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Changemaking through Advocacy & Community Organizing
Our Vision
One Step Adelante is a program of One Step A La Vez that centers and amplifies the voices of youth of color, youth in the juvenile justice system, and LGBTQ+ youth, in order to create long term impact on the systems and policies directly impacting their lives. Youth determine the issue campaigns they would like to work on and learn and apply the tools of community organizing.
Active Campaigns
- Democracy Project
- Farmworker Justice Project
- Pride Project
- Stop the Closures at Santa Paula Hospital
One Step youth work on various campaigns by engaging in many of the following activities:
- Issues around education
- Know your rights trainings (such as, immigrant's rights, students' rights)
- One on one meetings with decision makers
- Public speaking
- Making long term positive social change
- Changing public and school policy
- Engaging voters & voter registration
- Coalition & movement building; networking the other organizations and youth across Ventura County.
addressing Systemic Change
- Demand VC Public health address disparity in COVID-19 cases in the Santa Clara River Valley.
- Stop proposed logging of Los Padres Forest / Pine Mountain
- Reduce ethnic disparities in the juvenile justice system, goal of zero detention and get a Youth Advisory Council of formerly system involved youth.
- Stop the proposed exemption of the Sespe Aquifer from the Safe Drinking Water Act
- Mandate Ethnic/Chicano Studies be required for graduation at local high schools.
- Demand a community college center in the Santa Clara Valley according to the vision of the people.
- Demand high school students who are learning English are offered ability to meet A-G requirements.
- Get out the Chicanx/Latinx/Indigenous vote and cultivate diverse leadership.
- Demand safety from gun violence at school without militarizing the campus.
- Know Your Rights campaign and family safety planning for mixed status families.
- Get a bus to Santa Clarita / LA County transit system and to Moorpark College
- GOTC (Get out the 2020 Census Count)
Social justice campaign victories
- Win: Helped to create a new chapter Santa Clara Valley LULAC Chapter
- Win: Awarded contract to coordinate a Youth Advisory Council of youth who were formerly system involved (One Step will be coordinating)
- Win: Keyless access to all gender bathrooms for Santa Paula High School students
- Win: Stopped the Santa Paula Power Plant
- Win: Fees waived at Fillmore High for AP testing /access to GPA boost
- Win: Books added to FHS library written by queer authors and people of color
- Win: Creation of Valley Express circulator bus for Fillmore & Piru
- Win: Added stops to circulator route requested by youth
- Win: Add later return time to Ventura on 126 buses
- Win: Recruited two Fillmore residents for 5-year city vacancies on Area Housing Authority
- Win: Organized a county wide forum for LGBTQ teens to identify unmet needs
- Win: Created two LGBTQ+ youth support groups in Fillmore & Santa Paula
- Win: Create an anti-bullying and social equality club at FHS providing support for LGBTQ+ students
- Win: Created an abuse awareness club at the high school
- Win: Partnered to create youth requested psychoeducation with a harm reduction framework on topics identified by the youth (such as self-harm, online dating, suicide prevention)
- Win: Hosted Environmental Justice Summit regarding environmental racism and issues facing the community
addressing Systemic Change
Aimed at dismantling transphobia and educating the impact of heteronormativity.
- Foster more support, events and visibility for the LGBTQ+ community.
- LGBTQ cultural competency trainings to teachers, parents, and medical/mental health providers.
Definitions: Heteronormativity is the belief that being heterosexual or being attracted to the opposite sex, is the natural and accepted sexual orientation (Source: SimplyPsychology.org)
Transphobia: irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against transgender people (Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary)
The Impact: "Heteronormativity presumes heterosexuality is the “default” sexual orientation, thus erasing others’ sexual identity, and can lead people to misgender someone – such as referring to someone with the wrong pronouns." "This can harm LGBTQ+ individuals as it contributes to lacking human rights security and funds to support them and obliterates identity." (Source: https://www.simplypsychology.org/what-is-heteronormativity.html)
STOP THE CLOSURES: Santa Paula HOSPITAL
Losing our local Obstetrics (Maternity Ward) and ICU (Intensive Care Unit) is not an option for the residents of the Santa Clara River Valley and will be devastating to the communities of Santa Paula, Fillmore, and Piru. Imagine not getting the care you need from birthing babies to dealing with life threatening injuries and/or combating a chronic disease. If these units close, you will need to travel 30 minutes to a hospital in Ventura or Santa Clarita. How much will your hospital bill be if you are transported by ambulance? If everyone in the Santa Clara River Valley needs to go outside the area for care, will waiting times be impacted? Longer waiting times lead to riskier situations that could be detrimental to your care. We believe that access to health care from birth to fighting critical injuries must be easily accessible to save lives in local communities. Having to travel outside the region for care may have a detrimental impact on the health and wellbeing of our residents and their families. As our region experiences growth in population due to new housing, we must ensure these medical services remain accessible.
Let’s not put ourselves in that position, we must STOP THE CLOSURES now. As the most disadvantaged region in our County, our community needs these essential lifesaving medical services.
Join us on Monday, June 17th at the County Board of Supervisor’s Board Room starting at 5:00 P.M. The County of Ventura Government Center is located at 800 S. Victoria Avenue in Ventura. You may also sign our petition here: https://forms.gle/9ivqTtjEMCN5YFQ99
It’s time to speak up and use your voice to advocate against these closures to our elected leaders on the County Board of Supervisors. #SaveSPHospital
For information on contacting your representative on the County Board of Supervisors please visit: https://www.ventura.org/board-of.../district-3-kelly-long/