window.__IS_SSR__=true
window.__INITIAL_STATE__={
"attachmentsReducer": {
"audio_0": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_0",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background0.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_1": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_1",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background1.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_2": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_2",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background2.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_3": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_3",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background3.jpg"
}
}
},
"audio_4": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "audio_4",
"imgSizes": {
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/themes/KQED-unified/img/audio_bgs/background4.jpg"
}
}
},
"placeholder": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "placeholder",
"imgSizes": {
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"medium_large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-768x512.jpg",
"width": 768,
"height": 512,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-lrg": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-med": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"fd-sm": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xxsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xsmall": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"small": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"xlarge": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-32": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 32,
"height": 32,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-50": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 50,
"height": 50,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-64": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 64,
"height": 64,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-96": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 96,
"height": 96,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"guest-author-128": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 128,
"height": 128,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"detail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-1333x1333-1-160x160.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/KQED-Default-Image-816638274-2000x1333-1.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
}
},
"news_11967147": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11967147",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11967147",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11967144,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/103123-UC-Davis-Health-Sacramento-MG-CM-01-1038x576.jpeg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/103123-UC-Davis-Health-Sacramento-MG-CM-01-160x107.jpeg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/103123-UC-Davis-Health-Sacramento-MG-CM-01-672x372.jpeg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/103123-UC-Davis-Health-Sacramento-MG-CM-01.jpeg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/103123-UC-Davis-Health-Sacramento-MG-CM-01-1020x680.jpeg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/103123-UC-Davis-Health-Sacramento-MG-CM-01-1536x1024.jpeg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1024
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/103123-UC-Davis-Health-Sacramento-MG-CM-01-1920x1280.jpeg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/103123-UC-Davis-Health-Sacramento-MG-CM-01-800x533.jpeg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
}
},
"publishDate": 1699905756,
"modified": 1699905832,
"caption": "The UC Davis Health campus in Sacramento on Oct. 13, 2023.",
"description": null,
"title": "103123-UC-Davis-Health-Sacramento-MG-CM-01",
"credit": "Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "Two people walk past a sign that says 'UC Davis Health' - with a large hospital in the background.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11966640": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11966640",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11966640",
"found": true
},
"title": "Los Angeles Department of Public Health, The People Concern, vaccination clinic.",
"publishDate": 1699385423,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 11966587,
"modified": 1723747487,
"caption": "A registered nurse with the Los Angeles Department of Public Health administers a COVID-19 vaccination at the Village Mental Health Services in Los Angeles in August 2022. ",
"credit": "Christina House/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images",
"altTag": "A person wearing a mask and latex gloves administers a shot in another person's arm.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1242749971-qut-800x531.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 531,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1242749971-qut-1020x677.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 677,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1242749971-qut-160x106.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 106,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1242749971-qut-1536x1019.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1019,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1242749971-qut-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1242749971-qut-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1242749971-qut.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1274
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11966539": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11966539",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11966539",
"found": true
},
"parent": 0,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM01-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM01-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM01-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM01.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1334
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM01-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM01-1536x1025.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1025
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM01-1920x1281.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1281
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM01-800x534.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 534
}
},
"publishDate": 1699298870,
"modified": 1699303597,
"caption": "Army veteran Latoya White at her home on Treasure Island in San Francisco on Oct. 24, 2023. A third of the nation’s homeless veterans live in California, where the state has spent several billion dollars creating more housing specifically for former military service members since 9/11.",
"description": null,
"title": "CM01",
"credit": "Loren Elliott/CalMatters",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "A woman stands near a cement walk, looking serious. She wears a gray, zip-up jacket that says the word, \"Army.\" Trees are behind her and a parking lot.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11903117": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11903117",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11903117",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11902998,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/194146336_326107285562520_8338172634866005523_n-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/194146336_326107285562520_8338172634866005523_n-160x120.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 120
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/194146336_326107285562520_8338172634866005523_n-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/194146336_326107285562520_8338172634866005523_n-scaled.jpg",
"width": 2560,
"height": 1920
},
"2048x2048": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/194146336_326107285562520_8338172634866005523_n-2048x1536.jpg",
"width": 2048,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1536
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/194146336_326107285562520_8338172634866005523_n-1020x765.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 765
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/194146336_326107285562520_8338172634866005523_n-1536x1152.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1152
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/194146336_326107285562520_8338172634866005523_n-1920x1440.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1440
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/194146336_326107285562520_8338172634866005523_n-800x600.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 600
}
},
"publishDate": 1643394827,
"modified": 1643403729,
"caption": "Rev. Jim Mitulski at Lake Merritt in Oakland in 2021.",
"description": null,
"title": "194146336_326107285562520_8338172634866005523_n",
"credit": "Courtesy of Todd Atkins-Whitley",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "A man sitting outside on a chair by a lake.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11965426": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11965426",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11965426",
"found": true
},
"title": "231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-034-BL-KQED",
"publishDate": 1698176040,
"status": "inherit",
"parent": 12043893,
"modified": 1749752323,
"caption": "Catalina O'Connor and Zoe Huey rehearse for the Bay Curious National AIDS Memorial Walking Tour in the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2023.",
"credit": "Beth LaBerge/KQED",
"altTag": "Two people hold each other, appearing to be dancing, in a wooded area.",
"description": null,
"imgSizes": {
"medium": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-034-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"height": 533,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"large": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-034-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"height": 680,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-034-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"height": 107,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-034-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"height": 1024,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-034-BL-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"height": 372,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-034-BL-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"height": 576,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-034-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"height": 1280,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg"
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-034-BL-KQED.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
}
},
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11965428": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11965428",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11965428",
"found": true
},
"parent": 0,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-046-BL-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-046-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-046-BL-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-046-BL-KQED.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-046-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-046-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1024
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-046-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-046-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
}
},
"publishDate": 1698176109,
"modified": 1698264039,
"caption": "Tajh Stallworth and Jubilee rehearse for the Bay Curious National AIDS Memorial Walking Tour in the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco on Oct. 22, 2023.",
"description": null,
"title": "231022-AIDSMemorialGrove-046-BL-KQED",
"credit": "Beth LaBerge/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "Two people hold each other, appearing to be dancing, in a wooded area.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11964796": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11964796",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11964796",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11964791,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/CalMatters01-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/CalMatters01-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/CalMatters01-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/CalMatters01.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/CalMatters01-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/CalMatters01-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1024
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/CalMatters01-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/CalMatters01-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
}
},
"publishDate": 1697561951,
"modified": 1697562044,
"caption": "Striking Kaiser Permanente mental health workers stage a die-in at the Kaiser Headquarters in Oakland on Oct. 7, 2022.",
"description": null,
"title": "CalMatters01",
"credit": "Martin do Nascimento/CalMatters",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "Mental health workers in red T-shirts hold signs in protest outside of a Kaiser facility in Oakland.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11964381": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11964381",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11964381",
"found": true
},
"parent": 0,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/AP23286504550196-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/AP23286504550196-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/AP23286504550196-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/AP23286504550196-scaled.jpg",
"width": 2560,
"height": 1707
},
"2048x2048": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/AP23286504550196-2048x1366.jpg",
"width": 2048,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1366
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/AP23286504550196-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/AP23286504550196-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1024
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/AP23286504550196-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/AP23286504550196-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
}
},
"publishDate": 1697216239,
"modified": 1697216361,
"caption": "Kaiser Permanente frontline health care workers picket outside the Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center in Los Angeles on Friday, Oct. 6, 2023. Unions representing 75,000 health care workers who recently held a strike against industry giant Kaiser Permanente over wages and staffing shortages have reached a tentative agreement with the company. ",
"description": null,
"title": "Hospital Strike",
"credit": "Damian Dovarganes/AP ",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "Protestors outside of a Kaiser Permanente in Los Angeles stand behind the medical center's sign holding signs.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11963695": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11963695",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11963695",
"found": true
},
"parent": 0,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-ChildCareLaborMovement-005-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-ChildCareLaborMovement-005-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-ChildCareLaborMovement-005-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-ChildCareLaborMovement-005-KQED.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-ChildCareLaborMovement-005-KQED-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-ChildCareLaborMovement-005-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1024
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-ChildCareLaborMovement-005-KQED-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-ChildCareLaborMovement-005-KQED-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
}
},
"publishDate": 1696612069,
"modified": 1696612374,
"caption": "Nancy Harvey stands outside of her childcare and early childhood education center, L’il Nancy’s Primary Schoolhouse, in Oakland on Oct. 4, 2023.",
"description": null,
"title": "231004-ChildCareLaborMovement-005-KQED",
"credit": "Beth LaBerge/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "A person with long hair smiles and leans against a wall.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11964286": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11964286",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11964286",
"found": true
},
"parent": 0,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231012-NEWSOM-MENTAL-HEALTH-AP-DD-01-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231012-NEWSOM-MENTAL-HEALTH-AP-DD-01-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231012-NEWSOM-MENTAL-HEALTH-AP-DD-01-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231012-NEWSOM-MENTAL-HEALTH-AP-DD-01-KQED.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231012-NEWSOM-MENTAL-HEALTH-AP-DD-01-KQED-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231012-NEWSOM-MENTAL-HEALTH-AP-DD-01-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1024
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231012-NEWSOM-MENTAL-HEALTH-AP-DD-01-KQED-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231012-NEWSOM-MENTAL-HEALTH-AP-DD-01-KQED-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
}
},
"publishDate": 1697144472,
"modified": 1697151766,
"caption": "Gov. Gavin Newsom signs off on 2 proposals in Los Angeles, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023, to transform the state's mental health system and address the state's worsening homelessness crisis, putting them both before voters in 2024. ",
"description": null,
"title": "Gavin Newsom",
"credit": "Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "A group of people standing around a table and posing for a photo with two people in the center holding a piece of paper together.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11963445": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11963445",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11963445",
"found": true
},
"parent": 0,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-OAKLAND-MD-14-KQED-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-OAKLAND-MD-14-KQED-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-OAKLAND-MD-14-KQED-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-OAKLAND-MD-14-KQED.jpg?ver=1696456624",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-OAKLAND-MD-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-OAKLAND-MD-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1024
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-OAKLAND-MD-14-KQED-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-OAKLAND-MD-14-KQED-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
}
},
"publishDate": 1696455993,
"modified": 1696456646,
"caption": "Kaiser workers strike in front of the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center in Oakland on Oct. 4, 2023",
"description": null,
"title": "231004-KAISER STRIKE OAKLAND-MD-14-KQED",
"credit": "Martin do Nascimento/KQED",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "A large group of people hold signs in an outdoor setting.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
},
"news_11963971": {
"type": "attachments",
"id": "news_11963971",
"meta": {
"index": "attachments_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11963971",
"found": true
},
"parent": 11963961,
"imgSizes": {
"twentyfourteen-full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/092623-Newsom-Gun-Bill-Signing-MG-CM-03-1038x576.jpg",
"width": 1038,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 576
},
"thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/092623-Newsom-Gun-Bill-Signing-MG-CM-03-160x107.jpg",
"width": 160,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 107
},
"post-thumbnail": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/092623-Newsom-Gun-Bill-Signing-MG-CM-03-672x372.jpg",
"width": 672,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 372
},
"kqedFullSize": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/092623-Newsom-Gun-Bill-Signing-MG-CM-03.jpg",
"width": 2000,
"height": 1333
},
"large": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/092623-Newsom-Gun-Bill-Signing-MG-CM-03-1020x680.jpg",
"width": 1020,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 680
},
"1536x1536": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/092623-Newsom-Gun-Bill-Signing-MG-CM-03-1536x1024.jpg",
"width": 1536,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1024
},
"full-width": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/092623-Newsom-Gun-Bill-Signing-MG-CM-03-1920x1280.jpg",
"width": 1920,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 1280
},
"medium": {
"file": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/092623-Newsom-Gun-Bill-Signing-MG-CM-03-800x533.jpg",
"width": 800,
"mimeType": "image/jpeg",
"height": 533
}
},
"publishDate": 1696962198,
"modified": 1696962314,
"caption": "Gov. Gavin Newsom during a press conference where he signed new gun legislation into law at the Capitol Annex Swing Space in Sacramento on Sept. 26, 2023.",
"description": null,
"title": "092623-Newsom-Gun-Bill-Signing-MG-CM-03",
"credit": "Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters",
"status": "inherit",
"altTag": "A profile of Gov. Gavin Newsom looking very serious.",
"isLoading": false,
"fetchFailed": false
}
},
"audioPlayerReducer": {
"postId": "stream_live",
"isPaused": true,
"isPlaying": false,
"pfsActive": false,
"pledgeModalIsOpen": true,
"playerDrawerIsOpen": false,
"liveAudioPlayStartedAt": 0,
"liveAudioPlayContext": ""
},
"authorsReducer": {
"byline_news_11967144": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_news_11967144",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_news_11967144",
"name": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/shreya-agrawal/\">Shreya Agrawal\u003c/a>",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_news_11966533": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_news_11966533",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_news_11966533",
"name": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/shreya-agrawal/\">Shreya Agrawal\u003c/a>",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_news_11965937": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_news_11965937",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_news_11965937",
"name": "María Fernanda Bernal",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_news_11964791": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_news_11964791",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_news_11964791",
"name": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/jocelyn-wiener/\">Jocelyn Wiener\u003c/a>",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_news_11964377": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_news_11964377",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_news_11964377",
"name": "The Associated Press",
"isLoading": false
},
"byline_news_11963961": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "byline_news_11963961",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"slug": "byline_news_11963961",
"name": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/jocelyn-wiener/\">Jocelyn Wiener\u003c/a>",
"isLoading": false
},
"ohubertallen": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "102",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "102",
"found": true
},
"name": "Olivia Allen-Price",
"firstName": "Olivia",
"lastName": "Allen-Price",
"slug": "ohubertallen",
"email": "oallenprice@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "Senior Editor",
"bio": "Olivia Allen-Price is senior editor and host of the award-winning Bay Curious podcast. Prior to joining KQED in 2013, Olivia worked at The Baltimore Sun and The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va. She holds degrees in journalism and political science from Elon University. Her work has earned awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Hearst Foundation and Hearken. She loves to talk about running and curly hair.\r\n\r\nFollow: \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/oallenprice\">@oallenprice\u003c/a>\r\nEmail: \u003ca href=\"mailto:oallenprice@kqed.org\">oallenprice@kqed.org\u003c/a>",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/07f7803c1f6be56f3be58ef276dfa64dce898502e0554408ef4858451a8294f7?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "oallenprice",
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"subscriber"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "pop",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "bayareabites",
"roles": [
"contributor"
]
},
{
"site": "stateofhealth",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Olivia Allen-Price | KQED",
"description": "Senior Editor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/07f7803c1f6be56f3be58ef276dfa64dce898502e0554408ef4858451a8294f7?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/07f7803c1f6be56f3be58ef276dfa64dce898502e0554408ef4858451a8294f7?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/ohubertallen"
},
"gmarzorati": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "227",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "227",
"found": true
},
"name": "Guy Marzorati",
"firstName": "Guy",
"lastName": "Marzorati",
"slug": "gmarzorati",
"email": "gmarzorati@KQED.org",
"display_author_email": true,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "Correspondent",
"bio": "Guy Marzorati is a correspondent on KQED's California Politics and Government Desk, based in San Jose. A graduate of Santa Clara University, Guy joined KQED in 2013. He reports on state and local politics and produces KQED's digital voter guide.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/771cddf45ce3a8ed533d82dcc214e9ef925d76d2af5794a33da1ce439eb54a32?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "guymarzorati",
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "elections",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Guy Marzorati | KQED",
"description": "Correspondent",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/771cddf45ce3a8ed533d82dcc214e9ef925d76d2af5794a33da1ce439eb54a32?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/771cddf45ce3a8ed533d82dcc214e9ef925d76d2af5794a33da1ce439eb54a32?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/gmarzorati"
},
"carlysevern": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "3243",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "3243",
"found": true
},
"name": "Carly Severn",
"firstName": "Carly",
"lastName": "Severn",
"slug": "carlysevern",
"email": "csevern@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "Senior Editor, Audience News ",
"bio": "Carly is KQED's Senior Editor of Audience News on the Digital News team, and has reported for the California Report Magazine, Bay Curious and KQED Arts. She's formerly the host of \u003ca href=\"http://ww2.kqed.org/pop/category/the-cooler/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Cooler\u003c/a> podcast.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/54037bf5c128fe678f0ef26cec97a93f2e7f220a22d7285703328f12c42c1b1d?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "teacupinthebay",
"bluesky": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "arts",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "pop",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "futureofyou",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "about",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "mindshift",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "bayareabites",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "stateofhealth",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "food",
"roles": [
"contributor"
]
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
},
{
"site": "perspectives",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Carly Severn | KQED",
"description": "Senior Editor, Audience News ",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/54037bf5c128fe678f0ef26cec97a93f2e7f220a22d7285703328f12c42c1b1d?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/54037bf5c128fe678f0ef26cec97a93f2e7f220a22d7285703328f12c42c1b1d?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/carlysevern"
},
"afont": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "8637",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "8637",
"found": true
},
"name": "Amanda Font",
"firstName": "Amanda",
"lastName": "Font",
"slug": "afont",
"email": "afont@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": "Amanda Font is a producer on \u003cem>The Latest\u003c/em> podcast, and the host and co-producer of the series \u003cem>Audible Cosmos\u003c/em>. She has previously worked as a producer and reporter on the \u003cem>Bay Curious\u003c/em> podcast, and director of \u003cem>The California Report Magazine\u003c/em>. She grew up in the deserts of Southern California and moved north for the trees. Amanda earned a B.A. from the BECA program at San Francisco State, where she worked in the university's radio station. Amanda Font is represented by SAG-AFTRA.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d9e81cf0117d5849b9cfb7ab4b1422f1?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"add_users",
"create_users"
]
},
{
"site": "science",
"roles": []
},
{
"site": "forum",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "perspectives",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
},
{
"site": "radio",
"roles": [
"administrator"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Amanda Font | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d9e81cf0117d5849b9cfb7ab4b1422f1?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/d9e81cf0117d5849b9cfb7ab4b1422f1?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/afont"
},
"daisynguyen": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11829",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11829",
"found": true
},
"name": "Daisy Nguyen",
"firstName": "Daisy",
"lastName": "Nguyen",
"slug": "daisynguyen",
"email": "daisynguyen@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": true,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "KQED Contributor",
"bio": "I have covered early childhood education and child care for KQED since 2022. I focus on policies aimed at increasing access to early care and education and how they shape individual lives. I've been a journalist for more than two decades, with most of that time devoted to covering breaking news throughout California for The Associated Press. I grew up in San Francisco and studied at UC Davis and Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. I live in Oakland with my husband and two kids.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2da2127c27f7143b53ebd419800fd55f?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": null,
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": "https://www.linkedin.com/in/daisynguyen/",
"sites": [
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"author"
]
},
{
"site": "liveblog",
"roles": [
"author"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Daisy Nguyen | KQED",
"description": "KQED Contributor",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2da2127c27f7143b53ebd419800fd55f?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/2da2127c27f7143b53ebd419800fd55f?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/daisynguyen"
},
"sjohnson": {
"type": "authors",
"id": "11840",
"meta": {
"index": "authors_1716337520",
"id": "11840",
"found": true
},
"name": "Sydney Johnson",
"firstName": "Sydney",
"lastName": "Johnson",
"slug": "sjohnson",
"email": "sjohnson@kqed.org",
"display_author_email": false,
"staff_mastheads": [
"news"
],
"title": "KQED Reporter",
"bio": "Sydney Johnson is a general assignment reporter at KQED. She previously reported on public health and city government at the San Francisco Examiner, and before that, she covered statewide education policy for EdSource. Her reporting has won multiple local, state and national awards. Sydney is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and lives in San Francisco.",
"avatar": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97855f2719b72ad6190b7c535fe642c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twitter": "sydneyfjohnson",
"facebook": null,
"instagram": null,
"linkedin": null,
"sites": [
{
"site": "news",
"roles": [
"editor"
]
}
],
"headData": {
"title": "Sydney Johnson | KQED",
"description": "KQED Reporter",
"ogImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97855f2719b72ad6190b7c535fe642c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g",
"twImgSrc": "https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/97855f2719b72ad6190b7c535fe642c8?s=600&d=blank&r=g"
},
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/author/sjohnson"
}
},
"pagesReducer": {
"news_tag_health": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18543",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18543",
"score": 6.8909874
},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Health",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Health Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 466,
"slug": "health",
"isLoading": false,
"title": "Health",
"pageMeta": {
"site": "news",
"WpPageTemplate": "page-topic-editorial",
"currentPage": 43
},
"blocks": [
{
"blockName": "kqed/post-list",
"attrs": {
"layout": "cardArticle2",
"query": "posts/news?tag=health",
"seeMore": false,
"paginated": true,
"page": 43
}
},
{
"blockName": "kqed/ad"
}
]
}
},
"pfsSessionReducer": {},
"postsReducer": {
"stream_live": {
"type": "live",
"id": "stream_live",
"audioUrl": "https://hls.kqed.org/hls/kqed_app/playlist.m3u8",
"title": "Live Stream",
"excerpt": "Live Stream information currently unavailable.",
"link": "/radio",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "KQED Live",
"link": "/"
}
},
"stream_kqedNewscast": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "stream_kqedNewscast",
"audioUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1",
"title": "KQED Newscast",
"featImg": "",
"label": {
"name": "88.5 FM",
"link": "/"
}
},
"news_11967144": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11967144",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11967144",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1699909238000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "minimum-wage-hike-for-california-health-workers-will-cost-billions-workers-say-they-need-it",
"title": "Minimum Wage Hike for California Health Care Workers Could Cost the State Billions",
"publishDate": 1699909238,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Minimum Wage Hike for California Health Care Workers Could Cost the State Billions | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 18481,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Alvin Mauricio Medina works three jobs, six days a week, to support his family as the sole provider for their Los Angeles household. He’s a certified nursing assistant who dreams of moving up to a higher-paying health care position.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m trying to better myself, I’m trying to move on to being a registered nurse. But here in California, with the low wages that we have, either you work or you’re going to school,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medina, 45, has worked in health care for over 20 years and makes less than $22 an hour. While his main job is at a hospital in Hollywood, he picks up shifts as a nurse assistant at other hospitals to provide for his husband, who is unable to work and two kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s expecting to get a break come January, thanks to a law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last month that gradually raises the\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/california-minimum-wage-health-care-law/\"> minimum wage for health care industry workers\u003c/a> to $25 an hour. The measure, expected to boost pay for roughly 500,000 Californians, had support from both unions and the lobbying group representing California hospitals. But lawmakers passed the bill — and Newsom signed it — without providing a cost estimate.[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"health-care-workers\"]Now, the Newsom administration is projecting the wage hike will add at least $4 billion in costs to the government agencies that provide health care to Californians. About half of that will come from the state’s general fund and the other half from the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The unions and lawmakers who advocated for the wage increase say it is necessary to improve the lives of overworked and underpaid health care workers, many of whom have quit their jobs in recent years, leaving health care systems severely understaffed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are everyday people doing their jobs, struggling to make ends meet, struggling to pay rent,” said Todd Stenhouse, a \u003ca href=\"https://afscme3299.org/\">spokesperson for AFSCME 3299\u003c/a>, the union representing blue-collar workers in the University of California health system. “They deserve stability, security. Their work deserves value.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new cost estimates are unsurprising to Republican lawmakers who opposed the wage increase. Democratic lawmakers passed the measure despite the state’s\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/05/california-budget-deficit-newsom/\"> projected $31 billion budget deficit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This bill places astronomical labor costs on health care providers when hospitals across the state deal with financial losses,” said Republican Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/vince-fong-1979/\">Vince Fong\u003c/a> of Bakersfield. “We were concerned that this bill will lead to reduced services, increased premiums, more hospital closures, reduced job opportunities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-what-minimum-wage-hike-means-for-payroll\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>What wage hike means for payroll\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers did not have cost estimates when they voted on the wage increase in part because the final bill reflected a last-minute deal between \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/09/california-minimum-wage-health-care-workers/\">major health care employers \u003c/a>represented by the California Hospital Association and the Service Employees International Union. Their agreement replaced an earlier version that would have raised pay faster for workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the original bill would have immediately raised wages to $25, the signed version will gradually increase wages. Most workers are expected to reach $25 an hour by 2027 or 2028, although it will come sooner to workers in certain facilities, like dialysis clinics and large health systems with more than 10,000 employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the workers are employed by the state, either at the UC health system or in agencies such as the Department of State Hospitals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the private sector, a consultant working for a coalition of health care providers estimated the original bill with the immediate wage increase to $25 an hour would have cost the industry $8 billion. The California Hospital Association did not have a new estimate of projected costs when CalMatters requested one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://seiuca.org/\">SEIU California Executive Director Tia Orr, \u003c/a>in a written statement, said that most health care employers supported the wage increase. She said the union “has committed to working with the administration and the Legislature to ensure safeguards are in place to guarantee that this critical measure is taken to preserve California’s fiscal health, just as we did when negotiating the last statewide minimum wage increase. This is how you make progress — through flexibility and compromise in achieving shared goals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-health-care-workers-on-public-assistance\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Health care workers on public assistance\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Newsom did not comment on the law when he signed it. In contrast, he attended an event hosted by SEIU when he signed a similar law that creates a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/09/minimum-wage-california/\">$20 minimum wage in the fast-food industry\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/maria-elena-durazo-1953/\">María Elena Durazo\u003c/a>, the Los Angeles Democrat who wrote the original health care wage increase, pointed to a different cost estimate for the law provided by the UC Berkeley Labor Center. \u003ca href=\"https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/release-health-care-minimum-wage-state-budget/\">It projected the new law\u003c/a> could save the state money by ensuring workers earn enough to avoid using public assistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hundreds of thousands of Californians will see their wages increase, which means money in the pockets of healthcare workers to help support their families,” she said in a statement, calling it a “historic investment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gabriela Guevara, a medical receptionist at Clinica Sierra Vista in Fresno, believes the law will ease staffing challenges in her industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is going to better serve all the patients. The more staff we have, we are going to be able to give that quality of care for all the patients that are coming in,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medina, the certified nursing assistant in Los Angeles, hopes the new law will allow him to quit one of his jobs when it takes effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is definitely going to let me spend more time with my kids,” Medina said. “It will let me go to school. And I don’t have to worry about being late to my third job or my second job. I can just focus on one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://www.chcf.org/\">\u003cem>www.chcf.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> to learn more.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "About half a million California health care workers are expected to see a pay increase in January — with wages eventually reaching $25 an hour — thanks to a law hiking the minimum wage for their industry.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726004806,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 23,
"wordCount": 1020
},
"headData": {
"title": "Minimum Wage Hike for California Health Care Workers Could Cost the State Billions | KQED",
"description": "About half a million California health care workers are expected to see a pay increase in January — with wages eventually reaching $25 an hour — thanks to a law hiking the minimum wage for their industry.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Minimum Wage Hike for California Health Care Workers Could Cost the State Billions",
"datePublished": "2023-11-13T13:00:38-08:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-10T14:46:46-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/shreya-agrawal/\">Shreya Agrawal\u003c/a>",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"showOnAuthorArchivePages": "No",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11967144/minimum-wage-hike-for-california-health-workers-will-cost-billions-workers-say-they-need-it",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Alvin Mauricio Medina works three jobs, six days a week, to support his family as the sole provider for their Los Angeles household. He’s a certified nursing assistant who dreams of moving up to a higher-paying health care position.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’m trying to better myself, I’m trying to move on to being a registered nurse. But here in California, with the low wages that we have, either you work or you’re going to school,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medina, 45, has worked in health care for over 20 years and makes less than $22 an hour. While his main job is at a hospital in Hollywood, he picks up shifts as a nurse assistant at other hospitals to provide for his husband, who is unable to work and two kids.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He’s expecting to get a break come January, thanks to a law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last month that gradually raises the\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/california-minimum-wage-health-care-law/\"> minimum wage for health care industry workers\u003c/a> to $25 an hour. The measure, expected to boost pay for roughly 500,000 Californians, had support from both unions and the lobbying group representing California hospitals. But lawmakers passed the bill — and Newsom signed it — without providing a cost estimate.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "related coverage ",
"tag": "health-care-workers"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Now, the Newsom administration is projecting the wage hike will add at least $4 billion in costs to the government agencies that provide health care to Californians. About half of that will come from the state’s general fund and the other half from the federal government.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The unions and lawmakers who advocated for the wage increase say it is necessary to improve the lives of overworked and underpaid health care workers, many of whom have quit their jobs in recent years, leaving health care systems severely understaffed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are everyday people doing their jobs, struggling to make ends meet, struggling to pay rent,” said Todd Stenhouse, a \u003ca href=\"https://afscme3299.org/\">spokesperson for AFSCME 3299\u003c/a>, the union representing blue-collar workers in the University of California health system. “They deserve stability, security. Their work deserves value.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new cost estimates are unsurprising to Republican lawmakers who opposed the wage increase. Democratic lawmakers passed the measure despite the state’s\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/05/california-budget-deficit-newsom/\"> projected $31 billion budget deficit\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This bill places astronomical labor costs on health care providers when hospitals across the state deal with financial losses,” said Republican Assemblymember \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/vince-fong-1979/\">Vince Fong\u003c/a> of Bakersfield. “We were concerned that this bill will lead to reduced services, increased premiums, more hospital closures, reduced job opportunities.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-what-minimum-wage-hike-means-for-payroll\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>What wage hike means for payroll\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Lawmakers did not have cost estimates when they voted on the wage increase in part because the final bill reflected a last-minute deal between \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/09/california-minimum-wage-health-care-workers/\">major health care employers \u003c/a>represented by the California Hospital Association and the Service Employees International Union. Their agreement replaced an earlier version that would have raised pay faster for workers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the original bill would have immediately raised wages to $25, the signed version will gradually increase wages. Most workers are expected to reach $25 an hour by 2027 or 2028, although it will come sooner to workers in certain facilities, like dialysis clinics and large health systems with more than 10,000 employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the workers are employed by the state, either at the UC health system or in agencies such as the Department of State Hospitals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the private sector, a consultant working for a coalition of health care providers estimated the original bill with the immediate wage increase to $25 an hour would have cost the industry $8 billion. The California Hospital Association did not have a new estimate of projected costs when CalMatters requested one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://seiuca.org/\">SEIU California Executive Director Tia Orr, \u003c/a>in a written statement, said that most health care employers supported the wage increase. She said the union “has committed to working with the administration and the Legislature to ensure safeguards are in place to guarantee that this critical measure is taken to preserve California’s fiscal health, just as we did when negotiating the last statewide minimum wage increase. This is how you make progress — through flexibility and compromise in achieving shared goals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-health-care-workers-on-public-assistance\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003cstrong>Health care workers on public assistance\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Newsom did not comment on the law when he signed it. In contrast, he attended an event hosted by SEIU when he signed a similar law that creates a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/california-divide/2023/09/minimum-wage-california/\">$20 minimum wage in the fast-food industry\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sen. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/maria-elena-durazo-1953/\">María Elena Durazo\u003c/a>, the Los Angeles Democrat who wrote the original health care wage increase, pointed to a different cost estimate for the law provided by the UC Berkeley Labor Center. \u003ca href=\"https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/release-health-care-minimum-wage-state-budget/\">It projected the new law\u003c/a> could save the state money by ensuring workers earn enough to avoid using public assistance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hundreds of thousands of Californians will see their wages increase, which means money in the pockets of healthcare workers to help support their families,” she said in a statement, calling it a “historic investment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gabriela Guevara, a medical receptionist at Clinica Sierra Vista in Fresno, believes the law will ease staffing challenges in her industry.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is going to better serve all the patients. The more staff we have, we are going to be able to give that quality of care for all the patients that are coming in,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medina, the certified nursing assistant in Los Angeles, hopes the new law will allow him to quit one of his jobs when it takes effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is definitely going to let me spend more time with my kids,” Medina said. “It will let me go to school. And I don’t have to worry about being late to my third job or my second job. I can just focus on one.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Supported by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), which works to ensure that people have access to the care they need, when they need it, at a price they can afford. Visit \u003c/em>\u003ca href=\"http://www.chcf.org/\">\u003cem>www.chcf.org\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003cem> to learn more.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11967144/minimum-wage-hike-for-california-health-workers-will-cost-billions-workers-say-they-need-it",
"authors": [
"byline_news_11967144"
],
"categories": [
"news_457",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_18543",
"news_24939",
"news_2141"
],
"affiliates": [
"news_18481"
],
"featImg": "news_11967147",
"label": "news_18481"
},
"news_11966587": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11966587",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11966587",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1699388730000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "mpox-monkeypox-2023-bay-area-vaccine",
"title": "Where to Get the Mpox Vaccine as Cases Rise in California",
"publishDate": 1699388730,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Where to Get the Mpox Vaccine as Cases Rise in California | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>After a summer of very low case rates, public health officials are warning that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11919070/monkeypox-in-the-bay-area-from-symptoms-to-how-to-find-a-vaccine-heres-what-we-know\">cases of mpox \u003c/a>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2022-who-recommends-new-name-for-monkeypox-disease\">formerly known as monkeypox\u003c/a> — are rising around California, including in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The initial outbreak of the virus hit the United States in the summer and fall of 2022, particularly affecting gay and bisexual men as well as trans and nonbinary people who have sex with men. After \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11939819/when-mpox-hit-community-clinics-stepped-in-why-hasnt-the-government-paid-them-back-yet\">a mass vaccination effort led by organizers from the LGBTQ+ community\u003c/a> and public health officials, the rate of mpox infections dropped to virtually zero in California — but now, the average number of cases reported every week around the state has more than doubled from the summer months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for what we know about the recent rise in mpox cases in the Bay Area and across the state, recommendations from local public health officials, and where you can find an mpox vaccine in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#mpoxvaccinenearme\">Where can I find an mpox vaccine?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#mpoxsymptoms\">How does mpox spread, and what are the symptoms?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>What are mpox cases like around the state and in the Bay Area right now?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949180/mpox-and-the-bay-area-why-health-officials-are-again-urging-vigilance-and-vaccines\">Bay Area health officials had originally been concerned about the potential for a resurgence of mpox\u003c/a>, a viral disease which spreads mainly from close physical contact, much earlier this year ahead of Pride festivities in June. Fears of a 2022-style outbreak did not materialize, and case counts stayed very low: From February to August 2023, the average weekly case number across California was approximately 1 to 7 cases, according to data from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on Oct. 31, CDPH Director Dr. Tomás J. Aragón announced that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR23-031.aspx\">the agency was now “beginning to see an uptick in mpox cases across the state.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to CDPH data, the number of mpox cases in California has “significantly increased,” up from this summer’s low to “approximately 17 cases per week in the most recent three-week period” (with available data being from Sept. 20 to Oct. 10).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDPH also noted a rise in the number of California counties reporting mpox cases: 15 counties in that most recent three-week period, compared to 11 counties in the three weeks before that. Similar increases, said the agency, are also being seen nationwide in states “including \u003ca href=\"https://kingcounty.gov/en/legacy/depts/health/communicable-diseases/health-care-providers/advisories/2023/11-oct\">Washington\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncdhhs.gov/news/press-releases/2023/10/17/ncdhhs-encourages-mpox-vaccination-those-higher-risk-after-recent-cases-reported\">North Carolina\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://health.hawaii.gov/news/newsroom/doh-reports-two-additional-mpox-cases/\">Hawaii\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What about the Bay Area? In a statement, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) said that \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/data/mpox-case-counts\">mpox cases in the city have risen too\u003c/a>, from only 7 cases in August to 20 cases in September and at least 20 cases in October. SFDPH noted that “some Bay Area counties have seen increased incidence rates in the last several months,” too, as had other large cities around the United States, albeit at slightly different times compared to San Francisco’s rise. Los Angeles said SFDPH saw its mpox increase in June, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.chicagohan.org/alert-detail/-/alert-details/46678186\">mpox cases increased in Chicago in May\u003c/a>. The latter was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949180/mpox-and-the-bay-area-why-health-officials-are-again-urging-vigilance-and-vaccines\">the outbreak that initially prompted Bay Area health officials to urge renewed vigilance against mpox\u003c/a> ahead of Pride.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How much should I worry about this rise in mpox cases?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“While the average number of weekly cases remains low compared with last year at this time, mpox continues to circulate in California, and recent data indicate that transmission levels are increasing,” CDPH said. SFDPH also stresses that their count of October cases is still being completed, and this number may rise further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDPH noted two important things about this latest rise in mpox case numbers. The first: This latest increase appears to be fueled more by “ongoing transmission within sexual networks” than by people traveling to or from specific areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Importantly, most cases did not report travel or attending any specific event,” CDPH said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFDPH has been more open to the notion that travel and event attendance could have played at least some role in this latest mpox rise, noting that during this outbreak, transmission “is primarily related to intimate contact during oral or anal sex” and that “when people are connecting more frequently or with new sexual partners, there are more opportunities for mpox to spread.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Things like late summer travel, gatherings, and events may be associated with changes in sexual practices that can lead to increases in cases,” SFDPH said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Joe Hawkins, CEO and co-founder of the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center\"]‘People are still contracting mpox, and this will continue. Because where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and the opportunity to spread mpox is still very high.’[/pullquote]The second highlight from CDPH was the role of the two-dose mpox vaccine and what it does (and doesn’t) do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CPDPH said that since early September, over 40% of people with a documented case of mpox had at least one dose of the vaccine. A lower proportion of people, 31%, had two doses. This, said CDPH, highlights that “while mpox vaccine is effective at reducing infections and disease severity, infections after vaccination are possible and testing is warranted among vaccinated persons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With this, we are reminding and encouraging all Californians to be aware of the signs and symptoms of mpox and to take preventive measures, including vaccination, to protect against severe illness,” Aragón said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFDPH said that more than 50,000 doses of the mpox vaccine had been administered to date, but “more than 40% of those who received their first dose” are due for their second dose. If case rates are lower in people with two shots of the mpox vaccine than those with one shot, is there a reason people are not seeking out that second shot?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Hawkins, CEO and co-founder of the\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandlgbtqcenter.org/clinic\"> Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, which offers mpox shots at its clinic\u003c/a>, said that the “huge number of people out there who received their first dose and who never came back for the second dose” might have something to do with this summer’s low case rates — which stayed low at least in part \u003cem>because\u003c/em> of vaccinations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that when people see that the news reports show that the cases have dropped dramatically, I just think … and this is obviously me just assuming, that people don’t feel that the risk is still out there,” Hawkins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But people are still contracting mpox, and this will continue,” he stressed. “Because where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and the opportunity to spread mpox is still very high.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How mpox cases are tracked around the country:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Mpox-Data.aspx\">Mpox case data for California\u003c/a> via the California Department of Public Health (CDPH)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/monkeypox-cases\">Mpox case data for San Francisco\u003c/a> via SFDPH\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/response/2022/us-map.html\">Mpox case data for the United States\u003c/a> via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: What else do you need to know about right now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>Who is most at risk from mpox?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Anyone can get mpox, but SFDPH said that the 2022 mpox outbreak predominantly affected communities of gay and bisexual men and men who have sex with men (MSM), as well as trans and nonbinary people who have sex with men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This 2022 outbreak was “unique compared to what had been known about mpox previously,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949180/mpox-and-the-bay-area-why-health-officials-are-again-urging-vigilance-and-vaccines\">Dr. Stephanie Cohen, director of HIV prevention for the Population Health Division at SFDPH, told KQED earlier this year.\u003c/a> That’s because the virus “really seemed to spread through sexual transmission and [was] associated with sexual activities,” she said. \u003ca href=\"#mpoxsymptoms\">Read more about how mpox spreads. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you look at our national data [from 2022], almost 97% of cases in the U.S. were in people who are cis men,” Cohen said. “There were very, very few cases in cisgender women and also very few cases — about 0.08% — in children under the age of 16.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Should I get the mpox vaccine?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The mpox vaccine is a two-dose series, with roughly a month between doses, and public health officials are urging people to seek vaccination in light of this most recent rise in cases. So …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you got both doses of the mpox vaccine in 2022:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’re all up to date — and you don’t need to get another mpox vaccine in 2023. There’s no recommendation at this time to get an mpox booster, SFDPH’s Cohen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you \u003cem>didn’t\u003c/em> get the mpox vaccine in 2022:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Go ahead and get your first dose as soon as possible, and get your second dose around 28 days later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you got \u003cem>only your first dose\u003c/em> of the mpox vaccine in 2022, or more than 28 days ago:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Get your second dose as soon as possible, Cohen said. “Getting both doses of the vaccine is very critical for protection,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reminder: The mpox vaccine is available for everyone.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, public health officials were initially only offering vaccines to people exposed to mpox or were categorized as being in a specific group more at risk from mpox. \u003cstrong>Those eligibility criteria are no longer in effect, and \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/mpox-vaccine\">anyone who wants an mpox vaccine can get one in San Francisco\u003c/a> and in many other areas of California.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no shortage of mpox vaccine now,” the SFDPH website said, and there is “no need to prove eligibility for the vaccine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember, getting your mpox vaccine won’t 100% prevent you from getting mpox, as the CDPH data show. But being vaccinated could also help reduce your symptoms — which can be painful — if you do get infected, SFDPH’s Cohen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s, of course, really a good outcome of the vaccine — because we did see some pretty severe cases of mpox last summer in unvaccinated individuals,” Cohen said. “And we really don’t want people to experience the distressing and painful symptoms that occurred at the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966643\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966643\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1408879341-qut.jpg\" alt=\"close-up photo of fingers holding a tiny vial which reads 'monkeypox vaccine'\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1408879341-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1408879341-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1408879341-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1408879341-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1408879341-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A vial of the mpox vaccine displayed by a medical professional at a vaccination site in July 2022. \u003ccite>(James Carbone/Newsday RM via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"mpoxvaccinenearme\">\u003c/a>Where can I find the mpox vaccine?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Your mpox vaccine will be 100% free, and you don’t need health insurance to receive one. As with the COVID vaccine, receiving an mpox vaccine won’t make you a public charge or affect any future immigration processes you may enter into, and you won’t be asked about your immigration status to receive the mpox vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can schedule an appointment for an mpox vaccine, or choose a walk-in clinic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you live in or near San Francisco:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/mpox-vaccine\">a full list of mpox vaccine sites near you in San Francisco\u003c/a>. SFDPH’s Stephanie Cohen confirmed that you don’t have to be a city resident to get vaccinated for mpox in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mpox vaccination sites elsewhere in the Bay Area and California:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Find an mpox vaccine clinic near you using \u003ca href=\"https://npin.cdc.gov/DynWidgets/index.html?chost=www.cdc.gov&cpath=/lgbthealth/summer/index.html&csearch=&chash=&ctitle=Get%20Healthy%20and%20Ready%20for%20Summer%20%7C%20LGBT%20Health%20%7C%20CDC&wn=DynWidgets&wf=/DynWidgets/&wid=DynWidgets1&mMode=widget&mPage=&mChannel=&componentName=MpoxLocator#/\">the CDC’s Vaccine Locator\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Find an mpox vaccine clinic near you using \u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\">the state’s myturn.ca.gov site\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"mpoxsymptoms\">\u003c/a>What you need to know about mpox\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How does mpox spread?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/monkeypox\">Mpox is a disease that is caused when a person is infected with the mpox virus.\u003c/a> As the name might suggest, the virus is related to the smallpox virus but is generally less severe and “much less contagious” than smallpox, according to CDPH.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/mpox\">Mpox spreads through “prolonged skin-to-skin contact,”\u003c/a> said SFDPH, which notes that transmission during this latest 2023 rise in cases “\u003cspan class=\"normaltextrun\">is primarily related to intimate contact during oral or anal sex”. It can also spread through kissing and sharing bedding or clothing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What are the symptoms of mpox?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The symptoms of mpox often start as flu-like symptoms, said SFPDH, but the virus also appears as a rash or sores or spots that can resemble pimples or blisters on the skin anywhere on the body, especially around your genitals. These spot often start as “red, flat spots, and then become bumps,” said SFDPH, before the bumps become filled with pus, and turn into scabs when they break. \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/mpox\">See the full list of mpox symptoms from SFDPH.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More Guides from KQED' tag='kqed-guides']“It’s really important that if someone develops a rash that they think might be related to pox, even if it’s subtle, to come in and see their doctor and get checked out and get tested,” urged Cohen. “And that can help us prevent the spread of transmission in the community.” \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/mpox\">See more on what to do if you suspect you have mpox.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is mpox the same as monkeypox?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes. In 2022, the World Health Organization \u003ca href=\"https://www.ems1.com/infectious-diseases/articles/monkeypox-gets-new-name-after-racist-and-stigmatizing-language-health-officials-say-i1djjhzOPR7VCJrC/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWhen%20the%20outbreak%20of%20monkeypox,monkeypox%20worldwide%20as%20of%20Nov.\">announced it would adopt the new, preferred term “mpox” as a synonym for monkeypox\u003c/a>, in the light of the “racist and stigmatizing language online, in other settings and in some communities” that the agency said it had observed during the outbreak earlier that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may have also seen the virus referred to as MPX, which was the name originally adopted by SFDPH.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED News, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area in 2023. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, practical explainers and guides about COVID\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site, and on KQED Public Radio, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[hearken id=\"10483\" src=\"https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/10483.js\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "With cases of the disease formerly known as monkeypox increasing again, here's what to know about mpox symptoms and why you should get two doses of the vaccine.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1747677094,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 57,
"wordCount": 2401
},
"headData": {
"title": "Mpox Cases Rise in California: Where to Get Vaccinated | KQED",
"description": "With Mpox infections rising across California, including the Bay Area, explore where vaccines are available and the key steps you can take to stay safe.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"socialTitle": "Mpox Cases Rise in California: Where to Get Vaccinated | KQED",
"socialDescription": "With Mpox infections rising across California, including the Bay Area, explore where vaccines are available and the key steps you can take to stay safe.",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Where to Get the Mpox Vaccine as Cases Rise in California",
"datePublished": "2023-11-07T12:25:30-08:00",
"dateModified": "2025-05-19T10:51:34-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11966587/mpox-monkeypox-2023-bay-area-vaccine",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>After a summer of very low case rates, public health officials are warning that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11919070/monkeypox-in-the-bay-area-from-symptoms-to-how-to-find-a-vaccine-heres-what-we-know\">cases of mpox \u003c/a>— \u003ca href=\"https://www.who.int/news/item/28-11-2022-who-recommends-new-name-for-monkeypox-disease\">formerly known as monkeypox\u003c/a> — are rising around California, including in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The initial outbreak of the virus hit the United States in the summer and fall of 2022, particularly affecting gay and bisexual men as well as trans and nonbinary people who have sex with men. After \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11939819/when-mpox-hit-community-clinics-stepped-in-why-hasnt-the-government-paid-them-back-yet\">a mass vaccination effort led by organizers from the LGBTQ+ community\u003c/a> and public health officials, the rate of mpox infections dropped to virtually zero in California — but now, the average number of cases reported every week around the state has more than doubled from the summer months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for what we know about the recent rise in mpox cases in the Bay Area and across the state, recommendations from local public health officials, and where you can find an mpox vaccine in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jump straight to:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#mpoxvaccinenearme\">Where can I find an mpox vaccine?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#mpoxsymptoms\">How does mpox spread, and what are the symptoms?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>What are mpox cases like around the state and in the Bay Area right now?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949180/mpox-and-the-bay-area-why-health-officials-are-again-urging-vigilance-and-vaccines\">Bay Area health officials had originally been concerned about the potential for a resurgence of mpox\u003c/a>, a viral disease which spreads mainly from close physical contact, much earlier this year ahead of Pride festivities in June. Fears of a 2022-style outbreak did not materialize, and case counts stayed very low: From February to August 2023, the average weekly case number across California was approximately 1 to 7 cases, according to data from the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But on Oct. 31, CDPH Director Dr. Tomás J. Aragón announced that \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/OPA/Pages/NR23-031.aspx\">the agency was now “beginning to see an uptick in mpox cases across the state.”\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to CDPH data, the number of mpox cases in California has “significantly increased,” up from this summer’s low to “approximately 17 cases per week in the most recent three-week period” (with available data being from Sept. 20 to Oct. 10).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDPH also noted a rise in the number of California counties reporting mpox cases: 15 counties in that most recent three-week period, compared to 11 counties in the three weeks before that. Similar increases, said the agency, are also being seen nationwide in states “including \u003ca href=\"https://kingcounty.gov/en/legacy/depts/health/communicable-diseases/health-care-providers/advisories/2023/11-oct\">Washington\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ncdhhs.gov/news/press-releases/2023/10/17/ncdhhs-encourages-mpox-vaccination-those-higher-risk-after-recent-cases-reported\">North Carolina\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://health.hawaii.gov/news/newsroom/doh-reports-two-additional-mpox-cases/\">Hawaii\u003c/a>.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What about the Bay Area? In a statement, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) said that \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/data/mpox-case-counts\">mpox cases in the city have risen too\u003c/a>, from only 7 cases in August to 20 cases in September and at least 20 cases in October. SFDPH noted that “some Bay Area counties have seen increased incidence rates in the last several months,” too, as had other large cities around the United States, albeit at slightly different times compared to San Francisco’s rise. Los Angeles said SFDPH saw its mpox increase in June, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.chicagohan.org/alert-detail/-/alert-details/46678186\">mpox cases increased in Chicago in May\u003c/a>. The latter was \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949180/mpox-and-the-bay-area-why-health-officials-are-again-urging-vigilance-and-vaccines\">the outbreak that initially prompted Bay Area health officials to urge renewed vigilance against mpox\u003c/a> ahead of Pride.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How much should I worry about this rise in mpox cases?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>“While the average number of weekly cases remains low compared with last year at this time, mpox continues to circulate in California, and recent data indicate that transmission levels are increasing,” CDPH said. SFDPH also stresses that their count of October cases is still being completed, and this number may rise further.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CDPH noted two important things about this latest rise in mpox case numbers. The first: This latest increase appears to be fueled more by “ongoing transmission within sexual networks” than by people traveling to or from specific areas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Importantly, most cases did not report travel or attending any specific event,” CDPH said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFDPH has been more open to the notion that travel and event attendance could have played at least some role in this latest mpox rise, noting that during this outbreak, transmission “is primarily related to intimate contact during oral or anal sex” and that “when people are connecting more frequently or with new sexual partners, there are more opportunities for mpox to spread.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Things like late summer travel, gatherings, and events may be associated with changes in sexual practices that can lead to increases in cases,” SFDPH said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘People are still contracting mpox, and this will continue. Because where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and the opportunity to spread mpox is still very high.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Joe Hawkins, CEO and co-founder of the Oakland LGBTQ Community Center",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The second highlight from CDPH was the role of the two-dose mpox vaccine and what it does (and doesn’t) do.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CPDPH said that since early September, over 40% of people with a documented case of mpox had at least one dose of the vaccine. A lower proportion of people, 31%, had two doses. This, said CDPH, highlights that “while mpox vaccine is effective at reducing infections and disease severity, infections after vaccination are possible and testing is warranted among vaccinated persons.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With this, we are reminding and encouraging all Californians to be aware of the signs and symptoms of mpox and to take preventive measures, including vaccination, to protect against severe illness,” Aragón said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SFDPH said that more than 50,000 doses of the mpox vaccine had been administered to date, but “more than 40% of those who received their first dose” are due for their second dose. If case rates are lower in people with two shots of the mpox vaccine than those with one shot, is there a reason people are not seeking out that second shot?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joe Hawkins, CEO and co-founder of the\u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandlgbtqcenter.org/clinic\"> Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, which offers mpox shots at its clinic\u003c/a>, said that the “huge number of people out there who received their first dose and who never came back for the second dose” might have something to do with this summer’s low case rates — which stayed low at least in part \u003cem>because\u003c/em> of vaccinations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that when people see that the news reports show that the cases have dropped dramatically, I just think … and this is obviously me just assuming, that people don’t feel that the risk is still out there,” Hawkins said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But people are still contracting mpox, and this will continue,” he stressed. “Because where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and the opportunity to spread mpox is still very high.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How mpox cases are tracked around the country:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Mpox-Data.aspx\">Mpox case data for California\u003c/a> via the California Department of Public Health (CDPH)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/monkeypox-cases\">Mpox case data for San Francisco\u003c/a> via SFDPH\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/poxvirus/monkeypox/response/2022/us-map.html\">Mpox case data for the United States\u003c/a> via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>\u003ca href=\"#tellus\">Tell us: What else do you need to know about right now?\u003c/a>\u003c/strong>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>Who is most at risk from mpox?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Anyone can get mpox, but SFDPH said that the 2022 mpox outbreak predominantly affected communities of gay and bisexual men and men who have sex with men (MSM), as well as trans and nonbinary people who have sex with men.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This 2022 outbreak was “unique compared to what had been known about mpox previously,” \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949180/mpox-and-the-bay-area-why-health-officials-are-again-urging-vigilance-and-vaccines\">Dr. Stephanie Cohen, director of HIV prevention for the Population Health Division at SFDPH, told KQED earlier this year.\u003c/a> That’s because the virus “really seemed to spread through sexual transmission and [was] associated with sexual activities,” she said. \u003ca href=\"#mpoxsymptoms\">Read more about how mpox spreads. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you look at our national data [from 2022], almost 97% of cases in the U.S. were in people who are cis men,” Cohen said. “There were very, very few cases in cisgender women and also very few cases — about 0.08% — in children under the age of 16.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Should I get the mpox vaccine?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The mpox vaccine is a two-dose series, with roughly a month between doses, and public health officials are urging people to seek vaccination in light of this most recent rise in cases. So …\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you got both doses of the mpox vaccine in 2022:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’re all up to date — and you don’t need to get another mpox vaccine in 2023. There’s no recommendation at this time to get an mpox booster, SFDPH’s Cohen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you \u003cem>didn’t\u003c/em> get the mpox vaccine in 2022:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Go ahead and get your first dose as soon as possible, and get your second dose around 28 days later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you got \u003cem>only your first dose\u003c/em> of the mpox vaccine in 2022, or more than 28 days ago:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Get your second dose as soon as possible, Cohen said. “Getting both doses of the vaccine is very critical for protection,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Reminder: The mpox vaccine is available for everyone.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2022, public health officials were initially only offering vaccines to people exposed to mpox or were categorized as being in a specific group more at risk from mpox. \u003cstrong>Those eligibility criteria are no longer in effect, and \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/mpox-vaccine\">anyone who wants an mpox vaccine can get one in San Francisco\u003c/a> and in many other areas of California.\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no shortage of mpox vaccine now,” the SFDPH website said, and there is “no need to prove eligibility for the vaccine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Remember, getting your mpox vaccine won’t 100% prevent you from getting mpox, as the CDPH data show. But being vaccinated could also help reduce your symptoms — which can be painful — if you do get infected, SFDPH’s Cohen said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s, of course, really a good outcome of the vaccine — because we did see some pretty severe cases of mpox last summer in unvaccinated individuals,” Cohen said. “And we really don’t want people to experience the distressing and painful symptoms that occurred at the same time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966643\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966643\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1408879341-qut.jpg\" alt=\"close-up photo of fingers holding a tiny vial which reads 'monkeypox vaccine'\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1440\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1408879341-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1408879341-qut-800x600.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1408879341-qut-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1408879341-qut-160x120.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/GettyImages-1408879341-qut-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A vial of the mpox vaccine displayed by a medical professional at a vaccination site in July 2022. \u003ccite>(James Carbone/Newsday RM via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"mpoxvaccinenearme\">\u003c/a>Where can I find the mpox vaccine?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Your mpox vaccine will be 100% free, and you don’t need health insurance to receive one. As with the COVID vaccine, receiving an mpox vaccine won’t make you a public charge or affect any future immigration processes you may enter into, and you won’t be asked about your immigration status to receive the mpox vaccine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can schedule an appointment for an mpox vaccine, or choose a walk-in clinic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>If you live in or near San Francisco:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>See \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/mpox-vaccine\">a full list of mpox vaccine sites near you in San Francisco\u003c/a>. SFDPH’s Stephanie Cohen confirmed that you don’t have to be a city resident to get vaccinated for mpox in San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Mpox vaccination sites elsewhere in the Bay Area and California:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Find an mpox vaccine clinic near you using \u003ca href=\"https://npin.cdc.gov/DynWidgets/index.html?chost=www.cdc.gov&cpath=/lgbthealth/summer/index.html&csearch=&chash=&ctitle=Get%20Healthy%20and%20Ready%20for%20Summer%20%7C%20LGBT%20Health%20%7C%20CDC&wn=DynWidgets&wf=/DynWidgets/&wid=DynWidgets1&mMode=widget&mPage=&mChannel=&componentName=MpoxLocator#/\">the CDC’s Vaccine Locator\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Find an mpox vaccine clinic near you using \u003ca href=\"https://myturn.ca.gov/\">the state’s myturn.ca.gov site\u003c/a>.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"mpoxsymptoms\">\u003c/a>What you need to know about mpox\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>How does mpox spread?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/monkeypox\">Mpox is a disease that is caused when a person is infected with the mpox virus.\u003c/a> As the name might suggest, the virus is related to the smallpox virus but is generally less severe and “much less contagious” than smallpox, according to CDPH.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/mpox\">Mpox spreads through “prolonged skin-to-skin contact,”\u003c/a> said SFDPH, which notes that transmission during this latest 2023 rise in cases “\u003cspan class=\"normaltextrun\">is primarily related to intimate contact during oral or anal sex”. It can also spread through kissing and sharing bedding or clothing. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What are the symptoms of mpox?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The symptoms of mpox often start as flu-like symptoms, said SFPDH, but the virus also appears as a rash or sores or spots that can resemble pimples or blisters on the skin anywhere on the body, especially around your genitals. These spot often start as “red, flat spots, and then become bumps,” said SFDPH, before the bumps become filled with pus, and turn into scabs when they break. \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/mpox\">See the full list of mpox symptoms from SFDPH.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "More Guides from KQED ",
"tag": "kqed-guides"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It’s really important that if someone develops a rash that they think might be related to pox, even if it’s subtle, to come in and see their doctor and get checked out and get tested,” urged Cohen. “And that can help us prevent the spread of transmission in the community.” \u003ca href=\"https://sf.gov/information/mpox\">See more on what to do if you suspect you have mpox.\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Is mpox the same as monkeypox?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Yes. In 2022, the World Health Organization \u003ca href=\"https://www.ems1.com/infectious-diseases/articles/monkeypox-gets-new-name-after-racist-and-stigmatizing-language-health-officials-say-i1djjhzOPR7VCJrC/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CWhen%20the%20outbreak%20of%20monkeypox,monkeypox%20worldwide%20as%20of%20Nov.\">announced it would adopt the new, preferred term “mpox” as a synonym for monkeypox\u003c/a>, in the light of the “racist and stigmatizing language online, in other settings and in some communities” that the agency said it had observed during the outbreak earlier that year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You may have also seen the virus referred to as MPX, which was the name originally adopted by SFDPH.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Carlos Cabrera-Lomelí contributed to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003ca id=\"tellus\">\u003c/a>Tell us: What else do you need information about?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>At KQED News, we know that it can sometimes be hard to track down the answers to navigate life in the Bay Area in 2023. We’ve published \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/coronavirus-resources-and-explainers\">clear, practical explainers and guides about COVID\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11936674/how-to-prepare-for-this-weeks-atmospheric-river-storm-sandbags-emergency-kits-and-more\">how to cope with intense winter weather\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11821950/how-to-safely-attend-a-protest-in-the-bay-area\">how to exercise your right to protest safely\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So tell us: What do you need to know more about? Tell us, and you could see your question answered online or on social media. What you submit will make our reporting stronger, and help us decide what to cover here on our site, and on KQED Public Radio, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "hearken",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"id": "10483",
"src": "https://modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/embed/10483.js",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11966587/mpox-monkeypox-2023-bay-area-vaccine",
"authors": [
"3243"
],
"categories": [
"news_457",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_32707",
"news_18543",
"news_31133",
"news_31382",
"news_32353"
],
"featImg": "news_11966640",
"label": "news"
},
"news_11966533": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11966533",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11966533",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1699304389000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "californias-unhoused-crisis-hits-veterans-hard-despite-funding-efforts",
"title": "California's Unhoused Crisis Hits Veterans Hard, Despite Funding Efforts",
"publishDate": 1699304389,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "California’s Unhoused Crisis Hits Veterans Hard, Despite Funding Efforts | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>California has poured billions of dollars into finding homes for unhoused veterans, but the number of former military service members living on the street has held steady for almost a decade. Today, a third of the nation’s unhoused veterans are in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tori Gibson of San Francisco is one of them. She’s been looking for a stable place to live since she left the Navy seven years ago, and it hasn’t been easy for her. She left the service in part because of health issues that continue to debilitate her. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Tori Gibson, Navy veteran, San Francisco\"]‘It was just a really bad spiral of just more disability and then less money and no support.’[/pullquote]Now 32 and undergoing a gender transition, she’s struggling to make ends meet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was just a really bad spiral of just more disability and then less money and no support,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s searching for a new start as Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes a significant change in the state’s strategy for ending veteran homelessness. His plan, included in a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/09/gavin-newsom-mental-health-2024-election/\">$6.4 billion mental health bond\u003c/a> he’s sending to voters in the March primary election, would set aside funding specifically for veterans with serious behavioral health conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a shift from California’s last two major efforts to fund housing for veterans, which created units for a general population of former military service members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first effort began in the late 1990s when the state built seven new veterans’ homes over 17 years. Today, those veterans’ homes are underused. They \u003ca href=\"https://www.calvet.ca.gov/Documents/Master%20Plan%202020.pdf\">were built to house about 2,400 people\u003c/a>, but only 1,575 veterans live there. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article242868816.html\">The 300-unit veterans home in Barstow\u003c/a> was so underutilized in 2020 that Newsom moved to close it as he braced for a pandemic recession, although \u003ca href=\"https://abc7.com/save-veterans-home-barstow-veterans-state-cuts-threaten-to-close-shut-down/6249524/\">lawmakers blocked him from shutting the site\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second push centered on a pair of ballot measures voters approved in \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_41,_Veterans_Housing_and_Homeless_Prevention_Bond_(June_2014)\">2014\u003c/a> and in \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_1,_Housing_Programs_and_Veterans%27_Loans_Bond_(2018)\">2018\u003c/a> that allocated $4.6 billion to build housing specifically for former military service members. The money created the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/grants-and-funding/programs-active/veterans-housing-and-homelessness-prevention\">Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program\u003c/a>, which has supported the construction of about 3,250 housing units for veterans to date.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Veterans advocates and state officials view the programs — along with federal efforts led by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv/vash\">Department of Veterans Affairs\u003c/a> — as successful in reducing homelessness among former military service members. In the last 12 years, veteran homelessness in California has decreased by more than 30%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the trend in California mostly accounts for gains made during the Obama administration, when veteran homelessness peaked nationwide, and the Department of Veterans Affairs moved aggressively to place former troops in housing. Since 2014, the number of homeless veterans in California has mostly plateaued around 10,000 to 12,000 people, according to annual counts released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The number of homeless veterans in California has fallen by more than 4,000 people since data collection began\" aria-label=\"Column Chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-Z2Fqo\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Z2Fqo/4/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"400\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alex Visotzky, senior California policy fellow at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said the high numbers of veteran homelessness result from the challenges veterans face on returning home in California’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-homeless-growth-report/\">competitive housing market\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When housing markets are unaffordable and incredibly competitive, those with the greatest needs are going to be more likely to fall out,” he said. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Alex Visotzky, senior California policy fellow, National Alliance to End Homelessness\"]‘When housing markets are unaffordable and incredibly competitive, those with the greatest needs are going to be more likely to fall out.’[/pullquote]Newsom’s new strategy in the mental health bond, advocates say, should help those most in need. The California Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that half of the state’s unhoused veterans suffer from some behavioral health issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The money in the bond would go to the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, which would work with CalVet “to focus specifically on housing veterans experiencing behavioral health challenges,” said Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, the Thousand Oaks Democrat who wrote the bill that ultimately put the bond on the ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Studies have shown veterans are \u003ca href=\"https://www.research.va.gov/topics/homelessness.cfm\">overrepresented in the nation’s homeless population\u003c/a>. They may experience personal challenges, such as post-traumatic stress disorders or other mental health issues, as well as disabilities related to their military service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Transitioning from that very specific culture and society to civilian life is a lifelong process,” said Amy Fairweather, director of policy at the veterans advocacy group Swords to Plowshares. “If you do have any physical or mental disabilities, dealing with those and trying to re-enter civilian life can be very difficult.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California’s veterans’ homes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California’s long history of providing housing to former military service members dates to 1884 when it opened an estate in \u003ca href=\"https://www.calvet.ca.gov/VetHomes/Pages/Yountville.aspx\">Napa County as the state’s first veterans home\u003c/a>. That site is still in operation, housing around 600 veterans on a picturesque property in wine country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Altogether, the state now has eight veterans homes. The two largest homes are in fairly remote communities — one is in Napa County’s Yountville, and the second is in Barstow in the Mojave Deserts. Moving to them can mean living far from a veteran’s family. That geography somewhat limits interest in the homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The homes account for the lion’s share of CalVet’s $650 million annual budget. Some advocates have called on the state to put money into programs that would benefit people who don’t necessarily want to live in a veterans’ home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"California's veterans homes\" aria-label=\"Locator maps\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-wYJ4R\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/wYJ4R/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"599\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Map: Liliana MichelenaSource: \u003ca href=\"https://www.calvet.ca.gov/calvet-programs/veteran-homes\">California Department of Veteran Affairs\u003c/a> Created with \u003ca href=\"https://www.datawrapper.de/_/wYJ4R/\">Datawrapper\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state should keep its promises to the current home residents, but as things change, the program needs to be less structured on just providing room and board for a minimal number of people and more structured on providing skilled nursing facility care for those who need it,” said Ethan Rarick, executive director at Little Hoover Commission, which published \u003ca href=\"https://lhc.ca.gov/sites/lhc.ca.gov/files/Reports/237/Report237.pdf\">a report on the veterans’ homes in 2017\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outside of the veterans homes, California approved a series of bonds meant to help military service members find housing beginning in 2008. The Veterans Bond Act, passed that year, provided $900 million to veterans through the CalVet Home Loans Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, California passed an initiative creating the Veterans Housing and Homelessness Program, which put $600 million toward building multi-family homes for veterans. A second ballot initiative in 2018 gave another $4 billion to the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal Department of Veterans Affairs, meanwhile, has kept up steady funding for housing vouchers that can provide a place to live for former troops. The Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, \u003ca href=\"https://www.va.gov/homeless/hud-vash.asp\">commonly known as HUD-VASH\u003c/a>, was a centerpiece of the Bush and Obama administration’s efforts to curb veterans’ homelessness. It provides rental assistance to over 100,000 veterans nationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A steep drop in veteran homelessness\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The number of \u003ca href=\"https://news.va.gov/press-room/ranks-of-homeless-veterans-drop-18-percent/\">unhoused veterans in the U.S. peaked during the Great Recession\u003c/a> when the VA in 2007 reported some 154,000 former troops were homeless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At that time, Fairweather of Swords to Plowshares said many of those deployed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were starting to come back home “to a society that wasn’t prepared for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of that, they and older veterans struggled in the economic downturn, which led to more unemployment and homelessness. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Amy Fairweather, director of policy, Swords to Plowshares, a veterans advocacy group\"]‘It all came together in a way that was really disadvantageous to the veterans.’[/pullquote]“It all came together in a way that was really disadvantageous to the veterans,” Fairweather said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the VA estimated about \u003ca href=\"https://www.va.gov/homeless/pit_count.asp\">33,000 veterans were homeless\u003c/a> nationwide. According to the 2021 annual homelessness assessment report by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than half are over age 55. The data also shows that Black veterans are more likely to be homeless than veterans belonging to other races.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates say veterans can be reluctant to ask for help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When veterans ultimately fall down that hole into homelessness, what is happening along with that is that they’re losing connection with friends and family because they’re ashamed that their life is falling apart and it’s hard for them to ask for help,” said Stephen Peck, \u003ca href=\"https://usvets.org/\">president of the veterans support organization U.S. Vets\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966540\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966540\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02.jpg\" alt=\"A person stands in front of an apartment building. They wear a face mask and have glasses.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tory Gibson, a veteran who has experienced homelessness, in San Francisco on Oct. 31, 2023. \u003ccite>( Felix Uribe/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco native and Army veteran Latoya White has struggled to stay housed in the dozen years since she left the service. She has found it difficult to afford rent even though she was able to keep decent jobs at a grocery store, the San Francisco airport and now as a city bus driver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was unfamiliar with the resources the VA offered to veterans, like housing vouchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve always had benefits through my job. I don’t think that then the VA had as many resources as they have now. I did go to the VA and they’re so limited on what they could help me with. So, you know, I just went and got a job and I just was really self-sufficient,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After sleeping in her car and couch surfing for several years, White reached out for help from the advocacy group Swords to Plowshares. That led her to transitional housing, and then to an apartment in San Francisco this June through the HUD-VASH program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of us didn’t even know anything about the HUD-VASH program,” White, 34, said. “A lot of veterans don’t even know that there is assistance out there for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What does Newsom want to do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Putting the money into the mental health bond comes with a tradeoff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In advancing Newsom’s mental health plan, lawmakers amended an early version of Assemblymember Irwin’s veterans’ housing bill that would have issued more bonds for\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVersionsCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB531&cversion=20230AB53199INT\"> the existing veterans’ housing program\u003c/a>. Without new funding, the program that supports the construction of multi-unit veterans’ housing is expected to run out of money in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still,\u003ca href=\"https://treatmentnottents.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw15eqBhBZEiwAbDomEmjiLODon4xwymj3drkdEFkEUL9z2Ico7Vj0NhjH04C0RWZuaj8v4RoCphcQAvD_BwE\"> representatives for Newsom’s ballot measure\u003c/a> in a written statement said the bond would create more capacity to help former troops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Proposition 1 adds new money for California’s most vulnerable veterans without any redirection or reprioritization from the current program. Without Proposition 1, there would be zero funding for homeless veteran housing moving forward, which is why the measure is so critically needed,” the statement read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Altogether, the ballot measure going to voters includes $6.4 billion to fund projects for behavioral health issues and those at risk of homelessness. It also includes a proposal to adjust how the state spends money it collects for mental health services from a tax on personal income over $1 million, aiming to direct more of the funds to housing. [aside label='More Stories on the Unhoused Community' tag='homeless']The $1 billion for veterans housing will be distributed through loans and grants by the Department of Housing and Community Development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Representatives from veterans’ groups say the program’s success could hinge on getting the word out and providing services that provide a path out of homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At U.S. Vets, Peck said the nonprofit strives to create a community where veterans help veterans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Building that community is really important,” he said. “A federal veteran who’s been through the process already is probably more effective than we are as social workers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gibson, who currently lives in transitional housing provided by Swords to Plowshares, has started to find that community through the nonprofit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I talked to them about how I’m struggling with some issues and they are pretty open and supportive about it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gibson hopes that federal and state services fund more community-oriented programs like hers, so more veterans can feel at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Despite significant spending on housing, California's unhoused veteran population remains stagnant. Gov. Gavin Newsom aims to redirect resources toward veterans with severe mental health conditions. ",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726004812,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": true,
"iframeSrcs": [
"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Z2Fqo/4/",
"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/wYJ4R/1/"
],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 48,
"wordCount": 2085
},
"headData": {
"title": "California's Unhoused Crisis Hits Veterans Hard, Despite Funding Efforts | KQED",
"description": "Despite significant spending on housing, California's unhoused veteran population remains stagnant. Gov. Gavin Newsom aims to redirect resources toward veterans with severe mental health conditions. ",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "California's Unhoused Crisis Hits Veterans Hard, Despite Funding Efforts",
"datePublished": "2023-11-06T12:59:49-08:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-10T14:46:52-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"source": "CalMatters",
"sourceUrl": "https://calmatters.org/",
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/shreya-agrawal/\">Shreya Agrawal\u003c/a>",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"showOnAuthorArchivePages": "No",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11966533/californias-unhoused-crisis-hits-veterans-hard-despite-funding-efforts",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California has poured billions of dollars into finding homes for unhoused veterans, but the number of former military service members living on the street has held steady for almost a decade. Today, a third of the nation’s unhoused veterans are in California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tori Gibson of San Francisco is one of them. She’s been looking for a stable place to live since she left the Navy seven years ago, and it hasn’t been easy for her. She left the service in part because of health issues that continue to debilitate her. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘It was just a really bad spiral of just more disability and then less money and no support.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Tori Gibson, Navy veteran, San Francisco",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Now 32 and undergoing a gender transition, she’s struggling to make ends meet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It was just a really bad spiral of just more disability and then less money and no support,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She’s searching for a new start as Gov. Gavin Newsom proposes a significant change in the state’s strategy for ending veteran homelessness. His plan, included in a \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/09/gavin-newsom-mental-health-2024-election/\">$6.4 billion mental health bond\u003c/a> he’s sending to voters in the March primary election, would set aside funding specifically for veterans with serious behavioral health conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s a shift from California’s last two major efforts to fund housing for veterans, which created units for a general population of former military service members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first effort began in the late 1990s when the state built seven new veterans’ homes over 17 years. Today, those veterans’ homes are underused. They \u003ca href=\"https://www.calvet.ca.gov/Documents/Master%20Plan%202020.pdf\">were built to house about 2,400 people\u003c/a>, but only 1,575 veterans live there. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/the-state-worker/article242868816.html\">The 300-unit veterans home in Barstow\u003c/a> was so underutilized in 2020 that Newsom moved to close it as he braced for a pandemic recession, although \u003ca href=\"https://abc7.com/save-veterans-home-barstow-veterans-state-cuts-threaten-to-close-shut-down/6249524/\">lawmakers blocked him from shutting the site\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The second push centered on a pair of ballot measures voters approved in \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_41,_Veterans_Housing_and_Homeless_Prevention_Bond_(June_2014)\">2014\u003c/a> and in \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_1,_Housing_Programs_and_Veterans%27_Loans_Bond_(2018)\">2018\u003c/a> that allocated $4.6 billion to build housing specifically for former military service members. The money created the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hcd.ca.gov/grants-and-funding/programs-active/veterans-housing-and-homelessness-prevention\">Veterans Housing and Homelessness Prevention Program\u003c/a>, which has supported the construction of about 3,250 housing units for veterans to date.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Veterans advocates and state officials view the programs — along with federal efforts led by the \u003ca href=\"https://www.hud.gov/program_offices/public_indian_housing/programs/hcv/vash\">Department of Veterans Affairs\u003c/a> — as successful in reducing homelessness among former military service members. In the last 12 years, veteran homelessness in California has decreased by more than 30%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the trend in California mostly accounts for gains made during the Obama administration, when veteran homelessness peaked nationwide, and the Department of Veterans Affairs moved aggressively to place former troops in housing. Since 2014, the number of homeless veterans in California has mostly plateaued around 10,000 to 12,000 people, according to annual counts released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The number of homeless veterans in California has fallen by more than 4,000 people since data collection began\" aria-label=\"Column Chart\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-Z2Fqo\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Z2Fqo/4/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"400\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alex Visotzky, senior California policy fellow at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said the high numbers of veteran homelessness result from the challenges veterans face on returning home in California’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-homeless-growth-report/\">competitive housing market\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When housing markets are unaffordable and incredibly competitive, those with the greatest needs are going to be more likely to fall out,” he said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘When housing markets are unaffordable and incredibly competitive, those with the greatest needs are going to be more likely to fall out.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Alex Visotzky, senior California policy fellow, National Alliance to End Homelessness",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Newsom’s new strategy in the mental health bond, advocates say, should help those most in need. The California Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that half of the state’s unhoused veterans suffer from some behavioral health issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The money in the bond would go to the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development, which would work with CalVet “to focus specifically on housing veterans experiencing behavioral health challenges,” said Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin, the Thousand Oaks Democrat who wrote the bill that ultimately put the bond on the ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Studies have shown veterans are \u003ca href=\"https://www.research.va.gov/topics/homelessness.cfm\">overrepresented in the nation’s homeless population\u003c/a>. They may experience personal challenges, such as post-traumatic stress disorders or other mental health issues, as well as disabilities related to their military service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Transitioning from that very specific culture and society to civilian life is a lifelong process,” said Amy Fairweather, director of policy at the veterans advocacy group Swords to Plowshares. “If you do have any physical or mental disabilities, dealing with those and trying to re-enter civilian life can be very difficult.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California’s veterans’ homes\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>California’s long history of providing housing to former military service members dates to 1884 when it opened an estate in \u003ca href=\"https://www.calvet.ca.gov/VetHomes/Pages/Yountville.aspx\">Napa County as the state’s first veterans home\u003c/a>. That site is still in operation, housing around 600 veterans on a picturesque property in wine country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Altogether, the state now has eight veterans homes. The two largest homes are in fairly remote communities — one is in Napa County’s Yountville, and the second is in Barstow in the Mojave Deserts. Moving to them can mean living far from a veteran’s family. That geography somewhat limits interest in the homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The homes account for the lion’s share of CalVet’s $650 million annual budget. Some advocates have called on the state to put money into programs that would benefit people who don’t necessarily want to live in a veterans’ home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"California's veterans homes\" aria-label=\"Locator maps\" id=\"datawrapper-chart-wYJ4R\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/wYJ4R/1/\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"width: 0; min-width: 100% !important; border: none;\" height=\"599\" data-external=\"1\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Map: Liliana MichelenaSource: \u003ca href=\"https://www.calvet.ca.gov/calvet-programs/veteran-homes\">California Department of Veteran Affairs\u003c/a> Created with \u003ca href=\"https://www.datawrapper.de/_/wYJ4R/\">Datawrapper\u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The state should keep its promises to the current home residents, but as things change, the program needs to be less structured on just providing room and board for a minimal number of people and more structured on providing skilled nursing facility care for those who need it,” said Ethan Rarick, executive director at Little Hoover Commission, which published \u003ca href=\"https://lhc.ca.gov/sites/lhc.ca.gov/files/Reports/237/Report237.pdf\">a report on the veterans’ homes in 2017\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Outside of the veterans homes, California approved a series of bonds meant to help military service members find housing beginning in 2008. The Veterans Bond Act, passed that year, provided $900 million to veterans through the CalVet Home Loans Program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, California passed an initiative creating the Veterans Housing and Homelessness Program, which put $600 million toward building multi-family homes for veterans. A second ballot initiative in 2018 gave another $4 billion to the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The federal Department of Veterans Affairs, meanwhile, has kept up steady funding for housing vouchers that can provide a place to live for former troops. The Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program, \u003ca href=\"https://www.va.gov/homeless/hud-vash.asp\">commonly known as HUD-VASH\u003c/a>, was a centerpiece of the Bush and Obama administration’s efforts to curb veterans’ homelessness. It provides rental assistance to over 100,000 veterans nationally.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A steep drop in veteran homelessness\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The number of \u003ca href=\"https://news.va.gov/press-room/ranks-of-homeless-veterans-drop-18-percent/\">unhoused veterans in the U.S. peaked during the Great Recession\u003c/a> when the VA in 2007 reported some 154,000 former troops were homeless.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At that time, Fairweather of Swords to Plowshares said many of those deployed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were starting to come back home “to a society that wasn’t prepared for it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On top of that, they and older veterans struggled in the economic downturn, which led to more unemployment and homelessness. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘It all came together in a way that was really disadvantageous to the veterans.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Amy Fairweather, director of policy, Swords to Plowshares, a veterans advocacy group",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It all came together in a way that was really disadvantageous to the veterans,” Fairweather said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the VA estimated about \u003ca href=\"https://www.va.gov/homeless/pit_count.asp\">33,000 veterans were homeless\u003c/a> nationwide. According to the 2021 annual homelessness assessment report by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, more than half are over age 55. The data also shows that Black veterans are more likely to be homeless than veterans belonging to other races.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Advocates say veterans can be reluctant to ask for help.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When veterans ultimately fall down that hole into homelessness, what is happening along with that is that they’re losing connection with friends and family because they’re ashamed that their life is falling apart and it’s hard for them to ask for help,” said Stephen Peck, \u003ca href=\"https://usvets.org/\">president of the veterans support organization U.S. Vets\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11966540\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11966540\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02.jpg\" alt=\"A person stands in front of an apartment building. They wear a face mask and have glasses.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/11/CM02-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tory Gibson, a veteran who has experienced homelessness, in San Francisco on Oct. 31, 2023. \u003ccite>( Felix Uribe/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco native and Army veteran Latoya White has struggled to stay housed in the dozen years since she left the service. She has found it difficult to afford rent even though she was able to keep decent jobs at a grocery store, the San Francisco airport and now as a city bus driver.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was unfamiliar with the resources the VA offered to veterans, like housing vouchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ve always had benefits through my job. I don’t think that then the VA had as many resources as they have now. I did go to the VA and they’re so limited on what they could help me with. So, you know, I just went and got a job and I just was really self-sufficient,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After sleeping in her car and couch surfing for several years, White reached out for help from the advocacy group Swords to Plowshares. That led her to transitional housing, and then to an apartment in San Francisco this June through the HUD-VASH program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of us didn’t even know anything about the HUD-VASH program,” White, 34, said. “A lot of veterans don’t even know that there is assistance out there for them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What does Newsom want to do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Putting the money into the mental health bond comes with a tradeoff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In advancing Newsom’s mental health plan, lawmakers amended an early version of Assemblymember Irwin’s veterans’ housing bill that would have issued more bonds for\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVersionsCompareClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB531&cversion=20230AB53199INT\"> the existing veterans’ housing program\u003c/a>. Without new funding, the program that supports the construction of multi-unit veterans’ housing is expected to run out of money in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still,\u003ca href=\"https://treatmentnottents.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjw15eqBhBZEiwAbDomEmjiLODon4xwymj3drkdEFkEUL9z2Ico7Vj0NhjH04C0RWZuaj8v4RoCphcQAvD_BwE\"> representatives for Newsom’s ballot measure\u003c/a> in a written statement said the bond would create more capacity to help former troops.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Proposition 1 adds new money for California’s most vulnerable veterans without any redirection or reprioritization from the current program. Without Proposition 1, there would be zero funding for homeless veteran housing moving forward, which is why the measure is so critically needed,” the statement read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Altogether, the ballot measure going to voters includes $6.4 billion to fund projects for behavioral health issues and those at risk of homelessness. It also includes a proposal to adjust how the state spends money it collects for mental health services from a tax on personal income over $1 million, aiming to direct more of the funds to housing. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "More Stories on the Unhoused Community ",
"tag": "homeless"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The $1 billion for veterans housing will be distributed through loans and grants by the Department of Housing and Community Development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Representatives from veterans’ groups say the program’s success could hinge on getting the word out and providing services that provide a path out of homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At U.S. Vets, Peck said the nonprofit strives to create a community where veterans help veterans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Building that community is really important,” he said. “A federal veteran who’s been through the process already is probably more effective than we are as social workers.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gibson, who currently lives in transitional housing provided by Swords to Plowshares, has started to find that community through the nonprofit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I talked to them about how I’m struggling with some issues and they are pretty open and supportive about it,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gibson hopes that federal and state services fund more community-oriented programs like hers, so more veterans can feel at home.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11966533/californias-unhoused-crisis-hits-veterans-hard-despite-funding-efforts",
"authors": [
"byline_news_11966533"
],
"categories": [
"news_457",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_18538",
"news_1416",
"news_27626",
"news_16",
"news_18543",
"news_2109",
"news_237",
"news_827"
],
"featImg": "news_11966539",
"label": "source_news_11966533"
},
"news_11966125": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11966125",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11966125",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1698919241000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "marijuana-minister-of-the-castro",
"title": "The Marijuana Minister of the Castro",
"publishDate": 1698919241,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "The Marijuana Minister of the Castro | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 33523,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When people talk about San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood in the late 1970s, they describe it as a place of freedom for gay people. A place where you could be who you were in public and feel safe. Where love bloomed for many who thought they might never find it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But by the early 80s, death started to move in to that joyful space. During the height of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco, in a small church a few blocks from the heart of the Castro, one pastor changed the experience of communion and committed felonies to comfort his flock. Reporter Christopher Beale brings us this story, which he originally produced for his podcast “Stereotypes: Straight Talk from Queer Voices,” and later aired on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11902998/the-marijuana-minister-of-the-castro\">The California Report Magazine.\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> When people talk about San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood in the late 1970s, they describe it as a place of freedom for gay people. A place where you could be who you were in public and feel safe. Where love bloomed for many who thought they might never find it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by the early 80s, death started to move in to that joyful space. San Francisco’s gay community was hit early and hard by HIV and AIDS. People watched friends turn from vibrant to emaciated in a matter of weeks. At the height of the AIDS crisis, close to half the city’s gay men were dying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was a time before the treatments we have today, of course. and for some, the one thing that helped ease their pain – was marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But pot either medical or recreational, wasn’t legal back then, and state politicians were beginning to crack down on it’s use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> At the expense of people with HIV\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>I’m Olivia Allen-Price. This week on Bay Curious: how a San Francisco pastor changed the experience of communion, and committed felonies to comfort his flock…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> I took a risk. I used my body. I acted on a belief that was motivated by my desire to provide healing and comfort for my friends. And I didn’t know what else to do, that I could do. But this was something I could do. And I did it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>This story was first produced by KQED’s Christopher Beale for his podcast Stereotypes: Straight Talk from Queer Voices … and later aired on The California Report Magazine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re sharing it this week ahead of our theatrical walking tours of the AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco .. taking place Nov. 4 and 5. I was just at rehearsals last week and trust me, you don’t want to miss these tours. They feature live music from cellist, El Beh. Very moving dance performances and a ritual with the Sisters of Perpetual indulgence. I’ll be kicking off each tour and I hope to see you. We’ll put a link in the show notes, or you can find your way to KQED.org/live for details.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After this quick break, we return with the Marijuana Minister. I’m Olivia Allen-Price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Before we get started: just a heads up this story includes frank discussions of death, sex, religion and drugs. KQED’s Christopher Beale takes it from here…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STORY\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale:\u003c/strong> Cities all across America have gay neighborhoods, I like to call them “gayborhoods.” In San Francisco, ours is called the Castro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m a few blocks away from the rainbow crosswalk, and the gay bars of The Castro, here on Eureka Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m surrounded by row houses and fourplexes. This block is mostly residential and quiet. The uniformity broken only by this boarded up church building with a lavender sign. It says “a house of prayer for all people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was the home of the Castro’s gay church. Where LGBTQIA people came to celebrate their faith, and pray for hope.\u003cbr>\nIt was this amazing energy place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The man at the pulpit in the 80s and 90s…was a gay pastor named Jim Mitulski.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> I did always love going to church. And, that was the place that it was quiet. It was pretty, people were nice to each other,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale:\u003c/strong> Jim grew up in a little town northwest of Detroit called Royal Oak, Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski: \u003c/strong>My family life was rather unhappy, and it was a respite, frankly. And I looked forward to it every week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale:\u003c/strong> Can you recall the first time you actually felt the presence of God?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Uh, it definitely happened for me during music in church. my earliest survival skill in church was don’t listen, if they’re talking, just pay attention when they’re singing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t think I’ve ever met a piece of music. I didn’t like and especially in a religious setting. It wasn’t until later that I came to understand that you could actually use the pulpit part for something positive or useful. That didn’t come till college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim went to Columbia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> It was a men’s college at that time in New York City. So who do you think goes to a men’s college in New York? In the seventies? Gay guys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale:\u003c/strong> Did that ring out to be true?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> It turned out to be totally true.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[Music} \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim had come out in high school, and even dated a little. In 1970s New York he discovered a love of queer activism. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski: \u003c/strong>I was a political gay and I was very involved in gay politics and by politics, I mean in the streets politics. And my grades reflected it by the way, I was a terrible student. I found myself in those activities. I found my voice. I found my vocation. I found my sense of self, my identity. I found my friends. I found my sexuality, You know, the people you’ve protested with in addition to being friends, we were all lovers. And that was a word we used by the way, an army of lovers can not be defeated, which is a classical phrase but we meant it. I probably had sexual adventures every day. From the time I was 18 until I was 25, with different people. And I wasn’t particularly more promiscuous than anyone in my peer group. It was several thousand people. And I know these numbers are horrifying to the post AIDS person. \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>By 1979 – Jim had dropped out of college. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> This was not unusual in my class, as it turns out \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>And it was around this time Jim discovered a gay church in Greenwich Village. The MCC, or Metropolitan Community Church had been founded just a year earlier on the west coast by a Gay Reverend named Troy Perry. The “denomination” was hardly even that at this stage, but it was designed by Gay Christians, for Gay Christians. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> It was church, not like church. We were anti-church. We were deconstructing Christianity church. We were out in the streets protesting church. We were wear t-shirts not wear vestments church. We wore ragged jeans and pink triangles on our shirts church and it was magical. \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>One day Jim had this kind of epiphany. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> I didn’t occur to me that you could be gay and be a priest. Now, this was hilarious to the gay priests that I met eventually. \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim went back to school to become a pastor, and after serving at the MCC in New York for a few years he got his first senior pastor job offer in San Francisco. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> I got off the plane just to interview, even. It was like, are you kidding me? It’s beautiful here. It’s so much lighter here. It’s so much brighter. The quality of the sun was something I noticed and people are happier here. And, they’re friendlier, you know, New Yorkers will cut, you dead if you say hello or smile or something, you know, the Castro was hi. Hi. \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>So Jim, now in his twenties, packed up and moved to San Francisco. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Gay heaven. It was was so gay (gay gay gay) we had a gay bank (gay gay gay), we had a gay church (gay gay gay) or gay drug store. We had a gay supermarket, you know, everything was gay, gay, gay. We loved it. And it was a protest every Friday night, which turned into a dance party. you know, we got our news from the BAR \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>The Bay Area Reporter, still active in San Francisco today. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski: \u003c/strong>And we did read the Chronicle and the examiner, but mostly, to get the latest installment of the Armistead Maupin column. \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>You might know that column, it spawned several books and a few TV series, it’s called “Tales of the City.” \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> And that was the mood, that was the feel, that was the San Francisco I came to. And it was a great community in the midst of a terrible tragedy unfolding. And that was evident, but still it was a cool place to be. It was still happy. (gay gay gay) \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim began hosting Sunday services at the little Metropolitan Community Church on Eureka St in 1986. And immediately the congregation began to grow. The community was in need, and eventually the church added a second, and then a third service to accommodate all of the people. [beeping sound]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>A lot of those parishioners were visibly dying of AIDS and they were on delicately timed medications…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> They had to take it every four hours and people had timers. like if you were in church, you’d hear, ‘ding ding’ all the time or anywhere, if you’re at a restaurant anywhere, you kept, always heard the ding ding go off. It became a sound like crickets all the time chirping, which is a weird soundtrack in the background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Over the next few years the MCC in the Castro became the de facto LGBTQIA community center, the doors were pretty much always open. Church services, community meetings…weddings…and an ever-increasing number of funerals took place there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> I just was not equipped for the sheer numbers of it. Now the part of me that is good in crises, just dug right in and did it. I found that I’ll listen to anybody and nothing freaks me out. In fact I found that I was good at going with someone to a difficult topic. I could be with dying people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>After a while, hospital visits just became a normal part of the week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> The people that I saw were emaciated. They were dying and in great pain. And in some instances, barely able to talk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each and every person I talked to was convinced they had brought this on themselves. They were worried about going to hell. Many of them were experiencing rejection from friends, family, and loved ones, including gay friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>The LA Times wrote, in 1988, that about 4% of San Francisco’s population, including an astonishing half of the cities estimated 60+ thousand gay men had AIDS. Without an effective cure, most of those men would die within the next 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Here’s what I remember of this guy who said, “Will you hold my hand and pray with me?” Which of course I did. And he said that the only person who would hold his hand and pray with him was that one of the nurses on the night shift who always prayed that he would be delivered of his sin of homosexuality before he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I do honestly believe she meant what she was praying. She wanted him to be saved. He was so alone there. That’s what really shook me to my core. This is why we have a gay church. This is why we do this because people should not have to be in this circumstance. And the only person who will pray with them as someone who also wants them to be cured of homosexuality. That made me angry, that’s how I became an activist, the anger part, it wasn’t the sad part that became the activist. It was the angry part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim’s work was taking a physical and emotional toll on him. He gained 80 pounds, then started working out furiously to lose it. He got a therapist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> There was a group of us who connected that summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>He made some new friends. Started going out more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> We used to call ourselves class of 95.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[Music]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> We might’ve known each other from around. I mean The Castro’s a small town. We found ourselves dancing on Sunday nights at the pleasure dome. And most of us had been pretty good boys until then. And after a while, a lot of people had slept with a lot of people. And I don’t mean that in a disdainful way. I mean, that respectfully it was part of how we connected. It was part of how we were with each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time anyone realized AIDS was sexually transmitted the damage was widespread. The disease could strike a fit, healthy, young guy, and he’d be dead in months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our moods became darker, our hope dissipated. And I became kind of nihilistic. My capacity to sustain an interior sense of self-preservation waned. And I became less protective of my own sexual behavior. I didn’t care. I didn’t care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We felt like our world was dying and this is impossible to communicate to people who weren’t there. But you asked and I’m going to tell you, we just didn’t care. We did care about our friends. We did care about those who are dying. We didn’t remember what it meant to care anymore, necessarily about not becoming part of this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that was the summer. We discovered separately, individually that we were not that we were no longer HIV negative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And we started, doing the things that good boys never did…dancing all night, doing recreational drugs that were related to that activity. Using our bodies we felt like we belonged. We were in something together. And we had regrets, but we also weren’t, we weren’t gonna just give up on our lives either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the truth. I’m telling you the truth, because I think my story is different from others, but my story is not unusual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MUSIC FADES\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Today there are medications that make it possible to live with HIV, but in 1995 everything that seemed to work was experimental…Jim says he tried a drug called Crixivan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> 36 pills a day. Uh, 36? Yeah. Big pills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong> Can I ask you to compare that to your pill regimen for HIV today?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> My, uh, for just, just treating HIV? One.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>In the 90s those early medications managed to prolong lives, but they could make AIDS patients desperately ill. Those patients quickly discovered that cannabis, or marijuana actually helped with the symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> It did two things. One, it suppressed nausea, so people would eat and they wouldn’t eat otherwise because they just felt sick all the time. And the other thing is it took the pain away or enough away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>In the 80s and 90s San Francisco was pretty progressive on marijuana when compared to the rest of the country, even the rest of the state. That had a lot to do with the city’s dying gay population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medical Marijuana clubs, kind of the 90s equivalent of a dispensary, were where patients got their pot, the government looked the other way and everything was fine. That is until politicians got involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Dan Lungren who was running for attorney general. No he was attorney general, he wanted to run for governor, saw this as an issue that he thought could be a popular enforcement issue as a law and order guy. And without consulting with city officials, exercised his authority as a state official, probably with the support of the federal government to one day overnight, crack down on and close without warning, all of the marijuana outlets and distributors in San Francisco. At the expense of people with HIV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>One day a friend named Allen White approached Jim…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> And he was a character no other word for it, but he was the journalist of the gay community in the seventies, eighties, nineties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>White had been talking with a few politicians and had an idea of how to help those AIDS patients get their much-needed medication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> They wondered who could they get to distribute marijuana that the government would think twice about arresting. The risk was high because at that time, the government could seize your asset. They came to me though and said, ‘We want you to do a public distribution of marijuana from the church building to people with HIV.’ So it was a little loosey goosey, but, you know, In a general way. I understood what was at stake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim thought about if for a bit, then reached out to his friend Phyllis Nelson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> She shared my heart for social justice and also she kind of ran the church administratively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>She came to the church for a variety of reasons. She and her husband, they wanted a place where he could come out. We didn’t know he was gay at first. Also they had a gay son who, uh, had AIDS, so they needed a community of support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their son’s name was Glenn. Jim officiated his wedding to a man named Rob.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Then sadly, Glenn dies, then Rob dies. And until scenario through all this together, we were standing outside together, I still remember Saturday afternoon after Rob’s funeral sometimes you don’t need words, but we were definitely bonded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>After being approached by Allen White about distributing medical marijuana at church, Jim called Phyllis and said…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> It’s not without risks. And I don’t know if I should or not. And, um, she said to me, of course he will. And I’ll stand right next to you if you do it because, how can you not?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I knew what she was referring to that moment when we had stood outside. It’s the sunset, uh, just sort of being in that, uh, kind of painful silence, um, after her son and son-in-law had died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was after my own diagnosis. This was a change in me facing my own mortality made me realize we’re only here as long as we’re here. What are you, what are you being so cautious about? My ministry changed right after that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Do you have a lighter? Cuz I don’t know if I have one. \u003cem>[sound of someone lighting a joint]\u003c/em> In your experience, when someone experiencing, HIV or AIDS would smoke a joint, what do you think was happening for those AIDS patients that was so medically necessary?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> AIDS is in itself a disease, right? It’s a— it’s a susceptibility to any number of physical symptoms, including those which are painful to the stomach or to your skin or other kinds of nerve damage. I saw this happen. They would actually feel pain relief and your whole body would just, you know, then it also, and this is something that is something I have experienced the stress around worrying about mortality or about, uh, your circumstances and whether or not you’re going to get everything done that you want to get done while you still can do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And things like that becomes so overwhelming that it’s all you can think about. just, uh, a period of release from that. And fortunately with this, uh, it’s, it lasts for half an hour, an hour or whatever, not all day, not all night. Um, right. But sometimes the freedom from the omnipresent anxiety, uh, is, is important…it’s welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Alright, it’s the summer of 1996, and Jim is getting ready to begin giving out pot to AIDS patients in church.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> We had rules, no money could be exchanged. The pot had to be donated. People had to provide a note. We did have security and we were promised by the supervisors and the health department that the city would protect us as much as they could. There would be no city prosecution, and they would try to protect us from any state or federal prosecution, which they couldn’t guarantee wouldn’t happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>That first Sunday, it seemed like everyone was watching. The media was there in the back row.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> I preached on, if you want to have an increase in your spiritual growth or spiritual life, act on your conscience. That was my sermon. I took a risk. I used my body. I acted on a belief that was motivated by my desire to provide healing and comfort for my friends. And I didn’t know what else to do that I could do, but this was something I could do. And I did it. When you talk about did you experience God? I experienced God then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MUSIC UP\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> And the risk was real and the spiritual intensity was real. And the tangible relief for the people who, who used it was real.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And here’s what Phyllis said that I still remember.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said, “If the attorney general had to spend a whole morning trying to get his son to eat a half a bowl of cereal, like I did, \u003cem>[tearing up]\u003c/em> he would understand what we’re doing right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After church patients would come forward, presented their notes, and left with a small baggie of marijuana. And that first Sunday the police and officials, the they all stayed away. In fact the entire length of the ministry there were no arrests, and no harassment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I swear angels protected us I still believe that and many people were praying for us. They could have arrested us. They could have, but they didn’t. And whether it was optics or whether it was, I think that a lot of people knew we were doing the right thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was in the summer and by the fall, there was a proposition on the state ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Proposition 215, which permitted the use of medical cannabis in California was passed by voters on November 5, 1996.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Yup. And then we just stopped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong> How many people would you say you reached with that ministry\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski: \u003c/strong> Oh, a couple of thousand, probably. Not all of them, gay or people with AIDS, but many of them were, but other people too, that was interesting to me that there was this whole other kind of community that had been that benefited from the gay community’s model of using community, organizing around HIV to achieve a shift in policy around health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[music]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> What’s my regret? That we did all that activism on health care on AIDS healthcare on AIDS care in the eighties and nineties, and somehow did not end up with universal healthcare. Crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>A few months ago I took Jim back to Eureka St.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the caretaker unlocked the now abandoned church Jim walked down the sidewalk examining these memorial plaques honoring church members, and other allies in the community…many of whom have died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Can you read some of them to me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> In a minute… \u003cem>[sounds of crying]\u003c/em> I remember all these people. Good Lord. People whose both weddings and funerals I did. Good God.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>There’s your name on this plaque of senior pastors…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I still rode that horse longer than anybody else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>So can we go in?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Let me get the other door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim left the Metropolitan Community Church in the Castro in 2000, and hasn’t been back in the church in over a decade..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> So of course in my mind, this was the size of grace cathedral but I can see now it really isn’t very big is it? But it seemed bigger and I will say, we used every square inch of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sunday nights in the Castro was a thing. Seven o’clock this room filled, it sometimes filled early. And it was all about singing, we sang gospel music. Sometimes for two hours, two-and-a-half hours. It started and it built. And you know there was the sermon and there was communion and then it just kept going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’d try and end the service and people wouldn’t stop because it was just a release of energy that we had to have. But to see it now you can’t tell maybe but it was this amazing energy place!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>I asked Jim what he learned from his time as the Marijuana Minister?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Let you let your acts of love guide you, even if it means great risk, the greater love, the greater the risk, and you will never regret acts of great love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HOST OUTRO\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>That was reporter, producer and Bay Curious sound engineer Christopher Beale. He also hosts Stereotypes, the podcast where he first aired this documentary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Reverend Jim Mitulski, Todd and Miguel Atkins Whitley, the Castro Patrol, Kyana Moghadam and Josh Taylor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED. Our show is produced by Amanda Font, Christopher Beale and me, Olivia Allen-Price. With support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldana, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I hope to see you at our AIDS Memorial Grove Walking Tours this weekend. Again, find details and tickets at KQED.org/LIVE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a great week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "In a small church a few blocks away from the Castro — during the height of the AIDS epidemic — one pastor fought to provide comfort to his dying congregation.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726004815,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": true,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 119,
"wordCount": 4597
},
"headData": {
"title": "The Marijuana Minister of the Castro | KQED",
"description": "In a small church a few blocks away from the Castro — during the height of the AIDS epidemic — one pastor fought to provide comfort to his dying congregation.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "The Marijuana Minister of the Castro",
"datePublished": "2023-11-02T03:00:41-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-10T14:46:55-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"audioUrl": "https://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/pdst.fm/e/chrt.fm/track/G6C7C3/traffic.megaphone.fm/KQINC7361009986.mp3?updated=1698881142",
"sticky": false,
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11966125/marijuana-minister-of-the-castro",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When people talk about San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood in the late 1970s, they describe it as a place of freedom for gay people. A place where you could be who you were in public and feel safe. Where love bloomed for many who thought they might never find it.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But by the early 80s, death started to move in to that joyful space. During the height of the AIDS epidemic in San Francisco, in a small church a few blocks from the heart of the Castro, one pastor changed the experience of communion and committed felonies to comfort his flock. Reporter Christopher Beale brings us this story, which he originally produced for his podcast “Stereotypes: Straight Talk from Queer Voices,” and later aired on \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11902998/the-marijuana-minister-of-the-castro\">The California Report Magazine.\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price:\u003c/strong> When people talk about San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood in the late 1970s, they describe it as a place of freedom for gay people. A place where you could be who you were in public and feel safe. Where love bloomed for many who thought they might never find it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by the early 80s, death started to move in to that joyful space. San Francisco’s gay community was hit early and hard by HIV and AIDS. People watched friends turn from vibrant to emaciated in a matter of weeks. At the height of the AIDS crisis, close to half the city’s gay men were dying.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was a time before the treatments we have today, of course. and for some, the one thing that helped ease their pain – was marijuana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But pot either medical or recreational, wasn’t legal back then, and state politicians were beginning to crack down on it’s use.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> At the expense of people with HIV\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>I’m Olivia Allen-Price. This week on Bay Curious: how a San Francisco pastor changed the experience of communion, and committed felonies to comfort his flock…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> I took a risk. I used my body. I acted on a belief that was motivated by my desire to provide healing and comfort for my friends. And I didn’t know what else to do, that I could do. But this was something I could do. And I did it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>This story was first produced by KQED’s Christopher Beale for his podcast Stereotypes: Straight Talk from Queer Voices … and later aired on The California Report Magazine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’re sharing it this week ahead of our theatrical walking tours of the AIDS Memorial Grove in San Francisco .. taking place Nov. 4 and 5. I was just at rehearsals last week and trust me, you don’t want to miss these tours. They feature live music from cellist, El Beh. Very moving dance performances and a ritual with the Sisters of Perpetual indulgence. I’ll be kicking off each tour and I hope to see you. We’ll put a link in the show notes, or you can find your way to KQED.org/live for details.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After this quick break, we return with the Marijuana Minister. I’m Olivia Allen-Price.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>Before we get started: just a heads up this story includes frank discussions of death, sex, religion and drugs. KQED’s Christopher Beale takes it from here…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>STORY\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale:\u003c/strong> Cities all across America have gay neighborhoods, I like to call them “gayborhoods.” In San Francisco, ours is called the Castro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m a few blocks away from the rainbow crosswalk, and the gay bars of The Castro, here on Eureka Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m surrounded by row houses and fourplexes. This block is mostly residential and quiet. The uniformity broken only by this boarded up church building with a lavender sign. It says “a house of prayer for all people.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was the home of the Castro’s gay church. Where LGBTQIA people came to celebrate their faith, and pray for hope.\u003cbr>\nIt was this amazing energy place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The man at the pulpit in the 80s and 90s…was a gay pastor named Jim Mitulski.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> I did always love going to church. And, that was the place that it was quiet. It was pretty, people were nice to each other,\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale:\u003c/strong> Jim grew up in a little town northwest of Detroit called Royal Oak, Michigan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski: \u003c/strong>My family life was rather unhappy, and it was a respite, frankly. And I looked forward to it every week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale:\u003c/strong> Can you recall the first time you actually felt the presence of God?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Uh, it definitely happened for me during music in church. my earliest survival skill in church was don’t listen, if they’re talking, just pay attention when they’re singing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t think I’ve ever met a piece of music. I didn’t like and especially in a religious setting. It wasn’t until later that I came to understand that you could actually use the pulpit part for something positive or useful. That didn’t come till college.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim went to Columbia.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> It was a men’s college at that time in New York City. So who do you think goes to a men’s college in New York? In the seventies? Gay guys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale:\u003c/strong> Did that ring out to be true?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> It turned out to be totally true.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[Music} \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim had come out in high school, and even dated a little. In 1970s New York he discovered a love of queer activism. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski: \u003c/strong>I was a political gay and I was very involved in gay politics and by politics, I mean in the streets politics. And my grades reflected it by the way, I was a terrible student. I found myself in those activities. I found my voice. I found my vocation. I found my sense of self, my identity. I found my friends. I found my sexuality, You know, the people you’ve protested with in addition to being friends, we were all lovers. And that was a word we used by the way, an army of lovers can not be defeated, which is a classical phrase but we meant it. I probably had sexual adventures every day. From the time I was 18 until I was 25, with different people. And I wasn’t particularly more promiscuous than anyone in my peer group. It was several thousand people. And I know these numbers are horrifying to the post AIDS person. \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>By 1979 – Jim had dropped out of college. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> This was not unusual in my class, as it turns out \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>And it was around this time Jim discovered a gay church in Greenwich Village. The MCC, or Metropolitan Community Church had been founded just a year earlier on the west coast by a Gay Reverend named Troy Perry. The “denomination” was hardly even that at this stage, but it was designed by Gay Christians, for Gay Christians. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> It was church, not like church. We were anti-church. We were deconstructing Christianity church. We were out in the streets protesting church. We were wear t-shirts not wear vestments church. We wore ragged jeans and pink triangles on our shirts church and it was magical. \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>One day Jim had this kind of epiphany. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> I didn’t occur to me that you could be gay and be a priest. Now, this was hilarious to the gay priests that I met eventually. \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim went back to school to become a pastor, and after serving at the MCC in New York for a few years he got his first senior pastor job offer in San Francisco. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> I got off the plane just to interview, even. It was like, are you kidding me? It’s beautiful here. It’s so much lighter here. It’s so much brighter. The quality of the sun was something I noticed and people are happier here. And, they’re friendlier, you know, New Yorkers will cut, you dead if you say hello or smile or something, you know, the Castro was hi. Hi. \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>So Jim, now in his twenties, packed up and moved to San Francisco. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Gay heaven. It was was so gay (gay gay gay) we had a gay bank (gay gay gay), we had a gay church (gay gay gay) or gay drug store. We had a gay supermarket, you know, everything was gay, gay, gay. We loved it. And it was a protest every Friday night, which turned into a dance party. you know, we got our news from the BAR \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>The Bay Area Reporter, still active in San Francisco today. \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski: \u003c/strong>And we did read the Chronicle and the examiner, but mostly, to get the latest installment of the Armistead Maupin column. \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>You might know that column, it spawned several books and a few TV series, it’s called “Tales of the City.” \u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> And that was the mood, that was the feel, that was the San Francisco I came to. And it was a great community in the midst of a terrible tragedy unfolding. And that was evident, but still it was a cool place to be. It was still happy. (gay gay gay) \u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim began hosting Sunday services at the little Metropolitan Community Church on Eureka St in 1986. And immediately the congregation began to grow. The community was in need, and eventually the church added a second, and then a third service to accommodate all of the people. [beeping sound]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>A lot of those parishioners were visibly dying of AIDS and they were on delicately timed medications…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> They had to take it every four hours and people had timers. like if you were in church, you’d hear, ‘ding ding’ all the time or anywhere, if you’re at a restaurant anywhere, you kept, always heard the ding ding go off. It became a sound like crickets all the time chirping, which is a weird soundtrack in the background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Over the next few years the MCC in the Castro became the de facto LGBTQIA community center, the doors were pretty much always open. Church services, community meetings…weddings…and an ever-increasing number of funerals took place there.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> I just was not equipped for the sheer numbers of it. Now the part of me that is good in crises, just dug right in and did it. I found that I’ll listen to anybody and nothing freaks me out. In fact I found that I was good at going with someone to a difficult topic. I could be with dying people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>After a while, hospital visits just became a normal part of the week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> The people that I saw were emaciated. They were dying and in great pain. And in some instances, barely able to talk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Each and every person I talked to was convinced they had brought this on themselves. They were worried about going to hell. Many of them were experiencing rejection from friends, family, and loved ones, including gay friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>The LA Times wrote, in 1988, that about 4% of San Francisco’s population, including an astonishing half of the cities estimated 60+ thousand gay men had AIDS. Without an effective cure, most of those men would die within the next 10 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Here’s what I remember of this guy who said, “Will you hold my hand and pray with me?” Which of course I did. And he said that the only person who would hold his hand and pray with him was that one of the nurses on the night shift who always prayed that he would be delivered of his sin of homosexuality before he died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I do honestly believe she meant what she was praying. She wanted him to be saved. He was so alone there. That’s what really shook me to my core. This is why we have a gay church. This is why we do this because people should not have to be in this circumstance. And the only person who will pray with them as someone who also wants them to be cured of homosexuality. That made me angry, that’s how I became an activist, the anger part, it wasn’t the sad part that became the activist. It was the angry part.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim’s work was taking a physical and emotional toll on him. He gained 80 pounds, then started working out furiously to lose it. He got a therapist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> There was a group of us who connected that summer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>He made some new friends. Started going out more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> We used to call ourselves class of 95.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[Music]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> We might’ve known each other from around. I mean The Castro’s a small town. We found ourselves dancing on Sunday nights at the pleasure dome. And most of us had been pretty good boys until then. And after a while, a lot of people had slept with a lot of people. And I don’t mean that in a disdainful way. I mean, that respectfully it was part of how we connected. It was part of how we were with each other.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>By the time anyone realized AIDS was sexually transmitted the damage was widespread. The disease could strike a fit, healthy, young guy, and he’d be dead in months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our moods became darker, our hope dissipated. And I became kind of nihilistic. My capacity to sustain an interior sense of self-preservation waned. And I became less protective of my own sexual behavior. I didn’t care. I didn’t care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We felt like our world was dying and this is impossible to communicate to people who weren’t there. But you asked and I’m going to tell you, we just didn’t care. We did care about our friends. We did care about those who are dying. We didn’t remember what it meant to care anymore, necessarily about not becoming part of this.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And that was the summer. We discovered separately, individually that we were not that we were no longer HIV negative.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And we started, doing the things that good boys never did…dancing all night, doing recreational drugs that were related to that activity. Using our bodies we felt like we belonged. We were in something together. And we had regrets, but we also weren’t, we weren’t gonna just give up on our lives either.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s the truth. I’m telling you the truth, because I think my story is different from others, but my story is not unusual.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MUSIC FADES\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Today there are medications that make it possible to live with HIV, but in 1995 everything that seemed to work was experimental…Jim says he tried a drug called Crixivan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> 36 pills a day. Uh, 36? Yeah. Big pills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong> Can I ask you to compare that to your pill regimen for HIV today?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> My, uh, for just, just treating HIV? One.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>In the 90s those early medications managed to prolong lives, but they could make AIDS patients desperately ill. Those patients quickly discovered that cannabis, or marijuana actually helped with the symptoms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> It did two things. One, it suppressed nausea, so people would eat and they wouldn’t eat otherwise because they just felt sick all the time. And the other thing is it took the pain away or enough away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>In the 80s and 90s San Francisco was pretty progressive on marijuana when compared to the rest of the country, even the rest of the state. That had a lot to do with the city’s dying gay population.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Medical Marijuana clubs, kind of the 90s equivalent of a dispensary, were where patients got their pot, the government looked the other way and everything was fine. That is until politicians got involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Dan Lungren who was running for attorney general. No he was attorney general, he wanted to run for governor, saw this as an issue that he thought could be a popular enforcement issue as a law and order guy. And without consulting with city officials, exercised his authority as a state official, probably with the support of the federal government to one day overnight, crack down on and close without warning, all of the marijuana outlets and distributors in San Francisco. At the expense of people with HIV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>One day a friend named Allen White approached Jim…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> And he was a character no other word for it, but he was the journalist of the gay community in the seventies, eighties, nineties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>White had been talking with a few politicians and had an idea of how to help those AIDS patients get their much-needed medication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> They wondered who could they get to distribute marijuana that the government would think twice about arresting. The risk was high because at that time, the government could seize your asset. They came to me though and said, ‘We want you to do a public distribution of marijuana from the church building to people with HIV.’ So it was a little loosey goosey, but, you know, In a general way. I understood what was at stake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim thought about if for a bit, then reached out to his friend Phyllis Nelson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> She shared my heart for social justice and also she kind of ran the church administratively.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>She came to the church for a variety of reasons. She and her husband, they wanted a place where he could come out. We didn’t know he was gay at first. Also they had a gay son who, uh, had AIDS, so they needed a community of support.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their son’s name was Glenn. Jim officiated his wedding to a man named Rob.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Then sadly, Glenn dies, then Rob dies. And until scenario through all this together, we were standing outside together, I still remember Saturday afternoon after Rob’s funeral sometimes you don’t need words, but we were definitely bonded.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>After being approached by Allen White about distributing medical marijuana at church, Jim called Phyllis and said…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> It’s not without risks. And I don’t know if I should or not. And, um, she said to me, of course he will. And I’ll stand right next to you if you do it because, how can you not?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And I knew what she was referring to that moment when we had stood outside. It’s the sunset, uh, just sort of being in that, uh, kind of painful silence, um, after her son and son-in-law had died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was after my own diagnosis. This was a change in me facing my own mortality made me realize we’re only here as long as we’re here. What are you, what are you being so cautious about? My ministry changed right after that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Do you have a lighter? Cuz I don’t know if I have one. \u003cem>[sound of someone lighting a joint]\u003c/em> In your experience, when someone experiencing, HIV or AIDS would smoke a joint, what do you think was happening for those AIDS patients that was so medically necessary?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> AIDS is in itself a disease, right? It’s a— it’s a susceptibility to any number of physical symptoms, including those which are painful to the stomach or to your skin or other kinds of nerve damage. I saw this happen. They would actually feel pain relief and your whole body would just, you know, then it also, and this is something that is something I have experienced the stress around worrying about mortality or about, uh, your circumstances and whether or not you’re going to get everything done that you want to get done while you still can do it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And things like that becomes so overwhelming that it’s all you can think about. just, uh, a period of release from that. And fortunately with this, uh, it’s, it lasts for half an hour, an hour or whatever, not all day, not all night. Um, right. But sometimes the freedom from the omnipresent anxiety, uh, is, is important…it’s welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Alright, it’s the summer of 1996, and Jim is getting ready to begin giving out pot to AIDS patients in church.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> We had rules, no money could be exchanged. The pot had to be donated. People had to provide a note. We did have security and we were promised by the supervisors and the health department that the city would protect us as much as they could. There would be no city prosecution, and they would try to protect us from any state or federal prosecution, which they couldn’t guarantee wouldn’t happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>That first Sunday, it seemed like everyone was watching. The media was there in the back row.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> I preached on, if you want to have an increase in your spiritual growth or spiritual life, act on your conscience. That was my sermon. I took a risk. I used my body. I acted on a belief that was motivated by my desire to provide healing and comfort for my friends. And I didn’t know what else to do that I could do, but this was something I could do. And I did it. When you talk about did you experience God? I experienced God then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>MUSIC UP\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> And the risk was real and the spiritual intensity was real. And the tangible relief for the people who, who used it was real.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And here’s what Phyllis said that I still remember.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She said, “If the attorney general had to spend a whole morning trying to get his son to eat a half a bowl of cereal, like I did, \u003cem>[tearing up]\u003c/em> he would understand what we’re doing right now.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After church patients would come forward, presented their notes, and left with a small baggie of marijuana. And that first Sunday the police and officials, the they all stayed away. In fact the entire length of the ministry there were no arrests, and no harassment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I swear angels protected us I still believe that and many people were praying for us. They could have arrested us. They could have, but they didn’t. And whether it was optics or whether it was, I think that a lot of people knew we were doing the right thing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was in the summer and by the fall, there was a proposition on the state ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Proposition 215, which permitted the use of medical cannabis in California was passed by voters on November 5, 1996.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Yup. And then we just stopped.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong> How many people would you say you reached with that ministry\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski: \u003c/strong> Oh, a couple of thousand, probably. Not all of them, gay or people with AIDS, but many of them were, but other people too, that was interesting to me that there was this whole other kind of community that had been that benefited from the gay community’s model of using community, organizing around HIV to achieve a shift in policy around health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[music]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> What’s my regret? That we did all that activism on health care on AIDS healthcare on AIDS care in the eighties and nineties, and somehow did not end up with universal healthcare. Crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>A few months ago I took Jim back to Eureka St.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the caretaker unlocked the now abandoned church Jim walked down the sidewalk examining these memorial plaques honoring church members, and other allies in the community…many of whom have died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Can you read some of them to me?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> In a minute… \u003cem>[sounds of crying]\u003c/em> I remember all these people. Good Lord. People whose both weddings and funerals I did. Good God.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>There’s your name on this plaque of senior pastors…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Yeah, I still rode that horse longer than anybody else.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>So can we go in?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Let me get the other door.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>Jim left the Metropolitan Community Church in the Castro in 2000, and hasn’t been back in the church in over a decade..\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> So of course in my mind, this was the size of grace cathedral but I can see now it really isn’t very big is it? But it seemed bigger and I will say, we used every square inch of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sunday nights in the Castro was a thing. Seven o’clock this room filled, it sometimes filled early. And it was all about singing, we sang gospel music. Sometimes for two hours, two-and-a-half hours. It started and it built. And you know there was the sermon and there was communion and then it just kept going.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’d try and end the service and people wouldn’t stop because it was just a release of energy that we had to have. But to see it now you can’t tell maybe but it was this amazing energy place!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Christopher Beale: \u003c/strong>I asked Jim what he learned from his time as the Marijuana Minister?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Jim Mitulski:\u003c/strong> Let you let your acts of love guide you, even if it means great risk, the greater love, the greater the risk, and you will never regret acts of great love.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HOST OUTRO\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Olivia Allen-Price: \u003c/strong>That was reporter, producer and Bay Curious sound engineer Christopher Beale. He also hosts Stereotypes, the podcast where he first aired this documentary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Special thanks to Reverend Jim Mitulski, Todd and Miguel Atkins Whitley, the Castro Patrol, Kyana Moghadam and Josh Taylor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious is made in San Francisco at member-supported KQED. Our show is produced by Amanda Font, Christopher Beale and me, Olivia Allen-Price. With support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Cesar Saldana, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan and the whole KQED family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I hope to see you at our AIDS Memorial Grove Walking Tours this weekend. Again, find details and tickets at KQED.org/LIVE.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m Olivia Allen-Price. Have a great week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/div>"
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "baycuriousquestion",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11966125/marijuana-minister-of-the-castro",
"authors": [
"8637"
],
"programs": [
"news_33523"
],
"series": [
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_457",
"news_8",
"news_33520"
],
"tags": [
"news_21534",
"news_18543",
"news_29548",
"news_102"
],
"featImg": "news_11903117",
"label": "news_33523"
},
"news_11965937": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11965937",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11965937",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1698768039000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "as-hiv-rates-fall-nationally-latinx-communities-remain-disproportionately-impacted-why",
"title": "As HIV Rates Fall Nationally, Latinx Communities Remain Disproportionately Impacted. Why?",
"publishDate": 1698768039,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "As HIV Rates Fall Nationally, Latinx Communities Remain Disproportionately Impacted. Why? | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Bay Curious, KQED’s podcast that explores the Bay Area’s unique local legends, interesting landmarks and uncovered histories, is inviting listeners to take off their headphones and take a walk in a park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 4 and 5, our journalists will take small groups on guided tours of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.aidsmemorial.org/\">National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park\u003c/a>, where they’ll tell stories about the formation of the memorial, known as The Grove. Along the way, there will be performances reflecting on the people who are remembered in the space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, has declined in the United States by 6% since 2010. But there’s been an escalation of new infections — 14% — in the Latinx community, particularly among gay and bisexual men. According to 2019 data from the CDC, Hispanic Americans \u003ca href=\"https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/hivaids-and-hispanic-americans#:~:text=Hispanic%20Americans%20accounted%20for%20almost,as%20compared%20to%20white%20males.\">accounted for almost 30% of new HIV infections\u003c/a> while making up only about 18% of the country’s population.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Francisco Buchting, Horizons Foundation\"]‘When HIV first started, it was the ‘gay cancer,’ Even in the present, it continues — homophobia — in parts of our community.’[/pullquote]In California, about 40% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/CA/PST045222\">U.S. Census Bureau data\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Francisco Buchting, vice president of grants, programs and communications at Horizons Foundation, which invests in LGBTQ nonprofits, told KQED there is a stigma about HIV in the Latinx community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When HIV first started, it was the ‘gay cancer,’” he said. “Even in the present, it continues — homophobia — in parts of our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 1980s, the face of the HIV movement was white, gay men. That, consequently, often left minorities absent from research literature, outreach initiatives and early treatment. In addition to homophobia, the entrenched religious beliefs in the Latinx diaspora contributed to the stigmatization of HIV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moral judgments about male same-gender relationships and fears of contagion dominated the public religious response during the first five or six years of the HIV epidemic, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Additionally, the cultural value of machismo \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/factsheets/cdc-hiv-latinos-508.pdf\">may create reluctance to acknowledge risky behaviors\u003c/a> such as male-to-male sexual contact or substance misuse, according to the CDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Esperanza Macias, policy and communications director with the Instituto Familiar de La Raza, a San Francisco organization that promotes health in the Latino community, said gay Latin men often had to combat living outside of the stereotypes of being a dominant alpha male because they would face harassment and assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of men met in areas that ended up not being safe. That was the only way that they were able to explore their sexuality,” Macias said. “And, unfortunately, it was an unsafe way. And because they weren’t able to share that with their partners, oftentimes, their partners would also get HIV.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]The 2019 CDC data found that both Hispanic men and women were four times as likely to have AIDS — the condition caused by HIV — as compared to white men and women. It also found that Hispanic men were twice as likely to die of HIV infection than non-Hispanic white men, while Hispanic women were three times as likely to die than non-Hispanic white women.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buchting told KQED that a growing shift in recent decades to abstinence-only sex education in the U.S. and Latin America, fueled by conservatism and religion, complicated HIV prevention efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think within the religion piece, especially in the space that I fund internationally, we look at religious fundamentalism as one of the driving forces for this — [the] safe, secure, legal access to comprehensive reproductive rights, including abortion or LGBTI rights,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Macias, who has worked to teach youth of color about sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, said the push for abstinence messaging wasn’t good for the health of young people who have hormones and are naturally curious.[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"aids\"]“It was a matter of exposing people to the concepts and to the importance and recognizing that it was much more a health issue than an issue of religion,” Macias said, referring to sex education. “It was not a tradeoff between promiscuity and other negative characteristics associated with sex education. It was really a matter of being a critical health issue — that it was important for young men and young women.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Social and economic factors, like poverty, racial discrimination and lack of access to health care, can increase the risks of HIV, according to the CDC. But language barriers, low academic achievement and mistrust of the health care system may also affect the quality of HIV care many Latinos receive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also several studies that indicate HIV-infected undocumented immigrants enter care at a more advanced stage than others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re undocumented, you may not be as comfortable responding to surveys for a host of reasons,” Buchting said. “When I was working in HIV in LA, especially a lot of the Latino patients that I saw, they were accessing services much later, compared to the non-Latino patients. And their HIV had progressed to the point that sometimes the first encounter with them was already an AIDS diagnosis as opposed to an HIV infection.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Undocumented people also face unique barriers to receiving necessary care, including stigmatization, high levels of acculturation stress, and fear of deportation, according to the National Institutes of Health. Many also have very limited access to health care coverage and are ineligible to enroll in federally-funded health care programs like Medicaid and Medicare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Buchting said that compared to decades ago, there are now many more treatment options for HIV, which is currently viewed as a chronic medical illness that can be managed. Research on HIV has progressed significantly since the 1980s, he noted, including HIV prevention medication like pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly known as PrEP, which reduces the risk of HIV from sex by 99%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now, as HIV is evolving and less at the forefront, we’re looking at what other ways [we can] partner,” Macias said about Instituto Familiar de La Raza. “Then, if our focus is not so much on saving the LGBT Latino community from a fatal disease, what can we do to support their wellness now? And I feel like that’s a wonderful thing to witness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 100,000 Latinos have died since the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, according to a 2016 CDC report. Buchting says the work being done at the organizational level is made to honor those who passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that, hopefully, one day, there’ll be a cure, but until then, continue to work to help those infected and those that are living with it,” he said. “And try to do as much prevention as we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Guided tours of the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park are from 1–3 p.m. Nov. 4 and 5. Space is limited. Tickets cost $25. For more information and to register, visit \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/event/3582\">\u003ci>kqed.org\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Despite a national decline in HIV cases since 2010, infection rates have increased markedly in the Latinx community, especially among gay and bisexual men.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726004818,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 23,
"wordCount": 1231
},
"headData": {
"title": "As HIV Rates Fall Nationally, Latinx Communities Remain Disproportionately Impacted. Why? | KQED",
"description": "Despite a national decline in HIV cases since 2010, infection rates have increased markedly in the Latinx community, especially among gay and bisexual men.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "As HIV Rates Fall Nationally, Latinx Communities Remain Disproportionately Impacted. Why?",
"datePublished": "2023-10-31T09:00:39-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-10T14:46:58-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "María Fernanda Bernal",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"showOnAuthorArchivePages": "No",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11965937/as-hiv-rates-fall-nationally-latinx-communities-remain-disproportionately-impacted-why",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Bay Curious, KQED’s podcast that explores the Bay Area’s unique local legends, interesting landmarks and uncovered histories, is inviting listeners to take off their headphones and take a walk in a park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Nov. 4 and 5, our journalists will take small groups on guided tours of the \u003ca href=\"https://www.aidsmemorial.org/\">National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park\u003c/a>, where they’ll tell stories about the formation of the memorial, known as The Grove. Along the way, there will be performances reflecting on the people who are remembered in the space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Overall, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, has declined in the United States by 6% since 2010. But there’s been an escalation of new infections — 14% — in the Latinx community, particularly among gay and bisexual men. According to 2019 data from the CDC, Hispanic Americans \u003ca href=\"https://minorityhealth.hhs.gov/hivaids-and-hispanic-americans#:~:text=Hispanic%20Americans%20accounted%20for%20almost,as%20compared%20to%20white%20males.\">accounted for almost 30% of new HIV infections\u003c/a> while making up only about 18% of the country’s population.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘When HIV first started, it was the ‘gay cancer,’ Even in the present, it continues — homophobia — in parts of our community.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"align": "right",
"size": "medium",
"citation": "Francisco Buchting, Horizons Foundation",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In California, about 40% of residents identify as Hispanic or Latino, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/CA/PST045222\">U.S. Census Bureau data\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Francisco Buchting, vice president of grants, programs and communications at Horizons Foundation, which invests in LGBTQ nonprofits, told KQED there is a stigma about HIV in the Latinx community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When HIV first started, it was the ‘gay cancer,’” he said. “Even in the present, it continues — homophobia — in parts of our community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the 1980s, the face of the HIV movement was white, gay men. That, consequently, often left minorities absent from research literature, outreach initiatives and early treatment. In addition to homophobia, the entrenched religious beliefs in the Latinx diaspora contributed to the stigmatization of HIV.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moral judgments about male same-gender relationships and fears of contagion dominated the public religious response during the first five or six years of the HIV epidemic, according to the National Center for Biotechnology Information. Additionally, the cultural value of machismo \u003ca href=\"https://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/factsheets/cdc-hiv-latinos-508.pdf\">may create reluctance to acknowledge risky behaviors\u003c/a> such as male-to-male sexual contact or substance misuse, according to the CDC.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Esperanza Macias, policy and communications director with the Instituto Familiar de La Raza, a San Francisco organization that promotes health in the Latino community, said gay Latin men often had to combat living outside of the stereotypes of being a dominant alpha male because they would face harassment and assault.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of men met in areas that ended up not being safe. That was the only way that they were able to explore their sexuality,” Macias said. “And, unfortunately, it was an unsafe way. And because they weren’t able to share that with their partners, oftentimes, their partners would also get HIV.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The 2019 CDC data found that both Hispanic men and women were four times as likely to have AIDS — the condition caused by HIV — as compared to white men and women. It also found that Hispanic men were twice as likely to die of HIV infection than non-Hispanic white men, while Hispanic women were three times as likely to die than non-Hispanic white women.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buchting told KQED that a growing shift in recent decades to abstinence-only sex education in the U.S. and Latin America, fueled by conservatism and religion, complicated HIV prevention efforts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think within the religion piece, especially in the space that I fund internationally, we look at religious fundamentalism as one of the driving forces for this — [the] safe, secure, legal access to comprehensive reproductive rights, including abortion or LGBTI rights,” he added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Macias, who has worked to teach youth of color about sexually transmitted diseases like HIV, said the push for abstinence messaging wasn’t good for the health of young people who have hormones and are naturally curious.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "related coverage ",
"tag": "aids"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It was a matter of exposing people to the concepts and to the importance and recognizing that it was much more a health issue than an issue of religion,” Macias said, referring to sex education. “It was not a tradeoff between promiscuity and other negative characteristics associated with sex education. It was really a matter of being a critical health issue — that it was important for young men and young women.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Social and economic factors, like poverty, racial discrimination and lack of access to health care, can increase the risks of HIV, according to the CDC. But language barriers, low academic achievement and mistrust of the health care system may also affect the quality of HIV care many Latinos receive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are also several studies that indicate HIV-infected undocumented immigrants enter care at a more advanced stage than others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you’re undocumented, you may not be as comfortable responding to surveys for a host of reasons,” Buchting said. “When I was working in HIV in LA, especially a lot of the Latino patients that I saw, they were accessing services much later, compared to the non-Latino patients. And their HIV had progressed to the point that sometimes the first encounter with them was already an AIDS diagnosis as opposed to an HIV infection.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Undocumented people also face unique barriers to receiving necessary care, including stigmatization, high levels of acculturation stress, and fear of deportation, according to the National Institutes of Health. Many also have very limited access to health care coverage and are ineligible to enroll in federally-funded health care programs like Medicaid and Medicare.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Buchting said that compared to decades ago, there are now many more treatment options for HIV, which is currently viewed as a chronic medical illness that can be managed. Research on HIV has progressed significantly since the 1980s, he noted, including HIV prevention medication like pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly known as PrEP, which reduces the risk of HIV from sex by 99%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Now, as HIV is evolving and less at the forefront, we’re looking at what other ways [we can] partner,” Macias said about Instituto Familiar de La Raza. “Then, if our focus is not so much on saving the LGBT Latino community from a fatal disease, what can we do to support their wellness now? And I feel like that’s a wonderful thing to witness.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 100,000 Latinos have died since the start of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, according to a 2016 CDC report. Buchting says the work being done at the organizational level is made to honor those who passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We know that, hopefully, one day, there’ll be a cure, but until then, continue to work to help those infected and those that are living with it,” he said. “And try to do as much prevention as we can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Guided tours of the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park are from 1–3 p.m. Nov. 4 and 5. Space is limited. Tickets cost $25. For more information and to register, visit \u003c/i>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/event/3582\">\u003ci>kqed.org\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003ci>. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11965937/as-hiv-rates-fall-nationally-latinx-communities-remain-disproportionately-impacted-why",
"authors": [
"byline_news_11965937"
],
"categories": [
"news_457",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_1510",
"news_18426",
"news_18543"
],
"featImg": "news_11965426",
"label": "news"
},
"news_11965263": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11965263",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11965263",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1698267602000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "a-healing-place-stories-of-loss-and-resilience-from-the-national-aids-memorial-grove",
"title": "'A Healing Place': Stories From the National AIDS Memorial Grove",
"publishDate": 1698267602,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "‘A Healing Place’: Stories From the National AIDS Memorial Grove | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 17986,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/baycurious/\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> listener asked about the history of the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park. It’s a beautiful, verdant place filled with ferns, redwood trees and a stone centerpiece engraved with the names of the many people lost to HIV/AIDS and the names of their friends and family members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To answer the listener’s question, we created a theatrical walking tour into the stories behind the memorial garden. You can attend one of the tours on Nov. 4-5. They run at 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/event/3582\">Full information and tickets here. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED led in-depth interviews with activists, survivors and loved ones who are integral to the grove. Their stories are reflected in the dances and music you’ll see during the tour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below are excerpts from those interviews. All photos are courtesy of the people interviewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965279\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11965279\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-800x800.jpeg\" alt=\"Portrait of John Cunningham.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-800x800.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-1020x1020.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-160x160.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-1920x1920.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Cunningham\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>John Cunningham\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CEO of the National AIDS Memorial Grove\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he space is a geographic bowl. I believe it’s a holder of energy. It’s the only space in public land in San Francisco where it’s legal to deposit urns or spread ashes. It is the final resting place for hundreds of individuals. We often avail to families and loved ones a tree or some sort of plant for them so that they can create life out of death and then oftentimes return to visit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1998, I learned that I was HIV positive. I contracted the virus during a four or five-year stint of addiction, which I’ve conquered, which gave me the opportunity to rebuild my life. I have two Chinese symbols tattooed on my left shoulder, which are perseverance and longevity, or harnessing the energy of our life’s events to gain strength, perspective, wisdom. Because if we don’t go down that path, we tend to go down the dark path of being victims and jaded and negative. So I’ve tried to use that event in my life for other events in my life to create positive outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After coming off of disability from HIV, I re-entered the workforce and ended up working for a nonprofit called Positive Resource Center (PRC). They joined in the efforts to create the Grove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So many individuals were cast aside or away from their communities, their homes, their places of worship, their churches. And I believe that many have found this to be that space, that sanctuary and the circle of friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Albeit the gay community was significantly adversely impacted, it was not the most significantly impacted single demographic. That would have been the hemophilia community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hemophilia community lost so many of their own members because of the injustice of a tainted blood supply that the government knew was tainted. They hoped they would find a cure, which we still don’t have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Half the hemophiliacs in America died in the 10-year period. It was a tragedy. And they said, “You know, if it wasn’t for you gay people, we would have gotten help.” It wasn’t right, but they were [correct] because of the stigma that was projected upon one segment of the population, i.e., gays. No one got help. And that is just a tragedy. But it speaks to how corrosive to a society prejudice and stigma and discrimination can be when you’re projecting against a health crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They wanted to create their own AIDS memorial. And Jenny White, \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_White\">Ryan White\u003c/a>’s mother said, “You’ve got one. It’s the National AIDS Memorial.” We worked and bridged some real chasms inside their community. The Hemophilia Circle was completed in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 90% of those that are affected by bleeding disorders are men or boys. If you had one boy, you had three boys that all had hemophilia. And back in those days, they were probably all being transfused at the same center. So when you lost one, you lost them all. Most of the hemophilia community didn’t seek support within the gay community because the gay community was the only place that was really trying to do something. You were then alone. And your book of grieving was closed and you had nowhere to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the grove was also a project that helped people open that book of grieving again and come together. On the day the space was dedicated, there were about 250 to 300 individuals representing the National Hemophilia Foundation, the Hemophilia Federation of America, the community of 10,000 and family members from across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hemophilia creates joint issues because it has blood pooling in ankles and knees. During the dedication these fathers, many with mobility issues, fell into other men’s arms crying and holding each other. When we welcomed them and stood here, it was clear they were all standing across from the circle, alone in the back. And I said to them, “We are one family. We were in one boat tragically connected. Come together, come in.” And we came together and shared.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965417\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/Dana-Francis.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11965417\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/Dana-Francis-800x825.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"825\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/Dana-Francis-800x825.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/Dana-Francis-160x165.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/Dana-Francis.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dana Francis\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Dana Francis\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Social Worker with hemophiliacs\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap] worked at UCSF at the Hemophilia Treatment Center for over 20 years. I think at the beginning a lot of people felt that the gay community gave this to the hemophilia community by donating blood. The blood products that were made to control their hemophilia infected them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before they knew what HIV was, the bloodmobile would come to 18th and Castro. Guys would line up and donate, but they didn’t know that their blood was infected. The gay community was one of the greatest civic players.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My role as a social worker has been to say for years, “This is nobody’s fault.” A big part of my job was to get the guys with bleeding disorders to think about this whole thing differently. Some of them were already there, a lot of them weren’t. We worked at it slowly and carefully.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It ended up being my calling in a way to do this work. I’ve always wanted to help other men think more broadly about their own humanity and their own emotional life. Nothing is going to get you into that position like having a chronic and life-threatening illness. I love helping men help themselves and help each other. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s huge because men don’t do that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most people don’t even know what hemophilia is. I didn’t when I started the job. They think they’ve heard maybe that if you cut yourself shaving, you bleed to death. Which you don’t! People with hemophilia bleed longer, not faster. So if they cut themselves shaving, they’re going to be changing a Band-Aid a couple of times that day. They’re missing a protein in their blood that we have and the clots are blood, but they don’t have it. So they bleed into their joints, knees, ankles, hips, elbows mostly. They have internal bleeding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the treatment is much, much better than it used to be, and it’s getting better all the time, thank goodness, a lot of older folks are in wheelchairs because their knees are wrecked. So the ramps here at the grove are even for people to walk as much as they are for chairs. That’s perfect for this community.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965280\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11965280\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-800x800.jpeg\" alt=\"Portrait of Steve Sagaser.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-800x800.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-1020x1020.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-160x160.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-1920x1920.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steve Sagaser\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Steve Sagaser\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Senior Manager, Programs, AIDS Memorial Grove\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]M[/dropcap]y name is Steve Sagaser. I’m 57 years old. I am an HIV-positive gay male.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years after we graduated from UC Berkeley, my partner Sergio died, in 1993. It was very traumatic and devastating for me. I very much wanted to avoid the topic of HIV and AIDS as much as possible. I lived in our apartment for some time with all of his belongings there. I needed that. When he died I believed that I was going to be next. The thought of being tested terrified me. If I were tested, my death sentence would be confirmed. Just hearing about HIV/AIDS terrified me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years after Sergio died I finally went to be tested. I was negative. It was several years later when I became positive, while I was addicted to meth. Many people become infected while using crystal meth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve all heard the expression “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” We use that a lot in the recovery community. That happened to me. I recall walking through Dolores Park one afternoon on my way home after using meth all night long. I was seeing all the people doing seemingly healthy things — going to work, or just enjoying the park. And there I was, on my way home to figure out how to get more meth, after walking the city like a rat in the night. And I remember, in that moment, thinking about, and missing, all the wonderful people in my life before I had become a drug addict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I decided to endure the long and terrible withdrawal. I started going to a lot of anonymous meetings and some AA meetings. In doing that, I was able to find a little group of friends. One of those friends became my partner of 18 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was exhausted from the constant chasing, of missing the people that I loved, all of whom were there waiting for me when I finally got my shit together. I always feel so blessed that they never abandoned me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most meaningful place to me in the grove is the Circle of Friends, where the name of Sergio’s nephew, Daniel, is located. He was only five years old when Sergio and I went to visit his family and we had taken him to Universal Studios. We never stayed in touch. But Daniel, some 16 years later, was able to find me. He’s my nephew now, and this is one of the gifts Sergio gave me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Circle of Friends are the names of people who have died from AIDS or people who have been impacted by AIDS. And Daniel is certainly one of those people. His family didn’t talk about what happened to Uncle Sergio. But Daniel is very intuitive and at a young age he started putting things together. One of those reasons is that Daniel is a gay man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I had Daniel’s name engraved in there so that it was close to Sergio’s name.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965607\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1400px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Daniel-Villa-for-post.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11965607\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Daniel-Villa-for-post.jpg\" alt=\"A headshot of a Latino man.\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1245\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Daniel-Villa-for-post.jpg 1400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Daniel-Villa-for-post-800x711.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Daniel-Villa-for-post-1020x907.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Daniel-Villa-for-post-160x142.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daniel Villa\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Daniel Villa\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Steve’s Nephew\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he first time my uncle Sergio brought his partner Steve from Berkeley to our house was when I was five years old. I remember — I love telling Steve this now — “Staring at you because you were so pale and so different looking from my family!” He had shoulder-length blond hair. They took me to Universal Studios that day. I don’t remember any of the trips, but I remember the car ride, sitting in the back seat, feeling that there was something between them. And at the time I didn’t call it gay, but I felt something, even though they didn’t kiss in front of me or anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My family wasn’t very accepting of people being gay. So they were distant from Sergio. I always had questions about him and I was left with no answers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then one day when I was around 14 or 15, my mom gave me Sergio’s thesis. He went to Berkeley, and he wrote a thesis about AIDS. I started to read it and there were way too many big words and phrases that I just could not understand. I put it in my closet for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My coming out was kind of dramatic. I called my mom after one of my first breakups, crying. And I was really embarrassed to tell her. And she said, “I already knew.” I sobbed, “Oh, you did?” She said, “Yes, don’t freak me out like that. I thought you were going to die or something!” My family then became very accepting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years later, I picked up the thesis again. And I noticed that at the end it said, ‘I dedicate this to my lover and best friend, Steven Sager.’ I had forgotten his name but always wondered about Sergio’s friend… I was so excited. I didn’t have the courage to actually search for him just yet. Because what if he was also dead?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know how to explain, but it’s almost like Sergio was with me. I felt very much like he was guiding me to Steven in some way, and I would think about his name a lot and that image of him when I was five. It went like that for a while.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then one day I was driving. And I had this feeling that I’ve never felt before like somebody was pushing you to do something, where you wanted to \u003ci>do\u003c/i> something. I pulled over, I wasn’t even home yet. It was like Sergio was forcing me to pull over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I never told Steven this because this whole story sounds crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I got on Google. I searched Steven’s name. The first thing that came up was an AIDS nonprofit he worked for. And I go, “Oh my God, this has to be it. My uncle died of AIDS, and here he is working in it. This has to be him!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I called the number on the website and I was shaking so much because I wasn’t sure if it was going to be him. It goes straight to voicemail and I say, “My name is Daniel and I don’t know if you remember me, but I was five years old last time you saw me. And I’m the nephew of Sergio.” I must have been stuttering. It was so scary and exciting. And I get a phone call, like, maybe, 5 minutes later. And it was him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I finally got to talk to Sergio through him and obviously, he was just so excited to hear me. It was magical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I always felt loved by Sergio when he would visit when I was little. He would bring me trolls, the tiny ones with colored hair. Sergio was kind and really, really funny and witty. And it sounds like we’ve become alike, in many ways. I’ve loved hearing little stories about Sergio. But Steven was always such a beautiful person, being around him was always enough for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I never knew how old Sergio was when he died. Steven said he was 21, and I thought it was so interesting that I found Steven at the age of 21.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve known Steven for many years now since I found him. And I’m not in a hurry to know every single detail about Sergio because every time we see each other, we talk about him or I remember this or that. And it’s just nice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My mom and John Cunningham — the CEO of the National AIDS Memorial Grove — coordinated a surprise for Steven. By this point my mom is very accepting, she loves me exactly for who I am. They engraved Steven’s name in the Circle of Friends by Sergio’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When my mom was dying, I remember looking at the Circle of Friends and thinking about Steven’s experience as a caregiver, since I saw my mom’s illness from beginning to end. I never said thank you to Steven for the hard work he did.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965274\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 687px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11965274 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Gert-McMullin.jpeg\" alt=\"A portrait of Gert McMullin.\" width=\"687\" height=\"687\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Gert-McMullin.jpeg 687w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Gert-McMullin-160x160.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 687px) 100vw, 687px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gert McMullin\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Gert McMullin\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Quilt Conservator & Production Manager\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]M[/dropcap]y given name is Cindy McMullin, but I gave myself the name Gert. I grew up in Oakland. I have been working with the quilt for 35, 36 years now. I’m the first volunteer that showed up at their first meeting. Cleve [Jones] didn’t even go to that meeting because he thought it was going to be a failure. But I’ve been working on sewing it ever since. I’ve made over 200 panels of my own and then helped thousands of people make what’s right behind me here. \u003cem>[Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted in the warehouse where the quilt is stored in Fremont.]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My friends were the first to start dying in San Francisco and in the early 80s before they even knew. They didn’t even have a word for it — the first term was GRID [Gay Related Immune Deficiency]. Then it was just all the boys getting sick. By the time I started working with the quilt, I was about ready to flip it out. I just needed some place to put my energies that didn’t involve going to hospitals, because I was going to hospitals all the time visiting people. I needed to do something that was an action and activist-based thing. So that’s what got me. And I know how to sew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was at a party when a guy who knew Cleve, said, “I think you need to call this guy.” That would have been in April of 1987. He told me about the first meeting and I made my first two panels and I brought them. There were about four other people at that meeting. It was a failure in our eyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I just got involved out of a selfish need for me to be able to get my emotions in check and not kill myself, you know, because it just really, really bad then and nobody knew what it was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My friend Roger Gail Lyon said, “I don’t want my epitaph to read: I died of red tape.” When he got sick I cared for him because his lover, David Case, had to work and I happened to have a lot of money then, so I didn’t have to worry about that. I really kind of fell in love with him during those months. And after he died, I found out about all the activism he had done. I was not an activist. But he changed me. My boyfriend had said to me at one point, “Well, if anybody deserves to know how this ends, Roger does”. And so through my eyes, I would let him see an end to it. So that’s why I got involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Referring to the panels]\u003c/em> These are my boys. They’re all my friends on these walls and the people I’ve met and the things I’ve seen throughout my years keeps me here. I need the quilt as much as it needs me, if not more. Sometimes what “being involved” is being able to have this opportunity to help people a little through a bad time. I see a lot of pain in me and I put it into the quilt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think everybody should be so lucky to have a job like mine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The quilt is about anger and activism. It’s about being a memorial, too. But the Grove is about hope. And so there is a big difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965377\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Nan-and-Eugene-Tribuzio.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11965377 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Nan-and-Eugene-Tribuzio.jpeg\" alt=\"An older man and woman in puffy black jackets smile at the camera while standing outdoors in front of a small pine tree decorated with Christmas ornaments. The man is holding a small brown dog that is wearing a Santa Claus jacket. \" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Nan-and-Eugene-Tribuzio.jpeg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Nan-and-Eugene-Tribuzio-160x120.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nan Tribuzio (right) and her husband Eugene.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Nan Tribuzio\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Early volunteer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]M[/dropcap]y name is Nan Tribuzio and I live in Morgan, Utah. I joined the Grove in 1995.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We were at a garden show at Fort Mason in San Francisco, and there was a group there from the grove. They had bay leaves and invitations to sign the names of people that you had lost to AIDS or were dealing with AIDS. At that time, my son’s partner died. So he put his name and added it to the basket. That’s how we found out about the grove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When my son passed, a friend of his drove over to where the grove was. It still looked like a garbage dump then. He found out they had work days that you could volunteer at, so he contacted the office and asked if we could do a memorial at one of the work days for my son. And from then on, we were there every month. We were regular volunteers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We kept my son in San Francisco as long as we could so he could be with his friends. And when he got too sick, we decided to bring him home. The big fear was that his friends wouldn’t be able to come. We just let them know they were welcome. Most every weekend we had a group at the house. They listened to music, interacted with us. They made my husband, [Eugene], an honorary gay because he was so friendly with them and treated them just like anybody else. And they were so thankful that we included them, instead of bringing Joe home and telling them they weren’t welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We were included in a lot of the activities he had going on. Got to know all of his friends. The only thing he wouldn’t let me do is come to the gay pride parade. After he passed, that was one of the first things I did. I actually marched in the parade with a group from the grove, and I said, “I’m here, Joe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He passed in January 1995.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I’m in the grove, I really feel Joe is with me. Joe did maintenance landscaping, so I know he would love the grove. The Circle of Friends is where I always gravitate. And even if we visit San Francisco when it’s not a work day, we go to the Grove and always go to the Circle of Friends. If it’s his birthday, we put flowers on his name. It’s just such a healing place, and everybody there has experienced losing someone to AIDS. So it’s easy to talk about. You just have so much in common. They’ve become family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many times when somebody will say, “How many children do you have?” I’ll say, two, but I lost my son. And then there is just this silence and they don’t know what to say. At the grove, I can talk about it and nobody’s uncomfortable. I think that’s the most healing thing for me. I have one friend that sends me a Mother’s Day card every year from Joe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Someday I’ll probably scatter Joe’s ashes at the grove, but I have them here with me now. I combined his partner’s ashes and his ashes. He’s always with me. It was just his birthday the other day. He would have been 61. I see his friends who are his age, and it’s like, okay, that’s what he would look like. Yeah. Turned out great.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965282\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 704px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11965282\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/tomjenson.jpeg\" alt=\"Portrait of Tom Jenson.\" width=\"704\" height=\"704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/tomjenson.jpeg 704w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/tomjenson-160x160.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Jenson\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tom Jenson\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Early volunteer, board member, garden expert\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap] believe scent and movement invoke memory. Not even floral, but nature and wet ground. Or the moisture of something dank inside the redwood grove in the darkness, where there’s non-movement and the chance to be with yourself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when Ray [former head gardener] came to me years ago and said “I want to plant a thousand lavenders on the North Slope,” I was like, you have no argument from me because it’s bringing scent and movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I became a gardener because I was a child seeking love from my father. My father was an aspiring landscape architect but was an engineer who then had five children, so decided he couldn’t go back to school and become what he wanted. His life was always gardening, planting, building. And I just sat there looking at the Sunset Western Garden guide and looking at plants and learning about plants. I probably would have naturally veered that way anyway. But it was a good way to spend time with my dad since I didn’t want to dribble basketballs with him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My partner died on Memorial Day in 2000, and by June, I was at the grove for my first work day. I said, “You have to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You have to understand —I was in high caregiving mode. I said to myself, “You have to go volunteer on the weekend because if you lay in bed and grieve, Monday morning, you’ll be calling in sick to work because you’ll get further and further under the covers.” So I came here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, I was not social. My partner and I were both introverts, but also I grew up as a shy child, which is why I looked through the books of flowers and plants and read those. So coming here was intimidating to me because I’m like, oh, a group of people. And it’s outdoors. It’s not like just going to the hotline for the AIDS Foundation, which I did for a while, where you have your own little cubicle and your book of answers. I’m going to have to relate to people. I just convinced myself to just come here and I know what I’m doing in terms of weeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I left, I said, “I’ll see you next week.” And they’re like, “Oh, we only do this once a month.” And I was like, oh, no. I need this once a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I started asking this other volunteer questions. Like, what’s a board of directors? Why did they plant these? Why are these native plants in the sand dunes? I’m using the Latin names as I say those words because I read them in the book. I know about California plants, Western plants. And at some point, he said, “Do you want to join a committee?” Yeah! So I joined the Workday committee, which was designed to plan for the workdays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then I moved to the planning committee. We developed a very tight site committee that met with the gardener, and talked about: What are we doing next year? What are your ideas about improvements? What do you think needs to be done in three years? What should we be preparing for? Because it helps us raise funds too, letting people know something’s happening, and what’s going on with maintenance.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965283\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11965283\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Vince-Crisostomo-800x557.jpeg\" alt=\"Portrait of Vince Crisostomo.\" width=\"800\" height=\"557\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Vince-Crisostomo-800x557.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Vince-Crisostomo-1020x710.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Vince-Crisostomo-160x111.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Vince-Crisostomo.jpeg 1150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vince Crisostomo\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Vincent Crisostomo\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Director of Aging Services, SFAF\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]’ve been living with HIV since 1985, and so it’s been a long time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I am originally from Guam, and I was there for a couple of years doing HIV work. I opened the first organization funded to do HIV work in the Pacific. Then I went to DC and I was the director of field operations for a research study at Georgetown University. Then I went abroad and I lived in Thailand and did international work for about 6 1/2 years in HIV and AIDS. I was on the U.N. AIDS board for about five years, representing the Asia Pacific. Then I moved back to San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I didn’t want my current job [Director of Aging Services, SF AIDS Foundation] when it was presented. But after a while, I needed a job so I applied. I was about to go on food stamps and general assistance. It’s been nine years now and it’s probably one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. We serve people who survived the HIV/AIDS epidemic. So people are 50, 60 and 70. I’m on a bunch of policy committees too [Human Rights Commission, Dignity Fund, State Equity for Aging committee, etc.].\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, I do a lot of work with younger people, which has been really a revelation to me because I didn’t have this when I was in my twenties. Like, people, we were too busy fighting for our lives!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just to hang out with young people and hear them talk about and also see them with each other, you know, in a way that my generation wasn’t able to do. We didn’t have the term BIPOC then. There just always seemed to be a competition going on, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m trying to live my life. I realize that there are many people who didn’t make it through the HIV AIDS epidemic. And so, I just feel that I owe it to them and to myself to live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My partner and I moved back to San Francisco from New York in November of 1990, and my partner at the time, his name was Jesse Solomon, he passed away on October 6th, 1991. I got a call from somebody saying that they were going to plant a tree for Jesse in the Grove. I didn’t think too much about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then when I got this job, I’d bring my group of 50+ network to the Grove, for events, work days. It had been a seed that was planted in 1991. And I realized, like, my God, I never thought the tree would be here! It was really emotional. I didn’t think I was going to be here, be alive. There’s a lot of names that engraved in the Circle of Friends. I think Jesse’s name is there, and another friend, Joel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, we got this family, Al and Jane Nakatani and their sons. My generation of folks, we raised money to engrave all the names of the whole family. Initially, they thought they could only afford to do the sons. But we put the whole family’s name there. Jane had come from Hawaii and when she saw it, she gasped and burst into tears because she didn’t expect to see her name. And she said, “This is the first time our family has been together in public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1997 I brought the quilt to Guam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I had lived in New York in the eighties and I had this aerobics instructor who I adored. When I was on my way to Guam I stopped in NYC and went by the gym, just to see it. It had gone out of business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyway, we arrived in Guam and I met this young lady and she said to me, “Excuse me, can you help me? I’m looking for my brother’s quilt panel.” I said, I’m sure we can help you, tell me about your brother. And she says, “He was an aerobics director in New York.” And he was my aerobics instructor! We became instant friends and that was amazing. There are these incredible coincidences or synchronicities, but they just kind of happen. That’s the magic of the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch2>Ellen Shepherd\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Early volunteer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[dropcap]I[/dropcap]‘m living in Sonoma and I’ve been living up here since 1994. I have a fairly active life, for my age. I turned 91 in May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our second daughter, Kathy, passed from AIDS. It began when I got a phone call from Kathy saying her boyfriend had been taken to the hospital and was very ill. They made her have a blood test and told her that he was in throws of AIDS and that she was HIV positive. She said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m leaving him in the hospital. His brother’s going to come and take care of him. I just can’t do it anymore. He’s been sick and I’ve been taking care of him for months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wasn’t sick, but she was very depressed to discover that she had HIV. Nobody up here in Sonoma really knew very much about it. Nobody knew much about taking care of women anyway, because there just weren’t that many women infected that we knew about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think probably she would’ve been better off in San Francisco where the doctors had a little bit more experience. She stayed with us for about a year, and then she moved up to Guerneville on the Russian River. With her permission, I talked to the doctor that she had in Guerneville, and he said, “She’s one of those patients that always agrees with you when you say, ‘You’ve got to do this.’ And then she goes out and does what she wants anyway.” And I said, “Listen, she’s been like that all her life. Never argued with us, never gave us a bit of sass or anything, like some of the other kids.” But I said, “You have to go in and clean your room.” And she’d say, “Okay,” and go in and do something else entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her regime was to take her medications when she kind of got around to it, instead of as the doctor had prescribed. And she was drinking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was showing signs of really getting ill. Her complexion was very bad, and her eyesight was terrible. She had been driving my car when she lived here with us, but as her eyesight deteriorated, that was one of the signs that things were getting worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We took her back to Guerneville, and that very night she called her sister Diana and said, “I’m so sick. I think I have to go to the hospital.” This was not the first time. But this time Diana took her to the hospital in Sebastopol, and they kept her. And the next day, my husband and I went up and they essentially told us, if there’s somebody you need to notify, you better do it now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We laughed with her. We had a wonderful evening, and she was very, very weak, but she seemed to have her wits about her. That was Sunday evening. Monday morning I got a call from the hospital that she had died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was right around the 4th of July. I just couldn’t come to grips with it. I don’t have any place to really mourn her. Then I remembered reading something from the time we lived in San Francisco. There was something in the Chronicle about a memorial grove somewhere for AIDS and I thought it was in Golden Gate Park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I called one of the daughters who was living in San Francisco and said, “Do you know anything about it?” She lived right close by. She called me back in a couple of hours and said, “There is this beautiful place there. It’s called the Redwood AIDS Memorial Grove. I think you should call them. There’s a phone number.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I did call, and I talked to a lady there, Sue Ellen. I said, “Would it be possible to plant a tree there?” And she said, “We have a volunteer day coming up and we would like to invite you to come to that day, and then we could do it right afterwards.” And so the whole family, my son, of course, my husband and I, and all four of the girls who were left, we all came to the volunteer day in September of 2000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We planted the tree, a little redwood tree, up in the De LaVega Dell. The tree was maybe five inches shorter than I was, so a little over five feet, which now 23 years later, is so tall you can’t see the top of it. That tree became so special and so sacred to us that both my husband and I said, “Boy, when we die, we’d like our ashes scattered there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is a wonderful thing that there is a place where people are not worried about the fact that they may be a patient themselves. We just share in our grief, but we share also in our joy. We don’t go there and cry because it’s so sad, we go there because we want to work and make something beautiful and also so we don’t forget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Ahead of our upcoming Bay Curious walking tours in the grove, read a collection of excerpts from in-depth interviews with the activists, survivors and loved ones who are integral to the sanctuary.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726004821,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 108,
"wordCount": 6259
},
"headData": {
"title": "'A Healing Place': Stories From the National AIDS Memorial Grove | KQED",
"description": "Ahead of our upcoming Bay Curious walking tours in the grove, read a collection of excerpts from in-depth interviews with the activists, survivors and loved ones who are integral to the sanctuary.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "'A Healing Place': Stories From the National AIDS Memorial Grove",
"datePublished": "2023-10-25T14:00:02-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-10T14:47:01-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11965263/a-healing-place-stories-of-loss-and-resilience-from-the-national-aids-memorial-grove",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/podcasts/baycurious/\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> listener asked about the history of the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park. It’s a beautiful, verdant place filled with ferns, redwood trees and a stone centerpiece engraved with the names of the many people lost to HIV/AIDS and the names of their friends and family members.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To answer the listener’s question, we created a theatrical walking tour into the stories behind the memorial garden. You can attend one of the tours on Nov. 4-5. They run at 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/event/3582\">Full information and tickets here. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>KQED led in-depth interviews with activists, survivors and loved ones who are integral to the grove. Their stories are reflected in the dances and music you’ll see during the tour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Below are excerpts from those interviews. All photos are courtesy of the people interviewed.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965279\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11965279\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-800x800.jpeg\" alt=\"Portrait of John Cunningham.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-800x800.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-1020x1020.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-160x160.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/John-Cunningham-1920x1920.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">John Cunningham\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>John Cunningham\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>CEO of the National AIDS Memorial Grove\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>he space is a geographic bowl. I believe it’s a holder of energy. It’s the only space in public land in San Francisco where it’s legal to deposit urns or spread ashes. It is the final resting place for hundreds of individuals. We often avail to families and loved ones a tree or some sort of plant for them so that they can create life out of death and then oftentimes return to visit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1998, I learned that I was HIV positive. I contracted the virus during a four or five-year stint of addiction, which I’ve conquered, which gave me the opportunity to rebuild my life. I have two Chinese symbols tattooed on my left shoulder, which are perseverance and longevity, or harnessing the energy of our life’s events to gain strength, perspective, wisdom. Because if we don’t go down that path, we tend to go down the dark path of being victims and jaded and negative. So I’ve tried to use that event in my life for other events in my life to create positive outcomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After coming off of disability from HIV, I re-entered the workforce and ended up working for a nonprofit called Positive Resource Center (PRC). They joined in the efforts to create the Grove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So many individuals were cast aside or away from their communities, their homes, their places of worship, their churches. And I believe that many have found this to be that space, that sanctuary and the circle of friends.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Albeit the gay community was significantly adversely impacted, it was not the most significantly impacted single demographic. That would have been the hemophilia community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hemophilia community lost so many of their own members because of the injustice of a tainted blood supply that the government knew was tainted. They hoped they would find a cure, which we still don’t have.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Half the hemophiliacs in America died in the 10-year period. It was a tragedy. And they said, “You know, if it wasn’t for you gay people, we would have gotten help.” It wasn’t right, but they were [correct] because of the stigma that was projected upon one segment of the population, i.e., gays. No one got help. And that is just a tragedy. But it speaks to how corrosive to a society prejudice and stigma and discrimination can be when you’re projecting against a health crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They wanted to create their own AIDS memorial. And Jenny White, \u003ca href=\"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryan_White\">Ryan White\u003c/a>’s mother said, “You’ve got one. It’s the National AIDS Memorial.” We worked and bridged some real chasms inside their community. The Hemophilia Circle was completed in 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About 90% of those that are affected by bleeding disorders are men or boys. If you had one boy, you had three boys that all had hemophilia. And back in those days, they were probably all being transfused at the same center. So when you lost one, you lost them all. Most of the hemophilia community didn’t seek support within the gay community because the gay community was the only place that was really trying to do something. You were then alone. And your book of grieving was closed and you had nowhere to go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So the grove was also a project that helped people open that book of grieving again and come together. On the day the space was dedicated, there were about 250 to 300 individuals representing the National Hemophilia Foundation, the Hemophilia Federation of America, the community of 10,000 and family members from across the country.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hemophilia creates joint issues because it has blood pooling in ankles and knees. During the dedication these fathers, many with mobility issues, fell into other men’s arms crying and holding each other. When we welcomed them and stood here, it was clear they were all standing across from the circle, alone in the back. And I said to them, “We are one family. We were in one boat tragically connected. Come together, come in.” And we came together and shared.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965417\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/Dana-Francis.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11965417\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/Dana-Francis-800x825.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"825\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/Dana-Francis-800x825.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/Dana-Francis-160x165.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/10/Dana-Francis.jpg 1000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dana Francis\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Dana Francis\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Social Worker with hemophiliacs\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp> worked at UCSF at the Hemophilia Treatment Center for over 20 years. I think at the beginning a lot of people felt that the gay community gave this to the hemophilia community by donating blood. The blood products that were made to control their hemophilia infected them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before they knew what HIV was, the bloodmobile would come to 18th and Castro. Guys would line up and donate, but they didn’t know that their blood was infected. The gay community was one of the greatest civic players.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My role as a social worker has been to say for years, “This is nobody’s fault.” A big part of my job was to get the guys with bleeding disorders to think about this whole thing differently. Some of them were already there, a lot of them weren’t. We worked at it slowly and carefully.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It ended up being my calling in a way to do this work. I’ve always wanted to help other men think more broadly about their own humanity and their own emotional life. Nothing is going to get you into that position like having a chronic and life-threatening illness. I love helping men help themselves and help each other. It doesn’t sound like much, but it’s huge because men don’t do that.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most people don’t even know what hemophilia is. I didn’t when I started the job. They think they’ve heard maybe that if you cut yourself shaving, you bleed to death. Which you don’t! People with hemophilia bleed longer, not faster. So if they cut themselves shaving, they’re going to be changing a Band-Aid a couple of times that day. They’re missing a protein in their blood that we have and the clots are blood, but they don’t have it. So they bleed into their joints, knees, ankles, hips, elbows mostly. They have internal bleeding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although the treatment is much, much better than it used to be, and it’s getting better all the time, thank goodness, a lot of older folks are in wheelchairs because their knees are wrecked. So the ramps here at the grove are even for people to walk as much as they are for chairs. That’s perfect for this community.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965280\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11965280\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-800x800.jpeg\" alt=\"Portrait of Steve Sagaser.\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-800x800.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-1020x1020.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-160x160.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-1536x1536.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-2048x2048.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Steve-Sagaser-1920x1920.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Steve Sagaser\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Steve Sagaser\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Senior Manager, Programs, AIDS Memorial Grove\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">M\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>y name is Steve Sagaser. I’m 57 years old. I am an HIV-positive gay male.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few years after we graduated from UC Berkeley, my partner Sergio died, in 1993. It was very traumatic and devastating for me. I very much wanted to avoid the topic of HIV and AIDS as much as possible. I lived in our apartment for some time with all of his belongings there. I needed that. When he died I believed that I was going to be next. The thought of being tested terrified me. If I were tested, my death sentence would be confirmed. Just hearing about HIV/AIDS terrified me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five years after Sergio died I finally went to be tested. I was negative. It was several years later when I became positive, while I was addicted to meth. Many people become infected while using crystal meth.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We’ve all heard the expression “sick and tired of being sick and tired.” We use that a lot in the recovery community. That happened to me. I recall walking through Dolores Park one afternoon on my way home after using meth all night long. I was seeing all the people doing seemingly healthy things — going to work, or just enjoying the park. And there I was, on my way home to figure out how to get more meth, after walking the city like a rat in the night. And I remember, in that moment, thinking about, and missing, all the wonderful people in my life before I had become a drug addict.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I decided to endure the long and terrible withdrawal. I started going to a lot of anonymous meetings and some AA meetings. In doing that, I was able to find a little group of friends. One of those friends became my partner of 18 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was exhausted from the constant chasing, of missing the people that I loved, all of whom were there waiting for me when I finally got my shit together. I always feel so blessed that they never abandoned me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The most meaningful place to me in the grove is the Circle of Friends, where the name of Sergio’s nephew, Daniel, is located. He was only five years old when Sergio and I went to visit his family and we had taken him to Universal Studios. We never stayed in touch. But Daniel, some 16 years later, was able to find me. He’s my nephew now, and this is one of the gifts Sergio gave me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the Circle of Friends are the names of people who have died from AIDS or people who have been impacted by AIDS. And Daniel is certainly one of those people. His family didn’t talk about what happened to Uncle Sergio. But Daniel is very intuitive and at a young age he started putting things together. One of those reasons is that Daniel is a gay man.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I had Daniel’s name engraved in there so that it was close to Sergio’s name.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965607\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 1400px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Daniel-Villa-for-post.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11965607\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Daniel-Villa-for-post.jpg\" alt=\"A headshot of a Latino man.\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1245\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Daniel-Villa-for-post.jpg 1400w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Daniel-Villa-for-post-800x711.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Daniel-Villa-for-post-1020x907.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Daniel-Villa-for-post-160x142.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1400px) 100vw, 1400px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Daniel Villa\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Daniel Villa\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Steve’s Nephew\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">T\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>he first time my uncle Sergio brought his partner Steve from Berkeley to our house was when I was five years old. I remember — I love telling Steve this now — “Staring at you because you were so pale and so different looking from my family!” He had shoulder-length blond hair. They took me to Universal Studios that day. I don’t remember any of the trips, but I remember the car ride, sitting in the back seat, feeling that there was something between them. And at the time I didn’t call it gay, but I felt something, even though they didn’t kiss in front of me or anything.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My family wasn’t very accepting of people being gay. So they were distant from Sergio. I always had questions about him and I was left with no answers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then one day when I was around 14 or 15, my mom gave me Sergio’s thesis. He went to Berkeley, and he wrote a thesis about AIDS. I started to read it and there were way too many big words and phrases that I just could not understand. I put it in my closet for years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My coming out was kind of dramatic. I called my mom after one of my first breakups, crying. And I was really embarrassed to tell her. And she said, “I already knew.” I sobbed, “Oh, you did?” She said, “Yes, don’t freak me out like that. I thought you were going to die or something!” My family then became very accepting.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Years later, I picked up the thesis again. And I noticed that at the end it said, ‘I dedicate this to my lover and best friend, Steven Sager.’ I had forgotten his name but always wondered about Sergio’s friend… I was so excited. I didn’t have the courage to actually search for him just yet. Because what if he was also dead?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I don’t know how to explain, but it’s almost like Sergio was with me. I felt very much like he was guiding me to Steven in some way, and I would think about his name a lot and that image of him when I was five. It went like that for a while.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then one day I was driving. And I had this feeling that I’ve never felt before like somebody was pushing you to do something, where you wanted to \u003ci>do\u003c/i> something. I pulled over, I wasn’t even home yet. It was like Sergio was forcing me to pull over.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I never told Steven this because this whole story sounds crazy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I got on Google. I searched Steven’s name. The first thing that came up was an AIDS nonprofit he worked for. And I go, “Oh my God, this has to be it. My uncle died of AIDS, and here he is working in it. This has to be him!”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I called the number on the website and I was shaking so much because I wasn’t sure if it was going to be him. It goes straight to voicemail and I say, “My name is Daniel and I don’t know if you remember me, but I was five years old last time you saw me. And I’m the nephew of Sergio.” I must have been stuttering. It was so scary and exciting. And I get a phone call, like, maybe, 5 minutes later. And it was him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I finally got to talk to Sergio through him and obviously, he was just so excited to hear me. It was magical.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I always felt loved by Sergio when he would visit when I was little. He would bring me trolls, the tiny ones with colored hair. Sergio was kind and really, really funny and witty. And it sounds like we’ve become alike, in many ways. I’ve loved hearing little stories about Sergio. But Steven was always such a beautiful person, being around him was always enough for me.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I never knew how old Sergio was when he died. Steven said he was 21, and I thought it was so interesting that I found Steven at the age of 21.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’ve known Steven for many years now since I found him. And I’m not in a hurry to know every single detail about Sergio because every time we see each other, we talk about him or I remember this or that. And it’s just nice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My mom and John Cunningham — the CEO of the National AIDS Memorial Grove — coordinated a surprise for Steven. By this point my mom is very accepting, she loves me exactly for who I am. They engraved Steven’s name in the Circle of Friends by Sergio’s.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When my mom was dying, I remember looking at the Circle of Friends and thinking about Steven’s experience as a caregiver, since I saw my mom’s illness from beginning to end. I never said thank you to Steven for the hard work he did.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965274\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 687px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11965274 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Gert-McMullin.jpeg\" alt=\"A portrait of Gert McMullin.\" width=\"687\" height=\"687\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Gert-McMullin.jpeg 687w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Gert-McMullin-160x160.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 687px) 100vw, 687px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Gert McMullin\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Gert McMullin\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Quilt Conservator & Production Manager\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">M\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>y given name is Cindy McMullin, but I gave myself the name Gert. I grew up in Oakland. I have been working with the quilt for 35, 36 years now. I’m the first volunteer that showed up at their first meeting. Cleve [Jones] didn’t even go to that meeting because he thought it was going to be a failure. But I’ve been working on sewing it ever since. I’ve made over 200 panels of my own and then helped thousands of people make what’s right behind me here. \u003cem>[Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted in the warehouse where the quilt is stored in Fremont.]\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My friends were the first to start dying in San Francisco and in the early 80s before they even knew. They didn’t even have a word for it — the first term was GRID [Gay Related Immune Deficiency]. Then it was just all the boys getting sick. By the time I started working with the quilt, I was about ready to flip it out. I just needed some place to put my energies that didn’t involve going to hospitals, because I was going to hospitals all the time visiting people. I needed to do something that was an action and activist-based thing. So that’s what got me. And I know how to sew.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I was at a party when a guy who knew Cleve, said, “I think you need to call this guy.” That would have been in April of 1987. He told me about the first meeting and I made my first two panels and I brought them. There were about four other people at that meeting. It was a failure in our eyes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I just got involved out of a selfish need for me to be able to get my emotions in check and not kill myself, you know, because it just really, really bad then and nobody knew what it was.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My friend Roger Gail Lyon said, “I don’t want my epitaph to read: I died of red tape.” When he got sick I cared for him because his lover, David Case, had to work and I happened to have a lot of money then, so I didn’t have to worry about that. I really kind of fell in love with him during those months. And after he died, I found out about all the activism he had done. I was not an activist. But he changed me. My boyfriend had said to me at one point, “Well, if anybody deserves to know how this ends, Roger does”. And so through my eyes, I would let him see an end to it. So that’s why I got involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>[Referring to the panels]\u003c/em> These are my boys. They’re all my friends on these walls and the people I’ve met and the things I’ve seen throughout my years keeps me here. I need the quilt as much as it needs me, if not more. Sometimes what “being involved” is being able to have this opportunity to help people a little through a bad time. I see a lot of pain in me and I put it into the quilt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think everybody should be so lucky to have a job like mine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The quilt is about anger and activism. It’s about being a memorial, too. But the Grove is about hope. And so there is a big difference.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965377\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 640px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Nan-and-Eugene-Tribuzio.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11965377 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Nan-and-Eugene-Tribuzio.jpeg\" alt=\"An older man and woman in puffy black jackets smile at the camera while standing outdoors in front of a small pine tree decorated with Christmas ornaments. The man is holding a small brown dog that is wearing a Santa Claus jacket. \" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Nan-and-Eugene-Tribuzio.jpeg 640w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Nan-and-Eugene-Tribuzio-160x120.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nan Tribuzio (right) and her husband Eugene.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Nan Tribuzio\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Early volunteer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">M\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>y name is Nan Tribuzio and I live in Morgan, Utah. I joined the Grove in 1995.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We were at a garden show at Fort Mason in San Francisco, and there was a group there from the grove. They had bay leaves and invitations to sign the names of people that you had lost to AIDS or were dealing with AIDS. At that time, my son’s partner died. So he put his name and added it to the basket. That’s how we found out about the grove.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When my son passed, a friend of his drove over to where the grove was. It still looked like a garbage dump then. He found out they had work days that you could volunteer at, so he contacted the office and asked if we could do a memorial at one of the work days for my son. And from then on, we were there every month. We were regular volunteers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We kept my son in San Francisco as long as we could so he could be with his friends. And when he got too sick, we decided to bring him home. The big fear was that his friends wouldn’t be able to come. We just let them know they were welcome. Most every weekend we had a group at the house. They listened to music, interacted with us. They made my husband, [Eugene], an honorary gay because he was so friendly with them and treated them just like anybody else. And they were so thankful that we included them, instead of bringing Joe home and telling them they weren’t welcome.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We were included in a lot of the activities he had going on. Got to know all of his friends. The only thing he wouldn’t let me do is come to the gay pride parade. After he passed, that was one of the first things I did. I actually marched in the parade with a group from the grove, and I said, “I’m here, Joe.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He passed in January 1995.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I’m in the grove, I really feel Joe is with me. Joe did maintenance landscaping, so I know he would love the grove. The Circle of Friends is where I always gravitate. And even if we visit San Francisco when it’s not a work day, we go to the Grove and always go to the Circle of Friends. If it’s his birthday, we put flowers on his name. It’s just such a healing place, and everybody there has experienced losing someone to AIDS. So it’s easy to talk about. You just have so much in common. They’ve become family.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many times when somebody will say, “How many children do you have?” I’ll say, two, but I lost my son. And then there is just this silence and they don’t know what to say. At the grove, I can talk about it and nobody’s uncomfortable. I think that’s the most healing thing for me. I have one friend that sends me a Mother’s Day card every year from Joe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Someday I’ll probably scatter Joe’s ashes at the grove, but I have them here with me now. I combined his partner’s ashes and his ashes. He’s always with me. It was just his birthday the other day. He would have been 61. I see his friends who are his age, and it’s like, okay, that’s what he would look like. Yeah. Turned out great.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965282\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 704px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11965282\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/tomjenson.jpeg\" alt=\"Portrait of Tom Jenson.\" width=\"704\" height=\"704\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/tomjenson.jpeg 704w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/tomjenson-160x160.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Tom Jenson\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Tom Jenson\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Early volunteer, board member, garden expert\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp> believe scent and movement invoke memory. Not even floral, but nature and wet ground. Or the moisture of something dank inside the redwood grove in the darkness, where there’s non-movement and the chance to be with yourself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So when Ray [former head gardener] came to me years ago and said “I want to plant a thousand lavenders on the North Slope,” I was like, you have no argument from me because it’s bringing scent and movement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I became a gardener because I was a child seeking love from my father. My father was an aspiring landscape architect but was an engineer who then had five children, so decided he couldn’t go back to school and become what he wanted. His life was always gardening, planting, building. And I just sat there looking at the Sunset Western Garden guide and looking at plants and learning about plants. I probably would have naturally veered that way anyway. But it was a good way to spend time with my dad since I didn’t want to dribble basketballs with him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My partner died on Memorial Day in 2000, and by June, I was at the grove for my first work day. I said, “You have to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You have to understand —I was in high caregiving mode. I said to myself, “You have to go volunteer on the weekend because if you lay in bed and grieve, Monday morning, you’ll be calling in sick to work because you’ll get further and further under the covers.” So I came here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the time, I was not social. My partner and I were both introverts, but also I grew up as a shy child, which is why I looked through the books of flowers and plants and read those. So coming here was intimidating to me because I’m like, oh, a group of people. And it’s outdoors. It’s not like just going to the hotline for the AIDS Foundation, which I did for a while, where you have your own little cubicle and your book of answers. I’m going to have to relate to people. I just convinced myself to just come here and I know what I’m doing in terms of weeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When I left, I said, “I’ll see you next week.” And they’re like, “Oh, we only do this once a month.” And I was like, oh, no. I need this once a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I started asking this other volunteer questions. Like, what’s a board of directors? Why did they plant these? Why are these native plants in the sand dunes? I’m using the Latin names as I say those words because I read them in the book. I know about California plants, Western plants. And at some point, he said, “Do you want to join a committee?” Yeah! So I joined the Workday committee, which was designed to plan for the workdays.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then I moved to the planning committee. We developed a very tight site committee that met with the gardener, and talked about: What are we doing next year? What are your ideas about improvements? What do you think needs to be done in three years? What should we be preparing for? Because it helps us raise funds too, letting people know something’s happening, and what’s going on with maintenance.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11965283\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11965283\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Vince-Crisostomo-800x557.jpeg\" alt=\"Portrait of Vince Crisostomo.\" width=\"800\" height=\"557\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Vince-Crisostomo-800x557.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Vince-Crisostomo-1020x710.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Vince-Crisostomo-160x111.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/Vince-Crisostomo.jpeg 1150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Vince Crisostomo\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Vincent Crisostomo\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Director of Aging Services, SFAF\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>’ve been living with HIV since 1985, and so it’s been a long time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I am originally from Guam, and I was there for a couple of years doing HIV work. I opened the first organization funded to do HIV work in the Pacific. Then I went to DC and I was the director of field operations for a research study at Georgetown University. Then I went abroad and I lived in Thailand and did international work for about 6 1/2 years in HIV and AIDS. I was on the U.N. AIDS board for about five years, representing the Asia Pacific. Then I moved back to San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I didn’t want my current job [Director of Aging Services, SF AIDS Foundation] when it was presented. But after a while, I needed a job so I applied. I was about to go on food stamps and general assistance. It’s been nine years now and it’s probably one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. We serve people who survived the HIV/AIDS epidemic. So people are 50, 60 and 70. I’m on a bunch of policy committees too [Human Rights Commission, Dignity Fund, State Equity for Aging committee, etc.].\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Additionally, I do a lot of work with younger people, which has been really a revelation to me because I didn’t have this when I was in my twenties. Like, people, we were too busy fighting for our lives!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Just to hang out with young people and hear them talk about and also see them with each other, you know, in a way that my generation wasn’t able to do. We didn’t have the term BIPOC then. There just always seemed to be a competition going on, you know?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m trying to live my life. I realize that there are many people who didn’t make it through the HIV AIDS epidemic. And so, I just feel that I owe it to them and to myself to live.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My partner and I moved back to San Francisco from New York in November of 1990, and my partner at the time, his name was Jesse Solomon, he passed away on October 6th, 1991. I got a call from somebody saying that they were going to plant a tree for Jesse in the Grove. I didn’t think too much about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And then when I got this job, I’d bring my group of 50+ network to the Grove, for events, work days. It had been a seed that was planted in 1991. And I realized, like, my God, I never thought the tree would be here! It was really emotional. I didn’t think I was going to be here, be alive. There’s a lot of names that engraved in the Circle of Friends. I think Jesse’s name is there, and another friend, Joel.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, we got this family, Al and Jane Nakatani and their sons. My generation of folks, we raised money to engrave all the names of the whole family. Initially, they thought they could only afford to do the sons. But we put the whole family’s name there. Jane had come from Hawaii and when she saw it, she gasped and burst into tears because she didn’t expect to see her name. And she said, “This is the first time our family has been together in public.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 1997 I brought the quilt to Guam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I had lived in New York in the eighties and I had this aerobics instructor who I adored. When I was on my way to Guam I stopped in NYC and went by the gym, just to see it. It had gone out of business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Anyway, we arrived in Guam and I met this young lady and she said to me, “Excuse me, can you help me? I’m looking for my brother’s quilt panel.” I said, I’m sure we can help you, tell me about your brother. And she says, “He was an aerobics director in New York.” And he was my aerobics instructor! We became instant friends and that was amazing. There are these incredible coincidences or synchronicities, but they just kind of happen. That’s the magic of the world.\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003ch2>Ellen Shepherd\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Early volunteer\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">I\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>‘m living in Sonoma and I’ve been living up here since 1994. I have a fairly active life, for my age. I turned 91 in May.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our second daughter, Kathy, passed from AIDS. It began when I got a phone call from Kathy saying her boyfriend had been taken to the hospital and was very ill. They made her have a blood test and told her that he was in throws of AIDS and that she was HIV positive. She said, “I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m leaving him in the hospital. His brother’s going to come and take care of him. I just can’t do it anymore. He’s been sick and I’ve been taking care of him for months.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She wasn’t sick, but she was very depressed to discover that she had HIV. Nobody up here in Sonoma really knew very much about it. Nobody knew much about taking care of women anyway, because there just weren’t that many women infected that we knew about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think probably she would’ve been better off in San Francisco where the doctors had a little bit more experience. She stayed with us for about a year, and then she moved up to Guerneville on the Russian River. With her permission, I talked to the doctor that she had in Guerneville, and he said, “She’s one of those patients that always agrees with you when you say, ‘You’ve got to do this.’ And then she goes out and does what she wants anyway.” And I said, “Listen, she’s been like that all her life. Never argued with us, never gave us a bit of sass or anything, like some of the other kids.” But I said, “You have to go in and clean your room.” And she’d say, “Okay,” and go in and do something else entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Her regime was to take her medications when she kind of got around to it, instead of as the doctor had prescribed. And she was drinking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was showing signs of really getting ill. Her complexion was very bad, and her eyesight was terrible. She had been driving my car when she lived here with us, but as her eyesight deteriorated, that was one of the signs that things were getting worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We took her back to Guerneville, and that very night she called her sister Diana and said, “I’m so sick. I think I have to go to the hospital.” This was not the first time. But this time Diana took her to the hospital in Sebastopol, and they kept her. And the next day, my husband and I went up and they essentially told us, if there’s somebody you need to notify, you better do it now.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We laughed with her. We had a wonderful evening, and she was very, very weak, but she seemed to have her wits about her. That was Sunday evening. Monday morning I got a call from the hospital that she had died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was right around the 4th of July. I just couldn’t come to grips with it. I don’t have any place to really mourn her. Then I remembered reading something from the time we lived in San Francisco. There was something in the Chronicle about a memorial grove somewhere for AIDS and I thought it was in Golden Gate Park.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So I called one of the daughters who was living in San Francisco and said, “Do you know anything about it?” She lived right close by. She called me back in a couple of hours and said, “There is this beautiful place there. It’s called the Redwood AIDS Memorial Grove. I think you should call them. There’s a phone number.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I did call, and I talked to a lady there, Sue Ellen. I said, “Would it be possible to plant a tree there?” And she said, “We have a volunteer day coming up and we would like to invite you to come to that day, and then we could do it right afterwards.” And so the whole family, my son, of course, my husband and I, and all four of the girls who were left, we all came to the volunteer day in September of 2000.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We planted the tree, a little redwood tree, up in the De LaVega Dell. The tree was maybe five inches shorter than I was, so a little over five feet, which now 23 years later, is so tall you can’t see the top of it. That tree became so special and so sacred to us that both my husband and I said, “Boy, when we die, we’d like our ashes scattered there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It is a wonderful thing that there is a place where people are not worried about the fact that they may be a patient themselves. We just share in our grief, but we share also in our joy. We don’t go there and cry because it’s so sad, we go there because we want to work and make something beautiful and also so we don’t forget.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11965263/a-healing-place-stories-of-loss-and-resilience-from-the-national-aids-memorial-grove",
"authors": [
"102"
],
"series": [
"news_17986"
],
"categories": [
"news_457",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_1510",
"news_2304",
"news_18543",
"news_31170"
],
"featImg": "news_11965428",
"label": "news_17986"
},
"news_11964791": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11964791",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11964791",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1697569223000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "californias-groundbreaking-mental-health-law-faces-scrutiny",
"title": "California's 'Groundbreaking' Mental Health Law Faces Scrutiny",
"publishDate": 1697569223,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "California’s ‘Groundbreaking’ Mental Health Law Faces Scrutiny | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 18481,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Three years ago, California leaders passed legislation that promised \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2020/08/california-leader-mental-health/\">the most dramatic expansion \u003c/a>of mental health and addiction care coverage in decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the state’s residents struggled with the stress and trauma of a raging pandemic and a record wildfire season, mental health advocates used words like “groundbreaking” to describe the new law. Finally, they said, California was poised to become a national leader in mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their optimism about that law, Senate Bill 855, has been fraying ever since. Advocates say health plans routinely fail to ensure enough mental health providers accept their coverage, making patients wait too long before being seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Case in point: Last week, the Department of Managed Health Care unveiled news of a historic $200 million settlement with Kaiser Permanente for failing to provide patients with\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/kaiser-permanente-california-behavioral-health-settlement/\"> timely mental health appointments\u003c/a>, among other issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such issues will take center stage on Wednesday at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.senate.ca.gov/mental-health-and-addiction\">special oversight hearing\u003c/a> of the Senate Select Committee on Mental Health and Addiction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, chair of the committee and author of the California Mental Health Parity Act, says he shares many of the mental health advocates’ concerns. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco\"]‘We know the plans have a long history of finding ways not to cover mental health treatment. The whole purpose of this law is to put an end to that.’[/pullquote] “We know the plans have a long history of finding ways not to cover mental health treatment,” he told CalMatters. “The whole purpose of this law is to put an end to that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the passage of the 2020 law, the state only required health plans to cover medically necessary treatment of nine serious mental illnesses. For years, mental health advocates have tried and failed to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/projects/california-mental-health-care-parity/\">expand that list\u003c/a>. With Wiener’s law, they were finally triumphant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beginning in January 2021, the state has required plans to pay for treatment of a much more extensive array of mental health issues, along with substance use disorder and addiction. This state law is separate from a \u003ca href=\"https://www.apa.org/topics/managed-care-insurance/parity-law-resources\">federal mental health parity\u003c/a> law passed in 2008. The concept of “parity” refers to requiring insurers to treat mental and physical health conditions equally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health plans say they “have been diligently working in good faith” to comply with these laws while facing industry-wide challenges like workforce shortages. They say they are navigating guidelines that are ambiguous and uneven while waiting for the Department of Managed Health Care to finalize regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This creates a situation of moving goalposts for plans, providers, and our enrollees,” said Mary Ellen Grant, spokesperson for the California Association of Health Plans, in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mental health parity investigations\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Mental health advocates have also long criticized the Department of Managed Health Care, which oversees health plans in the state that receive monthly fees to provide health care for their members. And they, too, are concerned that it’s taking so long for the official rules to be decided.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer, more than a dozen advocacy groups signed a letter of concern to the department, questioning its commitment to enforcing some aspects of\u003ca href=\"https://steinberginstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Comments-to-DMHC-on-BH-Investigations_DRAFT.pdf\"> the new state parity law\u003c/a>. The organizations want the department to publish and publicize its investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s still a relatively secret process,” said Lauren Finke, a policy director at The Kennedy Forum, a national organization that cosponsored California’s parity legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964805\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964805\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-MD-03-qut-1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Kaiser workers on strike in front of a building.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-MD-03-qut-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-MD-03-qut-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-MD-03-qut-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-MD-03-qut-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-MD-03-qut-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaiser workers strike in front of the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center in Oakland on Oct. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Department of Managed Health Care declined to make anyone available to speak with CalMatters until later this fall. In an email, a representative said the department “is committed to ensuring enrollees have appropriate access to behavioral health care when they need it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to advocates’ critiques that the department isn’t adequately analyzing and publicizing how well plans are complying with state parity law, the department said in a statement that it is evaluating health plans’ compliance in other ways; including that analysis in the behavioral health investigations would slow them down too much, the statement said. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Meiram Bendat, attorney and psychotherapist, Santa Barbara\"]‘The historic network inadequacy around the state and the lack of meaningful fines, that’s a real failure on the part of the department.’[/pullquote] Meiram Bendat, a Santa Barbara attorney and psychotherapist who focuses on mental health parity, says that the three-year-old state law has improved patients’ ability to receive mental health care by creating a uniform definition of what is considered “medically necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when it comes to ensuring that health plans maintain adequate provider networks, he said, the department is “failing miserably.” Too often, plans offer their members only outdated lists of providers who then prove to be unavailable, Bendat said. The Department of Managed Health Care hasn’t adequately held plans accountable for this and other problematic practices, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The historic network inadequacy around the state and the lack of meaningful fines, that’s a real failure on the part of the department,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Kaiser mental health settlement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Finke, of The Kennedy Forum, called the Kaiser settlement “long overdue” and “a very important first step in the Department holding plans more accountable for their performance [or lack thereof].” The settlement includes a $50 million fine and corrective action plan as well as a commitment by Kaiser to invest an additional $150 million over five years to improve behavioral health services. [aside label='More on Around California' tag='california-law'] But Finke and others also said the settlement itself provides evidence of the department’s failures to enforce a previous \u003ca href=\"https://wpso.dmhc.ca.gov/enfactions/docs/2895/1500394196511.pdf\">settlement agreement\u003c/a> with Kaiser from 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Will DMHC do its job going forward? That’s the big question,” asked Fred Seavey, research director for the National Union of Healthcare Workers. The union represents 2,000 Kaiser mental health workers in Northern California who undertook a 10-week strike last year over heavy clinician workloads and long wait times for appointments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said he wrote complaints to the Department of Managed Health Care earlier this year, saying that Kaiser in Southern California has been illegally restricting the scope of behavioral health services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser said, in an emailed statement, that “any accusation that we intentionally limit or restrict needed care is untrue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Southern California Kaiser members receive a wide range of behavioral health clinical offerings, the statement said. Despite a statewide shortage of clinicians, Kaiser is “doing all that we can” to expand its network of mental health providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "A 2020 California law expanded the number of mental health conditions that insurers must cover. Now, lawmakers are reviewing whether the law is working as intended.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726004824,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 24,
"wordCount": 1161
},
"headData": {
"title": "California's 'Groundbreaking' Mental Health Law Faces Scrutiny | KQED",
"description": "A 2020 California law expanded the number of mental health conditions that insurers must cover. Now, lawmakers are reviewing whether the law is working as intended.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "California's 'Groundbreaking' Mental Health Law Faces Scrutiny",
"datePublished": "2023-10-17T12:00:23-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-10T14:47:04-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/jocelyn-wiener/\">Jocelyn Wiener\u003c/a>",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"showOnAuthorArchivePages": "No",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11964791/californias-groundbreaking-mental-health-law-faces-scrutiny",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Three years ago, California leaders passed legislation that promised \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2020/08/california-leader-mental-health/\">the most dramatic expansion \u003c/a>of mental health and addiction care coverage in decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the state’s residents struggled with the stress and trauma of a raging pandemic and a record wildfire season, mental health advocates used words like “groundbreaking” to describe the new law. Finally, they said, California was poised to become a national leader in mental health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their optimism about that law, Senate Bill 855, has been fraying ever since. Advocates say health plans routinely fail to ensure enough mental health providers accept their coverage, making patients wait too long before being seen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Case in point: Last week, the Department of Managed Health Care unveiled news of a historic $200 million settlement with Kaiser Permanente for failing to provide patients with\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/kaiser-permanente-california-behavioral-health-settlement/\"> timely mental health appointments\u003c/a>, among other issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Such issues will take center stage on Wednesday at a \u003ca href=\"https://www.senate.ca.gov/mental-health-and-addiction\">special oversight hearing\u003c/a> of the Senate Select Committee on Mental Health and Addiction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Democratic state Sen. Scott Wiener of San Francisco, chair of the committee and author of the California Mental Health Parity Act, says he shares many of the mental health advocates’ concerns. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘We know the plans have a long history of finding ways not to cover mental health treatment. The whole purpose of this law is to put an end to that.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> “We know the plans have a long history of finding ways not to cover mental health treatment,” he told CalMatters. “The whole purpose of this law is to put an end to that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before the passage of the 2020 law, the state only required health plans to cover medically necessary treatment of nine serious mental illnesses. For years, mental health advocates have tried and failed to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/projects/california-mental-health-care-parity/\">expand that list\u003c/a>. With Wiener’s law, they were finally triumphant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beginning in January 2021, the state has required plans to pay for treatment of a much more extensive array of mental health issues, along with substance use disorder and addiction. This state law is separate from a \u003ca href=\"https://www.apa.org/topics/managed-care-insurance/parity-law-resources\">federal mental health parity\u003c/a> law passed in 2008. The concept of “parity” refers to requiring insurers to treat mental and physical health conditions equally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Health plans say they “have been diligently working in good faith” to comply with these laws while facing industry-wide challenges like workforce shortages. They say they are navigating guidelines that are ambiguous and uneven while waiting for the Department of Managed Health Care to finalize regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This creates a situation of moving goalposts for plans, providers, and our enrollees,” said Mary Ellen Grant, spokesperson for the California Association of Health Plans, in an email.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mental health parity investigations\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Mental health advocates have also long criticized the Department of Managed Health Care, which oversees health plans in the state that receive monthly fees to provide health care for their members. And they, too, are concerned that it’s taking so long for the official rules to be decided.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This summer, more than a dozen advocacy groups signed a letter of concern to the department, questioning its commitment to enforcing some aspects of\u003ca href=\"https://steinberginstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Comments-to-DMHC-on-BH-Investigations_DRAFT.pdf\"> the new state parity law\u003c/a>. The organizations want the department to publish and publicize its investigations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s still a relatively secret process,” said Lauren Finke, a policy director at The Kennedy Forum, a national organization that cosponsored California’s parity legislation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11964805\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11964805\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-MD-03-qut-1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Kaiser workers on strike in front of a building.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-MD-03-qut-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-MD-03-qut-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-MD-03-qut-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-MD-03-qut-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231004-KAISER-STRIKE-MD-03-qut-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kaiser workers strike in front of the Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center in Oakland on Oct. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The Department of Managed Health Care declined to make anyone available to speak with CalMatters until later this fall. In an email, a representative said the department “is committed to ensuring enrollees have appropriate access to behavioral health care when they need it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to advocates’ critiques that the department isn’t adequately analyzing and publicizing how well plans are complying with state parity law, the department said in a statement that it is evaluating health plans’ compliance in other ways; including that analysis in the behavioral health investigations would slow them down too much, the statement said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘The historic network inadequacy around the state and the lack of meaningful fines, that’s a real failure on the part of the department.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Meiram Bendat, attorney and psychotherapist, Santa Barbara",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> Meiram Bendat, a Santa Barbara attorney and psychotherapist who focuses on mental health parity, says that the three-year-old state law has improved patients’ ability to receive mental health care by creating a uniform definition of what is considered “medically necessary.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when it comes to ensuring that health plans maintain adequate provider networks, he said, the department is “failing miserably.” Too often, plans offer their members only outdated lists of providers who then prove to be unavailable, Bendat said. The Department of Managed Health Care hasn’t adequately held plans accountable for this and other problematic practices, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The historic network inadequacy around the state and the lack of meaningful fines, that’s a real failure on the part of the department,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Kaiser mental health settlement\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Finke, of The Kennedy Forum, called the Kaiser settlement “long overdue” and “a very important first step in the Department holding plans more accountable for their performance [or lack thereof].” The settlement includes a $50 million fine and corrective action plan as well as a commitment by Kaiser to invest an additional $150 million over five years to improve behavioral health services. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "More on Around California ",
"tag": "california-law"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp> But Finke and others also said the settlement itself provides evidence of the department’s failures to enforce a previous \u003ca href=\"https://wpso.dmhc.ca.gov/enfactions/docs/2895/1500394196511.pdf\">settlement agreement\u003c/a> with Kaiser from 2017.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Will DMHC do its job going forward? That’s the big question,” asked Fred Seavey, research director for the National Union of Healthcare Workers. The union represents 2,000 Kaiser mental health workers in Northern California who undertook a 10-week strike last year over heavy clinician workloads and long wait times for appointments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said he wrote complaints to the Department of Managed Health Care earlier this year, saying that Kaiser in Southern California has been illegally restricting the scope of behavioral health services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser said, in an emailed statement, that “any accusation that we intentionally limit or restrict needed care is untrue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Southern California Kaiser members receive a wide range of behavioral health clinical offerings, the statement said. Despite a statewide shortage of clinicians, Kaiser is “doing all that we can” to expand its network of mental health providers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11964791/californias-groundbreaking-mental-health-law-faces-scrutiny",
"authors": [
"byline_news_11964791"
],
"categories": [
"news_457",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_18538",
"news_30069",
"news_22307",
"news_18543",
"news_421",
"news_6637",
"news_33310",
"news_19904",
"news_2109"
],
"affiliates": [
"news_18481"
],
"featImg": "news_11964796",
"label": "news_18481"
},
"news_11964377": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11964377",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11964377",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1697217165000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "kaiser-permanente-reaches-tentative-deal-with-unions-following-3-day-strike",
"title": "Kaiser Permanente Reaches Tentative Deal With Unions Following Massive 3-Day Strike",
"publishDate": 1697217165,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Kaiser Permanente Reaches Tentative Deal With Unions Following Massive 3-Day Strike | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Unions representing 85,000 health care workers have reached a tentative agreement with industry giant Kaiser Permanente following a strike over wages and staffing levels, the parties announced Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deal includes setting minimum hourly wages at $25 in California, where most of Kaiser’s facilities are located, and $23 in other states. Workers will also see a 21% wage increase over four years. The ratification process is scheduled to begin next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Yvonne Esquivel, Kaiser pediatric medical assistant in Gilroy\"]‘This deal is life-changing for frontline health care workers like me, and life-saving for our patients.’[/pullquote]Both sides said they prioritized patient health care during their talks. Steve Shields, Kaiser’s senior vice president of labor relations, said the deal will not affect rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/kaiser-health-care-workers-strike-b8b40ce8c082c0b8c4f1c0fb7ec38741\">three-day strike\u003c/a> last week involving tens of thousands of workers in multiple states officially ended last Saturday and workers returned to their jobs in Kaiser’s hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans. Union members said understaffing is boosting the hospital system’s profits but hurting patients, and that executives had been bargaining in bad faith during negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Millions of Americans are safer today because tens of thousands of dedicated healthcare workers fought for and won the critical resources they need and that patients need,” said Caroline Lucas, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, in a statement Friday. “This historic agreement will set a higher standard for the healthcare industry nationwide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tentative agreement also includes protective terms around subcontracting and outsourcing, as well as initiatives to invest in the current workforce and address the staffing crisis. The workers’ last contract was negotiated in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have an interest in helping build the health care workforce of the future,” Shields said during a news briefing Friday with both sides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The coalition of unions \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11963708/kaiser-workers-could-reauthorize-strike-if-negotiations-break-down\">had given the company notice\u003c/a> that another strike, from Nov. 1 to Nov. 8, was possible if the latest round of negotiations fell through. It also said the Oct. 31 expiration of a contract covering the Seattle area would enable another 3,000 workers to join picket lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What the parties have achieved here in Oakland demonstrates, once again, that collective bargaining works,” said acting Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su, who helped mediate negotiations this week. “When workers have a voice and a seat at the table, it can result in historic gains for workers, their employer and our country.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser Permanente, based in Oakland, confirmed the deal in a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/aboutKP/status/1712889965095670195\">social media post\u003c/a> on Friday, noting that the strike notice for November “has been canceled.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/seiu_uhw/status/1712787147978321951\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>President Joe Biden applauded the tentative deal in a statement Friday, echoing his support for the health care unions. The president last month joined \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/president-joe-biden-strike-united-auto-workers-8ecc84eeca15c99673f31bdac6921f7b\">picketing United Auto Workers in Michigan\u003c/a> on the 12th day of their strike against major carmakers, becoming the first known sitting president in U.S. history to join an active picket line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We owe a tremendous debt to health care workers and the hard-working men and women who make their work possible,” Biden said in a statement. “Health care workers and support staff kept our hospitals — and our nation — going during the dark months of the pandemic. They had our backs during one of our nation’s toughest times. We must continue to have theirs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week’s three-day strike at facilities in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state was a last resort after Kaiser executives ignored the short-staffing crisis worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, union officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More on Kaiser Permanente' tag='kaiser-permanente']“This deal is life-changing for frontline health care workers like me, and life-saving for our patients,” said Yvonne Esquivel, a pediatric medical assistant at Kaiser Permanente in Gilroy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their goal was to bring the problems to the public’s consciousness for support, according to the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The new [four-year] agreement will offer Coalition-represented employees competitive wages, excellent benefits, generous retirement income plans, and valuable job training opportunities that support their economic well-being, advance our shared mission, and keep Kaiser Permanente a best place to work and receive care,” read a joint-statement from Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The strikers include licensed vocational nurses, home health aides and ultrasound sonographers, as well as technicians in the radiology, X-ray, surgical, pharmacy and emergency departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No health care worker wants to go on strike,” Caroline Lucas, the coalition’s executive director, said Thursday. “I hope that the last few days have helped escalate this issue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company warned the work stoppage could cause delays in people getting appointments and scheduling non-urgent procedures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unions representing Kaiser workers in August asked for a $25 hourly minimum wage, as well as increases of 7% each year in the first two years and 6.25% each year in the two years afterward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser, which turned a $2.1 billion profit for the quarter, said in a statement last week that it proposed minimum hourly wages between $21 and $23 depending on the location. The company said it also completed hiring 10,000 more people, adding to the 51,000 workers the hospital system has brought on board since 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deal comes a day after Kaiser \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/kaiser-permanente-california-behavioral-health-settlement/\">agreed to pay a $50 million fine\u003c/a> as part of a larger settlement with the state of California, which found major deficiencies in its delivery of behavioral health care services. The settlement requires the health care giant to provide its patients with more timely access to behavioral health care, among other improvements, and to invest an additional $150 million in those programs over the next five years.\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "Unions representing some 85,000 Kaiser frontline health care workers, who demanded wage hikes and more robust staffing, reached a tentative agreement with the industry giant, averting the threat of a longer strike next month.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1738186297,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 24,
"wordCount": 1011
},
"headData": {
"title": "Kaiser Permanente Reaches Tentative Deal With Unions Following Massive 3-Day Strike | KQED",
"description": "Unions representing some 85,000 Kaiser frontline health care workers, who demanded wage hikes and more robust staffing, reached a tentative agreement with the industry giant, averting the threat of a longer strike next month.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Kaiser Permanente Reaches Tentative Deal With Unions Following Massive 3-Day Strike",
"datePublished": "2023-10-13T10:12:45-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-01-29T13:31:37-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "The Associated Press",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"showOnAuthorArchivePages": "No",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11964377/kaiser-permanente-reaches-tentative-deal-with-unions-following-3-day-strike",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Unions representing 85,000 health care workers have reached a tentative agreement with industry giant Kaiser Permanente following a strike over wages and staffing levels, the parties announced Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deal includes setting minimum hourly wages at $25 in California, where most of Kaiser’s facilities are located, and $23 in other states. Workers will also see a 21% wage increase over four years. The ratification process is scheduled to begin next week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘This deal is life-changing for frontline health care workers like me, and life-saving for our patients.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Yvonne Esquivel, Kaiser pediatric medical assistant in Gilroy",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Both sides said they prioritized patient health care during their talks. Steve Shields, Kaiser’s senior vice president of labor relations, said the deal will not affect rates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/kaiser-health-care-workers-strike-b8b40ce8c082c0b8c4f1c0fb7ec38741\">three-day strike\u003c/a> last week involving tens of thousands of workers in multiple states officially ended last Saturday and workers returned to their jobs in Kaiser’s hospitals and clinics that serve nearly 13 million Americans. Union members said understaffing is boosting the hospital system’s profits but hurting patients, and that executives had been bargaining in bad faith during negotiations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Millions of Americans are safer today because tens of thousands of dedicated healthcare workers fought for and won the critical resources they need and that patients need,” said Caroline Lucas, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, in a statement Friday. “This historic agreement will set a higher standard for the healthcare industry nationwide.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The tentative agreement also includes protective terms around subcontracting and outsourcing, as well as initiatives to invest in the current workforce and address the staffing crisis. The workers’ last contract was negotiated in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have an interest in helping build the health care workforce of the future,” Shields said during a news briefing Friday with both sides.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The coalition of unions \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11963708/kaiser-workers-could-reauthorize-strike-if-negotiations-break-down\">had given the company notice\u003c/a> that another strike, from Nov. 1 to Nov. 8, was possible if the latest round of negotiations fell through. It also said the Oct. 31 expiration of a contract covering the Seattle area would enable another 3,000 workers to join picket lines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What the parties have achieved here in Oakland demonstrates, once again, that collective bargaining works,” said acting Secretary of Labor Julie A. Su, who helped mediate negotiations this week. “When workers have a voice and a seat at the table, it can result in historic gains for workers, their employer and our country.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser Permanente, based in Oakland, confirmed the deal in a \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/aboutKP/status/1712889965095670195\">social media post\u003c/a> on Friday, noting that the strike notice for November “has been canceled.”\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "singleTwitterStatus",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"id": "1712787147978321951"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>President Joe Biden applauded the tentative deal in a statement Friday, echoing his support for the health care unions. The president last month joined \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/president-joe-biden-strike-united-auto-workers-8ecc84eeca15c99673f31bdac6921f7b\">picketing United Auto Workers in Michigan\u003c/a> on the 12th day of their strike against major carmakers, becoming the first known sitting president in U.S. history to join an active picket line.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We owe a tremendous debt to health care workers and the hard-working men and women who make their work possible,” Biden said in a statement. “Health care workers and support staff kept our hospitals — and our nation — going during the dark months of the pandemic. They had our backs during one of our nation’s toughest times. We must continue to have theirs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week’s three-day strike at facilities in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state was a last resort after Kaiser executives ignored the short-staffing crisis worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, union officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "More on Kaiser Permanente ",
"tag": "kaiser-permanente"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This deal is life-changing for frontline health care workers like me, and life-saving for our patients,” said Yvonne Esquivel, a pediatric medical assistant at Kaiser Permanente in Gilroy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their goal was to bring the problems to the public’s consciousness for support, according to the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The new [four-year] agreement will offer Coalition-represented employees competitive wages, excellent benefits, generous retirement income plans, and valuable job training opportunities that support their economic well-being, advance our shared mission, and keep Kaiser Permanente a best place to work and receive care,” read a joint-statement from Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The strikers include licensed vocational nurses, home health aides and ultrasound sonographers, as well as technicians in the radiology, X-ray, surgical, pharmacy and emergency departments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“No health care worker wants to go on strike,” Caroline Lucas, the coalition’s executive director, said Thursday. “I hope that the last few days have helped escalate this issue.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company warned the work stoppage could cause delays in people getting appointments and scheduling non-urgent procedures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unions representing Kaiser workers in August asked for a $25 hourly minimum wage, as well as increases of 7% each year in the first two years and 6.25% each year in the two years afterward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser, which turned a $2.1 billion profit for the quarter, said in a statement last week that it proposed minimum hourly wages between $21 and $23 depending on the location. The company said it also completed hiring 10,000 more people, adding to the 51,000 workers the hospital system has brought on board since 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The deal comes a day after Kaiser \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/10/kaiser-permanente-california-behavioral-health-settlement/\">agreed to pay a $50 million fine\u003c/a> as part of a larger settlement with the state of California, which found major deficiencies in its delivery of behavioral health care services. The settlement requires the health care giant to provide its patients with more timely access to behavioral health care, among other improvements, and to invest an additional $150 million in those programs over the next five years.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11964377/kaiser-permanente-reaches-tentative-deal-with-unions-following-3-day-strike",
"authors": [
"byline_news_11964377"
],
"categories": [
"news_457",
"news_34551",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_27626",
"news_18543",
"news_24939",
"news_32885",
"news_421",
"news_19904",
"news_24590",
"news_1901"
],
"featImg": "news_11964381",
"label": "news"
},
"news_11964236": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11964236",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11964236",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1697205619000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "how-a-california-child-care-workers-union-fought-for-living-wages-and-won",
"title": "How a California Child Care Workers' Union Fought for Living Wages — and Won",
"publishDate": 1697205619,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "How a California Child Care Workers’ Union Fought for Living Wages — and Won | KQED",
"labelTerm": {},
"content": "\u003cp>When Nancy Harvey opened a daycare out of her West Oakland home nearly two decades ago, she wanted to give kids in her neighborhood a high-quality preschool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was up for the challenge, but what she wasn’t prepared for was the low pay and lack of benefits: two things she took for granted when she worked in marketing and taught in private schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A retirement plan was essential for anyone that worked a job and I couldn’t understand how this very valuable industry did not have that,” Harvey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As workers across occupations walked off the job during this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11963717/amid-kaiser-strike-a-look-at-the-biggest-union-walkouts-in-california-recently\">remarkable year of strikes\u003c/a>, a union representing 40,000 home-based child care providers like Harvey approved a landmark deal, which included a roughly 20% pay increase and unprecedented benefits. It was a big moment for a labor movement largely led by immigrants and women of color — two groups whose domestic work has \u003ca href=\"https://www.epi.org/blog/black-womens-labor-market-history-reveals-deep-seated-race-and-gender-discrimination/\">historically been undervalued and excluded \u003c/a>from labor protection laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since child care in the United States is largely privatized, home-based providers are considered self-employed small business owners. But those who serve lower-income families have long argued they should be classified as public employees since their salaries depend on reimbursements from the state. In California, two-thirds of families who receive child care subsidies send their kids to home-based daycares.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, these providers complained \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/workforce-index-2020/the-early-educator-workforce/early-educator-pay-economic-insecurity-across-the-states/\">they were paid so little that they \u003cem>themselves\u003c/em> qualify for public assistance\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It spoke pretty loudly as to what folks really thought of child care providers, that we were just folks that they could use and not necessarily think about our well-being and our future,” Harvey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Harvey, her involvement started with a knock on her door not long after she started her daycare. A union rep came in the middle of the children’s nap time and pitched unionizing as a strategy to improve pay and gain benefits. She said she didn’t hesitate to sign up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Nancy Harvey, child care provider, West Oakland\"]‘We have set them aside long enough and we can’t do that.’[/pullquote]Organizing isn’t easy for home-based workers because they work independently, but Harvey said she felt a duty to speak up for her industry because many providers were in the same situation she was in, but were too busy to effect change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It took two decades of organizing — a lot of it done during nap time — before Child Care Providers United \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2019/09/30/governor-newsom-signs-legislation-allowing-child-care-providers-the-right-to-unionize/\">won the right in 2019 to collectively bargain\u003c/a>. The union represents 40,000 home-based child care providers. It is a partnership between two chapters of the Service Employees International Union locals and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just as Harvey and other providers got ready to negotiate their first contract with the state, the pandemic hit, greatly intensifying their economic insecurity. As essential workers, many home-based providers kept their doors open, but still struggled to pay their bills. They said they were seeing lower revenues due to enrollment declines and higher costs due to inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11963691\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11963691\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person speaks into a megaphone in front of a group of people.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nancy Harvey speaks during a rally to bring attention to a gas leak Felton Institute employees say went unaddressed for more than a year outside of Felton’s Sunshine Community Center in San Francisco’s Mission District on Aug. 10, 2023. Felton Institute is a nonprofit serving children and families in the Bay Area. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was at that point that people really recognized the fact that, hey, this industry is important,” Harvey recalled. “We have set them aside long enough and we can’t do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union reached its first contract in 2021, securing $100 million for health care, plus funding for training and pandemic relief. \u003ca href=\"https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/many-california-family-child-care-providers-will-now-be-better-able-to-afford-health-care/\">In one survey\u003c/a>, many home-based providers reported delaying or not getting needed health care because they couldn’t afford out-of-pocket costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gaining the health care fund was bittersweet for Patricia Moran, a daycare owner in San José. She said a fellow provider and member of the negotiation team was diagnosed with lung cancer during the talks and didn’t live long enough to see it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew providers who were going to Mexico, crossing the border for cheaper medical care and going so fast and coming back so fast they would sometimes get into car accidents,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moran, Harvey and dozens of providers bargained for the second contract this past year. They spent nights and weekends negotiating and held union demonstrations, including rallies outside the Capitol and the governor’s mansion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11963692\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11963692\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person stands by a window and looks at the camera.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patricia Moran stands in her child care facility in San José on Oct. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I remember I slept like two hours because, in my daycare, some parents are bringing children at 5 o’clock in the morning,” Moran said. “I was like, OK, I’m going to sleep. Maybe, maybe not. No, I’m going to stay awake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organizing paid off. Last month, the state finalized \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961256/newsom-signs-bills-boosting-child-care-for-struggling-californians-and-providers\">a landmark $2 billion deal \u003c/a>to give them their largest pay raise to date and launch the nation’s first retirement fund for unionized child care workers. The $80 million fund made California the first of \u003ca href=\"https://www.clasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/4.3.2023_Unionizing-Home-Based-Providers-to-Address-the-Child-Care-Crisis.pdf\">11 states with home-based child care worker unions (PDF) \u003c/a>to offer this benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Patricia Moran, child care provider, San José\"]‘I knew providers who were going to Mexico, crossing the border for cheaper medical care and going so fast and coming back so fast they would sometimes get into car accidents.’[/pullquote]Overall, the push to unionize child care workers has had more success in some states than others. Seven other states, for example, had granted that right to home-based child care providers before backing out, \u003ca href=\"https://www.clasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/4.3.2023_Unionizing-Home-Based-Providers-to-Address-the-Child-Care-Crisis.pdf\">according to the Center for Law and Social Policy (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It helped that in California, a record number of women in the state Legislature made \u003ca href=\"https://womenscaucus.legislature.ca.gov/news/2023-03-30-ca-legislative-women%E2%80%99s-caucus-announces-2023-priority-bill-package\">child care funding a priority in the 2023–24 budget year. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Nancy Skinner, an East Bay Democrat who chairs the Legislative Women’s Caucus, said funding was urgently needed because many child care programs permanently closed after the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So we just saw this collapse that affected not only families, obviously, and the little kids that really deserve good child care, but also affected California’s employers and our economy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But perhaps the biggest victory is that they got the state to \u003ca href=\"https://calbudgetcenter.org/resources/californias-subsidized-child-care-providers-are-overdue-for-pay-raise/\">fundamentally change the way it pays\u003c/a> providers of subsidized child care programs so that they’ll get closer to earning a fair wage, whether they’re in the union or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means, the benefit will extend to larger state-funded child care centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They fought for the entire system … which is incredibly tremendous for all of us,” said Nina Buthee, executive director of the advocacy group EveryChild California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buthee said she hopes better pay will encourage more private daycares to serve families who qualify for child care subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More on Affordable Child Care' tag='child-care']“It’s really a huge step forward in terms of equity when you think about who our workforce is,” said Brandy Jones Lawrence, a senior analyst at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s also a huge step forward in our commitment to systemic reform,” she added\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harvey said these gains were long overdue. She’s ecstatic about the changes and hopes child care workers in other states will follow in her union’s footsteps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 61 years old, she said she feels more secure about retiring in a few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think of a retirement plan as a pot of money that’s going to help you survive. And if you don’t have that, then how are you going to survive?” she said. “I’m glad that the state of California heard our cry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "A union of 40,000 home-based child care providers, largely led by immigrants and women of color, secured a 20% raise and new benefits, a win for labor rights.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726004827,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 33,
"wordCount": 1396
},
"headData": {
"title": "How a California Child Care Workers' Union Fought for Living Wages — and Won | KQED",
"description": "A union of 40,000 home-based child care providers, largely led by immigrants and women of color, secured a 20% raise and new benefits, a win for labor rights.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "How a California Child Care Workers' Union Fought for Living Wages — and Won",
"datePublished": "2023-10-13T07:00:19-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-10T14:47:07-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"source": "Early Childhood Education and Care",
"sourceUrl": "https://www.kqed.org/early-childhood-education-and-care",
"audioUrl": "https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/aecc4a92-1c62-4ae1-b927-b0960100d28d/audio.mp3",
"sticky": false,
"templateType": "standard",
"featuredImageType": "standard",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11964236/how-a-california-child-care-workers-union-fought-for-living-wages-and-won",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When Nancy Harvey opened a daycare out of her West Oakland home nearly two decades ago, she wanted to give kids in her neighborhood a high-quality preschool.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She was up for the challenge, but what she wasn’t prepared for was the low pay and lack of benefits: two things she took for granted when she worked in marketing and taught in private schools.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A retirement plan was essential for anyone that worked a job and I couldn’t understand how this very valuable industry did not have that,” Harvey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As workers across occupations walked off the job during this \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11963717/amid-kaiser-strike-a-look-at-the-biggest-union-walkouts-in-california-recently\">remarkable year of strikes\u003c/a>, a union representing 40,000 home-based child care providers like Harvey approved a landmark deal, which included a roughly 20% pay increase and unprecedented benefits. It was a big moment for a labor movement largely led by immigrants and women of color — two groups whose domestic work has \u003ca href=\"https://www.epi.org/blog/black-womens-labor-market-history-reveals-deep-seated-race-and-gender-discrimination/\">historically been undervalued and excluded \u003c/a>from labor protection laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since child care in the United States is largely privatized, home-based providers are considered self-employed small business owners. But those who serve lower-income families have long argued they should be classified as public employees since their salaries depend on reimbursements from the state. In California, two-thirds of families who receive child care subsidies send their kids to home-based daycares.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, these providers complained \u003ca href=\"https://cscce.berkeley.edu/workforce-index-2020/the-early-educator-workforce/early-educator-pay-economic-insecurity-across-the-states/\">they were paid so little that they \u003cem>themselves\u003c/em> qualify for public assistance\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It spoke pretty loudly as to what folks really thought of child care providers, that we were just folks that they could use and not necessarily think about our well-being and our future,” Harvey said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Harvey, her involvement started with a knock on her door not long after she started her daycare. A union rep came in the middle of the children’s nap time and pitched unionizing as a strategy to improve pay and gain benefits. She said she didn’t hesitate to sign up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘We have set them aside long enough and we can’t do that.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Nancy Harvey, child care provider, West Oakland",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Organizing isn’t easy for home-based workers because they work independently, but Harvey said she felt a duty to speak up for her industry because many providers were in the same situation she was in, but were too busy to effect change.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It took two decades of organizing — a lot of it done during nap time — before Child Care Providers United \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2019/09/30/governor-newsom-signs-legislation-allowing-child-care-providers-the-right-to-unionize/\">won the right in 2019 to collectively bargain\u003c/a>. The union represents 40,000 home-based child care providers. It is a partnership between two chapters of the Service Employees International Union locals and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But just as Harvey and other providers got ready to negotiate their first contract with the state, the pandemic hit, greatly intensifying their economic insecurity. As essential workers, many home-based providers kept their doors open, but still struggled to pay their bills. They said they were seeing lower revenues due to enrollment declines and higher costs due to inflation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11963691\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11963691\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person speaks into a megaphone in front of a group of people.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/230810-FeltonInstituteRally-21-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Nancy Harvey speaks during a rally to bring attention to a gas leak Felton Institute employees say went unaddressed for more than a year outside of Felton’s Sunshine Community Center in San Francisco’s Mission District on Aug. 10, 2023. Felton Institute is a nonprofit serving children and families in the Bay Area. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“It was at that point that people really recognized the fact that, hey, this industry is important,” Harvey recalled. “We have set them aside long enough and we can’t do that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union reached its first contract in 2021, securing $100 million for health care, plus funding for training and pandemic relief. \u003ca href=\"https://laborcenter.berkeley.edu/many-california-family-child-care-providers-will-now-be-better-able-to-afford-health-care/\">In one survey\u003c/a>, many home-based providers reported delaying or not getting needed health care because they couldn’t afford out-of-pocket costs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gaining the health care fund was bittersweet for Patricia Moran, a daycare owner in San José. She said a fellow provider and member of the negotiation team was diagnosed with lung cancer during the talks and didn’t live long enough to see it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I knew providers who were going to Mexico, crossing the border for cheaper medical care and going so fast and coming back so fast they would sometimes get into car accidents,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Moran, Harvey and dozens of providers bargained for the second contract this past year. They spent nights and weekends negotiating and held union demonstrations, including rallies outside the Capitol and the governor’s mansion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11963692\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11963692\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A person stands by a window and looks at the camera.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/10/231002-ChildCareLaborMovement-003-BL-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Patricia Moran stands in her child care facility in San José on Oct. 2, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I remember I slept like two hours because, in my daycare, some parents are bringing children at 5 o’clock in the morning,” Moran said. “I was like, OK, I’m going to sleep. Maybe, maybe not. No, I’m going to stay awake.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The organizing paid off. Last month, the state finalized \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961256/newsom-signs-bills-boosting-child-care-for-struggling-californians-and-providers\">a landmark $2 billion deal \u003c/a>to give them their largest pay raise to date and launch the nation’s first retirement fund for unionized child care workers. The $80 million fund made California the first of \u003ca href=\"https://www.clasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/4.3.2023_Unionizing-Home-Based-Providers-to-Address-the-Child-Care-Crisis.pdf\">11 states with home-based child care worker unions (PDF) \u003c/a>to offer this benefit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘I knew providers who were going to Mexico, crossing the border for cheaper medical care and going so fast and coming back so fast they would sometimes get into car accidents.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Patricia Moran, child care provider, San José",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Overall, the push to unionize child care workers has had more success in some states than others. Seven other states, for example, had granted that right to home-based child care providers before backing out, \u003ca href=\"https://www.clasp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/4.3.2023_Unionizing-Home-Based-Providers-to-Address-the-Child-Care-Crisis.pdf\">according to the Center for Law and Social Policy (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It helped that in California, a record number of women in the state Legislature made \u003ca href=\"https://womenscaucus.legislature.ca.gov/news/2023-03-30-ca-legislative-women%E2%80%99s-caucus-announces-2023-priority-bill-package\">child care funding a priority in the 2023–24 budget year. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>State Sen. Nancy Skinner, an East Bay Democrat who chairs the Legislative Women’s Caucus, said funding was urgently needed because many child care programs permanently closed after the pandemic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“So we just saw this collapse that affected not only families, obviously, and the little kids that really deserve good child care, but also affected California’s employers and our economy,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But perhaps the biggest victory is that they got the state to \u003ca href=\"https://calbudgetcenter.org/resources/californias-subsidized-child-care-providers-are-overdue-for-pay-raise/\">fundamentally change the way it pays\u003c/a> providers of subsidized child care programs so that they’ll get closer to earning a fair wage, whether they’re in the union or not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means, the benefit will extend to larger state-funded child care centers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They fought for the entire system … which is incredibly tremendous for all of us,” said Nina Buthee, executive director of the advocacy group EveryChild California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Buthee said she hopes better pay will encourage more private daycares to serve families who qualify for child care subsidies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "More on Affordable Child Care ",
"tag": "child-care"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“It’s really a huge step forward in terms of equity when you think about who our workforce is,” said Brandy Jones Lawrence, a senior analyst at the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California, Berkeley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s also a huge step forward in our commitment to systemic reform,” she added\u003cem>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Harvey said these gains were long overdue. She’s ecstatic about the changes and hopes child care workers in other states will follow in her union’s footsteps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At 61 years old, she said she feels more secure about retiring in a few years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We think of a retirement plan as a pot of money that’s going to help you survive. And if you don’t have that, then how are you going to survive?” she said. “I’m glad that the state of California heard our cry.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11964236/how-a-california-child-care-workers-union-fought-for-living-wages-and-won",
"authors": [
"11829"
],
"programs": [
"news_72"
],
"categories": [
"news_31795",
"news_457",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_25647",
"news_18538",
"news_32887",
"news_20754",
"news_25966",
"news_32102",
"news_18543",
"news_20851",
"news_2318"
],
"featImg": "news_11963695",
"label": "source_news_11964236"
},
"news_11964277": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11964277",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11964277",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1697156172000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "california-voters-to-weigh-behavioral-health-reforms-after-newsom-signature",
"title": "California Voters to Weigh Behavioral Health Reforms After Newsom Signature",
"publishDate": 1697156172,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "California Voters to Weigh Behavioral Health Reforms After Newsom Signature | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961241/inside-californias-landmark-mental-health-reforms\">ambitious plan to change how California funds mental health care\u003c/a> will go before voters in March after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a pair of bills Thursday to place the reforms on the primary ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes to the Mental Health Services Act and a corresponding housing bond are aimed at helping Californians with severe mental illness while living on the street. The measures won overwhelming support in the Legislature despite concerns from California counties and some mental health advocates. Together, they represent Newsom’s latest effort to transform care at the intersection of mental health and homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two bills Newsom signed on Thursday — Senate Bill 326 and Assembly Bill 531 — will appear on the March 5, 2024 ballot as Proposition 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was bipartisan legislation that we signed today, Democrats, Republicans — all of us impacted by the issue of mental health, mental illness,” Newsom said at a bill signing ceremony in Los Angeles. “So we’re very excited about the prospect of our success in March.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 326 reworks the state’s Mental Health Services Act, first approved by voters in 2004. The MHSA places a 1% tax on personal income over $1 million to fund mental health care, along with services aimed at preventing mental health issues in kids and teens from becoming more severe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"California Gov. Gavin Newsom\"]‘This was bipartisan legislation that we signed today, Democrats, Republicans — all of us impacted by the issue of mental health, mental illness.’[/pullquote]Under the changes, the law would be renamed the Behavioral Health Services Act, and tax dollars could be used to treat substance abuse, in addition to mental illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Going forward, 30% of the act’s revenue would be set aside for housing, which could include temporary units or rental subsidies for Californians with acute mental health care needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all come to this with our own personal stories about the frustrations of knocking our heads against walls, trying to get people we love help,” said Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), the bill’s author. “Well, now we have all the pieces together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill faced initial opposition from providers of youth mental health services, who argued the plan lacked clear set-asides to pay for early interventions — such as paying for mental health clinicians to come into classrooms and help early childhood educators identify issues with students. The plan was amended to include specific set-asides for early intervention and Californians younger than 25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County governments remained skeptical of the bill. Tax revenue from wealthy Californians is a volatile revenue source, and directing more of that money toward housing could leave less funding for core mental health services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='More on California Law' tag='california-law']“Counties have a significant and growing obligation to fund behavioral health services under the Medi-Cal entitlement and use MHSA funds to support that obligation,” according to the final Senate analysis of the bill. “This proposal leaves counties with fewer resources to do so, including less funding available to use as a Medi-Cal match to draw down additional federal dollars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 531 proposes a $6.38 billion bond, with the goal of providing 10,000 new beds and supportive housing units for those with severe behavioral health needs who, supporters of the plan argue, currently end up in emergency rooms or back on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over $1 billion will be set aside for veterans with behavioral health needs. Supporters of the plan are promising community-based facilities, and not the locked state mental hospitals of years past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jolissa Hebard, an outreach supervisor with the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Westside Los Angeles, said she has lived with substance use and has relatives with bipolar disorder. She also has a son who has attempted suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The stuff that we are doing today is going to help families to help themselves and help their loved ones,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Newsom administration pushed hard to win support for the mental health changes in the state Legislature and the governor will actively pitch his plan to voters next year, said Dana Williamson, Newsom’s chief of staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If he were here, he’d tell you this is his biggest priority,” Williamson told KQED’s Political Breakdown last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jolissa Hebard, outreach supervisor, National Alliance on Mental Illness\"]‘The stuff that we are doing today is going to help families to help themselves and help their loved ones.’[/pullquote]Since taking office, Newsom has pushed for changes to how state and local governments deal with people suffering from severe psychosis or substance abuse — many of whom end up living in encampments on sidewalks or riverbeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11924117/governors-care-court-plan-passes-assembly-clearing-way-to-become-law\">governor signed into law the CARE Court program\u003c/a>, which authorizes judges to compel care and housing for Californians with severe mental illness. That law is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101894425/care-court-is-coming-to-san-francisco-heres-what-we-can-expect\">rolling out this fall in eight counties\u003c/a> before statewide implementation next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this week, Newsom signed a bill \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11963961/newsom-signs-law-expanding-conservatorships-for-those-experiencing-severe-mental-illness-substance-abuse\">expanding the state’s conservatorship law\u003c/a> governing the use of involuntary medical care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposition 1 will be the only statewide measure on the March 5 ballot. Voters will also weigh in on primaries for president and California’s U.S. Senate seat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "The changes to the Mental Health Services Act represent Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest effort to transform care at the intersection of mental health and homelessness.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1728425441,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 23,
"wordCount": 914
},
"headData": {
"title": "California Voters to Weigh Behavioral Health Reforms After Newsom Signature | KQED",
"description": "The changes to the Mental Health Services Act represent Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest effort to transform care at the intersection of mental health and homelessness.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "California Voters to Weigh Behavioral Health Reforms After Newsom Signature",
"datePublished": "2023-10-12T17:16:12-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-10-08T15:10:41-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11964277/california-voters-to-weigh-behavioral-health-reforms-after-newsom-signature",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961241/inside-californias-landmark-mental-health-reforms\">ambitious plan to change how California funds mental health care\u003c/a> will go before voters in March after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a pair of bills Thursday to place the reforms on the primary ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The changes to the Mental Health Services Act and a corresponding housing bond are aimed at helping Californians with severe mental illness while living on the street. The measures won overwhelming support in the Legislature despite concerns from California counties and some mental health advocates. Together, they represent Newsom’s latest effort to transform care at the intersection of mental health and homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two bills Newsom signed on Thursday — Senate Bill 326 and Assembly Bill 531 — will appear on the March 5, 2024 ballot as Proposition 1.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This was bipartisan legislation that we signed today, Democrats, Republicans — all of us impacted by the issue of mental health, mental illness,” Newsom said at a bill signing ceremony in Los Angeles. “So we’re very excited about the prospect of our success in March.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SB 326 reworks the state’s Mental Health Services Act, first approved by voters in 2004. The MHSA places a 1% tax on personal income over $1 million to fund mental health care, along with services aimed at preventing mental health issues in kids and teens from becoming more severe.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘This was bipartisan legislation that we signed today, Democrats, Republicans — all of us impacted by the issue of mental health, mental illness.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "California Gov. Gavin Newsom",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Under the changes, the law would be renamed the Behavioral Health Services Act, and tax dollars could be used to treat substance abuse, in addition to mental illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Going forward, 30% of the act’s revenue would be set aside for housing, which could include temporary units or rental subsidies for Californians with acute mental health care needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We all come to this with our own personal stories about the frustrations of knocking our heads against walls, trying to get people we love help,” said Sen. Susan Talamantes Eggman (D-Stockton), the bill’s author. “Well, now we have all the pieces together.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The bill faced initial opposition from providers of youth mental health services, who argued the plan lacked clear set-asides to pay for early interventions — such as paying for mental health clinicians to come into classrooms and help early childhood educators identify issues with students. The plan was amended to include specific set-asides for early intervention and Californians younger than 25.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County governments remained skeptical of the bill. Tax revenue from wealthy Californians is a volatile revenue source, and directing more of that money toward housing could leave less funding for core mental health services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "More on California Law ",
"tag": "california-law"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Counties have a significant and growing obligation to fund behavioral health services under the Medi-Cal entitlement and use MHSA funds to support that obligation,” according to the final Senate analysis of the bill. “This proposal leaves counties with fewer resources to do so, including less funding available to use as a Medi-Cal match to draw down additional federal dollars.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>AB 531 proposes a $6.38 billion bond, with the goal of providing 10,000 new beds and supportive housing units for those with severe behavioral health needs who, supporters of the plan argue, currently end up in emergency rooms or back on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over $1 billion will be set aside for veterans with behavioral health needs. Supporters of the plan are promising community-based facilities, and not the locked state mental hospitals of years past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jolissa Hebard, an outreach supervisor with the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Westside Los Angeles, said she has lived with substance use and has relatives with bipolar disorder. She also has a son who has attempted suicide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The stuff that we are doing today is going to help families to help themselves and help their loved ones,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Newsom administration pushed hard to win support for the mental health changes in the state Legislature and the governor will actively pitch his plan to voters next year, said Dana Williamson, Newsom’s chief of staff.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If he were here, he’d tell you this is his biggest priority,” Williamson told KQED’s Political Breakdown last month.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "‘The stuff that we are doing today is going to help families to help themselves and help their loved ones.’",
"name": "pullquote",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"size": "medium",
"align": "right",
"citation": "Jolissa Hebard, outreach supervisor, National Alliance on Mental Illness",
"label": ""
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Since taking office, Newsom has pushed for changes to how state and local governments deal with people suffering from severe psychosis or substance abuse — many of whom end up living in encampments on sidewalks or riverbeds.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11924117/governors-care-court-plan-passes-assembly-clearing-way-to-become-law\">governor signed into law the CARE Court program\u003c/a>, which authorizes judges to compel care and housing for Californians with severe mental illness. That law is \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101894425/care-court-is-coming-to-san-francisco-heres-what-we-can-expect\">rolling out this fall in eight counties\u003c/a> before statewide implementation next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Earlier this week, Newsom signed a bill \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11963961/newsom-signs-law-expanding-conservatorships-for-those-experiencing-severe-mental-illness-substance-abuse\">expanding the state’s conservatorship law\u003c/a> governing the use of involuntary medical care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Proposition 1 will be the only statewide measure on the March 5 ballot. Voters will also weigh in on primaries for president and California’s U.S. Senate seat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11964277/california-voters-to-weigh-behavioral-health-reforms-after-newsom-signature",
"authors": [
"227"
],
"categories": [
"news_457",
"news_6266",
"news_8",
"news_13"
],
"tags": [
"news_18538",
"news_30069",
"news_22307",
"news_16",
"news_18543",
"news_4020",
"news_2109",
"news_33195",
"news_17968"
],
"featImg": "news_11964286",
"label": "news"
},
"news_11964043": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11964043",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11964043",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1696984942000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "kaiser-frontline-workers-warn-of-longer-strike-next-month-if-negotiations-fall-through",
"title": "Kaiser Frontline Workers Warn of Longer Strike Next Month if Negotiations Fall Through",
"publishDate": 1696984942,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Kaiser Frontline Workers Warn of Longer Strike Next Month if Negotiations Fall Through | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>A week after tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees across the country \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11963306/kaiser-strike-furthers-delays-in-covid-19-vaccines-some-surgeries-in-the-bay-area\">staged a three-day walkout\u003c/a> demanding higher wages and more robust staffing, the unions representing them warned on Tuesday of a longer strike early next month if upcoming negotiations with the company prove unsuccessful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next bargaining sessions are scheduled for later this week, with Julie Su, the acting U.S. secretary of labor, expected to mediate, according to the union coalition representing Kaiser employees. Anything short of a fair deal will result in a subsequent strike starting on Nov. 1 and lasting until Nov. 8, coalition representatives told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we don’t stand up for our work, they’re going to continue treating us the way they are treating us,” said Drenda Sims, a receptionist in the OB-GYN department at Kaiser’s Oakland facility.[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"kaiser-strike\"]Sims participated in last week’s walkout, which marked the largest health care worker strike in U.S. history. And like many of her colleagues, she said she hopes another strike will be averted, but is prepared to join the picket line again if necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not a good feeling,” she said. “But it’s for the cause.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The labor coalition, comprised of chapters of the Service Employees International Union and the Office and Professional Employees International Union, represent a wide range of Kaiser frontline workers, including respiratory therapists, X-ray technicians, behavioral health workers and pharmacists, among many other positions. Doctors and nurses, however, are not involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coalition officials say limiting how much Kaiser can outsource and subcontract workers remains a major sticking point in the ongoing negotiations with the massive health care provider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The critical issues that are outstanding really are still a long-term comprehensive solution to the Kaiser short-staffing crisis,” Caroline Lucas, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, told KQED on Tuesday, arguing that simply outsourcing the work, as she says Kaiser has considered, is not a remedy. “We need common sense limitations on subcontracting and outsourcing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week’s strike included nearly 75,000 Kaiser workers from facilities in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The majority of the strikers were located in California, with some 23,000 joining picket lines in the Bay Area alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to significant staffing increases, workers are pushing for a 6.5% wage hike in the first two years of their next contract, and a 5.75% increase the following two years. They are also seeking to raise the minimum wage among workers in the union to $26 by 2026. Kaiser’s current minimum wage varies by region, but many places offer just under $20 per hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last round of negotiations, union officials rejected \u003ca href=\"https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/content/dam/kp/mykp/documents/infographics-pdf/new-offer-infographic_100123_5pm.pdf\">Kaiser’s offer (PDF)\u003c/a> of 4% across-the-board wage increases for all Northern California workers for the next two years, and 3% for the following two years, in addition to a minimum performance bonus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser also recently offered a $23-per-hour minimum wage for its employees in California starting in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Kaiser Permanente remains committed to reaching an agreement that is good for our employees, our members, and our organization, and we will continue to bargain in good faith,” the Oakland-based company said in an email to KQED on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of negotiations with the labor coalition, Kaiser has also vowed to accelerate the pace of hiring and add 10,000 new employees nationwide by the end of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And although the company is on track to surpass that goal, union officials say it’s still not enough to make up for the burnout and turnover fueled by the pandemic, that has left many facilities severely understaffed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This week, Kaiser executives will have another opportunity to listen to frontline staff,” said Lucas, the union coalition leader, “and to begin investing in ways that will solve the Kaiser short-staffing crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "If this week's negotiations with the company are unsuccessful, some 75,000 Kaiser employees — including thousands in the Bay Area — plan to walk off the job again next month, from Nov. 1 until Nov. 8, according to the union coalition representing the workers.",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1738186302,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 17,
"wordCount": 687
},
"headData": {
"title": "Kaiser Frontline Workers Warn of Longer Strike Next Month if Negotiations Fall Through | KQED",
"description": "If this week's negotiations with the company are unsuccessful, some 75,000 Kaiser employees — including thousands in the Bay Area — plan to walk off the job again next month, from Nov. 1 until Nov. 8, according to the union coalition representing the workers.",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Kaiser Frontline Workers Warn of Longer Strike Next Month if Negotiations Fall Through",
"datePublished": "2023-10-10T17:42:22-07:00",
"dateModified": "2025-01-29T13:31:42-08:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11964043/kaiser-frontline-workers-warn-of-longer-strike-next-month-if-negotiations-fall-through",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A week after tens of thousands of Kaiser Permanente employees across the country \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11963306/kaiser-strike-furthers-delays-in-covid-19-vaccines-some-surgeries-in-the-bay-area\">staged a three-day walkout\u003c/a> demanding higher wages and more robust staffing, the unions representing them warned on Tuesday of a longer strike early next month if upcoming negotiations with the company prove unsuccessful.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The next bargaining sessions are scheduled for later this week, with Julie Su, the acting U.S. secretary of labor, expected to mediate, according to the union coalition representing Kaiser employees. Anything short of a fair deal will result in a subsequent strike starting on Nov. 1 and lasting until Nov. 8, coalition representatives told KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If we don’t stand up for our work, they’re going to continue treating us the way they are treating us,” said Drenda Sims, a receptionist in the OB-GYN department at Kaiser’s Oakland facility.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "related coverage ",
"tag": "kaiser-strike"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Sims participated in last week’s walkout, which marked the largest health care worker strike in U.S. history. And like many of her colleagues, she said she hopes another strike will be averted, but is prepared to join the picket line again if necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s not a good feeling,” she said. “But it’s for the cause.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The labor coalition, comprised of chapters of the Service Employees International Union and the Office and Professional Employees International Union, represent a wide range of Kaiser frontline workers, including respiratory therapists, X-ray technicians, behavioral health workers and pharmacists, among many other positions. Doctors and nurses, however, are not involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coalition officials say limiting how much Kaiser can outsource and subcontract workers remains a major sticking point in the ongoing negotiations with the massive health care provider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The critical issues that are outstanding really are still a long-term comprehensive solution to the Kaiser short-staffing crisis,” Caroline Lucas, executive director of the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, told KQED on Tuesday, arguing that simply outsourcing the work, as she says Kaiser has considered, is not a remedy. “We need common sense limitations on subcontracting and outsourcing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last week’s strike included nearly 75,000 Kaiser workers from facilities in California, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, Virginia and Washington, D.C. The majority of the strikers were located in California, with some 23,000 joining picket lines in the Bay Area alone.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to significant staffing increases, workers are pushing for a 6.5% wage hike in the first two years of their next contract, and a 5.75% increase the following two years. They are also seeking to raise the minimum wage among workers in the union to $26 by 2026. Kaiser’s current minimum wage varies by region, but many places offer just under $20 per hour.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the last round of negotiations, union officials rejected \u003ca href=\"https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/content/dam/kp/mykp/documents/infographics-pdf/new-offer-infographic_100123_5pm.pdf\">Kaiser’s offer (PDF)\u003c/a> of 4% across-the-board wage increases for all Northern California workers for the next two years, and 3% for the following two years, in addition to a minimum performance bonus.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaiser also recently offered a $23-per-hour minimum wage for its employees in California starting in 2024.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Kaiser Permanente remains committed to reaching an agreement that is good for our employees, our members, and our organization, and we will continue to bargain in good faith,” the Oakland-based company said in an email to KQED on Tuesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As part of negotiations with the labor coalition, Kaiser has also vowed to accelerate the pace of hiring and add 10,000 new employees nationwide by the end of this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And although the company is on track to surpass that goal, union officials say it’s still not enough to make up for the burnout and turnover fueled by the pandemic, that has left many facilities severely understaffed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This week, Kaiser executives will have another opportunity to listen to frontline staff,” said Lucas, the union coalition leader, “and to begin investing in ways that will solve the Kaiser short-staffing crisis.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11964043/kaiser-frontline-workers-warn-of-longer-strike-next-month-if-negotiations-fall-through",
"authors": [
"11840"
],
"categories": [
"news_457",
"news_34551",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_27626",
"news_18543",
"news_421",
"news_33310",
"news_19904"
],
"featImg": "news_11963445",
"label": "news"
},
"news_11963961": {
"type": "posts",
"id": "news_11963961",
"meta": {
"index": "posts_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "11963961",
"score": null,
"sort": [
1696975364000
]
},
"guestAuthors": [],
"slug": "newsom-signs-law-expanding-conservatorships-for-those-experiencing-severe-mental-illness-substance-abuse",
"title": "Newsom Signs Law Expanding Conservatorships for Those Experiencing Severe Mental Illness, Substance Abuse",
"publishDate": 1696975364,
"format": "standard",
"headTitle": "Newsom Signs Law Expanding Conservatorships for Those Experiencing Severe Mental Illness, Substance Abuse | KQED",
"labelTerm": {
"term": 18481,
"site": "news"
},
"content": "\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed the first of a series of bills that aims to transform California’s mental health system by loosening long-standing rules that dictate who can be forced into treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB43\">Senate Bill 43\u003c/a>, which changes the state’s conservatorship laws for the first time in more than 50 years, broadens the standards for involuntary medical treatment to include people who are considered unable to keep themselves safe because of severe substance-use disorders or mental health issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on who you ask, this transformation represents a long overdue humanitarian response — or a worrisome step backward on civil liberties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is undertaking a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/10/10/modernizing-conservatorship-law-sb43/\">major overhaul of our mental health system,\u003c/a>” Newsom said in a statement. “The mental health crisis affects us all, and people who need the most help have been too often overlooked. We are working to ensure no one falls through the cracks, and that people get the help they need and the respect they deserve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom is also expected to sign legislation that sends two key ballot measures to voters next March: a $6.4 billion bond to pay for 10,000\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>new treatment beds and expand supportive housing options, and an update to a 20-year-old law that provides funding for \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/09/gavin-newsom-mental-health-2024-election/\">mental health services\u003c/a>. Both measures would need approval from a majority of voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of this comes just as CARE Court — Newsom’s signature mental health legislation from last year aimed at addressing treatment options for people suffering from severe mental illness — begins rolling out in an initial cohort of seven counties. Glenn, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties opened their \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2022/09/california-lawmakers-approved-care-court-what-comes-next/\">Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) courts\u003c/a> earlier this month; Los Angeles County will open its court in December. The rest of the state’s counties will follow suit next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Addressing serious mental illness among the state’s growing unhoused population is a major focus of all of these initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"conservatorship\"]A recent survey of people experiencing homelessness by the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-homeless-growth-report/\">UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative\u003c/a>, found that the majority had experienced \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/2023-06/CASPEH_Report_62023.pdf\">serious mental health conditions (PDF)\u003c/a> at some point in their lives, but also found that high housing costs and low incomes were the main reasons most actually entered homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARE Court allows family, close friends, first responders and behavioral health workers to petition a court to compel a person with untreated schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders into a court-ordered treatment plan. The proposed ballot initiative to redesign the Mental Health Services Act would require that 30% of tax dollars brought in under the plan go toward housing programs, with half of that reserved for people who are chronically homeless or living in encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prospective changes mark a significant departure from the decades in which civil liberties protections for Californians with mental illness seemed virtually untouchable because of the landmark 1967 Lanterman-Petris-Short Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The authors of that law sought to end the inappropriate and often indefinite institutionalization of people with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities. At the time, it had been relatively easy for family members to force people into mental health treatment, often locking them away for long stretches in state hospitals where conditions were often abhorrent.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>New standard for involuntary treatment\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The law established strict criteria to determine who was eligible for involuntary treatment as well as specific timeframes that limited how long people could be held against their will. This included the 72-hour hold period, known as a 5150. But concurrent promises to build up community-based support programs did not materialize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Susan Talamantes Eggman, a social worker turned Democratic state senator from Stockton, has become one of the Legislature’s main authors of mental health policies, and is among those who feel the state went too far back then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For fear of doing something wrong we did something even worse,” said Eggman, who authored SB 43 and co-authored last year’s CARE Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She told CalMatters she has tried five times in recent years to introduce legislation amending the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, but was stymied by stiff resistance from disability rights groups and some legislators concerned with the civil liberties implications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this year’s attempt sailed through the Legislature with little opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She called the current constellation of policy changes “the most significant thing we’ve done in the mental health, behavioral health workspace easily within the last 50 years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-why-some-families-want-involuntary-treatment\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why some families want involuntary treatment\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many families of seriously mentally ill individuals say they are thrilled with Eggman’s bill and other recent policy shifts, after long feeling sidelined in their efforts to get treatment for loved ones who refuse it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think personally that the tide is finally turning, that we are on our way to really doing something to help these very sick people get the treatment that they need,” said Linda Mimms, vice chair of the national Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She lauded \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCBATlzmvqA\">Newsom’s interview with 60 Minutes\u003c/a> last month, in which he called out critics of the changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Change has its enemies. I get it,” Newsom said. “But one thing you cannot argue for — with all due respect to all the critics out there — is the status quo. You can’t. And in the absence of alternatives, what the hell are we going to do to address this crisis?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But those critics say they aren’t defending the status quo at all. Rather, they point to other critical parts of the system — including affordable housing and an array of voluntary treatment services — that have suffered after decades of underinvestment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re never having the right conversation,” said Kelechi Ubozoh, a mental health advocate and author of \u003cem>We’ve Been Too Patient: Voices from Radical Mental Health\u003c/em>. “It is a conversation around poverty. We’re still saying, ‘Let’s blame it on mental health and the mental health system.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many who live with mental illness have had traumatic experiences with involuntary treatment, Ubozoh said, and are “really scared” by the current direction the state is headed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For no one to oppose this huge erosion of civil rights is just a really concerning change in the state Legislature,” said Samuel Jain, senior attorney with Disability Rights California. He believes that state leaders, feeling pressure to address the state’s spiraling homelessness crisis, are conflating homelessness and mental illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t feel that this is going to change anything on the streets,” he said. “This strategy seems to be to take people with mental health disabilities and put them into institutions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, he said, his organization’s clients often find themselves stuck in emergency departments and locked psychiatric settings because there are no community-based beds available for them.\u003c/p>\n\n",
"blocks": [],
"excerpt": "The law, which will allow for the involuntary treatment of more people, is part of a series of bills that aims to 'overhaul' the state's mental health system — an effort that some fear will erode civil liberties. ",
"status": "publish",
"parent": 0,
"modified": 1726004832,
"stats": {
"hasAudio": false,
"hasVideo": false,
"hasChartOrMap": false,
"iframeSrcs": [],
"hasGoogleForm": false,
"hasGallery": false,
"hasHearkenModule": false,
"hasPolis": false,
"paragraphCount": 29,
"wordCount": 1194
},
"headData": {
"title": "Newsom Signs Law Expanding Conservatorships for Those Experiencing Severe Mental Illness, Substance Abuse | KQED",
"description": "The law, which will allow for the involuntary treatment of more people, is part of a series of bills that aims to 'overhaul' the state's mental health system — an effort that some fear will erode civil liberties. ",
"ogTitle": "",
"ogDescription": "",
"ogImgId": "",
"twTitle": "",
"twDescription": "",
"twImgId": "",
"schema": {
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "NewsArticle",
"headline": "Newsom Signs Law Expanding Conservatorships for Those Experiencing Severe Mental Illness, Substance Abuse",
"datePublished": "2023-10-10T15:02:44-07:00",
"dateModified": "2024-09-10T14:47:12-07:00",
"image": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"isAccessibleForFree": "True",
"publisher": {
"@type": "NewsMediaOrganization",
"@id": "https://www.kqed.org/#organization",
"name": "KQED",
"logo": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"url": "https://www.kqed.org",
"sameAs": [
"https://www.facebook.com/KQED",
"https://twitter.com/KQED",
"https://www.instagram.com/kqed/",
"https://www.tiktok.com/@kqedofficial",
"https://www.linkedin.com/company/kqed",
"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeC0IOo7i1P_61zVUWbJ4nw"
]
}
}
},
"sticky": false,
"nprByline": "\u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/author/jocelyn-wiener/\">Jocelyn Wiener\u003c/a>",
"excludeFromSiteSearch": "Include",
"showOnAuthorArchivePages": "No",
"articleAge": "0",
"path": "/news/11963961/newsom-signs-law-expanding-conservatorships-for-those-experiencing-severe-mental-illness-substance-abuse",
"audioTrackLength": null,
"parsedContent": [
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed the first of a series of bills that aims to transform California’s mental health system by loosening long-standing rules that dictate who can be forced into treatment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240SB43\">Senate Bill 43\u003c/a>, which changes the state’s conservatorship laws for the first time in more than 50 years, broadens the standards for involuntary medical treatment to include people who are considered unable to keep themselves safe because of severe substance-use disorders or mental health issues.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Depending on who you ask, this transformation represents a long overdue humanitarian response — or a worrisome step backward on civil liberties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California is undertaking a \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/10/10/modernizing-conservatorship-law-sb43/\">major overhaul of our mental health system,\u003c/a>” Newsom said in a statement. “The mental health crisis affects us all, and people who need the most help have been too often overlooked. We are working to ensure no one falls through the cracks, and that people get the help they need and the respect they deserve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom is also expected to sign legislation that sends two key ballot measures to voters next March: a $6.4 billion bond to pay for 10,000\u003cstrong> \u003c/strong>new treatment beds and expand supportive housing options, and an update to a 20-year-old law that provides funding for \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/09/gavin-newsom-mental-health-2024-election/\">mental health services\u003c/a>. Both measures would need approval from a majority of voters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "fullwidth"
},
"numeric": [
"fullwidth"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All of this comes just as CARE Court — Newsom’s signature mental health legislation from last year aimed at addressing treatment options for people suffering from severe mental illness — begins rolling out in an initial cohort of seven counties. Glenn, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Stanislaus and Tuolumne counties opened their \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2022/09/california-lawmakers-approved-care-court-what-comes-next/\">Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment (CARE) courts\u003c/a> earlier this month; Los Angeles County will open its court in December. The rest of the state’s counties will follow suit next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Addressing serious mental illness among the state’s growing unhoused population is a major focus of all of these initiatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "aside",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "related coverage ",
"tag": "conservatorship"
},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A recent survey of people experiencing homelessness by the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-homeless-growth-report/\">UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative\u003c/a>, found that the majority had experienced \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/2023-06/CASPEH_Report_62023.pdf\">serious mental health conditions (PDF)\u003c/a> at some point in their lives, but also found that high housing costs and low incomes were the main reasons most actually entered homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CARE Court allows family, close friends, first responders and behavioral health workers to petition a court to compel a person with untreated schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders into a court-ordered treatment plan. The proposed ballot initiative to redesign the Mental Health Services Act would require that 30% of tax dollars brought in under the plan go toward housing programs, with half of that reserved for people who are chronically homeless or living in encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The prospective changes mark a significant departure from the decades in which civil liberties protections for Californians with mental illness seemed virtually untouchable because of the landmark 1967 Lanterman-Petris-Short Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The authors of that law sought to end the inappropriate and often indefinite institutionalization of people with mental illnesses and developmental disabilities. At the time, it had been relatively easy for family members to force people into mental health treatment, often locking them away for long stretches in state hospitals where conditions were often abhorrent.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>New standard for involuntary treatment\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The law established strict criteria to determine who was eligible for involuntary treatment as well as specific timeframes that limited how long people could be held against their will. This included the 72-hour hold period, known as a 5150. But concurrent promises to build up community-based support programs did not materialize.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Susan Talamantes Eggman, a social worker turned Democratic state senator from Stockton, has become one of the Legislature’s main authors of mental health policies, and is among those who feel the state went too far back then.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For fear of doing something wrong we did something even worse,” said Eggman, who authored SB 43 and co-authored last year’s CARE Act.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She told CalMatters she has tried five times in recent years to introduce legislation amending the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, but was stymied by stiff resistance from disability rights groups and some legislators concerned with the civil liberties implications.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But this year’s attempt sailed through the Legislature with little opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She called the current constellation of policy changes “the most significant thing we’ve done in the mental health, behavioral health workspace easily within the last 50 years.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"h-why-some-families-want-involuntary-treatment\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why some families want involuntary treatment\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Many families of seriously mentally ill individuals say they are thrilled with Eggman’s bill and other recent policy shifts, after long feeling sidelined in their efforts to get treatment for loved ones who refuse it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think personally that the tide is finally turning, that we are on our way to really doing something to help these very sick people get the treatment that they need,” said Linda Mimms, vice chair of the national Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She lauded \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCBATlzmvqA\">Newsom’s interview with 60 Minutes\u003c/a> last month, in which he called out critics of the changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Change has its enemies. I get it,” Newsom said. “But one thing you cannot argue for — with all due respect to all the critics out there — is the status quo. You can’t. And in the absence of alternatives, what the hell are we going to do to address this crisis?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But those critics say they aren’t defending the status quo at all. Rather, they point to other critical parts of the system — including affordable housing and an array of voluntary treatment services — that have suffered after decades of underinvestment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re never having the right conversation,” said Kelechi Ubozoh, a mental health advocate and author of \u003cem>We’ve Been Too Patient: Voices from Radical Mental Health\u003c/em>. “It is a conversation around poverty. We’re still saying, ‘Let’s blame it on mental health and the mental health system.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many who live with mental illness have had traumatic experiences with involuntary treatment, Ubozoh said, and are “really scared” by the current direction the state is headed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For no one to oppose this huge erosion of civil rights is just a really concerning change in the state Legislature,” said Samuel Jain, senior attorney with Disability Rights California. He believes that state leaders, feeling pressure to address the state’s spiraling homelessness crisis, are conflating homelessness and mental illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t feel that this is going to change anything on the streets,” he said. “This strategy seems to be to take people with mental health disabilities and put them into institutions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
},
{
"type": "component",
"content": "",
"name": "ad",
"attributes": {
"named": {
"label": "floatright"
},
"numeric": [
"floatright"
]
}
},
{
"type": "contentString",
"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the meantime, he said, his organization’s clients often find themselves stuck in emergency departments and locked psychiatric settings because there are no community-based beds available for them.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
"attributes": {
"named": {},
"numeric": []
}
}
],
"link": "/news/11963961/newsom-signs-law-expanding-conservatorships-for-those-experiencing-severe-mental-illness-substance-abuse",
"authors": [
"byline_news_11963961"
],
"categories": [
"news_457",
"news_8"
],
"tags": [
"news_16",
"news_18543",
"news_2109"
],
"affiliates": [
"news_18481"
],
"featImg": "news_11963971",
"label": "news_18481"
}
},
"podcastsReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"podcasts": {}
},
"radioProgramsReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"radioPrograms": {}
},
"radioSearchSegmentsReducer": {},
"programsReducer": {
"all-things-considered": {
"id": "all-things-considered",
"title": "All Things Considered",
"info": "Every weekday, \u003cem>All Things Considered\u003c/em> hosts Robert Siegel, Audie Cornish, Ari Shapiro, and Kelly McEvers present the program's trademark mix of news, interviews, commentaries, reviews, and offbeat features. Michel Martin hosts on the weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 1pm-2pm, 4:30pm-6:30pm\u003cbr />SAT-SUN 5pm-6pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/All-Things-Considered-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/all-things-considered/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/all-things-considered"
},
"american-suburb-podcast": {
"id": "american-suburb-podcast",
"title": "American Suburb: The Podcast",
"tagline": "The flip side of gentrification, told through one town",
"info": "Gentrification is changing cities across America, forcing people from neighborhoods they have long called home. Call them the displaced. Now those priced out of the Bay Area are looking for a better life in an unlikely place. American Suburb follows this migration to one California town along the Delta, 45 miles from San Francisco. But is this once sleepy suburb ready for them?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/American-Suburb-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 19
},
"link": "/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/RBrW",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=1287748328",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/American-Suburb-p1086805/",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/american-suburb-podcast/feed/podcast",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMzMDExODgxNjA5"
}
},
"baycurious": {
"id": "baycurious",
"title": "Bay Curious",
"tagline": "Exploring the Bay Area, one question at a time",
"info": "KQED’s new podcast, Bay Curious, gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Bay-Curious-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Bay Curious",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/news/series/baycurious",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 3
},
"link": "/podcasts/baycurious",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/category/bay-curious-podcast/feed/podcast",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/9a90d476-aa04-455d-9a4c-0871ed6216d4/bay-curious",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/bay-curious",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6O76IdmhixfijmhTZLIJ8k"
}
},
"bbc-world-service": {
"id": "bbc-world-service",
"title": "BBC World Service",
"info": "The day's top stories from BBC News compiled twice daily in the week, once at weekends.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9pm-10pm, TUE-FRI 1am-2am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/BBC-World-Service-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_world_service",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "BBC World Service"
},
"link": "/radio/program/bbc-world-service",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/global-news-podcast/id135067274?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/BBC-World-Service-p455581/",
"rss": "https://podcasts.files.bbci.co.uk/p02nq0gn.rss"
}
},
"californiareport": {
"id": "californiareport",
"title": "The California Report",
"tagline": "California, day by day",
"info": "KQED’s statewide radio news program providing daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareport",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 8
},
"link": "/californiareport",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-the-california-report/id79681292",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/26099305-72af-4542-9dde-ac1807fe36d5/kqed-s-the-california-report",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432285393/the-california-report",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-the-california-report-podcast-8838",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcram/feed/podcast"
}
},
"californiareportmagazine": {
"id": "californiareportmagazine",
"title": "The California Report Magazine",
"tagline": "Your state, your stories",
"info": "Every week, The California Report Magazine takes you on a road trip for the ears: to visit the places and meet the people who make California unique. The in-depth storytelling podcast from the California Report.",
"airtime": "FRI 4:30pm-5pm, 6:30pm-7pm, 11pm-11:30pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-California-Report-Magazine-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The California Report Magazine",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/californiareportmagazine",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 10
},
"link": "/californiareportmagazine",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-california-report-magazine/id1314750545",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM3NjkwNjk1OTAz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/564733126/the-california-report-magazine",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-california-report-magazine",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/tcrmag/feed/podcast"
}
},
"city-arts": {
"id": "city-arts",
"title": "City Arts & Lectures",
"info": "A one-hour radio program to hear celebrated writers, artists and thinkers address contemporary ideas and values, often discussing the creative process. Please note: tapes or transcripts are not available",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/cityartsandlecture-300x300.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.cityarts.net/",
"airtime": "SUN 1pm-2pm, TUE 10pm, WED 1am",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "City Arts & Lectures"
},
"link": "https://www.cityarts.net",
"subscribe": {
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/City-Arts-and-Lectures-p692/",
"rss": "https://www.cityarts.net/feed/"
}
},
"closealltabs": {
"id": "closealltabs",
"title": "Close All Tabs",
"tagline": "Your irreverent guide to the trends redefining our world",
"info": "Close All Tabs breaks down how digital culture shapes our world through thoughtful insights and irreverent humor.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/CAT_2_Tile-scaled.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Close All Tabs",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 1
},
"link": "/podcasts/closealltabs",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/close-all-tabs/id214663465",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC6993880386",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/92d9d4ac-67a3-4eed-b10a-fb45d45b1ef2/close-all-tabs",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/6LAJFHnGK1pYXYzv6SIol6?si=deb0cae19813417c"
}
},
"code-switch-life-kit": {
"id": "code-switch-life-kit",
"title": "Code Switch / Life Kit",
"info": "\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em>, which listeners will hear in the first part of the hour, has fearless and much-needed conversations about race. Hosted by journalists of color, the show tackles the subject of race head-on, exploring how it impacts every part of society — from politics and pop culture to history, sports and more.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em>, which will be in the second part of the hour, guides you through spaces and feelings no one prepares you for — from finances to mental health, from workplace microaggressions to imposter syndrome, from relationships to parenting. The show features experts with real world experience and shares their knowledge. Because everyone needs a little help being human.\u003cbr />\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch\">\u003cem>Code Switch\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />\u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/lifekit\">\u003cem>Life Kit\u003c/em> offical site and podcast\u003c/a>\u003cbr />",
"airtime": "SUN 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Code-Switch-Life-Kit-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/code-switch-life-kit",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/1112190608?mt=2&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cubnByLm9yZy9yc3MvcG9kY2FzdC5waHA_aWQ9NTEwMzEy",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3bExJ9JQpkwNhoHvaIIuyV",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510312/podcast.xml"
}
},
"commonwealth-club": {
"id": "commonwealth-club",
"title": "Commonwealth Club of California Podcast",
"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
"airtime": "THU 10pm, FRI 1am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Commonwealth-Club-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.commonwealthclub.org/podcasts",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Commonwealth Club of California"
},
"link": "/radio/program/commonwealth-club",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/commonwealth-club-of-california-podcast/id976334034?mt=2",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL3d3dy5jb21tb253ZWFsdGhjbHViLm9yZy9hdWRpby9wb2RjYXN0L3dlZWtseS54bWw",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Commonwealth-Club-of-California-p1060/"
}
},
"forum": {
"id": "forum",
"title": "Forum",
"tagline": "The conversation starts here",
"info": "KQED’s live call-in program discussing local, state, national and international issues, as well as in-depth interviews.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 9am-11am, 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Forum-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Forum with Mina Kim and Alexis Madrigal",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/forum",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 9
},
"link": "/forum",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kqeds-forum/id73329719",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM5NTU3MzgxNjMz",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432307980/forum",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqedfm-kqeds-forum-podcast",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9557381633"
}
},
"freakonomics-radio": {
"id": "freakonomics-radio",
"title": "Freakonomics Radio",
"info": "Freakonomics Radio is a one-hour award-winning podcast and public-radio project hosted by Stephen Dubner, with co-author Steve Levitt as a regular guest. It is produced in partnership with WNYC.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/freakonomicsRadio.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://freakonomics.com/",
"airtime": "SUN 1am-2am, SAT 3pm-4pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/freakonomics-radio",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/freakonomics-radio/id354668519",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/Freakonomics-Radio-p272293/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio"
}
},
"fresh-air": {
"id": "fresh-air",
"title": "Fresh Air",
"info": "Hosted by Terry Gross, \u003cem>Fresh Air from WHYY\u003c/em> is the Peabody Award-winning weekday magazine of contemporary arts and issues. One of public radio's most popular programs, Fresh Air features intimate conversations with today's biggest luminaries.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Fresh-Air-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/fresh-air",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/4s8b",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=214089682&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Fresh-Air-p17/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/381444908/podcast.xml"
}
},
"here-and-now": {
"id": "here-and-now",
"title": "Here & Now",
"info": "A live production of NPR and WBUR Boston, in collaboration with stations across the country, Here & Now reflects the fluid world of news as it's happening in the middle of the day, with timely, in-depth news, interviews and conversation. Hosted by Robin Young, Jeremy Hobson and Tonya Mosley.",
"airtime": "MON-THU 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Here-And-Now-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/here-and-now",
"subsdcribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?mt=2&id=426698661",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Here--Now-p211/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510051/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hidden-brain": {
"id": "hidden-brain",
"title": "Hidden Brain",
"info": "Shankar Vedantam uses science and storytelling to reveal the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior, shape our choices and direct our relationships.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/05/hiddenbrain.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/423302056/hidden-brain",
"airtime": "SUN 7pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "NPR"
},
"link": "/radio/program/hidden-brain",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/hidden-brain/id1028908750?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Science-Podcasts/Hidden-Brain-p787503/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510308/podcast.xml"
}
},
"how-i-built-this": {
"id": "how-i-built-this",
"title": "How I Built This with Guy Raz",
"info": "Guy Raz dives into the stories behind some of the world's best known companies. How I Built This weaves a narrative journey about innovators, entrepreneurs and idealists—and the movements they built.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/05/howIBuiltThis.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510313/how-i-built-this",
"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/how-i-built-this",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/3zxy",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/how-i-built-this-with-guy-raz/id1150510297?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Arts--Culture-Podcasts/How-I-Built-This-p910896/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510313/podcast.xml"
}
},
"hyphenacion": {
"id": "hyphenacion",
"title": "Hyphenación",
"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Hyphenacion_FinalAssets_PodcastTile.png",
"imageAlt": "KQED Hyphenación",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 15
},
"link": "/podcasts/hyphenacion",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hyphenaci%C3%B3n/id1191591838",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/2p3Fifq96nw9BPcmFdIq0o?si=39209f7b25774f38",
"youtube": "https://www.youtube.com/c/kqedarts",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/6c3dd23c-93fb-4aab-97ba-1725fa6315f1/hyphenaci%C3%B3n",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC2275451163"
}
},
"jerrybrown": {
"id": "jerrybrown",
"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 18
},
"link": "/podcasts/jerrybrown",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/790253322/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1492194549",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/series/jerrybrown/feed/podcast/",
"tuneIn": "http://tun.in/pjGcK",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/54C1dmuyFyKMFttY6X2j6r?si=K8SgRCoISNK6ZbjpXrX5-w",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/44420f75-3b0e-4301-ab3b-16da6b09e543/the-political-mind-of-jerry-brown"
}
},
"latino-usa": {
"id": "latino-usa",
"title": "Latino USA",
"airtime": "MON 1am-2am, SUN 6pm-7pm",
"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/latinoUsa.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://latinousa.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/latino-usa",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/xtTd",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=79681317&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Latino-USA-p621/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510016/podcast.xml"
}
},
"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Marketplace-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.marketplace.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "American Public Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/marketplace",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201853034&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/APM-Marketplace-p88/",
"rss": "https://feeds.publicradio.org/public_feeds/marketplace-pm/rss/rss"
}
},
"masters-of-scale": {
"id": "masters-of-scale",
"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Masters-of-Scale-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://mastersofscale.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "WaitWhat"
},
"link": "/radio/program/masters-of-scale",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "http://mastersofscale.app.link/",
"rss": "https://rss.art19.com/masters-of-scale"
}
},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/mindshift/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"
}
},
"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
"title": "Morning Edition",
"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3am-9am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Morning-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/morning-edition/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/morning-edition"
},
"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "On Our Watch from NPR and KQED",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 11
},
"link": "/podcasts/onourwatch",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/podcast/id1567098962",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5ucHIub3JnLzUxMDM2MC9wb2RjYXN0LnhtbD9zYz1nb29nbGVwb2RjYXN0cw",
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/onourwatch",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/0OLWoyizopu6tY1XiuX70x",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-Our-Watch-p1436229/",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/show/on-our-watch",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510360/podcast.xml"
}
},
"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm-3pm, MON 12am-1am",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/onTheMedia.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/otm",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wnyc"
},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/on-the-media/id73330715?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/On-the-Media-p69/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/onthemedia"
}
},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
"title": "PBS NewsHour",
"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "pbs"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pbs-newshour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
"rss": "https://www.pbs.org/newshour/feeds/rss/podcasts/show"
}
},
"perspectives": {
"id": "perspectives",
"title": "Perspectives",
"tagline": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991",
"info": "KQED's series of daily listener commentaries since 1991.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Perspectives_Tile_Final.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Perspectives",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/perspectives/",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 14
},
"link": "/perspectives",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/id73801135",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/432309616/perspectives",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/perspectives/category/perspectives/feed/",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93dzIua3FlZC5vcmcvcGVyc3BlY3RpdmVzL2NhdGVnb3J5L3BlcnNwZWN0aXZlcy9mZWVkLw"
}
},
"planet-money": {
"id": "planet-money",
"title": "Planet Money",
"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/sections/money/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/M4f5",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/Business--Economics-Podcasts/Planet-Money-p164680/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510289/podcast.xml"
}
},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Political Breakdown",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/political-breakdown/id1327641087",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/e0c2d153-ad36-4c8d-901d-f1da6a724824/political-breakdown",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/572155894/political-breakdown",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/political-breakdown",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/07RVyIjIdk2WDuVehvBMoN",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/tag/political-breakdown/feed/podcast"
}
},
"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/possible/id1677184070",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
}
},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.pri.org/programs/the-world",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "PRI"
},
"link": "/radio/program/pri-the-world",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pris-the-world-latest-edition/id278196007?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/News--Politics-Podcasts/PRIs-The-World-p24/",
"rss": "http://feeds.feedburner.com/pri/theworld"
}
},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
"title": "Radiolab",
"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
"airtime": "SUN 12am-1am, SAT 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/radiolab1400.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/radiolab/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/radiolab",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/radiolab/id152249110?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/RadioLab-p68032/",
"rss": "https://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab"
}
},
"reveal": {
"id": "reveal",
"title": "Reveal",
"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
"airtime": "SAT 4pm-5pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/reveal300px.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/reveal",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/reveal/id886009669",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Reveal-p679597/",
"rss": "http://feeds.revealradio.org/revealpodcast"
}
},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Rightnowish-Podcast-Tile-500x500-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Rightnowish with Pendarvis Harshaw",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 16
},
"link": "/podcasts/rightnowish",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/721590300/rightnowish",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/arts/programs/rightnowish/feed/podcast",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rightnowish/id1482187648",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/rightnowish",
"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkMxMjU5MTY3NDc4",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/7kEJuafTzTVan7B78ttz1I"
}
},
"science-friday": {
"id": "science-friday",
"title": "Science Friday",
"info": "Science Friday is a weekly science talk show, broadcast live over public radio stations nationwide. Each week, the show focuses on science topics that are in the news and tries to bring an educated, balanced discussion to bear on the scientific issues at hand. Panels of expert guests join host Ira Flatow, a veteran science journalist, to discuss science and to take questions from listeners during the call-in portion of the program.",
"airtime": "FRI 11am-1pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Science-Friday-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/science-friday",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/science-friday",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=73329284&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Science-Friday-p394/",
"rss": "http://feeds.wnyc.org/science-friday"
}
},
"snap-judgment": {
"id": "snap-judgment",
"title": "Snap Judgment",
"tagline": "Real stories with killer beats",
"info": "The Snap Judgment radio show and podcast mixes real stories with killer beats to produce cinematic, dramatic radio. Snap's musical brand of storytelling dares listeners to see the world through the eyes of another. This is storytelling... with a BEAT!! Snap first aired on public radio stations nationwide in July 2010. Today, Snap Judgment airs on over 450 public radio stations and is brought to the airwaves by KQED & PRX.",
"airtime": "SAT 1pm-2pm, 9pm-10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Snap-Judgment-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Snap Judgment",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 4
},
"link": "https://snapjudgment.org",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/snap-judgment/id283657561",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/449018144/snap-judgment",
"stitcher": "https://www.pandora.com/podcast/snap-judgment/PC:241?source=stitcher-sunset",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3Cct7ZWmxHNAtLgBTqjC5v",
"rss": "https://snap.feed.snapjudgment.org/"
}
},
"soldout": {
"id": "soldout",
"title": "SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America",
"tagline": "A new future for housing",
"info": "Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Sold-Out-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Sold Out: Rethinking Housing in America",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/soldout",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 13
},
"link": "/podcasts/soldout",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/911586047/s-o-l-d-o-u-t-a-new-future-for-housing",
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/introducing-sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america/id1531354937",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/soldout",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/38dTBSk2ISFoPiyYNoKn1X",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/sold-out-rethinking-housing-in-america",
"tunein": "https://tunein.com/radio/SOLD-OUT-Rethinking-Housing-in-America-p1365871/"
}
},
"spooked": {
"id": "spooked",
"title": "Spooked",
"tagline": "True-life supernatural stories",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Spooked-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED Spooked",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 7
},
"link": "https://spookedpodcast.org/",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spooked/id1279361017",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/549547848/snap-judgment-presents-spooked",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/76571Rfl3m7PLJQZKQIGCT",
"rss": "https://feeds.simplecast.com/TBotaapn"
}
},
"tech-nation": {
"id": "tech-nation",
"title": "Tech Nation Radio Podcast",
"info": "Tech Nation is a weekly public radio program, hosted by Dr. Moira Gunn. Founded in 1993, it has grown from a simple interview show to a multi-faceted production, featuring conversations with noted technology and science leaders, and a weekly science and technology-related commentary.",
"airtime": "FRI 10pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Tech-Nation-Radio-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "http://technation.podomatic.com/",
"meta": {
"site": "science",
"source": "Tech Nation Media"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tech-nation",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://technation.podomatic.com/rss2.xml"
}
},
"ted-radio-hour": {
"id": "ted-radio-hour",
"title": "TED Radio Hour",
"info": "The TED Radio Hour is a journey through fascinating ideas, astonishing inventions, fresh approaches to old problems, and new ways to think and create.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm, SAT 10pm-11pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/tedRadioHour.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/ted-radio-hour/?showDate=2018-06-22",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/ted-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/8vsS",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=523121474&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/TED-Radio-Hour-p418021/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/510298/podcast.xml"
}
},
"thebay": {
"id": "thebay",
"title": "The Bay",
"tagline": "Local news to keep you rooted",
"info": "Host Devin Katayama walks you through the biggest story of the day with reporters and newsmakers.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Bay-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Bay",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/thebay",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 2
},
"link": "/podcasts/thebay",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-bay/id1350043452",
"amazon": "https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/d800ea4c-7a2c-42f2-b861-edaf78a5db0b/the-bay",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/586725995/the-bay",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-bay",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/4BIKBKIujizLHlIlBNaAqQ",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC8259786327"
}
},
"thelatest": {
"id": "thelatest",
"title": "The Latest",
"tagline": "Trusted local news in real time",
"info": "",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/The-Latest-2025-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Latest",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/thelatest",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 6
},
"link": "/thelatest",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-latest-from-kqed/id1197721799",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/1257949365/the-latest-from-k-q-e-d",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/5KIIXMgM9GTi5AepwOYvIZ?si=bd3053fec7244dba",
"rss": "https://feeds.megaphone.fm/KQINC9137121918"
}
},
"theleap": {
"id": "theleap",
"title": "The Leap",
"tagline": "What if you closed your eyes, and jumped?",
"info": "Stories about people making dramatic, risky changes, told by award-winning public radio reporter Judy Campbell.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Leap-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED The Leap",
"officialWebsiteLink": "/podcasts/theleap",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "kqed",
"order": 17
},
"link": "/podcasts/theleap",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-leap/id1046668171",
"npr": "https://www.npr.org/podcasts/447248267/the-leap",
"stitcher": "https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/the-leap",
"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/3sSlVHHzU0ytLwuGs1SD1U",
"rss": "https://ww2.kqed.org/news/programs/the-leap/feed/podcast"
}
},
"the-moth-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-moth-radio-hour",
"title": "The Moth Radio Hour",
"info": "Since its launch in 1997, The Moth has presented thousands of true stories, told live and without notes, to standing-room-only crowds worldwide. Moth storytellers stand alone, under a spotlight, with only a microphone and a roomful of strangers. The storyteller and the audience embark on a high-wire act of shared experience which is both terrifying and exhilarating. Since 2008, The Moth podcast has featured many of our favorite stories told live on Moth stages around the country. For information on all of our programs and live events, visit themoth.org.",
"airtime": "SAT 8pm-9pm and SUN 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/theMoth.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://themoth.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "prx"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-moth-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-moth-podcast/id275699983?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/The-Moth-p273888/",
"rss": "http://feeds.themoth.org/themothpodcast"
}
},
"the-new-yorker-radio-hour": {
"id": "the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"title": "The New Yorker Radio Hour",
"info": "The New Yorker Radio Hour is a weekly program presented by the magazine's editor, David Remnick, and produced by WNYC Studios and The New Yorker. Each episode features a diverse mix of interviews, profiles, storytelling, and an occasional burst of humor inspired by the magazine, and shaped by its writers, artists, and editors. This isn't a radio version of a magazine, but something all its own, reflecting the rich possibilities of audio storytelling and conversation. Theme music for the show was composed and performed by Merrill Garbus of tUnE-YArDs.",
"airtime": "SAT 10am-11am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-New-Yorker-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.wnycstudios.org/shows/tnyradiohour",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "WNYC"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-new-yorker-radio-hour",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1050430296",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/podcasts/WNYC-Podcasts/New-Yorker-Radio-Hour-p803804/",
"rss": "https://feeds.feedburner.com/newyorkerradiohour"
}
},
"the-sam-sanders-show": {
"id": "the-sam-sanders-show",
"title": "The Sam Sanders Show",
"info": "One of public radio's most dynamic voices, Sam Sanders helped launch The NPR Politics Podcast and hosted NPR's hit show It's Been A Minute. Now, the award-winning host returns with something brand new, The Sam Sanders Show. Every week, Sam Sanders and friends dig into the culture that shapes our lives: what's driving the biggest trends, how artists really think, and even the memes you can't stop scrolling past. Sam is beloved for his way of unpacking the world and bringing you up close to fresh currents and engaging conversations. The Sam Sanders Show is smart, funny and always a good time.",
"airtime": "FRI 12-1pm AND SAT 11am-12pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/The-Sam-Sanders-Show-Podcast-Tile-400x400-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"meta": {
"site": "arts",
"source": "KCRW"
},
"link": "https://www.kcrw.com/shows/the-sam-sanders-show/latest",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feed.cdnstream1.com/zjb/feed/download/ac/28/59/ac28594c-e1d0-4231-8728-61865cdc80e8.xml"
}
},
"the-splendid-table": {
"id": "the-splendid-table",
"title": "The Splendid Table",
"info": "\u003cem>The Splendid Table\u003c/em> hosts our nation's conversations about cooking, sustainability and food culture.",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Splendid-Table-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.splendidtable.org/",
"airtime": "SUN 10-11 pm",
"meta": {
"site": "radio",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/the-splendid-table"
},
"this-american-life": {
"id": "this-american-life",
"title": "This American Life",
"info": "This American Life is a weekly public radio show, heard by 2.2 million people on more than 500 stations. Another 2.5 million people download the weekly podcast. It is hosted by Ira Glass, produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media, delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards.",
"airtime": "SAT 12pm-1pm, 7pm-8pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/thisAmericanLife.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "wbez"
},
"link": "/radio/program/this-american-life",
"subscribe": {
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=201671138&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"rss": "https://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast/rss.xml"
}
},
"tinydeskradio": {
"id": "tinydeskradio",
"title": "Tiny Desk Radio",
"info": "We're bringing the best of Tiny Desk to the airwaves, only on public radio.",
"airtime": "SUN 8pm and SAT 9pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/300x300-For-Member-Station-Logo-Tiny-Desk-Radio-@2x.png",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/series/g-s1-52030/tiny-desk-radio",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/tinydeskradio",
"subscribe": {
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/g-s1-52030/rss.xml"
}
},
"wait-wait-dont-tell-me": {
"id": "wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"title": "Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!",
"info": "Peter Sagal and Bill Kurtis host the weekly NPR News quiz show alongside some of the best and brightest news and entertainment personalities.",
"airtime": "SUN 10am-11am, SAT 11am-12pm, SAT 6pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Wait-Wait-Podcast-Tile-300x300-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/wait-wait-dont-tell-me/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/wait-wait-dont-tell-me",
"subscribe": {
"npr": "https://rpb3r.app.goo.gl/Xogv",
"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?s=143441&mt=2&id=121493804&at=11l79Y&ct=nprdirectory",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/Wait-Wait-Dont-Tell-Me-p46/",
"rss": "https://feeds.npr.org/344098539/podcast.xml"
}
},
"weekend-edition-saturday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-saturday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Saturday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Saturday wraps up the week's news and offers a mix of analysis and features on a wide range of topics, including arts, sports, entertainment, and human interest stories. The two-hour program is hosted by NPR's Peabody Award-winning Scott Simon.",
"airtime": "SAT 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-saturday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-saturday"
},
"weekend-edition-sunday": {
"id": "weekend-edition-sunday",
"title": "Weekend Edition Sunday",
"info": "Weekend Edition Sunday features interviews with newsmakers, artists, scientists, politicians, musicians, writers, theologians and historians. The program has covered news events from Nelson Mandela's 1990 release from a South African prison to the capture of Saddam Hussein.",
"airtime": "SUN 5am-10am",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Weekend-Edition-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.npr.org/programs/weekend-edition-sunday/",
"meta": {
"site": "news",
"source": "npr"
},
"link": "/radio/program/weekend-edition-sunday"
}
},
"racesReducer": {},
"racesGenElectionReducer": {},
"racesGenElection2026Reducer": {},
"racesGeneralEl2026Reducer": {},
"radioSchedulesReducer": {},
"listsReducer": {
"posts/news?tag=health": {
"isFetching": false,
"latestQuery": {
"from": 504,
"size": 12
},
"vitalsOnly": false,
"totalRequested": 12,
"isLoading": false,
"isLoadingMore": true,
"total": {
"value": 1663,
"relation": "eq"
},
"items": [
"news_11967144",
"news_11966587",
"news_11966533",
"news_11966125",
"news_11965937",
"news_11965263",
"news_11964791",
"news_11964377",
"news_11964236",
"news_11964277",
"news_11964043",
"news_11963961"
],
"complete": true
}
},
"recallGuideReducer": {
"intros": {},
"policy": {},
"candidates": {}
},
"savedArticleReducer": {
"articles": [],
"status": {}
},
"newslettersReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": false,
"newsletters": {},
"isSubscribing": false,
"isUnsubscribing": false,
"subscribedNewsletters": {}
},
"termsReducer": {
"about": {
"name": "About",
"type": "terms",
"id": "about",
"slug": "about",
"link": "/about",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"arts": {
"name": "Arts & Culture",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"description": "KQED Arts provides daily in-depth coverage of the Bay Area's music, art, film, performing arts, literature and arts news, as well as cultural commentary and criticism.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "arts",
"slug": "arts",
"link": "/arts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"artschool": {
"name": "Art School",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "artschool",
"slug": "artschool",
"link": "/artschool",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareabites": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareabites",
"slug": "bayareabites",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"bayareahiphop": {
"name": "Bay Area Hiphop",
"type": "terms",
"id": "bayareahiphop",
"slug": "bayareahiphop",
"link": "/bayareahiphop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"campaign21": {
"name": "Campaign 21",
"type": "terms",
"id": "campaign21",
"slug": "campaign21",
"link": "/campaign21",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"careers": {
"name": "Careers",
"type": "terms",
"id": "careers",
"slug": "careers",
"link": "/careers",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"checkplease": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "checkplease",
"slug": "checkplease",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"education": {
"name": "Education",
"grouping": [
"education"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "education",
"slug": "education",
"link": "/education",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"elections": {
"name": "Elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "elections",
"slug": "elections",
"link": "/elections",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"events": {
"name": "Events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "events",
"slug": "events",
"link": "/events",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"event": {
"name": "Event",
"alias": "events",
"type": "terms",
"id": "event",
"slug": "event",
"link": "/event",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"filmschoolshorts": {
"name": "Film School Shorts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "filmschoolshorts",
"slug": "filmschoolshorts",
"link": "/filmschoolshorts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"food": {
"name": "KQED food",
"grouping": [
"food",
"bayareabites",
"checkplease"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "food",
"slug": "food",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"forum": {
"name": "Forum",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/forum?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "forum",
"slug": "forum",
"link": "/forum",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"futureofyou": {
"name": "Future of You",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "futureofyou",
"slug": "futureofyou",
"link": "/futureofyou",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"jpepinheart": {
"name": "KQED food",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/food,bayareabites,checkplease",
"parent": "food",
"type": "terms",
"id": "jpepinheart",
"slug": "jpepinheart",
"link": "/food",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"liveblog": {
"name": "Live Blog",
"type": "terms",
"id": "liveblog",
"slug": "liveblog",
"link": "/liveblog",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"livetv": {
"name": "Live TV",
"parent": "tv",
"type": "terms",
"id": "livetv",
"slug": "livetv",
"link": "/livetv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"lowdown": {
"name": "The Lowdown",
"relatedContentQuery": "posts/lowdown?",
"parent": "news",
"type": "terms",
"id": "lowdown",
"slug": "lowdown",
"link": "/lowdown",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"mindshift": {
"name": "Mindshift",
"parent": "news",
"description": "MindShift explores the future of education by highlighting the innovative – and sometimes counterintuitive – ways educators and parents are helping all children succeed.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "mindshift",
"slug": "mindshift",
"link": "/mindshift",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"news": {
"name": "News",
"grouping": [
"news",
"forum"
],
"type": "terms",
"id": "news",
"slug": "news",
"link": "/news",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"newsletters": {
"name": "newsletters",
"type": "terms",
"id": "newsletters",
"slug": "newsletters",
"link": "/newsletters",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"perspectives": {
"name": "Perspectives",
"parent": "radio",
"type": "terms",
"id": "perspectives",
"slug": "perspectives",
"link": "/perspectives",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"podcasts": {
"name": "Podcasts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "podcasts",
"slug": "podcasts",
"link": "/podcasts",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pop": {
"name": "Pop",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pop",
"slug": "pop",
"link": "/pop",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"pressroom": {
"name": "Pressroom",
"type": "terms",
"id": "pressroom",
"slug": "pressroom",
"link": "/pressroom",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"quest": {
"name": "Quest",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "quest",
"slug": "quest",
"link": "/quest",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"radio": {
"name": "Radio",
"grouping": [
"forum",
"perspectives"
],
"description": "Listen to KQED Public Radio – home of Forum and The California Report – on 88.5 FM in San Francisco, 89.3 FM in Sacramento, 88.3 FM in Santa Rosa and 88.1 FM in Martinez.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "radio",
"slug": "radio",
"link": "/radio",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"root": {
"name": "KQED",
"image": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/2020/02/KQED-OG-Image@1x.png",
"imageWidth": 1200,
"imageHeight": 630,
"headData": {
"title": "KQED | News, Radio, Podcasts, TV | Public Media for Northern California",
"description": "KQED provides public radio, television, and independent reporting on issues that matter to the Bay Area. We’re the NPR and PBS member station for Northern California."
},
"type": "terms",
"id": "root",
"slug": "root",
"link": "/root",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"science": {
"name": "Science",
"grouping": [
"science",
"futureofyou"
],
"description": "KQED Science brings you award-winning science and environment coverage from the Bay Area and beyond.",
"type": "terms",
"id": "science",
"slug": "science",
"link": "/science",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"stateofhealth": {
"name": "State of Health",
"parent": "science",
"type": "terms",
"id": "stateofhealth",
"slug": "stateofhealth",
"link": "/stateofhealth",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"support": {
"name": "Support",
"type": "terms",
"id": "support",
"slug": "support",
"link": "/support",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"thedolist": {
"name": "The Do List",
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "thedolist",
"slug": "thedolist",
"link": "/thedolist",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"trulyca": {
"name": "Truly CA",
"grouping": [
"arts",
"pop",
"trulyca"
],
"parent": "arts",
"type": "terms",
"id": "trulyca",
"slug": "trulyca",
"link": "/trulyca",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"tv": {
"name": "TV",
"type": "terms",
"id": "tv",
"slug": "tv",
"link": "/tv",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"voterguide": {
"name": "Voter Guide",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "voterguide",
"slug": "voterguide",
"link": "/voterguide",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"guiaelectoral": {
"name": "Guia Electoral",
"parent": "elections",
"alias": "elections",
"type": "terms",
"id": "guiaelectoral",
"slug": "guiaelectoral",
"link": "/guiaelectoral",
"taxonomy": "site"
},
"news_tag_health": {
"isLoading": true
},
"news_18543": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18543",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18543",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Health",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Health Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 466,
"slug": "health",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/health"
},
"source_news_11966533": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11966533",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "CalMatters",
"link": "https://calmatters.org/",
"isLoading": false
},
"source_news_11964236": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "source_news_11964236",
"meta": {
"override": true
},
"name": "Early Childhood Education and Care",
"link": "https://www.kqed.org/early-childhood-education-and-care",
"isLoading": false
},
"news_457": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_457",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "457",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Health",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Health Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 16998,
"slug": "health",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/health"
},
"news_8": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_8",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "8",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "News",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "News Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 8,
"slug": "news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/news"
},
"news_24939": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_24939",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "24939",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "health care workers",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "health care workers Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 24956,
"slug": "health-care-workers",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/health-care-workers"
},
"news_2141": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_2141",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "2141",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "minimum wage",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "minimum wage Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 2156,
"slug": "minimum-wage",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/minimum-wage"
},
"news_18481": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18481",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18481",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "CALmatters",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "affiliate",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "CALmatters Archives | KQED Arts",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 18515,
"slug": "calmatters",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/affiliate/calmatters"
},
"news_32707": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_32707",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "32707",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "audience-news",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "audience-news Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 32724,
"slug": "audience-news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/audience-news"
},
"news_31133": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_31133",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "31133",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Monkeypox",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Monkeypox Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 31150,
"slug": "monkeypox",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/monkeypox"
},
"news_31382": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_31382",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "31382",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "monkeypox resources and explainers",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "monkeypox resources and explainers Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 31399,
"slug": "monkeypox-resources-and-explainers",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/monkeypox-resources-and-explainers"
},
"news_32353": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_32353",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "32353",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "mpox",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "mpox Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 32370,
"slug": "mpox",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/mpox"
},
"news_18538": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18538",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18538",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "California",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "California Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 31,
"slug": "california",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california"
},
"news_1416": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1416",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1416",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Department of Veterans Affairs",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Department of Veterans Affairs Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1428,
"slug": "department-of-veterans-affairs",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/department-of-veterans-affairs"
},
"news_27626": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_27626",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "27626",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "featured-news",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "featured-news Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 27643,
"slug": "featured-news",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/featured-news"
},
"news_16": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_16",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "16",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Gavin Newsom",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Gavin Newsom Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 16,
"slug": "gavin-newsom",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/gavin-newsom"
},
"news_2109": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_2109",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "2109",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "mental health",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "mental health Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 2124,
"slug": "mental-health",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/mental-health"
},
"news_237": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_237",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "237",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "veterans",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "veterans Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 245,
"slug": "veterans",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/veterans"
},
"news_827": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_827",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "827",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "veterans affairs",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "veterans affairs Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 837,
"slug": "veterans-affairs",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/veterans-affairs"
},
"news_33523": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33523",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33523",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Bay Curious",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "program",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Bay Curious Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33540,
"slug": "bay-curious",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/program/bay-curious"
},
"news_17986": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_17986",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "17986",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/BayCuriousLogoFinal01-e1493662037229.png",
"name": "Bay Curious",
"description": "\u003ch2>A podcast exploring the Bay Area one question at a time\u003c/h2>\r\n\r\n\u003caside>\r\n\u003cdiv style=\"width: 100%; padding-right: 20px;\">\r\n\r\nKQED’s \u003cstrong>Bay Curious\u003c/strong> gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers.\r\n\u003cbr />\r\n\u003cspan class=\"alignleft\">\u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1172473406\">\u003cimg width=\"75px\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/DownloadOniTunes_100x100.png\">\u003c/a> \u003ca href=\"https://goo.gl/app/playmusic?ibi=com.google.PlayMusic&isi=691797987&ius=googleplaymusic&link=https://play.google.com/music/m/Ipi2mc5aqfen4nr2daayiziiyuy?t%3DBay_Curious\">\u003cimg width=\"75px\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2016/11/Google_Play_100x100.png\">\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/div>\r\n\u003c/aside> \r\n\u003ch2>What's your question?\u003c/h2>\r\n\u003cdiv id=\"huxq6\" class=\"curiosity-module\" data-pym-src=\"//modules.wearehearken.com/kqed/curiosity_modules/133\">\u003c/div>\r\n\u003cscript src=\"//assets.wearehearken.com/production/thirdparty/p.m.js\">\u003c/script>\r\n\u003ch2>Bay Curious monthly newsletter\u003c/h2>\r\nWe're launching it soon! \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdEtzbyNbSQkRHCCAkKhoGiAl3Bd0zWxhk0ZseJ1KH_o_ZDjQ/viewform\" target=\"_blank\">Sign up\u003c/a> so you don't miss it when it drops.\r\n",
"taxonomy": "series",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": "A podcast exploring the Bay Area one question at a time KQED’s Bay Curious gets to the bottom of the mysteries — both profound and peculiar — that give the Bay Area its unique identity. And we’ll do it with your help! You ask the questions. You decide what Bay Curious investigates. And you join us on the journey to find the answers. What's your question? Bay Curious monthly newsletter We're launching it soon! Sign up so you don't miss it when it drops.",
"title": "Bay Curious Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 18020,
"slug": "baycurious",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/series/baycurious"
},
"news_33520": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33520",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33520",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Podcast",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Podcast Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 33537,
"slug": "podcast",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/podcast"
},
"news_21534": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_21534",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "21534",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Castro",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Castro Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 21551,
"slug": "castro",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/castro"
},
"news_29548": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_29548",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "29548",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "HIV/AIDS",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "HIV/AIDS Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 29565,
"slug": "hiv-aids",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/hiv-aids"
},
"news_102": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_102",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "102",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "marijuana",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "marijuana Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 106,
"slug": "marijuana",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/marijuana"
},
"news_1510": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1510",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1510",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "AIDS",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "AIDS Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1522,
"slug": "aids",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/aids"
},
"news_18426": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_18426",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "18426",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Bay Curious",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Bay Curious Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 18460,
"slug": "bay-curious",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/bay-curious"
},
"news_2304": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_2304",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "2304",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "AIDS Memorial Quilt",
"slug": "aids-memorial-quilt",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "AIDS Memorial Quilt | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "noindex"
},
"ttid": 2319,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/aids-memorial-quilt"
},
"news_31170": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_31170",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "31170",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "National AIDS Memorial Grove",
"slug": "national-aids-memorial-grove",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "National AIDS Memorial Grove | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "noindex"
},
"ttid": 31187,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/national-aids-memorial-grove"
},
"news_30069": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_30069",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "30069",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "california law",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "california law Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 30086,
"slug": "california-law",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california-law"
},
"news_22307": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_22307",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "22307",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "california laws",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "california laws Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 22324,
"slug": "california-laws",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california-laws"
},
"news_421": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_421",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "421",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Kaiser Permanente",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Kaiser Permanente Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 430,
"slug": "kaiser-permanente",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/kaiser-permanente"
},
"news_6637": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_6637",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "6637",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Kaiser Permanente mental health",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Kaiser Permanente mental health Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 6661,
"slug": "kaiser-permanente-mental-health",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/kaiser-permanente-mental-health"
},
"news_33310": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33310",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33310",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "kaiser workers",
"slug": "kaiser-workers",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "kaiser workers | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "noindex"
},
"ttid": 33327,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/kaiser-workers"
},
"news_19904": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_19904",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "19904",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Labor",
"slug": "labor",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Labor | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 19921,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/labor"
},
"news_34551": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_34551",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "34551",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Labor",
"slug": "labor",
"taxonomy": "category",
"description": "We examine worker safety, workplace regulation, employment trends and union organizing.",
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Labor | KQED News",
"description": "We examine worker safety, workplace regulation, employment trends and union organizing.",
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 34568,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/labor"
},
"news_32885": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_32885",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "32885",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "higher wages",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "higher wages Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 32902,
"slug": "higher-wages",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/higher-wages"
},
"news_24590": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_24590",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "24590",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "labor strikes",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "labor strikes Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 24607,
"slug": "labor-strikes",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/labor-strikes"
},
"news_1901": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_1901",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "1901",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "nurses strike",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "nurses strike Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 1916,
"slug": "nurses-strike",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/nurses-strike"
},
"news_72": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_72",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "72",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": "https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2014/10/TCR-2-Logo-Web-Banners-03.png",
"name": "The California Report",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "program",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "The California Report Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 6969,
"slug": "the-california-report",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/program/the-california-report"
},
"news_31795": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_31795",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "31795",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "California",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "California Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 31812,
"slug": "california",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/california"
},
"news_25647": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_25647",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "25647",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "affordable child care",
"slug": "affordable-child-care",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "affordable child care | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "noindex"
},
"ttid": 25664,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/affordable-child-care"
},
"news_32887": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_32887",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "32887",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "California child care workers",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "California child care workers Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 32904,
"slug": "california-child-care-workers",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/california-child-care-workers"
},
"news_20754": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_20754",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "20754",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "child care",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "child care Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20771,
"slug": "child-care",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/child-care"
},
"news_25966": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_25966",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "25966",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "child care providers",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "child care providers Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 25983,
"slug": "child-care-providers",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/child-care-providers"
},
"news_32102": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_32102",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "32102",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "early childhood education and care",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "early childhood education and care Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 32119,
"slug": "early-childhood-education-and-care",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/early-childhood-education-and-care"
},
"news_20851": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_20851",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "20851",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "The California Report",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "The California Report Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 20868,
"slug": "the-california-report",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/the-california-report"
},
"news_2318": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_2318",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "2318",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "West Oakland",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "tag",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "West Oakland Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 2333,
"slug": "west-oakland",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/west-oakland"
},
"news_6266": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_6266",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "6266",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"featImg": null,
"name": "Housing",
"description": null,
"taxonomy": "category",
"headData": {
"twImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twDescription": null,
"description": null,
"title": "Housing Archives | KQED News",
"ogDescription": null
},
"ttid": 6290,
"slug": "housing",
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/housing"
},
"news_13": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_13",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "13",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Politics",
"slug": "politics",
"taxonomy": "category",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Politics | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 13,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/category/politics"
},
"news_4020": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_4020",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "4020",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Homelessness",
"slug": "homelessness",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Homelessness | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "index"
},
"ttid": 4039,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/homelessness"
},
"news_33195": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_33195",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "33195",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "mental health services act",
"slug": "mental-health-services-act",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "mental health services act | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null,
"metaRobotsNoIndex": "noindex"
},
"ttid": 33212,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/mental-health-services-act"
},
"news_17968": {
"type": "terms",
"id": "news_17968",
"meta": {
"index": "terms_1716263798",
"site": "news",
"id": "17968",
"found": true
},
"relationships": {},
"name": "Politics",
"slug": "politics",
"taxonomy": "tag",
"description": null,
"featImg": null,
"headData": {
"title": "Politics | KQED News",
"description": null,
"ogTitle": null,
"ogDescription": null,
"ogImgId": null,
"twTitle": null,
"twDescription": null,
"twImgId": null
},
"ttid": 18002,
"isLoading": false,
"link": "/news/tag/politics"
}
},
"userPermissionsReducer": {
"wpLoggedIn": false
},
"eventsReducer": {},
"fssReducer": {},
"tvDailyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvWeeklyScheduleReducer": {},
"tvPrimetimeScheduleReducer": {},
"tvMonthlyScheduleReducer": {},
"userAccountReducer": {
"user": {
"email": null,
"emailStatus": "EMAIL_UNVALIDATED",
"loggedStatus": "LOGGED_OUT",
"loggingChecked": false,
"articles": [],
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"phoneNumber": null,
"fetchingMembership": false,
"membershipError": false,
"memberships": [
{
"id": null,
"startDate": null,
"firstName": null,
"lastName": null,
"familyNumber": null,
"memberNumber": null,
"memberSince": null,
"expirationDate": null,
"pfsEligible": false,
"isSustaining": false,
"membershipLevel": "Prospect",
"membershipStatus": "Non Member",
"lastGiftDate": null,
"renewalDate": null,
"lastDonationAmount": null
}
]
},
"authModal": {
"isOpen": false,
"view": "LANDING_VIEW"
},
"error": null
},
"youthMediaReducer": {},
"checkPleaseReducer": {
"filterData": {
"region": {
"key": "Restaurant Region",
"filters": [
"Any Region"
]
},
"cuisine": {
"key": "Restaurant Cuisine",
"filters": [
"Any Cuisine"
]
}
},
"restaurantDataById": {},
"restaurantIdsSorted": [],
"error": null
},
"userAgentReducer": {
"userAgent": "Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)",
"isBot": true
},
"requestOutcomesReducer": {
"notFound": []
},
"navPromosReducer": {
"isFetching": false,
"fetchFailed": false,
"hasFetched": true,
"promos": {
"news": {},
"podcasts-radio": {},
"video-tv": {},
"events": {},
"support": {}
}
}
}
