Fall 2022

Front Feature

104 Youth

By Itzel Nava and Jarred Martinez

104 Youth is an after school partnership program for middle school students in Glendale. It is currently coordinated by Salt Lake Community College. this fall, they piloted a program focused on educational pathways for the students, focused on hands-on learning and leadership opportunities at the Glendale-Mountain View CLC. The program aims to build community by engaging students and their families through leadership opportunities in the space.

104 Youth centers the voices and stories of the students who influence the curriculum. Workshops are determined by their interest and included identity, housing, connections to food, and environmental justice. The students are knowledge holders and leaders of the conversations. By engaging through art, writing, and poetry, they can creatively express themselves. Community assets are reflected through student art.

Itzel Nava, a 2016 UNP scholarship recipient from Glendale, is the Program Coordinator. Itzel feels it is vital to have someone in the space that understands the students' experiences. Itzel also connects students and their families to resources through SLCC, community artists and organizers. SLCC plans to offer similar programs in other communities for middle schoolers and their families.

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The UNP Team is Growing

By Jewel Morgan

As we continue to have more in person meetings and events, you will likely notice some new faces at UNP. While some of them came to replace team members who have left to pursue school or to advance through new opportunities, others represent our growing team.

Among the newer staff members is Erick Garcia, who joined us to help form new connections through the U West Valley Initiative. Erick's role continues to grow and evolve beyond West Valley. Wisam Khudhair, a Community Capacity and Wellbeing Partnership Manager; is a recent Westside Leadership Institute (WLI) graduate, who leads the NAAN partnerships. Faduma Addi, is our new Hartland Partnership Coordinator. Previously hired to help with Emergency Rental Assistance program (ERAP), Faduma has education and experience that help her connect with the residents who come to Hartland.

More recently we've added Liliana Martfnez. Liliana has been connected to UNP both personally and through partnerships. She brings extensive knowledge to her role as Health Partnership Manager. We also welcomed Melissa Calvillo who will serve as a grant writing and communications specialist. Melissa studied communications and public relations and has experience in the for-profit and non-profit sectors that will provide strengths in her new role.

Tek Neopany, might seem familiar since he is a graduate of WLI and has completed the Case Management course, and worked with UNP as a resource navigator during the peak impact of COVID-19. Tek has an MSW and brings a wealth of education and life experiences with him and joins us as our Community Capacity Partnership Coordinator.

Also new to the team is Jorge Jimenez, our new Education Pathways Partnership Coordinator. Jorge brings enthusiastic energy and has many existing connections to many of the neighborhoods UNP serves.

Please help us welcome all of them. Expect to see other fresh faces as we continue to grow our team and open more graduate assistant opportunities.

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Building Education Pathways for People of All Ages

By Paul Kuttner with Jewel Morgan

It's been a big year for these partnerships. Here are some highlights:

Youth Voices

Nine youth participated, receiving 3 gender studies credits from the University of Utah, and support for college enrollment. Two college students served as mentors.

• Students researched the question, "Who makes decisions about what youth learn in schools?" and created a podcast series through the interviews.
• The youth enrolled in Film 1010, earning 3 credits, practicing college level writing, and creating a short film. They also took an environmental studies course.
• Youth worked with an MFA student to design art lessons based around the book STAMPED on the history of racism and anti-racism.
• All four senior participants will attend the U in the fall with scholarships from First Ascent, Larry H. Miller Foundation, and One Refugee.
• Launched a new website at YouthVoicesUtah.com

Mestizo Arts & Activism

• Ten high school students took part, conducting participatory action research in their communities, earning 3 credits, and receiving support to move on to college.
• Six college student mentors co-led, building relationships with students, learning youth-centered praxis and facilitation skills, and supporting members in navigating higher ed.
• Youth researched through spring semester and engaged in an art-making project. They rearticulated culturally familiar "Lotería" cards to explore topics like counter narratives, identity, and cultural community wealth,
• Guest speakers were Utah Poet Laureate Paisley Rekdal, exploring Utah history through writing; Alonso Reyna of SLCC, Immigration movements and supporting undocumented students; and Dr. Ivis Garcia and her class, Gentrification and story mapping.
• This year's sole MAA senior will enroll in college in the fall with a scholarship.

Utah Community Advocate Network

The newly rebranded Utah Community Advocate Network (UCAN), opened their first office at Rose Park Neighborhood Center and will move to the UNP-Hartland Partnership Center soon. UCAN organized 40 volunteers to help run Partners in the Park, worked as researchers on a project to improve School Community Councils, presented to 38 pre-teachers at the U, supported families with eviction and housing issues, restarted the Intro to Family Leadership class, and launched a workshop series.

Intro to Family Leadership in Education

• 11 West side parents completed the course for 3 credits from the U.
• 22 College of Education students collaborated with parents in the course to design family engagement projects.

Parent Workshops

(76 adult and 13 youth residents attended)

• ABC's of Autism, with Utah Parent Center
• Bullying: Recognition and Prevention, with LBHS
• Bullying: Community Talking Circle with LBHS
• Mental Health: More than Sad. with LBHS
• Food Handlers Permitting, with SLCO

English Skill Building

• Thirteen residents took introductory classes through English Skills Learning Center (ESLC). Seven were expected to graduate into advanced classes.
• Four residents took advanced English classes through the English Language Institute (ELI) at the U.

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Two Leaders Receive Award for Health Equity

By Paul Kuttner

We congratulate UNP partner Javier Alegre, Executive Director at Latino Behavioral Health Services (LBHS) and Teresa Molina, UNP Associate Director, for receiving the 2021 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Award for Health Equity. This award celebrates individuals who have changed systems and policies at a local level to increase the chance that everyone has a fair and just opportunity to live the healthiest life possible. For ten years, LBHS has worked to advance mental health and wellbeing among Latinx and other BIPOC communities in Utah, and to end systemic inequities that deny access to culturally and linguistically responsive mental health supports. They have been at the forefront of an effort to shift the mental health paradigm in Utah from one that diagnoses and treats individual mental illnesses, to one that promotes recovery and wellbeing by addressing the individual, family, community, and institutional factors that shape mental health outcomes in communities facing marginalization. LBHS and its partners work to decrease stigma an promote mental wellness as a shared value through educational initiatives and a peer-to-peer model in which community members build a sense of belonging and become leaders and civic agents in the work. It strengthens health services and systems by promoting culturally and linguistically responsive care and building the diverse, multi-lingual workforce that can offer it. Perhaps most importantly, it centers the voice and leadership of those most impacted: Latinx and BIPOC residents who have experience with mental illness/substance abuse and recovery.

LBHS mission is: AWARENESS, EMPOWERMENT, RECOVERY. Its vision is to enhance the mental health awareness and well-being of people with mental illness, their caregivers and loved ones through support, education, empowerment, facilitation of resources and services with competent responsiveness to cultural, socio-economic and linguistics characteristics." LBHS is a placement site for practicum courses, where students can learn from the responsive and community based approach. The cadre of Latinx, Spanish speaking professionals and paraprofessionals that have come through LBHS and gone on to work in government, private, and community spaces is perhaps the partnership's largest contribution.

PopUlation Health Center

As the University of Utah works to advance initiatives to increase access and support to all Utahns, much of the focus has been on the plans to build a hospital in West Valley City. President Randall has called upon University Neighborhood Partners to ensure a community engaged process leaning on our experience as conveners and the partnership model that has proven so helpful in centering resident voices.

It will be several years before residents are able to seek care at the new hospital, and the U is still committed to the residents Salt Lake City's west side neighborhoods. With that, efforts to open what is being called a PopUlation Health Center in the Jordan Meadows neighborhood, just west of the fairgrounds, are underway.

The clinic is aimed to address health inequities and improve health outcomes within this under resourced community. The current vision will include primary care services to patients regardless of insurance status, an intensive outpatient clinic, mental health services, and dental care with increased access for patients on Medicaid, and helping to support those with refugee background. They are also looking to phase in a clinic for high-risk pregnant patients with Medicaid. In addition, they plan to partner with community based health organizations, and provide space for UNP partner organizations that complement the clinical care.

Watch for more details as the plans solidify.

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Community Corner

Art Castle

While it's not exactly a business, the Art Castle is a west side gem. Built 122 years ago as the 15th ward chapel for LDS pioneers, it later became a film studio, and a few recording studios. When it was home to L.A. East Studio, many popular songs and film scores were recorded in this building.

Now this Victorian brick Gothic chapel is now a Utah Arts Alliance project. They are currently fundraising to purchase and restore the building and provide space for gatherings, public art, a sculpture garden, an immersive art experience, and more. It is located just down the road from the UNP House at 915 W 100 S. Visit the Art Castle website to learn more.

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Health • Opportunity • Impact

The University of Utah has a historic opportunity to build a new model of how a leading research institution supports and collaborates with communities. To create that model, we are cultivating relationships with West Valley communities and working across our university in new ways. By combining the power of health care and education, partnering with communities, and measuring and taking responsibility for outcomes, we can create unsurpassed and sustainable societal impact.

To learn more visit uwestvalley.utah.edu