family incomes. This is similar to sort of a general feeling of economic wellbeing. We're still, this is an area of concern. The overall trend is we're still below pre-recession levels but for the first time in a number of years we're finally starting to feel an increase in the general feeling of economic wellbeing countywide. So this is significant. So recent economic or actually indicators of concern countywide. I just mentioned a few sort of the positive notes. There are a few areas that are of some concern and I'd like to talk about briefly. While overall unemployment rate as I mentioned in the Santa Cruz County is the lowest since 2008, there's a growing disparity between white residents in Santa Cruz County whose unemployment rate is at 9.5% versus the unemployment rate for Latino residents in Santa Cruz County which is close to 15%. And what's even more concerning is that over the last 10 years, the growing disparity, there's 11.2% over the last 10 years for Latino residents in the county versus 2.2% increase for white residents. Likewise, percent of residents who spent over 30% of their household take home pay on renter housing cost is an alarming high of 56% countywide. That is something that we need to as a county really focus on in the years ahead. When that's broken out and looking at that, looking at that it becomes even more dramatic. The disparity between white residents in the county who spend more than 30% of their income on housing is at 46% versus 85% of Latino residents who spend more than 30% of their take home pay on housing. This is something as a county we need to focus on. In the next few years, the number of Latino residents in California will likely surpass the number of non-Latino white residents. As population trends in the county reflect this trend, housing affordability and unemployment may continue to rise locally if focused efforts are not made to address these downward trends. Not surprisingly, households and wage earners who have not attained some college or bachelor's degree are at much higher risk of not meeting the self-sufficiency income standards and are living below the poverty rate. This ties to one of the goals on the economic development findings that I'll mention briefly. And then finally, an area of concern that I want to mention and this relates to my former job as director of the Redevelopment Agency for the City is a loss of redevelopment statewide. Particularly in our county, every major jurisdiction, all five jurisdictions had redevelopment agencies and while this is a particular concern with the analysis that I just briefly discussed is that redevelopment was the largest source of affordable housing development in the state. And in Santa Cruz City alone, through redevelopment, we developed over 1,000 units of affordable housing since redevelopment's inception. We're now required to monitor, which we will continue to do, but to monitor those 1,000 units, affordable housing units on an annual basis, yet we have no funding to do so. So this puts additional strain on local municipal budgets that's going to be felt in every jurisdiction across the state. So this is a major concern going forward. Also, redevelopment obviously is a major source of infrastructure improvements and we really need to look to the future what are the new economic tools and resources we have for providing infrastructure and major development projects in the county. So there were three goals that we had, specifically they're laid out in the community action plan report on the economy for the five year plan. By year 2015, Santa Cruz County will leverage educational opportunities and academic institutional engines to fuel economic growth and technology transfer better than similarly situated counties in California. And that's a mouthful. We're actually well positioned to achieve this goal by 2015. Due to Prop 30, as I mentioned earlier, during the coming five years, schools and community colleges are likely to experience significant increases in funding. This increase should be used wisely in emerging growth areas. Cabrio College and UCSC are incredible resources for county wide residents and provide a full range of educational opportunities from specific job training and high growth industries at Cabrio to specialize programs under development at UCSC, focused on technology transfer and commercialization. Cabrio specifically has focused programs in the health occupations and tech fields, including the new Solari Green Technology Center in Watsonville, along with the teacher preparation pipeline program, which are well suited for the emerging county wide high growth industry sectors over the next five years. These are in the tech area, tech analysts, data analysts, health aides, pharmacists and teachers are all high growth areas county wide. And fortunately we have the educational resources to really back that trend up. UCSC recently, over the last two years, has developed their Center for Entrepreneurship, which is focused on developing an actual academic based program on entrepreneurship. This is something that we're working county wide on supporting actually the City of Santa Cruz Redevelopment Agency funded some seed funding for the Center for Entrepreneurship. And it is kicking off in its first year with actual and actual academic degree that you can have an entrepreneurship. There's also an annual business plan competition that's held at the university every year. And then a partnership with the city called the Project for Innovation and Entrepreneurship that really looks at taking professionals and students on campus who have emerging ideas and placing them in tech startups in Santa Cruz. So there are a lot of initiatives and I think we're making great progress in this area. Second goal is to increase the percentage of economic activity within Santa Cruz County by 10% and relocalize 10% of our workforce. Again, we're making a lot of strides over the last few years in this area. The recent trends during the recession at Santa Cruz is actually a very affordable place to take a vacation. So visitor serving industries have been up, particularly food service and hotels and general consumer goods and visitor attractions are all showing really strong growth whereas at the California state economy are lagging significantly behind Santa Cruz County. As I mentioned, tourism has been very strong during the recession. Countywide beaches, boardwalks and other affordable destinations continue to be very popular. And as a result, our lodging industry over the last few years has experienced a very strong growth. We've had several major hotel renovations as well as new hotels coming online. And even while TOT, Trans and Occupancy Tax is dipped during the recession, we're back up to pre-recession levels and revenues which is a really good sign. Construction and building permits are on the rise and new job growth in Santa Cruz County increased for the first time in 2011, since 2007. And so we're actually on track to be back to pre-recession levels by 2015. Our last goal, by the year 2015, Santa Cruz County will slow or stop the contraction of municipal budgets for economic development of the underlining economy. We're actually doing really well in this area as well. Sales tax growth has been strong in Santa Cruz County where actually this year over last year a 3.5% increase and sales tax projections are expected to exceed an estimated budget forecast by three to 4% on municipal budgets each year. Of course, this is assuming that we don't go into another recession as a result of the looming fiscal cliff. We also have modest property tax growth over the next two years with estimated 5% property tax growth projected annually beginning in year 2014-15. I already mentioned the passage of Prop 30, but this also means more funding for local schools and a possible lessening of the pressure put on municipal budgets at both the county and the city level. And then recent TOT measures county wide. We'll really contribute to lessening the contraction of municipal budgets. Specifically at Santa Cruz, we've designated the use of our measure Q funds for economic development purposes. And then finally, I think it's important for county and jurisdictions to continue to invest in infrastructure improvements and major development projects, which also contribute to the long-term economic health of the area. Bonnie mentioned the Exploration Center, the Tannery Arts Center, the Warriors Project, but specifically county wide infrastructure projects like the Highway 1-9 bridge replacement, other Highway 1 improvements and regional broadband policy and infrastructure improvements are all things county wide that we need to invest in to ensure our economic future. So in summary, modest growth expected to continue county wide over the next few years and expected to return to pre-recession levels by 2015. Particular attention should be focused on the widening gap between white residents in the county and Latino residents in the area of unemployment and affordable housing. Santa Cruz County has educational tools and the resources to positively impact these downward trends in the years ahead. Thank you. Good morning. I am Audra Earl from Watsonville Community Hospital and I am honored to present the 2012 CAP Health Findings. In looking at the overall health of our community, it is important to first understand whether or not the population has access to the care that they need. In 2011, 91% of white respondents, but only 68% of Latino respondents had a regular source of healthcare. This translates into less preventative care and often a higher rate of hospitalization. 13% of Latino respondents needed healthcare in the last year, but were unable to receive it. The reason most often given was the expense. An effective way to remove the financial barriers to the healthcare for them is to increase the percentage of the population with health insurance. In 2011, Latino respondents reported the lowest rate of health insurance in the last 11 years. Only 51% of Latino respondents had health insurance. This is compared to 90% for white respondents. The overall rate of insured in 2011 was only 80%. In 2007, this rate was 89%, a significant decrease. A decrease in insured lives and less access to care would suggest that we will see a drop in many of the measures that we look at in the CAP Health Report. This decrease was seen in several metrics. Overall, the percent of respondents overweight or obese went from 50% in 2007 to 57% in 2011. 12% of respondents reported having diabetes or a pre-diabetic condition. Immunization levels among childcare entrants fell to the lowest level in nine years at only 77%. 15% of children needed one or more immunization at the time of entry. These are children whose parents did not ask for a religious or a personal belief exemption. So this would suggest that 15% of childcare entrants are not receiving the recommended preventative care that they need. Kindergarten entrants fared only marginally better at 84%. The number of reported Chlamydia cases increased by 27% from 566 in 2004 to 719 cases in 2011, also showing that there's more need for preventative care and testing. One third of all births to teenage mothers in 2011 did not receive adequate prenatal care in our county. And also the death rate due to breast cancer has increased in the last seven years in Santa Cruz County while the rate at the national level has actually decreased. However, there is some good news, I promise. There are many programs that our community has put into place over the last few years that are really starting to make a difference. So the percent of overweight and obese children under five decreased from 16% in 2002 to 12% in 2010. So that was a significant improvement. There was also a 1% decrease in ages five to 19. So we are making some headway there as well. The rate of teen births has dropped from 32.5 per thousand teen lives in 2007 to 29.8 in 2011 with the overall number of teen births dropping by 15% in our county. Binge drinking, which is actually defined as five or more drinks within two hours in the last 30 days has actually decreased from 17% in 2005 to only 13% in 2011. So we are making some headway there as well. And actually this one I found the most positive in a lot of respects was cigarette usage among middle school and high school children has decreased in all age groups in the last decade in Santa Cruz County. So. So we should definitely celebrate these successes. However, I do wanna draw some attention to several challenges that are actually unique to South County residents. 70% of Latino respondents reported being overweight or obese and 89% of the county's teen births are actually to Latino mothers. So those are two areas we need to focus on. Exclusive breastfeeding rates which is measured actually while the mother is still in the hospital is only 65% for Latino mothers and at 91% for white mothers in our county. Only 8% of Latino respondents report having an advanced directive or a living well. And Latino respondents were twice as likely as white respondents to have needed but not to have received dental and mental health care in our county. I look forward to working in the upcoming year with other health care leaders in Santa Cruz County to ensure that we have comprehensive, effective programs to meet the needs of all residents in our county. Thank you. Good morning. I'm Henry Castagnata and the superintendent of the Cal School District. First of all, I wanna thank everyone here. You're here for a purpose and the purpose is to quality of life in our county. I'd like to thank the leadership of the United Way. Mayor Lou Gehke for calling me out of surprise. So I thank you, Mary Lou. The superintendent throughout our county opened our doors up to all of you. We're in this journey together. And if we are gonna achieve a quality life for all citizens, we need collectively working together. I honor the past recipients and the people who are gonna be honored tonight as community heroes. This is a very, very important message because education has changed. We are preparing our children for the 21st century. We're preparing it for a global economy. To make a difference, our children have to be educated differently. And this is why we open our doors to you. This is my recruitment. I'm recruiting right now. We'd love to have you in our county. We live in our school district and bring us your talent and bring us your time. Our children can learn from all of you. And the other part is this. It is a very, very competitive world. The world does not stand still. My education comes from Silicon Valley. And I've learned a lot in being in that environment. At the same time, we have to prepare our children even though we live in a beautiful environment, we have to provide the opportunity for all children to live in this environment. And here's the selling pitch. Education is a common good for everyone. All the stories you're hearing about the quality of life today from the distinguished speakers are foundation on people's education. Equal access gives people opportunities. Not everyone has to go to college but everyone should have the ability to make that choice. Because if we do not give everyone the opportunity for that choice, unfortunately, the quality of life that it has existed in Santa Cruz County for a very long time will change. You look at the demographics. The demographics are changing. And until we meet the needs of all children at all times, especially early literacy. And early literacy is the beginning of the journey of education. We must improve our programs in early literacy. The gap exists before children even enter school. The average student who comes from quote unquote middle class environment has 4,000 words in their vocabulary. If you come from poverty, you have 1,500. And that gap exceeds and continues to grow. This is a perfect example of an opportunity for you and your audience. Go back to schools and volunteer your time for reading. I know you're very busy, but it's great having your background in our schools. These are all our children and they represent a big diverse population and the population will continue to take place. I believe this captures all. All children have gifts and all children can be very, very productive citizens. We just have to have the environment that gives them the opportunity. We're working today and I'm very fortunate to work with very talented people. We believe you have to deal with the brutal facts. We believe you have to be relentless. We believe that change will come when we collectively maximize the talents that surround us and we bring out the best in people. We open our doors to bring out the talents that exist in this room, but also for what's taking place in education today. Here's one of our major challenges. If you look at what's taking place in schools today in Santa Cruz County, when people ask about equal access, people go into college. First of all, you have to prepare people and you have to deal with what exists today. A through G, I talked this way, I guess it won't pick me up. A through G, something says you walked into school, you were prepared to take college courses and you have opportunities when you graduate from college. When you look at the numbers, they're very challenging, but it's still an opportunity. We are working closely with all the superintendents and we have started a program called S4C, Students for College. I want to give Gary Bloom and Brian King, the president of Cabrillo College, a lot of credit. These two individuals came together and says, how do we collectively start working and maximizing the resources in our county to improve this result? What has happened is now all four superintendents and representatives from UCSC, as well as Monterey Bay College have come together. And there's a gentleman in the audience I just saw right now, I got to recognize him, Michael Watkins. You must be well liked, Michael, that's good. A year ago I came to Santa Cruz County as a superintendent in Silicon Valley and I reached out to Michael and Michael didn't even hesitate. I asked him about opportunities for our English learners and technology and what's the future for them. Michael immediately, he said submit a grant. I said, okay, I'll submit a grant. And his leadership has enabled us to change the pathways for our English learners through technology and year round education. And that's that kind of leadership that reaches out because we have to educate kids differently. So Michael, I thank you for doing that. So in A through G, if your children are in schools today, and I ask you, look at the courses your children are taking or your friends' children are taking and look at the programs they're taking because to enter college today is far more competitive. I don't think I didn't get into college today. I see the competition that is existing. It's a global competition. So what A through G means is you're taking enough math classes, advanced math classes. You're taking enough English classes advanced English classes, the sciences. So this represents the opportunities for children and the percentages. Here's a disturbing fact. This is reality of the brutal facts. This was given to us by Brian King and this is what is generating a lot of energy and excitement on making a difference. We cannot continue this pathway. This pathway must change because these children will not have opportunities. It takes six years to graduate or get your degree from Carillo College. The odds are majority of students will not complete that AA degree. It's getting better, don't worry. Here's the hope and here's the excitement and here's the opportunities. When we did the survey and you look at the responses that were taking place and the belief systems in public education, it is absolutely fantastic to have this energy and this energy. We need to have and cultivate this what is taking place in these responses and that's why I ask you, continue your support in your local schools, continue to maximize and reach out. I ask you, go for courageous conversations because if you have this power and this energy behind you in these responses, it's an all-time high of people believing in public education and in public education we won't make the difference because we're affecting all children and your lifestyles. I constantly point out if you look at preschool to senior citizens, we open our doors to your agencies or your groups, use our facilities. We want you to use our facilities. We want you to come into our schools. We want you to see the different education that is taking place today in our county because it's exciting. The leadership and energy is positive by this, you're seeing this result right here. If you have a chance, I don't know, is anyone here from Bonny Dune? Hey, hands goes out. Bonny Dune is, and I'm gonna get a look forward to it, they're launching a new science program and the science program is having renowned speakers in the area of science for the community as adults. There's some adult-only evenings as well as children. Our goal is to engage children in activities. Our goal is engage children so they go through the thought process. It isn't a test score and I constantly tell people that when API says, oh, your API score is X over 800, 900, 950. That's not the reality of what education is. It's being able to give children cognitive thinking skills. It's being able to give children the ability to say, I may not have the answer, but here's my hypothesis and I will find out the answer. Hey, Michael, I got a clap, y'all. The other one I'll turn to as you go through. I hope you all will continue to support education the way you have and I hope you all go back into your local class, your local school district. We need your help, but at the same time, if we reach out and maximize the talent here and reach out and believe we can make a change, we will. And I wanna thank you. Thanks again, Mary Lou, for inviting me. I'm Willow Sullivan. I'm the director of adult substance abuse treatment services for the Santa Cruz Community Counseling Center and I'm honored and enthused to speak to you all today about a CAP chapter, Public Safety, that is close to my heart and consciousness. As a concerned resident, a citizen, a parent in this community, and then as a professional who spent over three decades working in the criminal justice system and this past decade working in substance abuse intervention and treatment here in the county, though you might expect a uniformed officer or sheriff, a district attorney, a judge to highlight this chapter, I'll beg your indulgence this morning to continue and make a point. By the way, some of my best friends are police chiefs and lawyers and judges. My wife, Martina, and I moved to Santa Cruz from our beloved hometown of Detroit in our mid-30s with three young daughters. Part of the calculus for moving across the country was our concern for safety. We were drawn to the west coast with its temperate climate, redwoods, ocean views, but we were looking for a community where our daughters could grow up safely and thrive. After all, public safety is a key element for all of us as we consider quality of life. As a federal probation officer and manager in Detroit and then later in San Jose and here in the central coast, I was keenly aware and involved in the court system's processes. I also grew in an understanding that there is more to public safety than arrest, prosecution, conviction, and incarceration. Actually, education, prevention, intervention, community supervision, support, and treatment are critical ingredients in turning the public safety tide. Community engagement, participation, and resources were clearly major factors in completing the public safety puzzle. I focused on intervention and treatment for offenders, a majority of whom abused alcohol and drugs, rehabilitation in these past three decades was being de-emphasized in favor of harsher punishment, yet the cycle of recidivism that plagued the correctional system indicated that that system was failing to correct. So what's trending in Santa Cruz public safety? Plenty more than the latest Twitter chatter, I'm sure. The beauty and intelligence of the cap is we are looking at real trends over time, gathering and measuring important information so we can improve our communal quality of life. As an avowed and crazed lifelong baseball fan, I think of it a little bit like the Sabre metric debate in baseball for those of you who can relate to that. Think Moneyball, it builds on the old statistical measures to measure team and individual effectiveness and value. Our cap continues to measure more accurately what's going on in public safety. So I see as I look at the data, and I hope you'll look at it and study it a bit, I see four clusters. Crime as measured by arrest rates decreased between 2002 and 2010, which was the last complete year of arrest data. And that followed a statewide trend. Total crime was down 16% in the last five years, 2005 to 2010, yet aggravated assault and robbery increased in the decade. Forcible rape decreased significantly. Juvenile arrest and adjudications and detention significantly decreased a true local success, championed by our county's probation department. And if you take a look at your public safety chapter section of the summary handout that you'll get as you leave, you'll see that probation effort in the juvenile domain featured. The second cluster I saw in the data, the concern about crime and the sense of neighborhood safety including safe places for children to play showed improved percentages from respondents over the decade, 2000 to 2011. Yet the perception of law enforcement effectiveness has decreased just slightly but decreased and scores less than 50% and has all along. Our expectations of law enforcement and the criminal justice system are high. Of course the stakes are high. Next, a cluster for domestic and family violence. Domestic violence calls have decreased slightly, mirroring statewide trends. Family violence as a concern for the survey respondents this year also decreased. Yet domestic violence cases involving weapons has increased sharply in the past five years. Sharply 26% increase. Those numbers are small but that's a significant issue. Also the rate of first entries into foster care and those of you, all of you in this audience know that foster care is a function of child abuse and neglect issues in our county. Rates of first entries into foster care increased over the decade and family reunifications decreased. Something I think to pay attention to and I know we're already paying attention to in many ways. Then the fourth cluster, DUI arrests for adults and minors fluctuated over the decade but are markedly down from 2002 to the current year. Yet alcohol related bookings in our jail increased 10% in the decade and 73% of our jail inmates were repeat offenders. The cap public safety goals, first, more youth will be involved in prevention and positive social activities and fewer youth will enter the juvenile delinquency system by 2015. Second, adult and youth violence and its impacts will decrease including family and gang violence by 2015. The initiatives that stimulate optimism at this point in time in public safety, in our locales, in our communities. First smart on crime, which is a public education and discourse that's been going on for over a year. It promotes understanding and community engagement in the public safety discussion, policy and strategy. We discuss the major shift taking place from over incarceration to targeting the violent and genuine correction and rehabilitation of the nonviolent with a reduction in recidivism as our critical measure. Passage of Prop 36 just 10 days ago suggests that we are getting smart about using our criminal justice resources. And I wanna feature our favorite daily paper, Michael. Sunday's editorial was focused on the election in terms of law, order and wisdom. So we are getting smarter about public safety. The next initiative that I wanna highlight is the public safety realignment, so-called AB Assembly Bill 109. And we formed here, as did other counties, a community corrections partnership. But we did it Santa Cruz style, good for us. It was launched about 18 months ago. It involved work groups that were working diligently throughout the county on community education, community supervision, intervention and treatment services, correctional management, data and capacity building and court processing. We work together and continue to work on implementing this major shift in California's criminal justice policy, shifting from a 30 year overspending and incarceration to a locally responsible investment in community reentry, alternatives and resources. Our county has been considered a leader in this effort at correcting the correctional system. The proof is in the investment of resources here in Santa Cruz County in that effort with equal shares for sheriff probation and community resources. And that's due to some significant leadership by our sheriff, Phillip Woowek and our chief probation officer, Scott McDonald. The other thing that's happening, even as we speak, is the reemergence of what's called the Criminal Justice Council. It establishes a table where law enforcement, the courts, health and human services and community-based organizations and community groups can come together and collaborate in public safety initiatives and strategies. There are two current task forces that have been formed and have begun to work on preventing and intervening in youth gang violence and also in addressing mental health substance abuse effectively with intervention and treatment in our criminal justice system. I think all of us are aware how important community participation and engagement is in public safety. There's examples like mothers against drunk driving that change the whole conversation in that element of enforcement and education and redirection. Neighborhood Watch, Community Policing. I think one of our community heroes this morning is a community devoted police officer from Santa Cruz, but community policing has proven effective across the country and certainly here in Santa Cruz. But all of this community engagement leads to successful accountability for law enforcement and then investment in our collective safety. Please take a look at our CAHPS public safety chapter when you get a chance in your spare time. And then please stay tuned and plug in as you can. Thank you. One of the community goals for social environment is to get more Santa Cruz County residents more actively engaged in their community through public participation. Today we're going to examine a few results and a couple of key indicators that support this particular goal. We will take a look at the quality of life, volunteerism, and of course, as the director of community giving, charitable giving. So we'll get started with the quality of life. Hands down, we love Santa Cruz County. We truly do. Give yourselves a hand. I'm relatively new to the area moving here from South Carolina and you all gave me the warmest welcome in June. You truly, truly admire and cherish this gym called Santa Cruz County. It's one of the most beautiful gyms in California. And to match that, two thirds of our CAHPS respondents reported being very satisfied with their overall quality of life here in 2011. And as Bonnie shared with us earlier, you can imagine why. It's the scenery, our natural environment, our climate. These factors have contributed, they're the number one factor and have been since 2000 as to why we truly enjoy the quality of life here. So in essence, there's a quality of life that is desired. There's a quality of life that is experienced among residents here in our region. However, additional results show that that quality of life is not necessarily shared by all. 80% of our CAHPS respondents reported enjoying their quality of life to a great extent. That's in comparison to the less than half of our Latino respondents who could say the same. They were at 48%. Well, if you look at other questions and we've had other experts here on the stage today sharing statistics, as we look at the other questions in our survey, we began to see an economic profile that adds up. As Henry showed in education, there are differences, but we also saw in education that there is a higher dropout rate among Santa Cruz residents among our Latino population compared to our Caucasian population. Basic needs, more Latino respondents, 26% stated that they went without basic needs. And that's food, health care coverage, child care. 26%, which is way more than our Caucasian respondents. As Bonnie shared in economics, the unemployment rate was higher. When you look at health insurance, 90% of our Caucasian respondents have health insurance. That's in comparison to 51%. These social determinants of a quality of life, education, financial stability, health. Does that sound familiar, United Way people? These social determinants help shape our perception of the quality of life. And as you can see among many of our Latino respondents, this statistically significant difference impacts their experience in enjoying the quality of life here. However, there is an opportunity. This is an opportunity, as Henry was saying, to get out, to be more active, to have collective conversation and be strategic and deliberate in how we look at programs and services. We can no longer just enjoy two thirds and be happy with two thirds enjoying the quality of life. But what can we do in the public and private sector coming together and having strategic conversations on how we can broaden those services and programs so the quality of life can be shared by all Santa Cruz County residents? Thank you. That is the quality of life. And as many Santa Cruz residents enjoy the quality of life here, let's now take a look at how we help others enjoy the quality of life by volunteering our time and talents. So with volunteerism, 41% of our cap residents indicated that they regularly volunteer on a daily basis. Now it is a decrease from 47% in 2009, but I think it's interesting to note that in 2009 there was a national trend, a national recruitment for volunteerism and various incentives were given to those who volunteered, including passes to Disney World. Who's going to turn down tickets to Disney World? Nobody. So it's fair to say that with that national push in 2009, you saw an increase in volunteerism. Volunteerism here in our county was highest among adults ages 45 to 64. Now according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, give ourselves a pat on the back, we surpass the national average, where 51% of adults age 45 to 64 volunteer on a regular basis, nationally that's 30%. So give yourselves a hand. We care about our community and we're in our community and we're volunteering in our community. The next age demographic to volunteer in our community were adults 65 and even though it says older, my mama said don't use that word, seasoned. So 65 and seasoned were the second highest age demographic to volunteer. And also to note 22% of our respondents volunteer in church and spiritual organizations. That's pretty parallel to the national trend of 23%. So in conclusion with volunteerism, though there is a 5% decrease from 2009, volunteerism in Santa Cruz County averages 40% among our residents. That data demonstrates that despite the negative impact of our economy, our economic recession, Santa Cruz County residents do volunteer and we do it on a regular basis. Also contrary to the popular belief that people are too busy to volunteer, that doesn't stand with us. As a matter of fact, working people led the way in volunteering. That suggests that we found the time to volunteer despite our demanding schedules. So what does this mean? Calling all businesses continue to allow your employees the opportunities to get into the community and volunteer. And for those of us who are at organizations, nonprofit organizations, let's continue to offer opportunities of volunteerism, both for the episodic volunteer as well as the long-term volunteer. Because we're here and we do want to help. And I'll join Superintendent Henry, get into our local schools, help with literacy. Whatever you can do to help and give your time would be greatly appreciated. Now moving on to my field, charitable giving. As Santa Cruz residents volunteer their times and talents, our treasures are also greatly appreciated in creating opportunities for a quality of life for all. While charitable giving was highest among adults, 65 in seasoned, yes, my mom told me to use that word. Those who regularly contribute money overall to charitable organizations did decrease from 74% in 2007 to 65% in 2001. It's fair to point out an interesting trend. Notice the years and the recession. Pre-recession, volunteerism was at 40% while contributing money was at an all-time high of 74%. Post-recession, in particularly 2009, volunteerism increased to 47% while contributing money decreased to 70%. Charitable organizations, this does not necessarily mean to plan for a flat year this year. Don't be alarmed, I have help. I have a way to help us. 72% of adults ages 45 to 64 regularly contribute money to a charitable organization. And over half of the respondents plan on contributing this year at the same level that they gave last year. If we take a look at that data and break it down, here are a couple of things we need to consider. Those 65 in seasoned are what we typically in the philanthropic world consider loyal contributors. Contributing and donating is woven into their fabric of social responsibility. Now I'm not saying that we need to, as community givers or resource development directors, I'm not saying we need to set them to the side and count on their dollar every year, but we do need to recognize and acknowledge those loyal contributors. Here is also an opportunity to take a look at an interesting fact. Those who are second in charitable giving in that age bracket, 45 to 64, happened to lead in volunteerism. So what does that mean? That means for charitable organizations, this means to take the time to look at our volunteerism age demographic and start to cultivate them and motivate them and move them into your charitable giving pot if you will. So in essence, overall we enjoy the quality of life and in the true spirit of things and volunteerism, we do want to have that quality of life shared by all. We get up, we get out, we participate in our community through volunteerism. There's still room to grow. We do lead the way, working people do lead the way in volunteerism and for charitable giving there is an opportunity though we're staying flat per se, there is an opportunity to look at those who are volunteering and cultivate them and steward them into charitable giving. Did I make it in six minutes? All right, thank you. Yes, thank you presenters. Great job, very articulate. Now for this portion of the program, we're also gonna thank one of their chief sponsor. This is the Santa Cruz Sentinel. They are sponsoring this annual contest to help us identify this portion of the program to come which is honoring the community heroes. So hop in a round of applause for the Santa Cruz Sentinel. Michael and I will introduce to you the 2012 community heroes and when we call you heroes by name, those of you that are here, not all are, as I call your name heroes, please hastily come to the front. We want to be able to make proclamations for you on behalf of both CAP and those that will be giving you that proclamation will be our distinguished guest, Congress Member Sam Farr, Senator Joe Sumidian and Assembly Member Bill Monning. So again, when we call your name, please make your way to the front. In the first category, that being the economy, the goals were articulated very well by Bonnie. In essence, that first goal had to do with leveraging economic and educational, excuse me, educational and academic institutions as fuel engines to bring about more growth and revenue. And the winner of this particular award is Mr. Ron Slack. Ron, please make your way to the front. If you don't know this, Ron is of the good times, one of our favorite reads in the county. He was instrumental in securing funding to keep the summer youth program active after lost funding from losses at the federal level. Ron has been an integral member and Chair of the Santa Cruz Workforce Investment Board for many years, working from a fundamental belief that employment opportunities possess the power to improve the lives of struggling residents and young adults. When government funds were eliminated for this program, Ron led the local effort to sustain this highly effective program. He orchestrated a major fundraising effort, which included procuring funders and helping organizations to bring about the youth benefit, via the youth benefit concert. Thank you, Ron, for that. As a direct result of your dedication, Ron, the County Office of Education was able to enroll numerous teenagers in this life-changing program. Thank you very much, Ron Black. And the winner who best lived out the second goal in the category of economy, this goal being to relocalize 10% of our commuting workforce, is Ms. Mara Noel. Mara led the mobilization efforts to bring about an international bicycle race, the Amgen Tour to Santa Cruz County this year. She and the fellow supporters, yes, recognized that the tour would not only entertain local sports enthusiasts, but also inspire youth to envision the excitement and rewards of an athletic and active lifestyle. With her dedicated leadership, Mara succeeded in rallying County residents to support the hosting of 2012 Amgen Tour in May. The tour is an undisputed economic engine for local business and tourism, generating business during the event as well as putting Santa Cruz County on the map as it were for active people who appreciate the County's unique national environment. Mara demonstrated great determination and vision in leading the County towards this event that increases economic prosperity and inspires all to a healthier way of life. Mara, thank you very much. And the individual who best lived out the third goal in the economic category, this goal was to slow or stop the contraction of municipal budgets through economic development for the underlying economy, and this is Matilda Rand, Ms. Matilda. Matilda Rand is an exceptionally active volunteer with several organizations and projects, including those to serve the improvement and effectiveness of local budgets and personal finances. This year, she volunteered with the VITA, free tax preparation, assisting low-income residents in filling their income taxes out and aiding them in receiving tax credits that they were eligible for. Her volunteer skills extended beyond economics as she was also volunteer and sister with women care. She provides office support and also reaches out to women when they are diagnosed with breast cancer. Since retiring as the principal at Minty White Elementary School, Matilda has made volunteering a full-time job and is benefiting County residents in every sector of life. Thank you, Macerva. Thank you, Paul. The awards in education, the first goal, Henry was very articulate about this goal, by the year 2015, all students will graduate with the skills and knowledge required to compete in a 21st century global economy. And our winner is Michael Painter. For over a decade, Michael Painter has been working to support the most vulnerable and at-risk students in our school systems. He is the manager of Alternative Education and Foster Use Services at the County Office of Education and is responsible for foster use services. BASTA and the School Mental Health Initiative as well as Alternative Education. He consistently goes above and beyond to ensure that foster and at-risk youth do not fall between the cracks in the educational system. Most recently, he has joined the Foster Ed Initiative, a county-wide collaboration to develop a system of educational champions for every child in out-of-home care to ensure that each child has the highest opportunity possible to succeed in school. Michael makes a tremendous impact in hundreds of students' lives, improving our entire community through his work. A big round of applause for Michael. Our next goal in education, again so critical, by the year 2015, more kindergartners will be better prepared for school through participation in a high-quality preschool. And our awardee is Sandy Davy. Please come up. Sandy has served as the administrative director of the Santa Cruz Toddler Center for 22 years. Under Sandy's direction, the Center's philosophy focuses on developing authentic, resourceful, and respectful qualities in the children that it cares for. By teaching conflict resolution to the toddlers, they arrive in preschool and kindergarten confident, secure, and communicative. In addition, Sandy has advocated for young children in our community through her seven years of service as vice chair of the Child Care Planning Council, 22 years as an active member of the Human Care Alliance, and co-editing the Santa Cruz County Master Plan for early childhood education. For over two decades, Sandy has guided and inspired countless young Santa Cruz residents to envision a community based upon respect. And now in the category of health, the first goal is that by the year 2015, access to primary care will improve so that 95% of Santa Cruz County residents will report having a regular source of healthcare, and less than 10% will report that the ER is one of their regular sources of healthcare, and that no significant difference between the percent of Caucasian and Latino residents reporting a regular source of healthcare. And the recipient for this award goes to Kurt Simons. Kurt has offered at a pro-bono level professional vision services at each of the three Project Homeless Connect events, providing the ability to see clearly to hundreds of homeless individuals. I don't know if you've been there, but there's always a huge line for that. So thank you so much for that. Not only is he given generously of his time and expertise, but he's recruited other optometrists to participate in the event, and successfully advocated to vision insurance companies to provide additional vouchers beyond those offered at Project Homeless Connect. Through Kurt's efforts, hundreds of individuals who would not have access otherwise have received eye exams, prescriptions, vouchers for vision services, and free reading glasses. Furthermore, his advocacy within his professional organization and service clubs is succeeding exponentially increasing the reach of this vital work. Thank you so much, Kurt. The next goal is that by 2015, 98% of Santa Cruz County children 0 to 17 will have comprehensive healthcare coverage as measured by the California Health Interview Survey. And as a group, we'd like to honor the Baby Gateway Certified Application Assistors. They are Alicia Fernandez, Alicia Zanteno, Angie Gilletta, and Sochi Zaragoza. All of these certified application assistors with the Baby Gateway Program exist to provide application assistance to eligible parents of newborn babies and children to enroll them in Medi-Cal, healthy families, and healthy kids before they leave the hospital. It is through the hard work, dedication, and compassionate work of Alicia Fernandez, Alicia Zanteno, and Angie Gilletta, and Sochi Zaragoza that hundreds of newborn babies and children are able to receive the healthcare they need. In addition to assisting with complex paperwork necessary to apply and enroll in these public health insurance programs, these ladies equip parents with the tools needed to keep their babies healthy by providing them with appropriate resources and referrals. They take time to promote strong relationships between parents and their baby's primary care provider starting at birth. They ensure that parents learn how to take advantage of their child's health insurance in order to optimize their infant's growth, addressing questions and concerns with knowledgeable expertise. Because of the skilled assistance provided by Angie, Alicia, Angie, and Sochi, hundreds of eligible infants and children are fully covered by insurance and their parents are equipped with the resources and tools necessary to help their children thrive. Wow, thank you so much. And the final goal in the area of health is that by 2015, the prevalence of childhood obesity will decrease as measured by the following. Their percentage of children under five years who are overweight or obese will decrease from 15% to 12%. And the percentage of children from five to 19 years who are overweight or obese will decrease from 26% to 21%. And the distinguished honoree of this award goes to Lily Beggs, registered nurse. As I said, Lily is a registered nurse and director of the Lactation Center at Sutter Maternity and Surgery Center. She is largely regarded as a premier expert in her field and has been involved in many breastfeeding advisory groups sharing her years of experience and expertise with the community. Over 20 years of training and hands-on experience make her an invaluable resource for mothers with newborns as well as professionals. She recently assisted Sutter in earning the baby-friendly certification, which means that the hospital offers optimal levels of care for infant feeding by giving mothers the information, confidence, and skills needed to successfully initiate and continue breastfeeding. By addressing individuals and system-wide lactation concerns, Lily has made a profound impact on the health of thousands of mothers and children. Thank you, Lily. Our awards in the natural environment, first, very important to our community, the goal to reduce water pollution, the health of our rivers and our ocean is improved by reducing erosion, chemical and biological pollution, and improving the riparian corridors. Our first awardee, Bob Geyer, please. As the Assistant Director of Public Works and Utilities for the City of Watsonville, Bob has worked to integrate innovative environmental frameworks into traditional public work services. His 25 years of dedication to preserving the natural environment has helped create such assets as the wetlands trail system, the community garden program, the Watsonville Nature Center, and the wastewater recycling facility. He helped to restore and reconstruct the wetlands of Watsonville and create the beautiful seven-mile pedestrian and bicycle trail system with the goal of completing the master plan for 30 miles of trails before he retires in December. Bob is a passionate advocate for our local wetlands and the environment, whose projects also generate a tremendous benefit to the residents and businesses in Watsonville and the entire county. Again, I'm round of applause. Another very important goal in the category of natural environment, by the year 2015, to develop a local sustainable food system, all community members are to have access to affordable, locally grown food produced in a sustainable manner that preserves farmland fertility. And our awardee, Anna Rasmussen. Anna has combined her bilingual social work career, agricultural training at UCSC, and passion for nutrition and social justice to create the Mesa Verde Gardens project in the South County. Established in 2010, the Mesa Verde Gardens helps working poor and unemployed families create their own affordable, sustainable food system in the agriculturally rich Pajaro Valley. Garden participants grow fruits and vegetables in individual plots, improving their family's food security and health while building healthy communities literally from the ground up. Anna founded the gardens with a tenacious commitment to improving residents access to healthy food within a culturally competent framework. While Anna is dedicated to networking with local agencies and residents, she is often found with her hands in the dirt nurturing her grassroots project. Thank you, Anna. And our final goal in the category of natural environment. By the year 2015, to support clean alternative energy, use of clean alternative energy and sustainable fuels are to be increased through financial incentives and reduction of policy barriers. And our awardee in this category is Bruce Daniels. Bruce has dedicated his life's work to researching and improving local water quality and quantity. This incredibly important and complex issue affects every single county resident. And Bruce is one of a select group of scientists focused solely on hydro climatology which examines how climate change will impact water resources. He is currently completing his PhD at UC Santa Cruz and serves on local water boards and commissions including as the chair of the States Regional Water Quality Control Board and the director of the Soquel Creek Water District. Bruce utilizes his expertise to assist water districts in incorporating climate change projections so that projects are planned to sufficiently accommodate future available water supply and demands. This vital work makes him a champion for both the well-being of Santa Cruz County's residents as well as the natural environment. It's too bad we didn't have one other category that being for a best t-shirt of the day. My vote would have gone for Anna back here, so great, great t-shirt. Our next category is that of public safety. The first goal is that by 2015, more youth will be involved in prevention and positive social activities and fewer youth will enter into the juvenile delinquency system. And as a team, we would like to honor the founders of the Santa Cruz County Football Revolution. These two gentlemen are Chris Weintzen and Francisco Alfaro. Chris and Francisco founded Santa Cruz County Football Club Revolution in 2009 in order to eliminate the financial and logistical barriers that many highly skilled, yet low-income young soccer players face in our community. Together, they provide young athletes with the opportunity to compete in the prestigious NorCal Premier Soccer League. Football Club Revolution offers a healthy social activity for undeserved and at-risk youth, assisting participants to remain on track to succeed in school and future careers. Chris and Francisco generously share their extensive soccer and mentorship skills in order to uplift our community's youth. So thank you gentlemen. Another goal has to do with this category, and that being the category that I've forgotten already. Thank you. It has to do with adult and juvenile violence, including family violence and gang violence, that it will decrease, as will the impact of violence in the community. And our first respondent, already mentioned a distinguished gentleman here today is Officer Joe Hernandez. Joe, as a mentor, leader, and advocate for at-risk youth, Officer Joe Hernandez has successfully helped many young men break away from gang involvement. Joe makes himself available as a resource to these young adults and steers them toward other appropriate local support systems that he collaborates with. He is instrumental in numerous effective community programs, including the Citizens Police Academy, the Summer Teen Police Academy, and the BASTA Operations Collaborative. He is an integral force behind Pride, the gang prevention program, which engages intermediate school-aged students in their community. Joe's sincere and committed efforts to promote public safety and eradicate gang involvement through effective methods of involving youth have contributed significantly to the improvement of our community for all residents. Thank you again, Joe. And the other war to another great advocate for public safety goes to Ms. Josephine Salgado. Josephine has been at a crisis intervention advocate for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault at Women's Crisis Support, also known as Defensa de Mujeres, for the past 12 years. Josephine utilizes her expertise and compassion to advocate for her clients through the legal system, creating safety plans and empowering them to take back their lives and to enter their futures with hope and confidence. Josephine consistently goes the extra mile by researching housing and employment opportunities for her clients and seeking connections with community resources to assist them in the process of healing from their trauma. Her dedication to ending family violence in our community is an inspiration to all her peers and clients, and I would say to us as well. Thank you, Josephine. In the category of our social environment, the first goal, by the year 2015, more Santa Cruz County residents will have access to housing, both rental and home ownership, that they can afford. In our awardee, Jean Graham, please come forward. Jean is a public health nurse and is an integral part of a comprehensive team of nurses and social workers that work to keep homeless families and individuals healthy and housed through supportive housing. A public health nurse serving the drop-in health program at Homeless Persons Health Project for 10 years, Jean is praised for her heartfelt dedication to the clients she provides services to and advocates for. Both her coworkers and clients agree that she has mastered the balance of professionalism and genuine compassion. She is a determined problem solver who assists clients with navigating housing problems, establishing eligibility, understanding leases, and the move-in process with limitless empathy and encouragement. The next goal in this category of social environment, by the year 2015, more Santa Cruz County residents will be actively engaged in improving their community through public participation. And our honoree is Doug Keegan. In his efforts to promote community justice, Doug has actively empowered residents to improve neighborhoods, communities, and civic life. As an immigration attorney and the director of immigration services for 14 years, Doug has assisted legal immigrant residents to become citizens, renew work permits, and obtained answers to legal concerns. Doug's community advocacy work in the last year has focused on issues for and with immigrant residents that are vital to expanding greater public participation, including the California and Federal Dream Act, secure communities policies, voter education workshops, and earned income tax credit promotion, as well as on-site tax preparation services. Doug's oversight of these direct services and public policy advocacy create a tremendous positive impact economically, socially, and educationally for thousands of county residents. The final goal in this category by the year 2015, county residents with disabilities will be able to obtain services needed to support increasing options, pursue goals, and participate in community life at levels consistent with their ability. And we'd like to honor for this category as a group the following community members for their successful efforts to open a special needs resource library in Scotts Valley. Elizabeth Walsh, Peter McClain, and Susie Christensen. Please set that up. Elizabeth, Peter, and Susie collaborated in order to bring the special needs resource library to Santa Cruz County. It is located in the Scotts Valley library and open to anyone in the 10 branch library system. Elizabeth, president of the Friends of the Library Scotts Valley chapter, wrote the grant application that secured $15,000 from the area board seven of the state council on developmental disabilities. Peter and Susie are local representatives on the area board and advocated for securing the grant which funds the acquisition of books, legal manuals, DVDs, and other materials addressing a variety of conditions such as autism, ADHD, Asperger's syndrome, Down syndrome, and many more. The resource library opened in June and is now available for parents, educators, and individuals with special needs to access these valuable resources. These advocates plan on seeking additional funding in order to build the current resource collection and provide increased support to our special needs community. It's an honor to call up all of these very, very well-deserved recipients and I can't think of a higher honor for myself personally right now because I know this gentleman I'm about to call up. Then the one who won the Lifetime Achievement Award. If you know this gentleman and his wife who sadly passed about a month ago, you're walking and you know, you're walking in the midst of someone who truly makes life on this planet better for everyone who ever encounters them. He's an amazing family. Let me just read some of the things that this great man has done, but first let me give the name and that is of course to Father Andrew and his now deceased wife, Terri Beck. Andrew and Terri have raised kids all their lives, biological, foster, adoptive. Sadly, as I mentioned, Terri passed away last month leaving 10 biological and adopted children and over 50, 50 foster children to carry for in the legacy that this couple has had all their lives in our community. Terri and Father Andrew Beck have provided foster care like I said for over 50 children throughout the last 30 years. They made it their mission to provide a loving, nurturing and supportive environment to each individual child, laying a solid foundation for their futures. During the course of the service they gained immeasurable knowledge and experience which they shared as mentors to numerous new foster parents. In addition to serving as a master foster parent so to speak, Terri Beck actively contributed to the assessment and improvement of the child welfare system by serving on the Child Welfare System Improvement Steering Committee, the County Office of Education's Foster Youth Advisory Board and Cabrio College's Foster and Kinship Care Program Advisory Board. I remember they're raising all those kids too, incredible. Terri dedicated her life and her life's passion to caring for children who were victims of abuse and neglect and our community is a safer and more nurturing place because of their advocacy and great compassion. She is a true inspiration to every person she has ever reached and the spirit of her compassion and devotion continues on through the many children they've touched. So please join me. I would take a standing ovation for our Lifetime Achievement Award. Paul and I would like to thank the people who have been instrumental in telling the story of our county's quality of life through the Community Assessment Project Summary Report. They are the designer and publisher of the Summary Report Magazine. From Dominican Hospitals Public Relations Department, I thank and recognize Jason Stoles and Mike Lee. We also want to thank Abby Stevens, Deanna Zachary and Susan Brutsche of Applied Survey Research who have conducted the research and community survey and published the comprehensive report and continually improved the Community Assessment Project over these past 18 years. Thanks to them, thanks to them, our Community Assessment Project is not only the second oldest community report card in America, it is also one of the most innovative. So thanks again, Susan, Abby and Deanna. I want to remind you that packets of the Summary Report are available at the table in the lobby. Please take as many copies as you would like. Copies of the comprehensive report are also available for sale in the lobby. You're all invited to join us for lunch generously provided by the Hospice of Santa Cruz County. And really, we do want to thank you all for being here today and for everything that you do for this really wonderful community. Thanks again for coming out today. Thank you.