2022 has been a big year for Belle Haven Action. We received our 501c (3) status from the IRS and moved out on our own with our own finances! What hasn't changed this year is our commitment to our mission. Our activities have included:
Health and Wellness - We brought Worksite Labs in for Covid Testing in February and held our first Community Health Fair. Our second one of the year is coming up on Sunday, December 11 at 10am. We hope to see you there!
Housing Education and Advocacy - We continue to help residents with applications for MidPen Sequoia Belle Haven and Gateway Rising properties. We are also holding an Affordable Housing Interest List Workshop at the Belle Haven Library on Saturday, December 3 from 10-12.
Voter Education and Outreach - partnering with Thrive and the County of San Mateo Office of Elections, we canvassed the neighborhood reminding residents how and where and when to vote. We added three local high school students to our ranks for this work.
Community Gatherings and Leadership and Legacy- from the MLK unity walk to Juneteenth to participation at the Belle Haven Resources Fair and Ruby Bridges Walk to School Day. We also pioneered the oral history recordings of the Menlo Park Black History Project. And we held a Community Conversation over Zoom on November 11.
Environmental and Climate Justice - we hosted our first Stanford Climate Fellow, Eliza Moreno, over the summer. She checked in on the air purifiers we'd distributed, and researched our position on high heat events. Climate Resilient Communities picked up the effort with the Breath of Air Campaign. Residents who want a purifier should fill out this form. Our ED Cecilia Taylor gave the keynote address at the first ever San Mateo County Climate Summit. And the Bay Area Air Quality Management District came to EPA for a training for residents on how to interpret the data that shows the air quality in Belle Haven is more than 23% worse than the air quality in the rest of Menlo Park.
We wish you all the best for the holiday season and the year ahead!