Equity Alliance Tool Kit
If you are setting new year goals, consider prioritizing some of the steps outlined in the Racism: What Can I Do? page linked below, with one version for those who identify as people of color and another for those who identify as white. These are simple steps for taking notice, taking action, and taking care when addressing issues of race and equity. They are adapted from a project by artist damali ayo, and or more information on the project, click here.

We encourage you to take these steps into your workplace, school, or organization, and to engage with your peers on how best to apply and practice these tools at an organizational level.
Join Our Team!
Humboldt Area Foundation is hiring a Community Strategies Coordinator . This position is responsible for supporting the Equity Alliance, Native Cultures Fund, and other collaborative community efforts. Responsibilities include administrative and logistical tasks, grant research and writing, internal and external communications, and coordinating events that engage a diverse cross-section of community members.

Ideal candidates have an interest in joining a team engaged in conversations about common community and organizational efforts addressing racial inequitities, power dynamics, and supporting collaborative community efforts to solve complex problems.

Deadline to apply is January 5, 2017. For more information about this position and directions on how to apply, please follow the link below.
Racism & Health
As we enter into a new year, many of us will revisit resolutions to be happier and healthier than we were last year. However, for people of color, research shows that there can be more barriers to achieving a goal of improved health than for white people.

Disparities in health outcomes and access to health care based on race have been well documented. According to a 2013 Department of Health and Human Services Assessment , racial health disparities in Humboldt County contribute to a twelve year difference in average life expectancy between non-white and American Indian/Alaska Native people, and white people.

To reduce and eliminate disparities, we must actively focus on those specific disparities to hope for any meaningful change in those statistics. Below are several resources with information on the relationship between racism and health, and the importance of approaching public health and health care with an equity lens.

Racism as a Determinant of Health (for those with patience for jargon-y academic articles)

*image above from TED
Rapid Response Network
True North Organizing Network, in collaboration with PICO and the ACLU, is working to build a Rapid Response Network in Humboldt County to support our neighbors who may be targeted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Why a Rapid Response network?
The Network will create a method for Humboldt and Del Norte Counties to respond to the fear and anxiety resulting from the increase in immigration enforcement and from the potential for an increase in raids. Victims of an immigration raid cannot leave their home or workplace to seek sanctuary in a congregation, so the Network brings the community to them!

What does a Rapid Response Network do?
Simple: the community shows up wherever Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shows up. There are various roles to fill in the Rapid Response Network. For more information on how to get involved, click on the button below, or email Brenda Urueta, Coastal Humboldt Organizer, at brendau@truenorthorganizing.org.

If you are ready to sign up for a training, follow this link .
Claudia Portillo Deportation Case
Claudia Portillo, a local mother of four, has been detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) since November 14, when she traveled to San Francisco for a routine check-in with U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services. Expecting to process paperwork and return home, Portillo was instead arrested and placed in a detention center.

For more information on her case, and how you can support Claudia Portillo and her family, follow the link below for to an article in the December issue of El Le ñ ador.
Upcoming Events
Day of Unity in Del Norte

True North Organizing Network will be a hosting a Day of Unity community dinner in Crescent City on January 15 from 2:00-4:00pm. The event will features speakers that represent the diversity of Del Norte County.

"With all of our beautiful diversity, we more often than not have the same desires and dreams for our families, our children, grandchildren and the generations to come. Join us in celebrating the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and remembering that his dream is our dream. Only together can we make that dream a reality."
Boost Your HAF Grant Proposal

Are you involved in work to support your community? Do you need funding, and want help on how to apply for grants?

On January 5 from 9:00am-10:30am*, HAF Grantmaking staff, Amy Jester and Cassandra Wagner, will lead an informational session for local nonprofits on grants available at HAF, including community grants, technical assistance grants, rapid response grants, and grassroots grants. Learn about the grantmaking consideration process, submission tips, and more!

This free informational session will be held at Redwood Acres.

*RSVP required. For more information, and to sign up, follow this link or c ontact Lynn Langdon at LynnL@hafoundation.org
  Email equitynorthcoast@hafoundation.org to share upcoming events you know about related to racial equity and we will post it on our website!
Equity Alliance of the North Coast| Humboldt Area Foundation | (707) 442-2993 | equitynorthcoast.org |equitynorthcoast@hafoundation.org
~       Donations Appreciated    ~
Equity Alliance of the North Coast is supported by these sponsors: