Coco took a piece of my heart with her to the grave, but I am thankful for the memories I have of my times with her. They help fill the void of her absence. Happiness is what she has brought me and I’ll always be happy when I think of her. As always a best friend would want another to be happy alive or not.
California is really the engine for the United States, and in some respects for the world. And the University of California is a big engine for the state. The demographics of California are changing … 45 percent of [UC] students are now first generation [immigrants]; 30 percent are from historically underrepresented groups; we have more people receiving financial aid at four of our campuses than the whole Ivy League combined.
In 2009, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act increased Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits – commonly known as food stamps -- by 13.6 percent, as a way to bring relief to struggling Americans during the economic recession. But on November 1 of this year the increase expired, returning SNAP benefits to to pre-recession levels. The program cut will affect roughly 4 million Californians, many of them young people. We’Ced members discussed the importance of food assistance programs in their own lives, and how they foresee the change affecting their families.
Experts, community advocates, parents and students gathered at the Merced Senior Center on October 24th to discuss their preferences for how new funds are to be spent at local schools. The Fair School Funding Law, or Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), determines that school districts with high percentages of low-income and English learning students can receive a share of an expected $18 billion increase in education spending in California over the next eight years.
Nearly 100 people gathered at Tenaya Middle School on the evening of October 22nd for a city council candidate forum. The youth-led forum, which was hosted by local organizations We’Ced Youth Media and Building Healthy Communities (BHC) Merced, was the first of its kind in this city.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, can offer healthcare benefits for people who previously couldn't afford it. It will take time for Obamacare to be fully implemented and even longer to see if it had a positive impact for the people in Merced and our nation as a whole. Only time can truly tell if the future of our health care system is bright.
I think it’s important for the family members and friends of young people to understand that being exposed to the party scene -- and the drugs and alcohol that come along with that -- is not an uncommon experience for youth, especially in a town like Merced.
Photo: LGBT Health Forumby We’Ced YouthEditor’s Note: On August 8th, We’Ced Youth Media attended Merced’s first LGBT Health Forum held at the Italo-American Lodge on Main Street.Read More
We'Ced Youth Media spent the summer conducting weekly writing circles with over two dozen pre-teens at Merced's Boys and Girls Club's Summer Camp. For over six weeks the writing circles practiced writing, built relationships and explored identity. As a capstone to the experience, during the last circle the B&GC youth shared of themselves through a poetic writing exercise entitled "I Am From" to create these writing pieces to share with their communities.
Photo: werthmediaby We’Ced Youth MediaEditor’s Note: Following last week’s Zimmerman trial verdict, We’Ced engaged in a series of lengthy discussions on the death of Trayvon, the trial itself and the message the entire experience sends to youth of color.Read More
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