At the talk, Murphy repeatedly described his vision of a bright future for Merced, but failed to share much detail on how the city planned to improve its record on youth investment. City leaders have previously been criticized for slashing youth-program funding, investing about $13,000 annually in youth programs in recent years.
Murphy said that the city recently added more resources to McNamara and Stephen Leonard Parks, enabling the city to serve thousands of families through academic and recreational resources.
While anyone can fall prey to a scam artist, officials say immigrant, low-income and minority communities in the Central San Joaquin Valley are among the most frequently targeted by fraud. Language barriers and unfamiliarity with the U.S. government make them attractive targets for would-be scammers.
Undocumented communities are especially vulnerable, with fears of deportation preventing victims from interacting with authorities.
All I want for the New Year is for us to put resentment behind us. I hold a lot of anger towards people within my community, school and neighborhood and I would like to try and let go of some of it. That is my holiday wish.
“The most important thing to remember, is that you may not have papers, but you do have rights. You have the right to remain silent. You do not have to respond to immigration’s questions,” Davenport said. “If they ask where you were born or where you live, just say you’d prefer not to answer.”
The hope is that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials will decide you are too much of a hassle and will not bother pursuing someone who shows they have a clear understanding of their legal rights, she said.
“I got a lot of support from other people of color in the area, which I think is important,” Lor said. “Being in the community for so long, it was frustrating to speak but not be heard and to see but not be seen.”
Growing up in Merced County, Lor said she is intimately familiar with many of the struggles residents still face and has worked hard over the last 15 years to help strengthen the community.
The bilingual forum drew nearly 70 people and was a joint effort from BHC Merced’s Neighborhood Action Team, Health Equity Project and the Merced Organizing Project.
Organizers invited all the candidates running for Merced City Council Districts 1, 3 and 5 - the only three district seats up for grabs this election year.
I am trying to bring an annual Nut Festival to Merced, to really make us a destination place while creating jobs for our citizens including a summer youth employment program for ages 16-19. I want to bring all the communities together to focus on how to move Merced together in a positive way that will include UC Merced students and fostering an atmosphere where they can use the skills they have acquired, creating new tech companies and expanding our health care while giving back to the community through helping with students in our city schools. This will help elevate ALL areas of our community creating jobs, which promotes public safety by lowering the crime level.
I like to bring forth a stronger investment in our youth. One idea I have is to work with Downtown businesses to create a summer youth internship program with the city. Often our youth have nothing to do in the summer; and I want to make sure we are investing in them and keeping them off the street especially from those members of our community who are looking to recruit them into gangs.
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